
aass_Emz__ 






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HISTORY 



OF 



SHIfflSl ID 




HOi 



E 



MICHIGAN, 



WITH 



Illustrations and Biographical Sketches 



OF THEIR 



PROMINENT MEN AND PIONEERS. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

D. W. ENSIGN & CO. 

1880. 

I 



PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT A CO , PHILADELPHIA. 



16245 





^1 



,^^ 



y 



1 



D 



A< 



PREFACE. 



This History of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties has been prepared witii the intention to make it 
as complete and accurate as possible; to produce a truthful and exhaustive narrative of events of im- 
portance or general interest which have occurred within the present boundaries of these two counties 
from the period of their occupation by the aborigines down to the present time; to embody all obtainable 
facts, but to exclude from the narrative everything of doubtful authenticity, confining it as closely as 
practicable to the limits of Shiawassee and Clinton, and referring to no outside matters except such as 
could not properly be omitted because of their close connection with the history of the region which is 
especially under notice. 

The work is divided into three parts. The first part, embracing twenty chapters, is devoted to 
matters common to both counties, viz., a short account of the occupation of their territory by the native 
Indians as far back as tradition reaches; the operations of white traders among the red men through all 
this region ; the several Indian cessions of land covering the territory now forming Shiawassee and Clinton ; 
internal improvements, including a mention of Territorial roads, State roads, and railways traversing the 
two counties, and of the several projects formed in early yeare for improving the navigation of the Shia- 
wassee, Maple, and Looking-Glass Rivers; military history, principally referring to the services performed 
in the war of the Rebellion by a large number of Michigan regiments, all or nearly all of which contained 
soldiers from both Clinton and Shiawassee Counties. Next after these general chapters is given a separate 
history of Shiawassee County, its cities, Owosso and Corunna, and each of its townships ; and this part is 
followed by a similar separate history of Clinton County, its principal village, and the several towns. 

The township histories are largely made up of accounts of pioneer settlers, the work whicii they 
performed and the privations which they endured while transforming the wilderness into fruitful fields. 
In this connection it is proper to say that if errors are discovered (as it is nearly certain there will 
be) in the orthography of some of the family names of the early and later residents of Shiawassee and 
Clinton, it is largely to be attributed to the fact that the names have been found spelled diiferently 
(and sometimes in as many as three or four different ways) in the county, township, church, and society 
records, and that even members of the same family are not infrequently found to vary in the orthog- 
raphy of their surname. Under such circumstances it cannot be regarded as a matter of surprise if 
the writers of the county and township histories, often finding themselves wholly at a loss to know 
which manner of spelling to adojit, have sometimes made the mistake of choosing the wrong one. 

The historical material for the work has been gathered partly from county, township, and society 
records, and to some extent from old newspaper files, but principally from conversations with the oldest 
residents and best-informed people, of whom a very large number in each county have been called on 
and consulted; and all, with Jiardly an exception, have fully and freely — to the extent of their ability 
— imparted the information sought. The pioneers and other citizens of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties 



PREFACE. 



who liave tliiis furnished information are so numerous that it is inipraoticable to give them the separate 
individual mention wliich they are entitled to receive, but grateful thanks are tendered to each and all for 
the assistance whieli they have so obligingly extended. The writer also desires especially to express his 
acknowledgments to the editors and proprietors of the several newspapers, the county and township officers, 
the pastors and leading members of the churches, and the gentlemen of the legal and medical professions 
of the two counties, for favore and courtesies received from them in the preparation of the work. 

F. E. 

Philadelphia, Pa., August 14, 1880. 



CONTENTS. 



HIISTOE/IOJLXj. 



HISTOEY or SHUWA"3SEE AND OLINTOTT 
COUNTIES. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. — Indian History of the two Counties ..... 9 

II. — Indian Treaties and Cessions of Lands, and Indian Emi- 
gration .......... 17 

III. — Internal Improvements ....... 23 

IV.— Military Record 39 

v.— Third Infantry 43 

VI.— Fifth Infantry 45 

VII.— Eighth Infantry 53 

Vlil.— Ninth Infantry 60 

IX.— Tenth Infantry 63 

X. — Fourteenth Infantry ........ 68 

XI. — Tiventy-third Infantry 75 

XII. — Twenty-seventh Infantry ...... 85 

XIII. — Twenty-ninth and Thirtieth Infantry and First En- 
gineers and Mechanics ....... 83 

XIV. — First and .Second Cavalry ...... 03 

XV.— Third Cavalry 97 

XVI.— Fourth Cavalry 99 

XVII.— Fifth Cavalry 102 

XVIII.— Sixth Cavalry 106 

XIX.— Tenth Cavalry 108 

XX. — Other Soldiers from Shiawassee and Clinton Counties . Ill 



SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

XXI. — Location, Topography, and Mineral Resources . . 116 
XXII. — Civil Changes, Early Settlements . . . .118 
XXIII. — Organization of the County; Courts and Other 

Matters 121 

XXIV. — County-sites and County Property .... 126 
XXV.— The Press, The Professions, Civil List . . . .130 
XXVI. — County Societies, Agriculture, Manufactures, Popula- 
tion ... 138 

XXVII.— City of Owosso 144 

XXVIII.— City of Corunna 165 

XXIX. — Antrim Township 177 

XXX. — Bennington Township ....... 186 

XX.XI.- Burns " 193 



CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXII.— Caledonia Township 211 

XXXIII.— FairBeld " 220 

XXXIV.— Hazelton " 226 

XXXV.— Middlebury " 238 

XXXVI.— New Haven " 248 

XXXVII. — Owosso " 259 

XXXVIII.— Perry " 265 

XXXIX.— Rush " 272 

XL. — Shiawassee " 279 

XLI. — Seiota " 291 

XLII.— Vernon " 300 

XLIII.— Venice " 3U 

XLIV.— WoodhuU " 322 



CLINTON COUNTY. 

XLV. — Boundaries, Topography, Mineral Resources . . 331 

XLVI.— Changes of Civil Jurisdiction 334 

XLVII. — Early Settlements, County Organization, Courts, and 

other County JIatters 336 

XLVIII.— The Professions, Press, Civil List . . . .345 
XLIX. — County Societies, Agriculture, Manufactures, Popula- 
tion .353 

L.— Village of St. .lohns 363 

LI. — Bingham Township ........ 379 

LII.— Bath " 386 

LIII.— Bengal '■ 393 

LIV.— De Witt " 403 

LV.— Dallas " 414 

LVI.— Duplain " 422 

LVII.— Eagle " 436 

LV III.— Essex " 443 

LIX. — Greenbush " 458 

LX. — Lebanon " 469 

LXL— Ovid " 478 

LXII.— Olive '• 491 

LXtll.— Riley " 497 

LXIV.— Victot '■ 509 

LXV. — Watertown Township 519 

LXVI. — Westphalia Township 533 



BIOa-K/.A.I=I3:iO.A.Ij. 



Benjamin 0. Williams 
Hon. Amos Gould 
Elisha Salisbury 
Hon. Josiah Turner 
William M. Kilpatrick 
D. M. Estcy 
James M. Guile . 
Ezra L. Mason . 
John C. Adams . 
I. S. A. Wright . 



PAGE 
158 

160 
161 
162 
163 
163 
164 
165 
1«3 
184 



Walter Wright . 
Calvin M. F'uller 
Nathaniel Durfec 
Allen Beard 
Benjamin F. Howard 
Isaac tiale . 
Ncwcorab Mitchell 
Samuel Nichols . 
John Innes 
Jonathan M. Harttvell 



PAGE 

184 
185 
185 
185 

180 
191 
195 
191! 
197 
198 



CONTENTS. 



BIOG-I^^miOA-Xj. 



FAQE 

Truman W. Rowly 207 

Roger HavilaiiJ 208 

Robert Fox 208 

Isaac S. Barnum .......•• 208 

Nicholas Braden 209 

Amos Foster 209 

Thomas P. Green 210 

W.W.Smith 210 

Thomas R. Young 219 

Ephraim F. Bennett 225 

George B. Munson ......... 225 

Ithial L. Munson 226 

John Judd 2.34 

W. W. Warner 2.36 

Jesse Rhoades 237 

John Bonian . . 237 

George W. Slocum 244 

George H. Warren 245 

Leonard F. Kingsley 246 

James Kenney facing 246 

William Tubbs 247 

Horace C. Main ......*... 248 

Jacob Weidman .......... 256 

Phineas Buroh 257 

Wellmnn Hart 257 

-Daniel Young 258 

H. B. Cram 259 

Isaac M. Banks facing 280 

A. P. Greenman and Wife "284 

William Newberry 290 

John Whaley 290 

Mrs. Nellie P. MoClintock 300 

Willard Ryan 300 

R. Reed . facing 306 

Henry Jennings Van Akin 312 

James Van Akin ......... 313 

Nathan M. Smith 313 

Hon. F. a. Bailey 321 

Alonzo H. Owens 321 

Andrew J. Van Riper 329 

Francis F. Mann 330 

John P. Shaft facing 330 

Hon. Oliver Lyman Spaulding 377 

.Tohn H. Fedewa 377 

Robert M. Steel 378 

John Hicks 378 

John R. Hale 385 



PAGE 

John Avery 385 

Daniel Ridcnour . 3S6 

James N. Smith 392 

■J Benjamin F. Young ......... 402 

George Allen 413 

George F. Dutlon 421 

Daniel Dutton 422 

E. V. Chase facing 433 

William Tillotson 433 

George R. Doty .......... 434 

Lyman Cobb 435 

Comfort Ranney 436 

Willis Leach 436 

David Clark 4 12 

George W. McCrumb 442 

Mrs. Sally Hawley Beers 443 

William A. Hewitt 455 

Solomon P. Creasinger 456 

0. F. Peck 457 

Nathan R. Lowe 457 

, Capt. David S. French 467 

David Levy 468 

William T. and Robert E. Davies 468 

Charles Sessions ......... 477 

Ezekiel De Camp 489 

B. M. Shepard 490 

Dr. Solon C. King 491 

Augustus Gillett 497 

John W. Outcalt 497 

Lyman Hungcrford 507 

Philip P. Peck 508 

Jonathan Owen facing 508 

John C. Brunson ......... 516 

William S. Parker 517 

Mrs. Sarah Parker 517 

Epson Parker .......... 517 

C. R. McKee 518 

Ainsworth Reed 518 

James Upton .......... 518 

Chas. Edward Hollister 519 

George Gall . 528 

Eliel Ingersoll 529 

Wm. F. Dutton 530 

George W. Kinney . 531 

Stephen Hill 532 

Frank Noekor 541 



irjIjTJSTI?.^TI02srS. 



State Capitol Building . . . . 

Maps of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties. 



PAGE 

facing title, 
facing 9 



Portrait of Okemos . . . . . . . . - 15 

Shiawassee Court-House facing 116 

CITY OF OWOSSO. 

Estey Manufacturing Company's Works and Office, between 150, 151 
Portrait of Benjamin 0. Williams 

" Alfred L. Williams . 

Residence of Benjamin 0. Williams 
Portrait of Hon. Amos Gould (steel) 

" Elisha Salisbury 

" Hon. Josiah Turner . 



facing 



158 
158 
158 
160 
161 
162 



Portrait of William M. Kilpatrick 163 

" James M. Guile 164 

" Ezra L. Mason 165 



ANTRIM TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of B. F. Howard 

" C. M. Fuller .... 

" with portraits of Nathaniel Durfee and 

Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Adams 
" Mr. and Mrs. I. S. A. Wright 

Residence of AV alter Wright 
Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Wright . 
Residence of Allen Beard .... 
Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Beard 



Wife 



facing 



facing 



178 
180 
183 
183 
184 
184 
184 
185 
185 



CONTENTS. 



irjiL.TJSTK.^^TZonsrs- 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP 



Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Ilartwell 

Residence of J. M. Ilartwel! 

Portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Gale . 
" Samuel Nichols and Wife 

" Lyman Hickey and Wife 

Residence of Lyman Hickey 

" Newcomb Mitchell 

Portraits of Newcomb Mitchell and Wife 

Portrait of John Innes 



BURNS TOWNSHIP 



4) 



Residence of Roger Haviland . 
Portraits of Roger Haviland and Wife 
Residence of Thomas P. Green . 
Portraits of Thomas P. Green and Wife 
Portrait of Mrs. Thomas P. Green (deceasei 
Residence of Isaac S. Barnum . 
Portraits of Isaac S. Barnum and Wife 
Residence of Amos Foster . 
Portraits of Amos Foster and Wife . 
Portrait of Truman W. Rowly . 
Residence of Robert Fox . 
Portraits of Robert Fox and Wife 
Residence of Nicholas Braden . 
Portraits of Nicholas Braden and Wife 
Residence of William W. Smith 
Portraits of William W. Smith and Wife 



CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP 

Residence of Thomas R. Young 

Portraits of Thomas R. Young and Wife . 



PAQB 

facing 188 

" 188 

facing 194 

. 196 

. 196 

facing 196 

" 197 

197 

. 197 



FAIRFIELD TOMNSHIP. 

Residence of E. F. and E. R. Bennett 

'* Itbial L. MuDson .... 

" G. B. Munson .... 

HAZELTON TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of John Roman 

Portraits of John Judd and Wife 
Portrait of Mrs. Matilda Judd (deceased) . 
Portraits of W. W. Warner and Wife 
** Jesse Rhoades and Wife 



fac 



200 
200 
202 
202 
202 
20+ 
20-t 
207 
207 
. 207 
ng 208 
' 208 
209 
' 209 
' 210 
' 210 



facing 219 
. 219 



fac' 



facing 220 

" 222 

224 



facing 232 

. 235 

. 235 

. 236 

. 237 



MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of (»eorge H. Warren .... 

Portraits of George H. Warren and Wife . 
Portrait of George W. Slocumb ..... 
" Leonard F. Kingsley .... 

Portraits of James Kenney and Wife 

Residence of Horace C. Main 

Portrait of William Tubbs 



facing 242 

242 

. 245 

, 246 

facing 246 

" 247 

. 247 



NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of Jacob Weidman . . . . , 
Portraits of Jacob Weidman and Wife 
Residence of Wellman AY. Hart .... 
Portraits of Phineas Burch and Wife 

" Daniel Young and Wife . . . , 

" H. B. Cram and Wife . 



facing 256 

" 256 

257 

. 257 

. 258 

. 259 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of John Wbaloy 

Portrait of Isaac M. Banks 

Portraits of A. P. Greenman and Wife 

Residence of William Newberry . . , . 

Portraits of William Newberry and Wife . 



facing 279 

280 

" 284 

" 290 

" 290 



SCIOTA TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of Willard Ryon 
Portraits of Willard Ryon and Wife . 
Residence of Mrs. Nellie P. McClintock 
Portrait of Mrs. Nellie P. McClintock 
" Miss Alta B. McClintock 

VERNON TOWNSHIP. 

Portrait of R. Reed 

Residence of N. M. Smith 

Portrait of Henry J. Van Akin .... 





PAOB 


facing 


294 


" 


294 


tt 


298 


*t 


298 


ft 


298 


facing 


306 


" 


313 




313 



VENICE TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of Alonzo H. Owens .... between 318, 319 
Portraits of Alonzo H. Owens and Wife . . " 318, 319 
Portrait of Hon. F. G. Bailey 321 

WOODHULL TOWNSHIP. 



Residence of Andrew J. Van Riper . 
Portraits of Andrew J. Van Riper and Wife 

" Francis F. Mann and Wife 

Portrait of John P. Shaft .... 



facing 329 

. 329 

. 330 

facing 330 



cxjnsTTOisr GOTTisrarir. 

Clinton County Court-House ..... facing 331 

Geological Map of the Lower Peninsula ... " 332 

ST. JOHNS. 

Portrait of John Swcgels 364 

" 0. L. Spaulding facing 370 

Residence of Richard Moore " 372 

" J. Hicks "374 

" R. M. Steel "376 

" J. H. Fedewa "377 

BINGIIAIH TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of John Avery facing 382 

Portraits of John Avery and Wife .... " 382 

Residence of Daniel Ridenour *' 384 

" J. R. Hale "385 

BA^TH TOWNSHIP. 

Portrait of James N. Smith 392 

BENGAL TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of Benjamin F. Young .... facing 402 

DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 

Portraits of George Allen and Wife 414 

DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 

Portraits of George F. Dutton and Wife 421 

" Daniel Dutton and Wife 422 

DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 

Portrait of E. V. Chase facing 433 

Portraits of William Tillotson and Wife 433 

" George R. Doty and Wife 434 

Portrait of Charles R. Doty 434 

Hotel and Farm Property of George R. Doty . . facing 434 

Portraits of Lyman Cobb and Wife 435 

Portrait of Comfort Ranney 436 

" Willis Leach 436 



CONTENTS. 



ILIjTJSTI^A.TIOnSrS. 



EAGLE TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of George W. McCrumb . 
Portraits of George W. McCrumb and Wife 
Besidence of Oliver Doty . 
Portraits of Oliver Doty and Wife 
Residence of George Gall . 
" David Clark . 

Portrait of Sally H. Beers . 

ESSEX TOWNSHIP 



Portrait of 0. F. Peck 
Residence of 0. F. Peck . 
Portraits of William A. Hewitt and Wife 
Portrait of Solomon P. Creasinger . 
" Nathan R. Lowe . 



faoinj 



PAon 
438 
438 
440 
440 
442 
442 
443 



facing 446 

446 

. 455 

. 456 

. 457 



GREENBUSH TOWNSHIP. 

i 

Park House, D. S. French proprietor 

Portrait of David Levy 

Residences of William T. and R. E. Davies . 
Portraits of William T. and R. E. Davies . 



LEBANON TOWNSHIP. 

Portraits of Charles Sessions and Wife 

OVID TOWNSHIP. 



facing 4(i7 

. 468 

facing 468 

" 468 



Ovid Carriage-Works .... 

Besidence of Ezekiel De Camp . 
Portraits of Ezekiel De Camp and Wife . 

" B. M. Shepard and Wife 

Portrait of Mrs. Matilda Shepard (deceased) 

'< Dr. Solon C. King . 



facing 486 

" 489 

" 489 

. 490 

. 490 

. 491 



OLIVE TOWNSHIP. 

Residence of Augustus Gillctt . . . . 
" .John AV. Outcalt . . . . 

Portrait! of John W. and William Outcalt 



RILEY TOWNSHIP. 

Portrait of Lyman Hungerford . 

Philip P. Peck 
Portraits of Jonathan Owen and Wife . 

VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 

Besidence of Ainsworth Reed . 
Portraits of Ainsworth Reed and Wife 
Residence of James Upton 
Portraits of James Upton and Wife 
Residence of Epson Parker 
Portraits of Epson Parker and Wife 
Residence of Charles E. Ilollister 

" Mrs. Sarah Parker 

Portrait of Mrs. Sarah Parker . 

Portraits of John C. Brunson and Wif 
■ Residence of John C. Brunson . 
" William S. Parker 

Portraits of William S. Parker and Wife 

Portrait of C. R. McKee . 

Besidence of Mrs. Mary A. McKee . 



fe 



PA or. 

facing 41)6 

" 497 

" 497 



WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP 

Portraits of Eliel IngersoU and Wife 
Residence of William F. Button 
PortraiU of William F. Button and Wife 
Portrait of George W. Kinney . 

" Stephen Hill . 

Residence of Frank Noeker 
Portraits of Frank Noeker and Wife . 



facing 



facing 



facing 



facing 



5117 
508 
5118 



510 

510 

511 

611 

512 

512 

513 

h\\ 

514 

516 

616 

517 

517 

518 

518 



. 529 

fivcing 530 

530 

. 531 

. 532 

facing 541 

" 541 



MillA^V^A^ 



■ 'Av^ 




L I V I N G S T O 



JI I S T O B Y 



OF 



SHIiWASSEE iND CLINTON COUNTIES, IICHIGiN. 



BY FRANKLIN ELLIS 



CHAPTER 1. 

INDIAN HISTORY OF THE TWO COUNTIES. 

Forests, Rivers, and Indian Mounds — Tradition of Sauli Occupancy 
and Kipulsion — Chippewa Occupation — Early Indian Traders — 
Indian Villages, Fields, and Agriculture — Their Peculiar Super- 
stitions — The Chief Oketnos — Character of the Indians of this 
Region — Fearful Ravages of Smallpox among them in 1837. 

A SECTION of country lying in the form of a parallelo- 
gran), about forty-sis miles in length due east and west, 
and twenty-four miles wide from south to north, through 
which the principal meridian of the State passes, one mile 
east of the centre, and of which the south boundary is 
parallel to, and twenty-four miles north of, the base line ; — • 
this is the modern geographical description of the territory 
embraced in the counties of Shiawassee and Clinton. But 
many years ago, before the surveyor's transit or compass had 
marked the course of a meridian or a base line across the 
peninsula, this same territory could not have been described 
much more correctly than as a wilderness tract, extending 
from the Grand River north and east, embracing nearly 
the whole of the valleys of the Wabwaysin (Looking-Glass) 
and Du Plain* Rivers to their heads ; as also the valley 
of the Shiawassee River, from the point where its two prin- 
cipal branches mingle their waters, down the course of the 
main stream for more than two-thirds of the distance to the 
place where it enters the Saginaw. This was a country of 
dense forests and timbered openings, occasionally inter- 
spersed with small prairies,| tamarack swamps, and marshes 
covered with coarse, rank grass ; and it was well watered by 
the streams above mentioned, and their tributaries. Its 
only human inhabitants at that time were the native In- 
dians, and it is with these people that its history com- 
mences; though the existence here of numerous earthen 
mounds (which were of unknown origin, and wholly unlike 



* The name given by the early French traders to the stream now 
known as the Maple River. 

I The field-notes of the original surveys of Clinton and Shiawassee 
Counties, by deputy United Stiites surveyors, mention " prairies" 
and ''prairie lands," found in a majority of the townships of both 
counties. 
o 



anything known to have been constructed by those to whom 
we apply the term aborigines) has induced the belief that 
they were the works of a people who were superior to the 
Indians, and the predecessors of the latter in their occupa- 
tion of the country. 

These mounds were generally circular or oval in form, 
from ten to forty feet in diameter, and two to sis feet in 
height. They were found in various parts of both coun- 
ties, but the largest number in any one locality were found 
in the valley of the Maple River, in the northeast part of 
Clinton County.J That they were built for purposes of 
sepulture is made more than probable, from the fact that all 
or nearly all which were examined were found to contain 
human bones. An exception to this, however, was a mound 
discovered on the bank of the Shiawassee River, near New- 
burg, in Shiawassee County. § This was nearly circular in 
form, and consisted of a parapet inclosing an interior space. 
It was surrounded by a ditch, and had an opening or gate- 
way facing the east, with detached mounds fronting this 
entrance. It has been supposed, from the peculiar construc- 
tion of this work, that it was built for purposes of defense. 
But what were the objects for which the mounds were built, 
or who were the people who erected them, are mere topics 
of speculation. History has but to record the bare fact of 
their existence, before passing to the meagre annals of the 
native tribes who were found in occupation of the country. 

All that is or can be known of the history of the Indians 
who once inhabited the interior region now included in the 
counties of Shiawassee and Clinton may be easily and 
briefly told, for it is all, or nearly all, embraced in a period 
which is within the recollection of settlers who are yet 
living and in full possession of all their faculties. 

When this wilderness region was first penetrated by white 
explorers they found it occupied by bands of the Saginaw 
tribe of the Ojibwa or Chippewa nation, mixed with a few 
Oltawas and still fewer I'ottawattamies, which latter two 
had perhaps become allied by marriage or otherwise with 



XA.n account of this group of mounda will be found in the history 
of Ovid and Duplain townships in this work. 

§ Described by 13. O. Williams, Esq., who visited it in the year 
1829. 

9 



10 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



the dominant Chippewas. The last named, however, have 
always been mentioned in Indian history, and recognized by 
the United States Government in all treaties, as the original 
owners of the country bordering the Saginaw River and 
its tributaries, and of the great wilderness stretching away 
thence northwestwardly towards the Straits of Mackinac. 
The Indians inhabiting the valley of the Shiawassee River 
were known to the early traders and settlers as the Shia- 
wassee bands of the Saginaws, and these were the .same 
people who also occupied the country along the Looking- 
Glass, the Maple, and the Red Cedar Rivers, though the 
several bands were not infrequently designated by the names 
of the streams on which their villages or camps were located. 
All of them, however (except the Ottawas and few Potta- 
wattamies who were found among them as before men- 
tioned), were from the same parent stock, and members of 
the same tribe or nation, — the Saginaw Chippewas. 

But if we may believe their own traditions, the Chippe- 
was had not always been masters of these forests and rivers, 
nor did their occupancy extend back to years beyond the 
memory of their ancestors. The story told by their old 
men (and which is to some extent supported by authentic 
history) was to the effect that, ages before, in the days of 
their great-grandfathers, all the hunting-grounds bordering 
the streams which find their outlet in Saginaw Bay, and all 
the forests and openings extending thence west to the 
Grand River, were held and inhabited by the Sauks, a pow- 
erful and warlike people, who not only felt entirely able to 
keep their own country, but who were often in the habit of 
making bloody forays into the territory of other tribes, who 
consequently hated them, and longed to exterminate, or at 
least to expel them from the region which they regarded as 
an Indian paradise, abounding as it did with fish, deer, 
beaver, and almost every kind of game. This desire to 
subjugate or destroy the powerful Sauks and to seize their 
teeming hunting-grounds, burned nowhere more intensely 
than in the breasts of the Chippewa warriors, whose home 
at that time was far away at the north. But they dreaded 
the prowess of their enemies too much to venture an attack, 
and this consideration held them in check for many years, 
though their hatred constantly increased and their wish to 
possess the Sauk country became so ardent as to well-nigh 
overcome their fears. 

At last their ambitious desires could be controlled- no 
longer, and they resolved at all hazards to attempt the 
enterprise which they had so long meditated. For this 
purpose they held council with the Ottawas of the north 
(whose country was contiguous to their own), and dispatched 
messengers to the southern branch of the Ottawas (who 
then occupied what is now Southeastern Michigan) asking 
them both to join in a war of invasion. Their proposition was 
favorably received, a league was formed, and the confeder- 
ated bands set out speedily and secretly on their bloody 
expedition, which was destined to result in their complete 
triumph. 

The invaders entered the country of the Sauks in two 
columns ; one, composed of the southern Ottawas, marching 
from the southeast through the forests to the bend of Flint 
River, where Flint City now stands, while the northern 
confederates moved in canoes from Mackinac, paddling 



down the west shore of Lake Huron, and boldly crossing 
Saginaw Bay by night, landed in two detachments, marched 
stealthily up along the shore of the river, and at the proper 
moment and at a preconcerted signal fell like a thunder- 
bolt on the principal village of the Sauks at or near the 
present site of Saginaw City. " No precaution," says Mr. 
Fox, in his liistory of Saginaw, " had been taken by the 
Sauks to guard against danger, for none had been antici- 
pated. The night wind sighed through the dark pine-tops 
in mournful cadence, and the gentle spirit-bird hovered over 
the sleeper with its low, gushing death-chant ; but its warn- 
ing notes were unheard, and still the sleeper slumbered on. 
Suddenly a wild, unearthly yell broke fearfully upon the 
ear of night, and awoke a thousand echoes. Aroused by it 
the Sauks sprang to their feet, but were met by the fierce 
Chippewas, who commenced an indiscriminate slaughter. 
Some were tomahawked, some leaped into the Saginaw and 
were drowned, while a few escaped to impart the death news 
to their brethren." Those who escaped, and others from 
neighboring villages which had not yet been attacked, fled 
in their canoes to a small island in the Saginaw, where they 
believed them.selves safe, — at least for a time, — for tlieir 
foes had no canoes in the river. But in this they were 
mistaken, for the ice was rapidly forming, and on the 
following day or night it had become strong enough to 
permit the passage of the pursuing Chippewas, who there- 
upon crossed to the island and renewed the attack with such 
energy and ferocity that of all the Sauk refugees who had 
taken shelter there not a single man was left alive, and only 
about a dozen women were spared. The place, in after- 
years, became known as " Skull Island," from the great 
number of skulls* and other human bones which were 
found in its soil. 

After completing their bloody work on the island, the 
Chippewa and Ottawa warriors moved rapidly up the river 
to the confluence of the Flint and Shiawassee Rivers, where 
they met the victorious band of .southern Ottawas, who had 
destroyed the villages on the Flint and massacred nearly 
all the inhabitants, the few survivors retreating in terror 
towards their principal villages on the Saginaw, where they 
vainly hoped to find safety from their enemies. These 
panic-stricken fugitives now turned and fled up the valley 
of the Shiawassee, where they were relentlessly pursued by 
the invaders, and here the result was the same as it had 
been on the Saginaw and Flint. All the villages on the 
Shiawassee were given over to destruction and massacre ; 
the Sauks were completely overthrown and almost exter- 
minated, only a miserable remnant escaping westward 
through the dense forests to the Grand River, and down 
that stream to Lake Michigan. 

The Chippewa and Ottawa warriors were now absolute 
masters of the Sauk country, but they did not immediately 
remove their settlements here. The conquered territory 
was for a long time held as a hunting-ground, which was 
roamed over in common by the bands of the two tribes. 

* Ephraira S. Williams, Esq., of Flint (brother of B. 0. Williams, 
Esq.. of Owosso), who was located at .Saginaw for several years in the 
fur trade, says this tradition is prohably well founded, for he has 
often visited the island in question, and has seen many mouldering 
skulls cxhuuied there. 



INDIAN HISTORY OF THE TWO COUNTIES. 



11 



But when they found that some of their young braves who 
entered these forests disappeared and were never again seen 
or heard of, their superstitious fears were awaicened, and 
they came to the firm belief that the eddies of the streams 
and the daric recesses of the woods were infested by evil 
spirits, — the ghosts of the murdered Sauks, — who had come 
back to their old domain, and were thus mysteriously wreak- 
ing vengeance on their destroyers. The dread inspired by 
this belief and the strange disappearance uf their young 
men became at last so strong that they entirely abandoned 
the country, and for years afterwards no Chippewa or Ottawa 
hunter braved the terrorsof the " haunted hunting-grounds." 
But after many moons (no one can say how many) they 
ventured back, though still in dread and fear, and finally 
in favored spots there sprang up many villages of the Chip- 
pewas,* while their bark canoes sped swiftly over the bright 
waters of the lakes and streams. And this (the tradition 
says) was the manner in which the tribe that became 
known as the Saginaw-Chippewa acquired and occupied the 
domain which the Sauk chiefs and warriors had once called 
their own. 

The Chippewas of the Lower Peninsula possessed all the 
fierce and sanguinary characteristics of their northern kin- 
dred. From the time when England wrested the lake 
country from the possession of the French this tribe was 
distinguished for its aggressive disposition, cruelty, and 
treachery ; and during the almost continuous Indian wars 
and conspiracies of the succeeding half century its chiefs 
showed a spirit as turbulent and untamable as that of the 
parent nation, — the Ojibwas of Lake Superior. The story 
of their ravages is found in all the annals of Indian hostili- 
ties. They were prominent actors in the Pontiac war 
of 1763 ; in the Indian alliance against America in the war 
of the Revolution ; in the savage rising which was quelled 
by " Mad Anthony" Wayne a few years later ; and they 
were among the most energetic and eflScient allies of Te- 
cumseh in his prolonged warfare against the United States. 
They did bloody work at the Raisin, at Sandusky, and on 
many other fields, and finally they fought with fierce des- 
peration in the battle of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813. But 
that day extinguished forever the warlike spirit of the 
Chippewas, for then and there " the hopes of the red man 
perLshed." Their total defeat in that battle, and the death 
of Tecumseh, annihilated ail possibility of successful resist- 
ance to the government, and all hope of holding their hunt- 
ing-grounds against the advance of settlement and civiliza- 
tion. So the Saginaws, like other Michigan tribes, sued for 
peace, gave hostages for their future good conduct, received 
a pardon (which they scarcely expected) for their past 
offenses, and retired to their villages — sullen and dejected, 
but thoroughly subjugated — and never again made war 
against white men. Nearly twenty years afterwards, the 
Wisconsin chief, Black Hawk, sent emissaries among them 
to distribute " war-quills" and invite them to join his 
bands in a new war, but they made reply that the Chippe- 

* It does not appear that the Ottawas ever came to this section of 
country in any considerable numbers, but many of that tribe emigrated 
from their northern lands (on tlie east shore of Lake Michigan, north 
of Orand Traverse Bay) and settled in the .southeast, in the vicinity 
of Lake .St. Clair, and the Detroit, St. Clair, and Huron Rivers. 



was would not again raise the hatchet against the pale- 
faces, who were masters of the land, and under the protec- 
tion of the Great Spirit. 

The earliest knowledge of the Indians, as they existed 
in their native wilderness, was gained by white men who 
went among them for purposes of trade, — the most impor- 
tant branch of which was the purchase of furs. Of these 
traders, the first of whom any account is found, as being 
located in the country of the Saginaw-Chippewas, was a 
Frenchman named Bolieu (called by the Indians, Kase- 
gans) ; and soon after him there came another of the same 
nationality, named Tremble (since corrupted to Trombley), 
who established himself at Saginaw. The date of Bolieu's 
coming is not exactly known, but it is certain that he was 
trading with the Saginaws before the commencement of 
the present century. He married a full-blood Indian 
woman ,"j" a sister or near relative of Neome, head-chief of 
the Pewonigo band of Indians, who lived at Pewonigowink, 
on the Flint River. He (Bolieu) prosecuted his trading 
business with the Indians living on the Flint and Shiawas- 
see, and, without doubt, with those on the Looking-Glass 
and Maple Rivers also. It is not known where his post 
was located, but there is strong probability that it was on 
the Shiawassee River at the Big Rapids (Owosso), near the 
present residence of B. 0. Williams, E.sq., for at that place 
there are still in existence portions of two ancient chimneys 
and some other ruins which Mr. Williams (than whom no 
person in Michigan is more competent to judge) pronounces 
to be the remains of an old trading-post. This opinion is 
strengthened by the fact that at the same place there are 
still to be seen pits in the earth, evidently made for the 
burying of canoes. | As it is certain that this place was 
not occupied by any of the later traders, it seems highly 
probable that it was the post of Bolieu, the pioneer trader 
among the Saginaws. If so, the buildings must have been 
erected nearly or quite as early as the commencement of 
this century. 

Two of the earliest traders who followed Bolieu and 
Tremble into the Saginaw country were Jacob Smith 
(named by the Indians Wahbesins) and Conrad Ten Eyck, 
who established at Saginaw before the opening of the war 
of 1812-15. Both of these men found it necessary to 
abandon their posts during the continuance of that war, 
but returned to Saginaw at the close of hostilities. In the 
fall of 1819, Smith removed his trading-post to the Grand 
Traverse of the Flint River (where Flint City now stands), 
and remained there in trade till his death, in the spring of 
1825. He was of German parentage or descent, and a 
native of Quebec, Canada. Two of his daughters (Mrs. 
C. S. Payne and Mrs. T. B. W. Stockton) are still living at 
Flint, and another daughter became the wife of Gen. John 
Garland, United States Army. His son, Albert J. Smith, 
is, or was recently, living in South America. 

f A daughter of theirs, Angflique Bolieu (whose Indian name was 
Tawcumegogua), was sent at the age of twelve years to Detroit, 
where ah^ received a tolerable education. She married a Frenchman 
named Coutant, and after his death she became the wife of Jean 
Baptiste St. Aubin, of Detroit. 

J The Indians (and the traders, who learned the custom from them) 
were in the habit of burying their canoes in winter, to prevent them 
from being ruined by the frost. 



12 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Louis Campau commenced in the Indian trade at Sagi- 
naw in 1815. He remained there many years, but finally 
removed to Grand Rapids, where he passed the remainder 
of his life, and died highly respected. Antoine Campau, a 
brother of Louis, also located at Saginaw in 1815 or 1816. 
John B. Cushway,* Gen. Riley, of Schenectady, N. Y., 
and Wliitmore Kiiaggs came to this Indian country as 
traders not long afterwards, as did also Baptiste Cochios, 
who established his post on the Flint. All these traders 
dealt with the Indians inhabiting the valleys of the Shia- 
wassee, Looking-Glass, and Maple Rivers, but only Cushway, 
Campau, and Knaggs located trading-houses in this region. 
It was in or about 1820f that Whitmore Knaggs came to 
open his post at the " crossing of the Shiawassee," — that is, 
the place where several trails crossed that river, on the In- 
dian reservation of Kechewondaugoning,J or " Big Salt 
Lick." The name given to the place by the French (very 
probably by old Bolieu himself) was " Grand Saline." 
The white settlers afterwards called it " the Knaggs place," 
for the old trader by whom it was established, and his son, 
who was its last occupant as a trader. The post was situ- 
ated on the river, in the northwest corner of the present 
township of Burns. 

In 1820 the nearest trading-posts to Knaggs' on the south 
and west were that of the two Godfreys (father and son), 
located on the Huron, at the present site of Ypsilanti, and 
that of Rix Robinson " at the Thornapple and on Grand 
River, above and below." These merchants, as well as 
those at Saginaw, divided the trade with Knaggs to some 
extent, but there is little doubt that the latter took the 
lion's share among the Indians living within his range. 
Not long after the time mentioned, a Frenchman named 
Battise (correctly Baptiste) opened a post on the upper 
waters of the Grand River, in the present county of Jack- 
son, and this became a somewhat popular trading-place, 
even for some of the Indians living as far north as the 
territory of Clinton and Shiawassee Counties. 

Whitmore Knaggs was succeeded, about 1824, by a 
man named Grant, who continued in the trade for a time, 
but became so unpopular with the Indians that they finally 
drove him from their country. 

The successor of Grant in the Indian trade on the Shia- 
wassee was Richard Godfroy, who reopened the post at 
Kechewondaugoniug in 1828. In the spring of 1829 this 
post was visited by the brothers Alfred L. and Benjamin 
0. Williams, who were then making a tour of exploration 
with a view to permanent settlement, they being probably 
the first white men who visited Shiawassee County with 
that intention. The Godfroy trading-post, as it existed at 

* Cushway was called by the Indians Pewabicorzo, or " the iron- 
shod," because he wore lieavily-uailed boots. 

•f" A list of the licensed traders in Michigan in that year places 
Knaggs* post "on the river Shiawassee, at the Indian Reservation." 

^ This tract of three thousand acres was reserved to the Indians of 
the Shiawassee bands, in the treaty concluded by Gen. Cass at Sagi- 
naw, Sept. 24, 1819. The name of this reservation is spelled in the 
treaty Ketchewaundaugcnink, which is perhaps as nearly »3brrect as 
any other manner of spelling, — the orthography of Indian names 
being at best a matter of taste or caprice. It was located in the 
northwest corner of the present township of Burns and southwest 
corner of Vernon, and comprised also small parts of Shiawassee and 
Antrim. 



that time, is described by B. O. Williams as a rude log 
house and stable, with bark roof, and then in charge of 
John B. Cushway, as Godfrey's agent. The post was con- 
tinued by Godfrey's succes.sors, Antoine Beaubien and 
John Knaggs, until about 1839. 

On the south side of the Maple River, at the site of the 
present village of Maple Rapids, a trading-post was opened 
as early as 1826, but whether the first trader there was 
John B. Cushway or George Campau is a matti-r of some 
doubt. It is certain that it bore the name of the first-named 
proprietor in 1837, for en the 17th of March in that year 
the Legislature passed an act laying out a State road " from 
the seat of justice in Eaton County to Cushway 's trading- 
pest on Maple River in the county of Clintoir." Mr. James 
Sewle, of Essex, is of the opinion, however, that Cushway 
carried on the trading-station before Campau, which latter 
seems to have been the one recollected by old residents 
as the first proprietor. He was a brother of Louis and An- 
toine Campau, and was known to the Indians as Waugeosh, 
or " the Red Fox." His successor in trade at the post on 
the Maple was John Johnson, who became a permanent 
resident, and died there since 1875. Mr. Campau is (or 
■was very recently) living at Grand Rapids. The Cushway 
or Campau trading-station, with the Genereau post, on the 
river below, in Ionia County, took a large part of the trade 
of the Indians living on the Maple and Looking-Glass 
Rivers, but there was also for a time a post on the Grand 
River, in Ionia County, kept by Gilbert W. Prentiss and 
one or two associates, who (it was said) were also engaged 
in counterfeiting, and were driven away from their post by 
the Indians, on whom they had passed some of their spuri- 
ous coin. The same flite also befell them at a trading- 
station which they opened in 1834, in Cohoctah township, 
on the north border of Livingston County, adjoining Shia- 
wassee. 

The Williams trading-post, which secured a very large 
business among the Indians of this section of country, and 
which is particularly noticeable from the fact that the two 
young men who opened it became permanent r&sidents and 
very prominent citizens of Shiawassee County, was estab- 
lished in August, 1831, by Alfred L. and Benjamin 0. 
Williams, for Rufus W. Stevens and Elisha Beach, of Pon- 
tiac. The location of this trading-station was a very little 
north of the north line of the Kechewondaugoniug reser- 
vation, at the point where the Chicago and Lake Huron 
Railroad crosses the Shiawassee River, on or very near the 
dividing line between the townships of Shiawassee and 
Vernon. To this station there were brought furs collected 
within the present counties of Shiawassee and Clinton, as 
well as in adjoining counties to the south and east. Their 
trade within the limits of Clinton, however, was much less 
than in Shiawassee, as much of the Indian trade in the 
former county was secured by Genereau, at the post on the 
Grand River, and by Campau, at his station at Maple 
Rapids. 

In 1832 the brothers Williams became agents for the 
American Fur Company, and continued as such until 1836, 
when they began trading on their own account, and re- 
mained until 1837, when the post was vacated and the 
business abandoned, the Indians having been in that year 



INDIAN HISTORY OF THE TWO COUNTIES. 



13 



so greatly reduced in numbers, and so much scattered and 
demoralized by the ravages of a fatal pestilence among 
them, that their trade was no longer of any value. The 
owners of the trading-station then removed to Owo.sso, 
where Mr. B. 0. Williams yet resides. He still speaks the 
Chippewa language almost as fluently as English. He un- 
questionably knows more of the Indian history of this 
region than any other person, and it is principally on in- 
formation furnished by him that this account of the Indians 
of these two counties is based. 

In 1830 the Indian villages or settlements on the Shia- 
wassee River were those of Kechewondaugoning, on the 
reservation of the same name, and Shigemasking (meaning 
" soft-maple place"), near Shiawasseetown. The former 
was the summer residence of Wasso, the principal chief of 
the Shiawassee bands. These were the only villages on 
the river within the boundaries of Shiawassee County. 
Below, on the same stream, but a few miles north of the 
county line, was the Chippewa village of Che-as-sin-ning or 
" Big Rock," at the site of the present village of Chesaning. 
This was a much larger village than either of those pre- 
viously mentioned. Its people were under the chief Sher 
manito, who died in 1836 and was succeeded in the chief- 
ship by Nokchikaming. 

On the south branch of the Shiawassee, in Livingston 
County, near its northern border, was a very small settle- 
ment of Indians at Assineboinaing (" Rocky Place" ). 
This had in earlier years borne the name of Nabobish, 
which was then also the name of its chief. His succe.«sor 
was old Portabeek, who is yet recollected by residents of 
that part of Livingston County. This settlement or village 
was entirely abandoned by the Indians about 1830. Away 
to the eastward, and nearly on the boundary between Gene- 
see and Oakland Counties, was the village of Kopenicorn- 
ing, situated by a small lake, which is yet known by the 
same name. This was a village of the " Fisher tribe" of 
Saginaws, of whom a few are still living in Genesee 
County. 

On the Looking-Glass River, in what is now the town- 
ship of Antrim, there had been an Indian village of con- 
siderable size, but this had been abandoned prior to 1831. 
Farther down the stream, on its northern bank, just above 
the place which is now the village of De Witt in Clinton 
County, there was still in existence at that time the Chip- 
pewa village of Wabwalinahseepee, of which the chiefs 
were Wahbaskonoquay, or " Whitelocks," and his son, 
Canorbway. This village was broken up soon afterwards, 
and there are now few, if any, of even the oldest settlers 
in Clinton County who have any recollection of the exist- 
ence of an Indian village at this place, though the place 
continued to be for many years a favorite ground for the 
temporary camps of wandering parties of the Chippewa 
bands. This was a well-known place to the early white 
settlers, who called it the " Indian Green." Some four 
miles above this, but on the opposite side of the river, at 
Lowry Plains, there was another large and much frequented 
camp-ground, and still others were found at different places 
up the stream, in both Clinton and ShiaWiussee Counties. 

On the south bank of the stream which the early French 



traders called La Riviere du Plain, but which the English- 
speaking settlers named Maple River, was the village of the 
chief Makitoquet, located on what is now to be described 
as the northwest part of section 3, township of Essex. 
This settlement remained and prospered (as much as any 
Indian village can ever be said to prosper) for a considera- 
ble time after the coming of the first white settlers. There 
were ah^o villages of Makitoquet's people farther down the 
river, in the present township of Lebanon (on section 14 
and at one or two other points), but these were not as an- 
cient as the one first mentioned : and they were, in fact, 
more like camps than permanent villages, but were always 
fully occupied during the sugaring season. The sub-chief, 
Wintagowish, was a kind of lieutenant to Makitoquet. 
The latter became a land-owner ( having purchased land 
from government) in Lebanon in 1837. 

Passing from Makitoquet's village down the Maple River 
to a point at or very near where the present village of Muir 
stands, there would have been found at that time a settle- 
ment of Chippewas, mixed with Ottawas, all under the 
authority of a chief named Cocoose. The name of this 
chief was also the name of the village. West of this, on 
the Grand River, at the place which is now Lowell, Kent 
Co., was the chief Kewagooshcum's village, also composed 
of Ottawas and Chippewas. Many miles farther up the 
Grand River, on its west bank, in the present township of 
Danby, Ionia Co., and near the west border of Clinton 
County, was the village of Pe-shimnecon (Apple Place), 
which was under the authority of the chiefs Dayomek and 
Kekonosoway, the latter of whom was stabbed to death by 
one of his own braves in a drunken brawl. This village, 
unlike most of the others named, continued to be held by 
the Indians as a place of residence until within recent 
years. 

A few miles south of the southern boundary of Clinton 
County were settlements of the people known as Red Cedar 
Indians, though they belonged to the Shiawassee bands of 
the Saginaws. Their principal chief was the veteran 
Okemos, and next to him in authority were Manitocorb- 
way and Shingwauk, of the first two of whom further men- 
tion will be made. 

" The various bands," says Mr. Williams, " all belonged 
to the Chippewa or Saginaw tribe. We found them scat- 
tered over this vast primitive forest, each band known by 
its locality or chief They subsisted principally by hunting, 
though all had summer residences, where ihey raised min- 
dor-miii (corn), potatoes, turnips, beans, and sometimes 
squashes, pumpkins, and melons." 

At or near all their villages, on the Maple, the Looking- 
Glass, and the Shiawassee, there were corn-fields, which they 
planted year after year with the same crops. The largest 
of the corn-fields in all this region were tho.se in the vicin- 
ity of Shermanito's village on the Shiawassee, now Ches- 
aning, Saginaw Co., a little north of the Shiawassee County 
line. Fields of considerable extent were situated midway 
between Vernon and Shiawassee Town. Smaller ones were 
found near the villages and camping-grounds on the Look- 
ing-Glass, the Grand, and Maple Rivers, as also at Keche- 
wondaugoning, on the Shiawa.ssee. At the latter place 
there was a small Indian orchard of stunted and uncared- 



14 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



for apple-trees, and similar ones were found at several 
places in both counties. The Indians carried on their agri- 
culture in a careless, slovenly, and superficial way. Of 
course they were ignorant of the use of plows, and the few 
implements which they had were of the rudest and most 
primitive kind. They had plenty of poor and scrawny 
ponies, but these were wholly uncared for, and were never 
made use of except for riding. From lack of care, and the 
planting of the same fields for many years in succes.sion, 
these had become overgrown with grass, weeds, and sumach- 
bushes, so that the crops obtained were very meagre, and 
but for the almost boundless stores of food furnished by the 
streams and forests, the people must have been constantly 
in a state bordering on famine. 

It was their custom during the autumn to move from 
the vicinity of their fields, proceeding up towards the heads 
of the streams, making halts at intervals of six or eight 
miles, and camping for a considerable time at each halting- 
place for purposes of hunting and fishing. Upon the 
approach of winter they floated back in their canoes (car- 
rying them round rapids and obstructions), and betook 
themselves to their winter C[uarters in comparatively shel- 
tered places within the shelter of the denser forests. From 
there the young men went out to the winter hunting- and 
trapping-grounds, through which they roamed till the ap- 
proach of spring, when all, men, women, and children, en- 
gaged in sugar-making until the sap ceased to flow ; and 
after this process was finished they again moved to their 
corn-fields, and having planted and harvested, and fished 
and hunted up to the head-waters of the streams during the 
summer and autumn, they again returned to their forest 
camps or villages to pass the winter as before. 

The manufacture of sugar was one of the principal In- 
dian industries, if the term industry can be properly applied 
to anything existing in an Indian community. They pro- 
duced large quantities of this article, and of as good quality 
as is made by white people. Having completed its manu- 
facture for the year, they packed it in mokoks (vessels or 
packages neatly made of birch-bark) and buried it in the 
ground, where it was kept in good condition for future use 
or sale. Their sugar- making resources were, of course, al- 
most unlimited, for noble groves of maple abounded every- 
where. There were extensive ones in the vicinity of the 
Big Rapids of the Shiawassee, and many others of perhaps 
equal extent along the valleys of the Maple, the Looking- 
Glass, and other streams ; and, in fact, through nearly every 
part of the territory of Clinton and Shiawassee Counties. 

The Chippewas, like all other Indians, were extremely 
superstitious ; indeed, they appeared to be more marked in 
this peculiarity than were most of the other tribes. It has 
already been mentioned that the ancestors of the later Sagi- 
naw Chippewas imagined that the country which they had 
wrested from the conquered Sauks was haunted by the 
spirits of those whom they had slain, and that it was only 
after the lapse of years that their terrors became allayed 
sufficiently to permit them to occupy the " haunted hunt- 
ing-grounds." But the superstition still remained, and, in 
fact, it was never entirely dispelled. Long after the valleys 
of the Saginaw, the Shiawassee, and the Maple became 



studded with white settlements, the simple Indians still 
believed that mysterious Sauks were lingering in the forests 
and along the margins of their streams for purposes of 
vengeance ; that munesous, or bad spirits, in the form of 
Sauk warriors, were hovering around their villages and 
camps, and on the flanks of their hunting-parties, prevent- 
ing them from being successful in the chase, and bringing 
ill fortune and discomfiture in a hundred ways. So great 
was their dread that when (as was frequently the case) they 
became possessed of the idea that the munesous were in 
their immediate vicinity, they would fly, as if for their 
lives, abandoning everything, — -wigwams, fish, game, and 
peltry, — and no amount of ridicule from the whites could 
convince them of their folly, or induce them to stay and 
face the imaginary danger. " Sometimes, during sugar- 
making,"' said Mr. Truman B. Fox, of Saginaw, " they 
would be seized with a sudden panic, and leave everything, 
— ^their kettles of sap boiling, their mokoks of sugar stand- 
ing in their camps, and their ponies tethered in the woods, 
— and flee helter-skelter to their canoes, as though pursued 
by the Evil One. In answer to the question asked in re- 
gard to the cause of their panic, the invariable answer was 
a shake of the head, and a mournful ' an-do-gwane' (don't 
know)." Some of the northern Indian bands, whose country 
joined that of the Saginaw Chippewas, played upon their 
weak superstition, and derived profit from it by lurking 
around their villages or camps, frightening them into flight, 
and then appropriating the property which they had aban- 
doned. A few shreds of wool from their blankets left stick- 
ing on thorns or dead brushwood, hideous figures drawn with 
coal upon the trunks of trees, or marked on the ground in 
the vicinity of their lodges, was sure to produce this result, 
by indicating the presence of the dreaded munesous. Often 
the Indians would become impressed with the idea that 
these bad spirits had bewitched their firearms, so that they 
could kill no game. " I have had them come to me," says 
Mr. Ephraim S. Williams, of Flint, " from places miles 
distant, bringing their rifles to me, asking me to examine 
and resight them, declaring that the sights had been removed 
(and in most cases they had, but it was by themselves in 
their fright). I have often, and in fact always did when 
applied to, resighted and tried them until they would shoot 
correctly, and then they would go away cheerfully. I 
would tell them they must keep them where the munesous 
could not find them. At other times, having a little bad 
luck in trapping or hunting, they became excited, and would 
say that game had been over and in their traps, and that 
they could not catch anything. I have known them to go 
so far as to insist that a beaver or an otter had been in 
their traps and got out ; that their traps were bewitched or 
spell-bound, and their rifles charmed by the munesous, so 
that they could not catch or kill anything. Then they 
must give a great feast, and have the medicine man or con- 
jurer ; and through his wise and dark performances the 
charm is removed and all is well, and traps and rifles do 
their duty again. These things have been handed down 
for generations." 

A very singular superstitious rite was performed annually 
by the Shiawassee Indians at a place called Pindatongoing 
I meaning the place where the spirit of sound or echo lives), 



INDIAN HISTORY OF THE TWO COUNTIES. 



15 



about two miles above Newburg, on the Shiawassee River, 
where the stream was deep and eddying. The ceremony 
at this place was witnessed in 1831 by Mr. B. O. Williams, 
of Owosso, who thus describes it : " Some of the old In- 
dians every year, in fall or summer, offered up a sacrifice 
to the spirit of the river at that place. They dressed a 
puppy or dog in a fantastic manner by decorating it with 
various colored ribbons, scarlet cloth, beads, or wampum 
tied around it ; also a piece of tobacco and vermilion paint 
around its neck (their own faces blackened), and after burn- 
ing, by the river-side, meat, corn, tobacco, and sometimes 
whisky offerings, would, with many muttered adjurations 
and addresses to the 
spirit, and waving of 
hands, holding the pup, 
cast him into the river, 
and then appear to 
listen and watch, in a 
mournful attitude, its 
struggles as it was 
borne by the current 
down into a deep hole 
in the river at that 
place, the bottom of 
which at that time 
could not be discovered 
without very careful 
inspection. I could 
never learn the origin 
of the legend they then 
had, that the spirit 
had dived down into 
the earth through that 
deep hole, but they be- 
lieved that by a pro- 
pitiatory yearly offering 
their luck in hunting 
and fishing on the river 
would be bettered and 
their health preserved." 
Once a year, soon 
after sugar - making, 
nearly all the Indians 
of the interior repaired 
to Kepayshowink (the 
great camping-ground), 
which was at the place 
where Saginaw City now stands. 



They went there for the 
purpose of engaging in a grand jubilee of one or two weeks' 
duration, engaging in dances, games, and feats of strength ; 
and as they were usually able to obtain liquor there, these 
gatherings often brought about quarrels and deadly fighting. 
" If an injury had been done to one party by another it 
was generally settled here, either with property, such as 
arms, ponies, or blankets, or by the price of life. If the 
injury had been one of an exceedingly aggravated nature, 
a life was demanded, and stoically and unflinchingly yielded 
up by the doomed party." Many an inveterate Indian feud 
reached a bloody termination on the " great camping- 
ground" at Saginaw. 



Although the Red Cedar band, of which Okemos* was 
the leader, had its settlements several miles south of Shi- 
awassee and Clinton Counties, yet a brief mention of the 
old chief is not out of place in the history of these 
counties, for it was in one of them that he first saw the 
light, and in the other that he died ; and the territory of 
both of them was roamed over as a hunting-ground for 
many years by him and his followers in common with the 
bands whose villages and fields were within its boundaries. 
Okemos was born at or near the Grand Saline, in what 
is now Shiawassee County, at a date which is not precisely 
known, but which has been placed by some historians at 

about 1788. That this 
date is nearly the correct 
one seems not improb- 
able, for reasons which 
will presently be given. 
He was of Saginaw 
Chippewa stock, his 
people having been of 
the Shiawassee bands 
of that tribe. It has 
been said by some that 
he was the nephew of 
the great Pontiac, but 
there is little reason to 
believe that such was 
the case, though it is 
not strange that he 
should, in the spirit of 
genuine Indian boast- 
fulness, be more than 
willing to favor the idea 
that he sustained that 
relation to the redoubt- 
able Ottawa chieftain. 

How and where the 
earlier years of Okemos 
were passed is not 
known. His first ap- 
pearance as a warrior 
was at Sandusky in 
the war of 1812, and 
his participation in 
that fight was the prin- 

OKEMOS. ^'P*' '^^'^"' of ''" 'lis 

life. On that occa- 
sionf eighteen young Chippewa braves, among whom were 
Okemos and his cousin Manilocorbway, and who were serv- 
ing as scouts on the side of the British, had come in from 
the river Raisin, and were crouching in ambush not far from 

* Okemos, or Ogemaw, meant, in the Chippewa language, " Little 
Chief,'' and Clie-ogemaw, " Big Chief." Whether the name ** Little 
Chief," as applied to this Indian, had reference to his small stature 
(as he was very short) or to the extent of his power and authority as 
a chief, does not appear. 

I The account here given of the participation of Okemos and his 
cousin Manitocorbw.iy in the fight at Sandusky is written from facts 
furnished by B. 0. Williams, Esq., of Owosso, who had a minute 
account of it from the two chiefs themselves, with both of whom he 
was well acquainted. 




16 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



the fort of Sandusky, waiting to surprise the American 
supply-wagons or any small detachment that might pass 
their lurking-place. Suddenly there appeared a body of 
twenty American cavalrymen approaching them directly in 
front. The red warriors promptly made their plans, which 
was to wait till they could count the buttons on the coats 
of the troopers, then to deliver their fire and close on them 
with the tomahawk, fully expecting that in the disorder 
produced by their volley they would be able to kill most of 
them and take many scalps. But they had reckoned with- 
out their host. When the flash of their guns disclosed 
their place of concealment the cavalrymen instantly charged 
through the cover upon them, sabre in hand. Almost at 
the same instant a bugle-blast echoed through the woods, 
and a few moments later a much larger body of horsemen, 
warned of the presence of an enemy by the firing, came 
up at a gallop to the help of their friends. The Indians, en- 
tirely surrounded, were cut down to a man, and, gashed and 
pierced by sabre-thrusts, were all left on the field for dead. 
Most of them were so, but life was not quite extinct in 
Okemos and Manitocorbway, though both were wholly in- 
.sensible, and remained so for many hours. At last Okemos 
returned to consciousness, and found that his cousin was 
also living and conscious. Together these two managed 
to crawl to a small stream near by, where they refreshed 
themselves by drinking, and washing off the clotted blood, 
and then, crawling, rolling, dragging themselves painfully 
and slowly along the ground, they at last reached the river, 
found a canoe, succeeded in getting into it, pushed off into 
the stream, and relapsed to a state of insensibility, in which 
condition they were not long afterwards discovered and 
rescued by Indians of their own or a friendly band. When 
at last they again returned to consciousness they were sur- 
prised at finding themselves in charge of squaws, who were 
faithfully and tenderly nursing them. Finally, both recov- 
ered, but Okemos never wholly regained his former vigor, 
and Manitocorbway was little better than a cripple during 
the remainder of his life. Each had been gashed with a 
dozen wounds ; the skulls of both had been cloven, and 
tliey carried the broad, deep marks of the sabre-cuts to 
their graves. 

Okemos was but a common warrior in the fight at San- 
dusky, but for the high qualities and endurance which he 
showed at that time he was made a chief, and became the 
leader of tlie lied Cedar band of Shiawassee Chippewas. 
He obtained, through the intercession of Col. Godfioy, a 
pardon from the government for the part which he had 
taken in favor of the British, and he never again fought 
against the Americans. The .same was the case with his 
kinsman, Manitocorbway. 

After the close of the war Okemos made a permanent 
settlement with his baud on the banks of the Cedar River, 
in Ingham County, a few miles east of Lansing. There 
were the villages of Okemos, Manitocorbway, and Shing- 
wauk, — the latter two being also chiefs. Tiieir settlements 
were all located in the vicinity of the present village and 
railroad station of Okemos, and there the baud remained 
till finally broken up and scattered. 

Through all his life Okemos was (almost as a matter of 
course) addicted to the liberal use of ardent spirits, and in 



his later years (notably from the time when his band be- 
came broken up and bim.self little more than a wanderer) 
this habit grew stronger upon him, yet he never forgot his 
dignity. He was always exceedingly proud of his chief- 
ship, and of his (real or pretended) relationship to the 
great Pontiac, and he was always boastful of his exploits. 
But he sometimes found himself in a position wliere neither 
his rank nor his vaunted prowess could shield him from 
deserved punishment. Upon one such occasion, in the 
year 1832, he appeared at the Williams trading-post on 
the Shiawa.ssee, and, backed by twelve or fifteen braves of 
his band, demanded whi.'^ky. B. 0. Williams, who was 
then present and in charge, replied that he had no liquor. 
" I have money and will pay," said Okemos. " You had 
plenty of whisky yesterday, and I will have it. You re- 
fuse because you are afraid to sell it to me !" " It is true," 
said the proprietor, " that I had whisky yesterday, but I 
have not now, and if I had, you .should not have it. And 
if you think I am afraid, look right in my eye and see if 
you can discover fear there." The chief became enraged, 
and ordered his men to enter the trading-house and roll 
out a barrel of whisky, saying that he himself would knock 
in the head. " Go in if you wish to," said Williams, care- 
lessly, " my door is always open !" But the braves were 
discreet, and did not move in obedience to their chief's 
order. Then Okemos grew doubly furious, but in an in- 
stant Mr. Williams sprang upon him, seized him by the 
throat and face with so powerful a grip that the blood 
spirted; he snatched the chief's knife from his belt and 
ordered him to hand over his tomahawk, which he did 
without unnecessary delay. He was then ordered to leave 
the place instantly, and never, as he valued his safety, to 
be seen at the trading-house again. Disarmed, cowed, and 
completely humbled, he obeyed at once, and moved rapidly 
away followed by his braves, who had stood passively by 
without attempting to interfere in his behalf during the 
scene above described. 

Some time afterwards Mr. Williams visited the settle- 
ments of the Red Cedars for purposes of trade, and made 
his headquarters at the village of Manitocorbway, whom 
he held in high esteem as an honest, peaceable, and straight- 
forward Indian. While there a messenger came to him 
from Okemos, — whose village was not far off, — requesting 
him to come there and trade with him. He had not in- 
tended to go to Okemos' village, and was not disposed to do 
so even upon this invitation ; but at the earnest solicitation 
of his friend Manitocorbway he finally went, and was re- 
ceived by Okemos with marked deference and respect. 
The chief had previously dealt at Baptiste's trading-post, 
on Grand River, below Jacksonburgh, but from this time 
all his trade was taken to the Williams station on the 
Shiawassee. This incident illustrates that Indian trait of 
character which invariably led them to give their warmest 
friendship and admiration to those who had boldly defied and 
chastised them, instead of allowing themselves to be brow- 
beaten by their threats and insolence. 

After the breaking up of his band on the Cedar, Okemos 
had never any permanent place of residence. It is said 
that he then resigned his chiefship to his son,* and thie 

'^Tbia son, John Okemos, is now a farmer in Montcalm Co., Mich. 



INDIAN TllEATIES AND CESSIONS OF LANDS. 



17 



may be true, but it' there was such a pretended " resigna- 
tion" it was wholly nominal and without effect, for lie had 
ceased to have a following, and therefore had no real chief- 
ship to resign. It has also been stated that in his latter 
years he degenerated into a vagabond, a coininon drunkard, 
and a beggar, but this is wholly incorrect. lie was cer- 
tainly fond of liquor, and occasionally became intoxicated, 
but never grossly or helplessly so, nor was it a common prac- 
tice with iiim. Neither was he a beggar; for, though 
small presents were often bestowed upon him, it was never 
done on account of solicitation on his part. That he was 
regarded with a considerable degree of respect is shown by 
the fact that he was not infrequently entertained as a guest 
at the houses of people who had known him in his more 
pro.sperous days. This was done by citizens of Lansing, 
Corunna, and Owosso ; among the latter being the brothers 
A. L. and B. 0. Williams, the two earliest white acquaint- 
ances of the chief in all this region. 

Okemos died on the 4th of December, 1858, at his camp 
on the Looking-Giass River, in Clinton County, above the 
village of De Witt. His remains — dressed in the blanket 
coat and Indian leggins which he had worn in life — were 
laid in a rough board coffin, in which were also placed his 
pipe-hatchet, buckhorn-handled knife, tobacco, and some 
provisions ; and thus equipped for the journey to the happy 
hunting-grounds, he was carried to the old village of Pe- 
shimnecon, in Ionia County, and there interred in an ancient 
Indian burial-ground near the banks of the Grand lliver. 

The age of Okemos is not known. Some writers have 
made tlie loose assertion (similar to those which are fre- 
quently made in reference to aged Indian chiefs) that he 
was a centenarian at the time of his death, while others 
have reduced the figure to between eighty and eighty-five 
years. In one account of him his birth is placed in the 
year 1788, as before mentioned. Mr. B. 0. Williams was 
told by both Okemos and Manitocorbway that the Sandusky 
fight was the first in which they had ever been engaged, 
and that both of them were at that time young and inex- 
perienced warriors. This, with the fact that until the end 
of his life Okemos was lithe in body and elastic in step, 
showing none of the signs of extreme old age, renders it 
probable that the year mentioned was nearly the correct 
date of his birth,* which would give him the age of seventy 
years at the time of his death. 

Of the character of the Indians of this region, and their 
melancholy fate, Mr. B. 0. Williams says, " They were 
hospitable, honest, and friendly, although always reserved 
until well acquainted; never obtrusive unless under the 
influence of their most deadly enemy, intoxicating drink. 
None of these spoke a word of English, and they evinced 
no desire to learn it. ... I believe they were as virtuous 
and guileless a people as I have ever lived among, previous 
to their great destruction in 1834 by the cholera, and again 
their almost extermination during the summer of 1837 by 

" This would make Okemos about twenty-five years old at the time 
of the Sandusky fight; nnd, from the statement which both he and 
Manitocorbway made to Mr. AVilliams, it is almost certain that his 
ago could not have been more than that (and was most probably a few 
years less) at the time of the fight. 

3 



the (to them) most dreaded disease, smallpox, which was 
brought to Chesaning from Saginaw, — they fully believing 
that one of the Saginaw Indians had been purposely inoc- 
ulated by a doctor there, the belief arising from the fact 
that an Indian had been vaccinated by the doctor, probably 
after his exposure to the disease, and the man died of small- 
pox. The Indians always dreaded vaccination from fear 
and suspicion of the operation. 

" The Asiatic cholera of 1832 did not reach the interior 
of Michigan, but in 1834 it seemed to be all over the 
country, and was certainly atmospheric, as it attacked In- 
dians along the Shiawassee and other rivers, producing con- 
vulsions, cramps, and death after a few hours. This began 
to break up the Indians at their various villages. The white 
settlements becoming general, and many persons selling 
them whisky (then easily purchased at the distilleries for 
twenty-five cents per gallon), soon told fearfully on them. 
When the smallpox broke out in 1837 they fled to the 
woods by families, but not until some one of the family 
broke out with the disease and died. Thus whole villages 
and bands were decimated, and during the summer and fall 
many were left without a burial at the camps in the woods, 
and were devoured by wolves. I visited the village of Che- 
as-sin-ning — now Chesaning — and saw in the summer-camps 
several bodies partially covered up, and not a living soul 
could I find, except one old squaw, who was convalescent. 
Most of the adults attacked died, but it is a remarkable 
fact that no white person ever took the disease from them,f 
although in many instances the poor, emaciated creatures 
visited white families while covered with pustules. Thus 
passed away those once proud owners of the land, leaving 
a sickly, depressed, and eventually a begging, debased rem- 
nant of a race that a few years before scorned a mean act, 
and among whom a theft was scarcely ever known. I do 
not think I possess any morbid sentimentality for Indians. 
I simply wish to represent them as we found them. What 
they are now is easily seen by the few wretched specimens 
around us." 



CHAPTER II. 



INDIAN TREATIES AND CESSION* OP LANDS- 
INDIAN EMIGRATION. 

Treaties of 17H5 and 1807 — Cession of Territory East of the Prin- 
cipal Meridian — Treaty of Springwells in IS 15 — Treaty of Saginaw 
(ISltt) and Cession of Lands West of the Meridian — Indian Reser- 
vations — Plans for Indian Emigration — Removal of Pottawattamie 
Refugees. 

It is a principle which has been recognized by the gov- 
ernment of the United Slates from the time of its formation, 
that the Indians had possessory rights in the lands which 
they occupied, but that those rights could pass from them 
only to the government, and that this could only be done 
by their own voluntary act in public and open council held 

f It is a singular fact, also, that although the disease was so exceed- 
ingly fatal to the Indians on the Shiawassee, and in less degree to 
those in the valley of the Looking-Glass, it was not eommunicated to 
the Maple River Indians at all, and they remained wholly unharmed 
by it. 



18 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



by an accredited agent or commissioner of the United States, 
with the chiefs and head men of the tribes interested. And 
this principle and method liave always been observed by 
the government in treaties held with Indians for the pur- 
chase of their territory. 

The treaty by which the first cession was made of Indian 
lands now in the State of Michigan was concluded on the 
3d of August, 179.5, at Greenville, Ohio, by Gen. Anthony 
Wayne, for the United States, with the chiefs of the Chip- 
pewa, Ottawa, Pottawattamie, and other tribes, who there 
ceded to the United States " the post of Detroit and all the 
lands to the north, the west, and the south of it of whieh 
the Indian title has been extinguished by gifts or grants to 
tiie French or English governments, and so much more 
land to be annexed to the district of Detroit as shall be 
comprehended between the river Rosine (Raisin) on the 
south. Lake St. Clair on the north, and a line, the general 
course of which shall be six miles distant from the west end 
of Lake Erie and Detroit River," with several other tracts, 
among which were the post of Michilimackinac and lands 
adjacent, and the island of Bois Blanc ; menliuned as being 
an extra and voluntary gift of the Chippewa nation. 

On the part of the government it was expressly stipu- 
lated that " the United States relinquish their claims to all 
other Indian lands northward of the river Ohio, eastward of 
the Mississippi, and westward and southward of the great 
lakes and the waters uniting them, according to the bound- 
ary line agreed on between the United States and the 
King of Great Britain in the peace made between them in 
the year 1783." This the government did in consideration 
of the peace established by the treaty, and of the cessions 
made by the Indians, as well as " to manifest the liberality 
of the United States as the means of making the peace 
strong and perpetual." It was also declared in the treaty 
that '• the Indian tribes who have a right to those lands are 
quietly to enjoy them ; hunting, planting, and dwelling 
thereon so long as they please, without any molestation 
from the United States; but when these tribes or any of 
them shall be disposed to sell their lands or any part of 
them, they are to be sold only to the United States; and 
until such sale the United States will protect the said Indian 
tribes in the q«iet enjoyment of their lands against all 
citizens of the United States, and against all other white 
persons who intrude upon the same." This treaty left the 
Indians still in possession of all Slichigan except the six- 
mile strip along the Detroit River, the island of Bois Blanc, 
Michilimackinac, and a few small tracts in actual possession 
of white occupants (principally French settlers) outside the 
six-mile strip. 

All the southeastern part of Michigan (including four- 
fifths of the present county of Shiawassee) was ceded to 
the United States by the terms of a treaty concluded at 
Detroit, Nov. 17, 18U7, " by William Hull, Governor of the 
Territory of Michigan, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, and 
sole commissioner of tiie United States to conclude and sign 
a treaty or treaties with the several nations of Indians north- 
west of the river Ohio, on the one part, and the sachems, 
chiefs, and warriors of the Ottoway, Chippeway, Wyandotte, 



and Pottawattamie nations of Indians on the other part." 
The territory here ceded was described in the treaty as " be- 
ginning at the mouth of the Miami River of the Lakes (the 
Maumee),and running thence up the middle thereof to the 
mouth of the Great Auglaize River ; thence due north 
until it intersects a parallel of latitude to be drawn from 
the outlet of Lake Huron, which forms the river Sinclair; 
thence running northeast on the course that may be found 
will lead in a direct line to White Rock in Lake Huron ; 
thence due east until it intersects the boundary-line between 
the United States and Upper Canada in said lake ; then 
southwardly, following the said boundary-line down said 
lake, through the river Sinclair, Lake St. Clair, and the 
river Detroit into Lake Erie, to a point due east of the 
aforesaid Miami River ; thence west to the place of begin- 
ning." In payment for this immense tract of land, the 
Indians were to receive from the government — in money, . 
goods, agricultural implements, or domestic animals, at the 
discretion of Gen. Hull — the sum of three thousand three 
hundred and thirty-three dollars and thirty-three cents each 
to the Chippewa and Ottawa tribes, and one-half that sum 
each to the Wyandottes and Pottawattamics ; with an 
annuity of two thousand dollars each to the Chippewas 
and Ottawas, and one thousand dollars each to the other 
tribes. The Chippewas and Ottawas were also to be fur- 
nished each with a blacksmith for the period of ten years ; 
the former to reside at Saginaw and the latter at the Indian 
settlement on the Maumee, " to do such work for the said 
nations as shall be most useful to them." 

The line forming the western boundary of the tract 
ceded by this treaty, viz., the line from the mouth of tlie 
Great Auglaize, and running " thence due north until it 
intersects a parallel of latitude to be drawn from the outlet 
of Lake Huron," was known for many years after as the 
" Indian Boundary-Line," and this, prolonged northward to 
the east end of Bois Blanc Island, in the Straits of Macki- 
nac, was identical, or very nearly so, with the line afterwards 
adopted by the United States surveyors as the principal 
meridian of the lower peninsula of Michigan, which is the 
dividing-line between the counties of Clinton and Shiawas- 
see. The territory which the Indians ceded at the Detroit 
treaty embraced all of Michigan lying east of this line as 
far north as the northwest corner of the township of Sciota 
in Shiawassee County, and south of a line drawn from 
thence northeast to Lake Huron ; thus including all of 
Shiawassee County except the township of Fairfield and 
parts of the townships of Middlebury, Owosso, llu.sh, and 
New Haven. Over all of the ceded territory until sold to 
settlers the Indians had the right reserved to hunt and fish 
at will during good behavior. 

After the close of the war of 1812-15 a treaty was held 
at Springwells, near Detroit, by Gen. William H. Harrison, 
Gen. McArthur, and John Graham, on behalf of the gov- 
ernment, with the chiefs of the Chippewa, Ottawa, and 
Pottawattamie tribes, for purposes of conciliation, and to- 
restore to these Indians the rights which by their hostility 
to the United States during the then late war they were 
considered to have justly forfeited, and which they them- 
selves scarcely expected to be allowed to retain. The 
treaty, which was made and concluded on the 8th of 



INDIAN TREATIES AND CESSIONS OF LANDS. 



19 



September, 1815, declared that " tlie United States jjive 
peace to the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Pottawattamie tribes. 
They also agree to restore to tlie said Chippewa, Ottawa, 
and Pottawattamie tribes all their possessions, rights, and 
privileges which they enjoyed or were entitled to in the 
year 1811, prior to the late war with Great Britain; and 
the said tribes upon their part agree to place themselves 
under the protection of the United States, and of no other 
power whatsoever." Previous treaties and cessions were 
also confirmed and ratified. 

The treaty by which the Indian owners ceded to the 
United States a large scope of territory including all the 
present county of Clinton and all that part of Shiawassee 
not embraced in the Detroit cession of 1807, was held at 
Saginaw, in September, 1819, by Gen. Lewis Cass,, Gov- 
ernor of Michigan and ex-qfficio Indian commissioner, with 
the chiefs and head men of the Chippewa tribe of the lower 
peninsula. Soon after the close of the war of 1812-15 the 
attention of West-bound emigrants from the old States began 
to be strongly directed towards Michigan Territory, and it 
became evident'to the clear mind of Governor Cass that, 
broad as was the domain acquired by the treaties of 1795 
and 1807, it would soon be found too narrow to receive the 
immigration which had already begun to spread westward 
and northward from Detroit. He therefore at once set 
about the task of securing further cessions from the na- 
tives, and having laid bis plans before the government, 
and received its sanction with authority to proceed in the 
matter, he convened the chiefs in council, as above men- 
tioned. 

The Governor, accompanied by quite a numerous retinue, 
composed of his secretaries, Robert A. Forsyth (who was 
also acting couimissioner), John L. Leib, and D. G. Whit- 
ney, with several other persons, set out from Detroit on 
horseback on the 7th of September, and proceeding north- 
westwardly through the woods and openings by way of 
Royal Oak, Pontiac, Silver Lake, Grand Blanc, and the 
Grand Traverse of the Flint River (now Flint City), ar- 
rived at the Saginaw treaty-ground on the 10th. Two 
small vessels, — a sloop and a schooner, — which had left 
Detroit a few days before, had already arrived, and lay 
moored in the river. They were laden with subsistence 
stores, silver coin to be used in payment for the lands ex- 
pected to be ceded, and goods intended for Indian presents; 
and they brought also a company of the Third United 
States Infantry, under command of Capt. C. L. Cass (a 
brother of the Governor), who liad disembarked his com- 
mand, and encamped it on the bank of the stream. The 
presence of these troops was thought to be necessary, in 
view of the possibility of an attempt at violence by some 
of the bands. 

On his arrival, Gen. Cass found a large number of In- 
dians assembled, but yet the attendance was not as numer- 
ous as he had expected. Having found, upon inquiry, that 
a ndmber of the more remote bauds were unrepresented, 
he dispatched runners to the villages on the Huron (now 
Ca.s,s), Flint, Shiawassee, Mishtegayock, Maple, and Titta- 
bawassee Rivers, to give further notification to the chiefs, 
and to urge tlicm to come in and join in the council. 



This pressing invitation had the desired eifect, and nearly 
all the absentee chiefs and warriors, with their squaws and 
pappooses, made haste to join their red brethren at the 
rendezvous. 

When all had come in, and the preparations were com- 
plete, the council was opened, in a large house (or more 
properly a bower, as its covering was composed principally 
of the branches of trees) which had been built for the 
occasion, on the bank of the Saginaw, by Louis Campau, 
the trader, by direction of Gen. Cass. All around this 
structure, and crowding closely up to the line which they 
were not allowed to enter, were squaws and pappooses from 
every band of the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, eager to look 
upon the ceremonies which were little less than mysterious 
to them. Next in their front — -and inside the leafy 
" council-house" — were the young men and warriors, 
while within their circle, seated on the trunks of trees 
which had been placed there for that purpose, were the 
chiefs and sagamores, those of highest rank being clustered 
round a low platform of hewn logs, on which were seated 
Gen. Cass, liis secretaries, — Forsyth, Leib, and Whitney, 
— Capt. Cass and Lieut. John Peacock, of the Third In- 
fantry, Capt. Chester Root, of the United States Artillery, 
Whitmore Knaggs (Indian trader, sub-agent, and principal 
interpreter), and some others. Other interpreters present 
were Louis Beaufait, John Ilurson, William Tuckey, and 
Henry Connor, who was known among the Indians as 
Wabaskindebay, or " White Hair." Among the traders 
who made themselves officious on the occasion were Louis 
and Antoine Campau, Jacob Smith, and Archibald Lyons, 
who was afterwards drowned in the Tittabawassee while in 
the employ of G. D. and E. S. Williams at their station 
near where Midland City now stands. 

Gen. Cass opened the council by an address to the In- 
dians, delivered through his interpreters. He told them 
that the Great Father (the President) earnestly desired 
to preserve and perpetuate the peace which had been estab- 
lished between their tribes and the government ; that he 
had the welfare of bis red children at heart, and wished to 
see them gradually change their mode of life by depending 
more on the pursuits of agriculture and less on hunting 
and fishing, which would grow more and more precarious 
year by year because the advance of white immigration 
was moving resistlessly towards them, and in a little time 
their streams would become less prolific, and their game 
would be driven to more remote hunting-grounds. He 
explained to them that the government, wishing to pur- 
chase their lands for the use of white settlers, would pay 
them a generous price ; and that other lands, ample in 
extent, and as fertile as these, would be set apart for the 
perpetual use of themselves and their children. 

The original object of Gen. Cass was not only to induce 
the Chippewas to cede their lands, but also to obtain from 
them an agreement to remove from the peninsula and locate 
themselves on tracts to be selected for them west of Lake 
Michigan, or perhaps beyond the Mississippi. This object 
was made apparent by the tenor of his opening speech, and 
it roused the opposition and resentment of the chiefs to 
such a degree as to threaten a suspension of all negotiations. 
The first Indian who spoke in rej)ly to the Governor was 



20 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Kishkawko* the principal chief of the Saginaws. He 
spoke in a violent and angry manner against the cession of 
any of their lands, and advised the breaking up of the 
council. He was, however, considerably under the influ- 
ence of li(]uor at the time, and on this account his harangue 
had less effect than that of Ogemawkeketo (a name mean- 
ing " chief speaker"), who immediately followed Kishkawko 
in a speech which was far less violent, but quite as uncom- 
promising in its opposition to the objects of Gen. Cass. 
Mishenanoncquet and other chiefs spoke in nearly the same 
vein, and when the council was ended for the day the pros- 
pect of the conclusion of a treaty was far from favorable. 
At the close. Gen. Cass, after having told the chiefs in a 
friendly manner to go to their wigwams " and smoke and 
talk the matter over together," retired with his secretaries 
to their quarters in a state of disappointment and great 
anxiety in view of the not improbable failure of the nego- 
tiations. Tiiere was one favorable circumstance, however : 
the chief, Kishkawko, had reached a state of helpless in- 
toxication, and he remained in that condition for the follow- 
ing eight or ten days, not again making his appearance 
until all the terms of the treaty had been agreed on. 

The Indians had retired sullen and almost rebellious, and 
no other session of the council was held for several days. 
But during that time powerful influences in favor of the 
treaty had been brought to bear on them by Jacob Smith 
and other traders, who wished, for private reasons of their 
own, to see the sale consummated. The trader Smith, in 
particular, was high in fiivor with old Ncome and a great 
number of the other chiefs, and his influence over them 
was great. He was favorable to the cession, because in it 
he expected to (and eventually did) secure a number of 
choice reservations of land for his children. Archibald 



* Kishkawko was not a Chippewa, but a member of one of the 
CanadiaD tribes, who came to Saj^inaw and by some means was ena- 
bled to usurp the power and place of principal chief. lie was de- 
scribed as "a miserable tyrant and a villainous coward." Mr. Tru- 
man B. Fox, in his mention of Kishkawko, says: "The early settlers 
of Oakland County were very much annoyed by this villain and his 
cowardly band as they passed through that section of the country on 
their way to Maiden to receive their annual presents from the liritish 
government. Kishkawko was in the habit of traveling with thirty or 
forty scoundrels, whom he called his warriors, and taking advantage 
of the sparseness of the settlements would levy contributions upon 
the poor settlers. If his demands were not readily complied with he 
would take what he wanted by force, such as cattle, hogs, etc., thus 
subjecting the poor settlers to great suffering and continual fear. 
Upon one occasion, after his arrival at Detroit, which happened a 
few days before payment, his men being very hungry, he applied to 
some of the authorities for food, ' for,' said he, ' unless my young 
men get something to eat it will be impossible for me to restrain them 
from robbing the settlers along the route.* *Sir,' returned Gen. 
Cass, 'if your young men commit any depredations upon the settlers 
I will send nil/ young men to punish them.' Notwithstanding this 
intimation depredations were occasionally committed upon the set- 
tlers with impunity. Kishkawko at length came to his end in a man- 
ner strikingly in keeping with his wicked and cowardly career. One 
day, while encamped at a place a little above Detroit, known as Chaine 
Farm, he got into a drunken row and killed an Indian. He was 
arrested by the ]>roper authorities and imprisoned in the old Detroit 
jail, where he remained several months. Feeling assured from his 
jjast conduct that he need e.xpect no mercy or lenity from the hands 
of those he had so often outraged, and that his death was certain, ho 
anticipated the law by taking poison, supposed to have been provided 
him by his squaws." 



Lyons was another who expected (and received) a similar 
favor for his half-breed daughter Elizabeth. Several other 
traders (among whom a principal one was Louis Campau) 
stood well in the confidence of the Chippewas, and all these 
exerted their powers of persuasion to induce the Indians to 
majve the treaty, in the hope of receiving certain arrearages 
due them out of the silver coin which would be paid in 
consideration of the cession. 

Gen. Cass, although he was Governor of Michigan and 
commissioner of Indian afiairs, and was backed by the 
military force of the United States, did not wield one-half 
the power over the savages which was exercised by these 
traders ; but the latter used theirs so effectually that at the 
end of a few dttys they had nearly overcome the opposition. 
Having accomplished this result they notified Gen. Cass 
(who had all the while been aware of the means that were 
being employed), and he thereupon reconvened the chiefs 
and warriors in the council-house. 

At this second council there was still a considerable 
amount of discussion among the chiefs, but as the principal 
difficulty had already been surmounted by the arguments 
and persuasions of the traders, the scenes of the previous 
meeting were not re-enacted here. All the circumstances were 
now favorable I'or the conclusion of a treaty. The most de- 
termined opponent, Kishkawko, was absent (not having yet 
recovered from his debauch), and the chief speaker, Oge- 
maiykeketo, had been won over by the traders. Gen. Cass, 
having found that the Indians were bitterly hostile to tiie 
plan for removing them beyond Lake Michigan, and that 
if the measure was insisted on it would most probably re- 
sult in the failure of the treaty, had ceased to press the 
proposition, and substituted for it the plan of granting 
tribal and individual reservations within the tract to be 
ceded. These circumstances had wrought such a favorable 
change in the feelings of the chiefs that the parties had 
little difiiculty in agreeing on the terms of a treaty, whicli 
was virtually concluded at this sitting; all that remained to 
be done being to engross it in due form, and to aflix to it 
the signatures of the commissioner, the chiefs, and the wit- 
nesses. 

On the following day (September 24th) the third and 
last session of the council was held, and the treaty was 
formally signed. The Indian attendance was much larger 
at this than at either of the previous councils, being esti- 
mated at fully two thousand chiefs and warriors ; while a 
still greater number of women and children were crowded 
together on the outskirts of the assemblage. The ceremony 
of signing the treaty was made as imposing as possible. 
The first name written upon the document was, of course, 
that of Lewis Cass, United States Indian commissioner, 
and this was followed by the totems of one hundred and 
fourteen Chippewa and Ottawaf chiefs. Old Kishkawko 
had finally come out of his prolonged trance, and was 
present— somewhat sullen, but very quiet and dignified — 

I Only a very few Otlawas, however, were included among the 
chiefs who signed the Saginaw treaty. The Ottawas were regarded 
as the owners of a small part {the southwestern portion) of the lands 
ceded by this treaty ; but theyhad no proprietorship in the eastern 
part, which (including the two counties to which this history has ref- 
erence) was embraced in the domain of the Chippewas. 



INDIAN TREATIES AND CESSIONS OF LANDS. 



21 



and affixed his mark to the treaty with those of the other 
chiefs. The execution of tlie treaty was witnessed by 
Actins; Commissioner R. A. Forsyth ; the Governoi's sec- 
retaries, Leib and Whitney; Capts. Cass and Root and 
Lieut. Peacock ; Gabriel Godfroy, sub agent ; the inter- 
preters Knaggs, Beaufait, Ilur.son, and Tuckey ; John 
Hill, army contractor; Henry I. Hunt, Barney Campau, 
William Keith, V. S. Ryley, J. Whipple, A. E. Lacock, 
John Smyth, B. Head, Richard Smyth, Louis Dequindre, 
and Conrad Ten Eyck. 

After the signing, a large table was spread before the 
commissioner, and on this table were placed great piles of 
silver half dollars, which, under the direction of Gen. Cass, 
were to be paid out to the representatives of the several 
bauds. This part of the ceremony was watched with great 
interest by both chiefs and traders, but for somewhat differ- 
ent reasons. Many of the chiefs were indebted in consider- 
able sums to the trader Louis Campau, who had received 
their promise that when the payment was made to them bis 
claim should be liquidated, at least to the amount of fifteen 
hundred dollars. He had already notified Gen. Cass of this 
agreement, and was now anxiously waiting, hoping to re- 
ceive the money from the commissioner without having it 
pass through Indian hands at all. But three of the other 
traders present wore not pleased at the prospect of having 
so considerable a part of the Indians' money appropriated 
to the payment of their old debts. One of these three was 
Jacob Smith, who at once set about the task of persuading 
the wily and treacherous Kishkawko and some of the other 
chiefs to demand that the entire sum due them should be 
paid to the Indians, to be applied by them as they saw fit. 
This diplomacy was so entirely successful that when the 
commissioner explained to the chiefs that Campau was ex- 
pecting to receive his dues, and asked if they consented to 
the arrangement, they replied that they were his children, 
under his protection, and expected that he would pay the 
money into their hands. The general could not disregard 
their expressed wishes in this particular, and be therefore 
directed that the money be paid to them, which was accord- 
ingly done by the secretaries, much to the disgust of Cam- 
pau, who, seeing that his money was lost, and believing 
Smith to be the cause of his discomfiture, leaped from the 
platform where he had been standing, and struck the latter 
two stunning blows in the face. Quick as lightning Smith 
turned on his assailant, but Henry Connor and Louis Beau- 
fait interposed between the belligerents and stopped the 
fight. 

After the payments had been made. Gen. Cass ordered 
five barrels of government whisky to be opened, and the 
liquor to be dealt out to the Indians. Upon seeing this, 
Campau, still filled with wrath at the treatment he had 
received, and blaming the general almost as much as Smith 
for it, ordered up ten barrels of his own whisky, knocked 
in the heads, and posted two men with dippers to supply 
the Indians as they came up. Of course the scene of in- 
toxication that ensued was indescribable. At about ten 
o'clock, the Governor, having become thoroughly alarmed at 
the infernal orgies that surrciunded the trading-house in 
which he was quartered, sent his private secretary, Forsyth, 
with orders to Campau to shut off the supply of liquor ; 



but the trader only deigned the grim reply, " Gen. Cass 
commenced it himself." Then a platoon of Capt. Cass' 
company was detailed to guard the store-house. Soon after 
they had been posted, a new arrival of Indians demanded 
whisky, and, upon being refused and held at bay, rushed on 
the guard to force an entrance, during which attempt one 
of them received a bayonet wound in the leg. In an instant 
the war-whoop was sounded, and in a few minutes more 
swarms of savages, infuriated with liquor, and tomahawk in 
hand, came rushing towards the store. " Stop the liquor, 
Louis! " screamed the Governor of Michigan Territory, as 
he stood in the door of his quarters with a night-cap on 
his head. " W^e shall all be murdered ! Stop the liquor, I 
say!" " Certainement, mon general," replied Campau, 
" but you begun it, and you allowed Smith to rob me. I'll 
keep you safe, but remember you commenced it, mon gen- 
eral." lie appeared to think that the satisfaction of thor- 
oughly frightening Gen. Cass for having allowed Jacob 
Smith to rob him, as he said, was cheaply enough purchased 
by the expenditure of ten barrels of whisky. " I lost my 
whisky and my money," he afterwards remarked, " but I 
had good revenge on Cass." 

By the combined efforts of the interpreters and traders 
the Indians were at length pacified, and they retired to 
their wigwams to sleep off the effects of their intoxication. 
After they had entirely recovered from their debauch they 
became perfectly friendly and tractable, and even after the 
commissioner and his staff of assistants had departed for 
Detroit, they sent the orator-ehief, Washmenondequet, to 
overtake him, and express to him their pleasure and satis- 
faction at the result of the council. 

By the terms of this treaty, the Indians ceded to the 
United States an area of territory estimated at about six 
millions of acres; on consideration of which cession, the 
government agreed to pay to the Chippewa nation annually, 
forever, the sum of one thousand dollars, in silver coin, and, 
also, that all annuities to be paid them in pursuance of the 
stipulations of previous treaties should thereafter be paid 
in silver. The terms of the treaty of Greenville (in 1795j, 
giving the Indians the right to hunt and fish at will upon 
the ceded lands, so long as they remained the property of 
the United States, were applied to this treaty. They were 
also to be permitted to make sugar wherever they chose 
upon the same lands and during the same period, but with- 
out auy unnecessary waste of the trees. The boundaries 
of the cession, as described in the treaty, were as follows : 
" Beginning at a point in the present Indian boundary line 
(identical with the principal meridian of the State) which 
runs due north from the mouth of the great Auglaize River, 
six miles south of the place where the base line, so-called, 
intersects the same ; thence west sixty miles ; thence in a 
direct line to the head of Thunder Bay River ; thence down 
the same, following the courses thereof, to the mouth ; 
thence northeast to the boundary line between the United 
States and the British province of Upper Canada ; thence 
with the same to the line established by the treaty of De- 
troit in the year 1S07 ; and thence with said line to the 
place of beginning." 

This immense tract joined the cession of 1807 along the 
line of the principal meridian, and extended thence west- 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



ward to a point about three miles northeast of the site of 
the village of Kalamazoo. Prom this point, the western 
boundary of the cession was an unsurveyed line extending 
northeasterly tlirough the present counties of Kalamazoo, 
Barry, Ionia, Montcalm, Isabella, Clare, Roscommon, and 
Crawford to Montmorency, embracing all the country be- 
tween the diagonal line mentioned and Lake Huron ;* thus 
including, of course, the entire territory of Clinton County, 
and all of Shiawassee which had not been covered by the 
cession of 1807. 

Within the boundaries of the great tract conveyed to the 
government by the treaty of Saginaw a number of tribal 
and individual reservations were made, viz. : A tract of 
8000 acres, including an Indian village, on the east side of 
the Au Sable ; 2000 acres on the Mesaquisk ; 6000 acres, 
to include an Indian village, on the north side of the Kaw- 
kawling ; 6-10 acres on the same river, " for the use of the 
children of Bowkowtonden ;" 9GI0 acres, in three tracts, 
on the Huron (Cass) River ; an island in Saginaw Bay ; 
a tract of 2000 acres " where Nabobish formerly stood ;" 
1000 acres "near the island in Saginaw River;" 2000 
acres "at the mouth of Point Augrais River;" 10,000 
acres at Big Rock, on the Shiawassee, and " 3000 acres on 
the Shiawassee River at a place called Ketchewandauge- 
nink ;" 6000 acres at Little Porks, on the Tctabawasink 
(Tittabawassee) River, and GOOO acres, near the same 
stream, " at Blackbird's town ;" 40,000 acres " on the 
west side of the Saginaw River, to bo hereafter located ;" 
" one tract of 57G0 acres upon the Flint River, to include 
Reaume's (Neome's) village and a place called Kishkaw- 
bawee ;" individual reservations on the Saginaw River to 
" the Crow" a Ciiippewa chief, and to three half-breed sons 
of Gen. Riley ; also eleven individual reservations of G40 
acres each, at the Grand Traverse of the Flint River, em- 
bracing the site of the present city of Flint ; five of the 
reservations last named being granted for the use of the 
five children of Jacob Smith the trader, whose influence 
with the Indians (exerted principally in view of the secur- 
ing of these same tracts) was largely instrumental in gain- 
ing the Indians' consent to the treaty, and without which 
it could hardly have been made. 

Ths ten-thousand-acre reservation " at Big Rock on the 
Shiawa.ssee River" was located a short distance north of 
the boundary of Shiawassee County, in Saginaw, at the 
jirescnt village of Chesaning, which took its name from the 
old Indian village of Che-as-sin-ning (Big Rock), which 
was included in the reservation. 

The tract of two thousand acres to be located " where 
Nabobish formerly stood" was never laid out, but was 
merged in the forty-thousand-acre reservation " to bo here- 
after located" on the west side of the Saginaw. The old 
village of Nabobish (so called lor the chief of the same 
name, who died before 1830) was the place which was 



* The Indinn title to all that part of the Lower Peninsula which 
remained in possession of the Indians after the conclusion of the 
Saginaw treaty was extinguished by the treaties of Chicago (Aug. 2i), 
1821) and Washington (March 28, ISHC). By the former the Indians 
coded the southwest part of the State as far north as Grand Iliver; 
and by the latter, all the remainder of the peninsula (except a few 
reservations) which had not been included in previous cessions. 



known among the later Indians as Assineboining, .situated 
on the south branch of the Shiawassee, in what is now the 
township of Cohoctah, in the county of Livingston. The 
reason why the Nabobish reservation was never surveyed 
and set apart for the u.se of the Indians in accordance with 
the terms of the treaty is not known, but the fact that it 
was never done caused great dissatisfaction among them ; 
and during all the years of their stay in this region they 
never ceased to refer to it in bitter terms, as an act of bad 
faith on the part of the government. The tract of three 
thousand acres reserved " on the Shiawassee Iliver, at a place 
called Ketchewandaugenink," was the " Grand Saline" or 
" Big Lick" reservation, embracing lands in the northwest 
corner of the present township of Burns, Shiawassee Co., 
and also extending into the adjoining townships of Antrim, 
Shiawassee, and Vernon. This was the only reservation 
ever laid out for Indians within the territory of Shiawassee 
and Clinton Counties. 

Neither the reservation of Kechewondaugoning nor that 
which was promised at Nabobish was, strictly speaking, 
within the scope of the Saginaw treaty, nor within the tract 
there ceded ; for, as has already been stated, the cession of 
18U7 included within its boundaries — as described in the 
treaty of Detroit — a territory which, extending northward 
as far as the centre of the west line of Shiawassee, and run- 
ning thence northeasterly to White Rock on Lake Huron, 
covered all of that county except the northwest corner, — 
about one-sixth part of its area. But the Indians did not 
so understand it. They had no means of knowing where 
the described linos would fall, and they supposed that the 
northern boundary of that cession would pass to the south- 
ward of the head-waters of the Shiawassee River, while in 
fact it crossed that stream within the present boundary of 
Saginaw County. Tiie fact, however, that they believed 
themselves to be still possessors of the Shiawassee Valley is 
proof that they never iiitviulcd to include it in the lands 
ceded by the treaty of 1807. Whether Gen. Cass knew 
that this region was comprehended within the limits of that 
csssion — or, indeed, whether the northern boundary de- 
scribed by the treaty of Detroit was ever accurately run — 
does not appear; but if the commissioner was aware of the 
fact, he did not, and could not, insist on the right of the 
government to the lands which the Indians believed to be 

o 

still their own, for by so doing he would probably liave 
enraged them to such an extent that the treaty of Saginaw 
could not have been concluded. 

PLANS FOR INDIAN EMIGRATION. 
It has already been mentioned that one of the principal 
objects of Gen. Cass in convening the treaty-council at 
Saginaw in September, 1819, was to procure from the In- 
dians an agreement that they would gradually emigrate from 
their old hunting-grounds in Michigan and remove beyond 
the Mississippi River, or at least to the country lying to the 
westward of Lake Michigan ; but in this the commissioner 
was disappointed, as we have seen. This repulse, however, 
did not cause the government to abandon its cherished idea, 
and, finally, after many long years of persuasion, the minds 
of the red men seemed to have become fully prepared to 



INDIAN EMIGRATION. 



23 



ciit(.M-l:iiii (lie proposition for iiltiniute removal to the now 
countries of the far ^Vcst. Finally, at the beginning of the 
year 1837, Henry E. Scliooleraft, Indian coniiuissioner, 
met tlie chiefs and head men of tlie Chippewas in council 
at Detroit, where, on the 14th of January in that year, a 
treaty was concluded by wliich the tribe ceded to tlie United 
States all the reservations, except those granted to individ- 
uals, under the Saginaw treaty of 1819, but retained the 
right to continue for five years in undisturbed occupation 
of their tracts on the Augrais Iliver, and on the Blushowusk 
River west of the Saginaw ; no white man to settle or en- 
croach on those tracts under penalty of five hundred dol- 
lars. The United States agreed to furni.sh a farmer and 
blacksmith for the tribe as before, and to continue the dona- 
tions of cattle and farming utensils. The lands embraced 
in the ceded reservations were to be surveyed by the United 
States and placed in the market with the other public land.s 
as soon as practicable, and the amount due the Indians from 
this source to be invested by the President iu some public 
stock, the interest to be paid annually to the tribe in the 
same manner as their annuities were paid ; and if, at the end 
of twenty years, the Indians should wish the said stock to 
be sold and the proceeds divided among the tribe, it might 
be done with the consent of the President and Senate. 

But the most important part of this treaty was that in 
which the Chippewas agreed to remove from the State of 
Michigan as soon as a proper location for them could be ob- 
tained, lor which purpose a deputation was to be sent to 
view the country occupied by kindred tribes west of Lake 
Superior; "and if an arrangement for their future and per- 
manent residence can be made there which shall be satis- 
factory to them and the government, they shall bo permitted 
to form a reunion with such tribes and remove thereto. If 
such an arrangement cannot be efliected the government of 
the United States will use its influence to obtain such 
location west of the Mississippi River as the legislation of 
Congress may indicate." An amendment was made to the 
terms of this treaty by a new treaty made by Mr. School- 
craft with the Chippewa chiefs at Flint River, Dec. 20, 
1837, by which the United States agreed to reserve a 
location for the tribe "on the head-waters of the Osage 
River, in the country visited by a delegation of the said 
tribe during the present year ; to be of proper extent agree- 
ably to their numbers, embracing a due proportion of 
wood and water, and lying contiguous to tribes of kindred 
language ;" the meaning and intent of this being to abro- 
gate that article of the treaty of Detroit which entitled 
them to lands in the country lying west of Lake Superior. 
It was provided by the treaty that the sum of fifty cents for 
each acre of Indian reservation land .sold by the United 
Slates should be reserved "as an iTideninification for the 
location to be furnished for their future permanent resi- 
dence, and to constitute a fund for emigrating thereto." 

Immediately after the treaty of Flint River, Commis- 
sioner Schoolcraft called another council, to be held at Sagi- 
naw, the reasons for which convention were sot forth to be 
that " the chiefs of the bands have represented that combi- 
nations of purchasers may be formed at the sale of their 
lands [meaning the reservation lands relinquished by the 
treaty of Detroit, Jan. 14, 1837], for the purpose of keep- 



ing down the jiriee thereof, both at the public and private 
sales, whereby the proceeds would be greatly diminished ; 
and such a procedure would defeat some of the primary 
objects of the cession of the lands to the United States, and 
thereby originate difficulties to their early removal and ex- 
patriation to the country west of the Mississippi." The 
council was held and a treaty made, in which it was pro- 
vided that the reservation lands ceded by the treaty of 
1837 should be offered for sale by proclamation of the 
President, and that the sales should be conducted in the 
same manner as the sales of other government lands, which, 
together with other guarantees and safeguards to protect 
the Indians from being wronged in the sale of their reser- 
vations, had the effect to quiet their apprehensions. This 
treaty was concluded Jan. 23, 1838. 

The time set for the final evacuation of the Michigan 
peninsula by the Saginaw Ciiij)pewas was January, 1842, 
or five years from the coliclusion of the treaty of Detroit, 
in which they gave their assent to the project of emigra- 
tion, and relinquished their reservations, except those on 
Mushowusk and Augrais Rivers, which last two they were 
to hold until the expiration of the five years of grace. Rut 
the plans of the government looking to the removal of the 
Chippewas from Michigan were never carried into effect. 
Long before the time agreed on for their departure they 
had bitterly repented of their promise to remove to the 
lands in the far West, and they prayed the Great Father 
that they might be allowed to remain on almost any terms, 
and to die in the land of their birth. Probably, however, 
this had less efl^ect in averting their doom of expatriation 
than the fact that, in the mean time, they had been almost 
exterminated by the ravages of the smallpox, which left 
but a feeble remnant of their once numerous tribe. The 
bands were broken up, and the few miserable and dejected 
ones who survived the scourge became too widely scattered 
to be easily gathered together for banishment. Some of 
them, in dread of being removed West, preferred to cro.ss 
into Canada,— and did .so. Others (and the greater jini- 
portion) went northward into what was then the wilderness. 
These, or their children, are some of them now living on 
the reservation in Isabella County; a few yet remain in 
Saginaw, Gratiot, and other counties toward.s the north ; 
but very few, if any of them, arc now residents of Shia- 
wassee or Clinton. 

PvEMOVAL OP POTT.VWATTAMIE EEFUGEES. 

The policy of the United States government in reference 
to the Pottawattamie tribe was the same which was pur- 
sued towards the Chippewas, except that with tlie former 
the plan of emigration was carried out to the end, and 
most of the people of that tribe were ultimately removed 
beyond the Mississippi. The Pottawattamies, by various 
treaties, from 1821 to 1828, had ceded their country to the 
government, but, like the Chippewas, they had retained 
several reservations. In September, 1833, however, they 
ceded these reservations to the United States, and at the 
same time agreed to evacuate and remove from their lands 
within three years. They were not removed promptly at 
the expiration of the time agreed on, but in the autumn of 
1838 a large number of them were collected on the St. 



24 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Joseph Kivor (by some persons who had taken the contract 
from government to remove them) and were sent West, es- 
corted by United States troops. Many, Iiowever, had left 
their villages and hidden themselves to avoid being taken, 
and quite a number who started, escaped from the troops 
and returned. In 1839 the process was repeated, and many 
Indians were collected through all the country from the St. 
Joseph eastward to the Huron. But even after this second 
attempt, a large number of Pottawattaniies (amounting in 
all to several hundreds) had evaded the vigilance of the 
contractors, and remained behind. In 1840 it was under- 
stood that a very determined eiFort would be made to collect 
all the lingerers and remove them, but the dejected fugitives 
were equally determined to avoid capture, if possible, and 
a body of them numbering about two hundred men, women, 
and children, with their old cliief Muckemoot, fled for 
safety to the northern part of Shiawassee County. 

Early in the autumn of that year (1840) Gen. Hugh 
Brady* arrived at the village of Owosso under orders to 
use the troops at his command in capturing the Pottawat- 
tamie band, who were supposed to be lurking in the woods 
and swamps to the northward. This duty of hunting down 
the poor wretches and forcing them into exile was very 
distasteful to the gallant old soldier, but his orders left him 
no choice. His troops were to be used to assist the con- 
tractors in collecting and guarding the Indians, r.nd after- 
wards in escorting them on their weary way to the Mis- 
sissippi. 

Observation and inquiry soon revealed the fact that the 
fugitives were a few miles north of Owo.sso, engaged in 
picking cranberries on the marshes in the vicinity of the 
Shiawassee River. It was not long, however, before the 
Indians became aware of the presence of Gen. Brady, and, 
of course, knew too well the nature of his errand. Upon 
this the old chief, Muckemoot, started eastward with two 
or three followers, and passed swiftly on through Genesee 
and Oakland Counties, heading for Canada, and fully re- 
solved never to be taken alive. The companions of Mucke- 
moot had firearms, but the chief himself had only his 
bow and a quiver of arrows at his back, with kuife and 
tomahawk in belt. 



■•■■■ Hugh Brady was born in Northumtjcrlancl Co., Pa., in the year 
1708. lie entered the United States army as ensign in 1792, and 
served with great credit under" Mad Anthony" Wayne in the Indian 
campaigns which followed. He was made lieutenant in February, 
1794, and captain in 1799. In the reduction of tiie army, which was 
made soon afterwards, he was mustered out of the service, but was 
restored with his former rank in 180S by President Jefferson. He 
fought with great bravery in the war of 1812, and was severely 
wounded at the battle of Chipp(^wn, where, as Gen. Scott said in his 
report of the engagement, " Old lirady showed himself in a sheet of 
fire." The Hon. George C. Bates says of him: "Again and again 
he faced death on the battlefields of Chippewa, Queenstown, Niagara, 
and Lundy's Lane, amidst such slaughter as was never seen on any 
previous battle-field of our country. lie w,as colonel of the Twenty- 
second Foot Corps, which crossed bayonets with Col. Basden, of the 
British Twenty-first. He was so diffident, so modest, so brave, that 
any mention of his gallant exploits in his presence would drive him 
from the circle of conversation. But whenever duty called him to 
action he went calmly, resolutely to it. Not only was Gen. Brady a 
true soldier, but in all the broadest aspects of the word he was an 
accomplished -American genllemnn." His death occurred at Detroit 
in IS51, the result of his being tluowii from his carriage by a jiair of 
frightened horses. 



When their flight became known a party of three or 
four white men set out on horseback from Owo.'iso in pur- 
suit. The chief and his men had kept to the woods for 
many miles, but before reaching Pontiac they took the 
road and pressed on with all speed towards Auburn. Near 
that place the pursuing party (having heard of the Indians 
several miles back) overtook and passed them without 
awakening their suspicions. Keeping on for a considerable 
distance the white men finally halted, and when the savages 
came up, demanded their surrender. Old Muckemoot, see- 
ing that he was entrapped, made an involuntary movement 
of defense, but recovered himself in an instant (probably 
realizing the hopelessness of resistance with bow and arrow 
while covered by the firearms of his opponents), and he 
coolly demanded to know what they wanted, and why they 
interfered with him on his peaceful journey. " Who are 
you?" said the white man whom he addressed. "I am 
Ogemawkeketo, the Saginaw chief. Why am I molested ?" 
" No,'' said the white man, " I have known Ogemawkeketo 
for many years. You are not he. You are Muckemoot, 
the Pottawattamie chief, and you must go with me." Then 
the old Indian saw that further dissimulatioti was as vain 
as resistance. His countenance fell, and he answered very 
sa'dly, and yet proudly, " Yes, it is true ; I am the great 
chief of the Pottawattamies, and it is well for you that 
you came on me unawares, for otherwise Muckemoot could 
never have been taken ! I would fight you now, but it is 
too late ! I will surrender ! ■ It is very hard, but I will go 
with you !" 

The other Indians, following the lead of their chief, sur- 
rendered peaceably, and all were taken to Owosso. After 
the capture of Muckemoot and his followers the main 
body of Pottawattamies did not make much effort to escape, 
and they were finally all (or very nearly all) taken in the 
vicinity of the cranberry marshes, in the present township 
of Rush. They were brought into Owosso in squads at 
dififerent times, and these, as they arrived, were placed 
under guard. Some of them were quartered in a wooden 
building which had been erected for a hotel, but more in 
the Log Cabin which had been erected on the southeast 
corner of Main and Washington Streets as a rendezvous 
for the supporters of Harrison and Tyler in the Presiden- 
tial campaign of that year. They were kept in those 
buildings for a considerable time, until all who could be 
found had been brought in. Then a number of four-horse 
wagons were brought to the place, and into them were 
loaded the women and children, with their few utensils and 
other movable articles. Some of the Indian men were 
allowed transportation in the wagons, some rode on ponies, 
and many were obliged to travel on foot. Formed in this 
manner, and closely guarded by troops in front and rear, 
the mournful procession of Pottawattamies moved out on 
the road, and sadly took their way to the place of their 
exile beyond the waters of the Mississippi. 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

INTEENAIi IMPROVEMENTS. 

Laying out and Construction of Early lloads in the two Counties — 
Maple River Navigation Trojects — Navigation of the Shiawassee — 
Northern Railroad and Northern Wagon-Road — Detroit and Shia- 
wassee Railroad Company — Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee 
Railway — Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad — Detroit, Lan- 
sing and Northern Railroad — Port Huron Railroad Project — Chi- 
cago and Lake Huron Railroad Line— Other Projected Railroads. 

Wherever immigrants of the Anglo-Saxon race estab- 
lish themselves as pioneers in wild interior regions, the 
opening of routes of travel between tlieir isolated settle- 
ments and the nearest civilized communities is one of the 
first labors which they are called on to perform. In many 
cases, when the country is heavily timbered (as was the 
case through the greater part of the counties of Clinton 
and Shiawassee), this is a heavy task, and one which the 
pioneer is sometimes obliged to attend to before he can 
transport his family and tlieir movables to the place which 
he has chosen for a home. If his location has been selected 
in a country of openings, he still has some labor to perform 
in clearing a path through thickets which are occasionally 
found barring the way, or in filling wet places with brush- 
wood to allow the passage of his team ; and even if he is 
migrating on foot, withoiit the convenience of either wagon 
or animals, he will sometimes find it necessary to fell a tree 
or two across a water-course, to serve as a footbridge for 
his wife and children, with their scanty stock of household 
goods. And whether the work bo light or heavy, the 
opening of these rude tracks to pioneer settlements is road- 
making, — the first step in the direction of public internal 
improvements in all new countries which are remote from 
navigable waters. 

The earliest highways in the section of country to which 
tliis history has reference were the Indian trails, several of 
which were found traversing the territory of Clinton and 
Shiawassee Counties at the time when the first settlers 
came here. The most important of these was the one 
known as the " Grand River trail," which, leaving that 
river at the mouth of the Looking-Glass, passed up the 
last-named stream on its northern side through Clinton 
County to what are now the villages of Do Witt and 
Laingsburg, and thence through Shiawassee County south 
of the village of Hartwellville to a point where an ancient 
Indian village was situated on the Looking-Glass in the 
present township of Antrim. There it forked, and the 
more southerly branch (known as the Red Cedar trail) 
passed south to the Cedar River in Livingston County, but 
the main Grand River trail continued eastward, crossed 
the Shiawassee River where the present hamlet of Burns 
stands, bore away southeast to Ryron, and thence across 
the southwest corner of Genesee County and the northeast 
corner of Livingston into and through Oakland County to 
Pontiac and Detroit. 

The " Saginaw trail" passed from the great Indian camp- 
ground at Saginaw, up the Saginaw and Shiawassee Rivers 
to the " great crossing" of the latter stream, where it joined 
the Grand River trail. The Saginaw and Grand River 
trail, passing up the valley of the Bad River in Saginaw 



County, crossed to the great bend of the Maple River in 
Gratiot County, and thence passed down the latter stream 
through Clinton County' to Genereau's trading-post on 
Grand River. Another trail left the one last mentioned at 
the great bend of the Maple and passed southeastwardly 
up that river, through Clinton and Shiawassee Counties, to 
join the Grand River trail at the crossing of the Shiawas- 
see. Almost directly through the centre of Clinton County 
a trail led southeastwardly from Maple Rapids to Scott's 
(De Witt village), where it crossed the Grand River trail 
and the Looking-Glass River, and thence passed to the 
Grand River in Ingham County. Besides the trails al- 
ready mentioned, there were a number of others of less 
importance which traversed the territory of Clinton and 
Shiawassee Counties, and some of these were selected as 
the routes of early roads to the pioneer settlements. 

When Richard Godfroy came to establish his trad- 
ing-post at the great crossing of the Shiawassee in 1828, 
he brought his goods from Oakland County by way of the 
Indian village of Kopenicorning and across the south part 
of Genesee County to his destination. The wagon in which 
these goods were transported was without doubt the first 
vehicle, as the route over which it came was the first road 
(if the rude wagon-track through the woods could be consid- 
ered as such) which entered or existed within any part of 
the territory of these two counties. In the year 18.33 
a road was cut through the woods over very nearly the 
same route from Kopenicorning (in the extreme northwest 
corner of Oakland County) to the Williams trading-post of 
the Shiawassee, this being done mainly by the proprietors 
of that post, A. L. and B. 0. Williams, assisted by the 
few pioneer settlers who had then located themselves on or 
in the neighborhood of its line. 

The principal one of all the early roads in these counties 
was that known as the " Pontiac and Grand River road," 
which ran from Pontiac to Ionia, and, of course, traversed 
the entire breadth of both Shiawassee and Clinton Counties. 
It ran from Pontiac westward through Oakland, and passed 
" Ilillman's Tavern" in the township of Tyrone, Livingston 
Co, whence, its route was by way of Byron, Burns, Fre- 
mont, Hartwellville, and Laingsburg, in Shiawassee Co., 
and De Witt and Wacousta, in Clinton, to Portland and 
Lyons, in Ionia. The pioneer travelers over this road (or at 
least the Shiawassee and Clinton part of it) were members 
of a party of colonists who were brought from the State of 
New York by Judge Samuel W. Dexter, to settle on lands 
which had been purchased by him in Ionia County. This 
party of immigrants, numbering sixty-three persons, came 
from the east, through Oakland County, and arrived at the 
Shiawassee River in the early part of May, 1833. There 
were six or seven families of them, besides several single 
persons, all traveling with wagons, containing their movable 
property, and having with them oxen, cows, and swine. Ar- 
riving at the Grand Saline, whore Antoine Beaubien had a 
trading-post, their leader (Judge Dexter) asked that trader 
to pilot and assist them to their destination on the Grand 
River, but as he refused to undertake it, the judge then 
applied to B. 0. Williams, of the trading firm located be- 
low on the river. He was then engaged in his spring farm- 



26 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



ing, and was unwilling to leave it, but finally acceded to 
Jud^e Dextcr's proposal and started out to guide the party 
on their way through the wilderness from the Shiawassee 
to the Grand River. Tiie account which he gives of that 
pioneering journey is this: " Having in vain tried to get 
Boaubien to pilot them, Messrs. Dexter, Yeomans,* and 
Winsor came to us for help. I left our planting, taking 
my blankets and small tent, and in six days landed them at 
Ionia, looking out the route, and directing where the road 
was to be. This was the first real colonizing party we had 
ever seen, — myself having never been farther than De Witt 
(the Indian village). I then induced Macketapenace 
(Blackbird), a son of Kishkawko, the usurping chief of all 
the Saginaws, to pilot us past Muskrat Creek, and from 
there proceeded with the party. At that point, a son of 
Mr. and Mrs. Dexter, a child of about two years old, died 
of scarlet fever. We buried the child by torch- and candle- 
light, in a box improvised by the party. . . . The road we 
opened was nest year followed by others, and was substan- 
tially the present Grand River road through Shiawassee and 
Clinton Counties, and was traveled for many years after." 
Mr. Williams is correct in saying that the route traveled by 
him with the party of Ionia colonists was nearly the same 
as that of the Pontiac and Grand River road, east of De 
Witt, but west of that place it was entirely different, as it ran 
thence northwestwardly through the present townships of 
Riley, Bengal, and Dallas, and down the south side of Stony 
Creek to Ionia County. It was on section 31 of Bengal — 
on the farm of Judge Cortland Hill — that the child of 
Judge Dexter was buried, as narrated by Mr. Williams. 
The route opened by this party between De Witt and Lyons 
became known as the " Dexter trail," and was cut out and 
traveled for a number of years, but a large part of it was 
afterwards closed and taken into the farms through which 
it passed. 

On the 9th of March, 1844, the Governor approved " an 
act to establish and improve the Pontiac and Grand River 
road," over the route which has already been described. 
In 1845 an amendatory act was passed (approved March 
12th), which provided " that Philip S. Frisbee, Elkanah 
Parker, and Daniel Donelson be, and they are hereby, ap- 
pointed commissioners to examine any part of the Pontiac 
and Grand River road, and to make alterations of route 
according to their judgment ;" and by the same act, Robert 
Toan, of the county of Ionia ; Loyal Palmer, of Clinton ; 
Jonathan M. Hartwell, of Shiawassee; Samuel N. Warren, 
of Genesee ; and Archibald Phillips, of Oakland County, 
were " appointed special commissioners, each for the county 
in which he resides, whose duty it shall bo to direct and 
superintend the performance of all labor which by the pro- 
visions of this act, or the act to which this is amendatory, 
are to be performed on said road, and to expend all monies 
which may accrue to said road by the provisions of said 
acts." Under the provisions of these, and acts passed in 
subsequent years appropriating non-resident taxes, and by 
labor applied by the highway officers of the several town- 
ships traversed by it, the road was gradually worked and 
made passable in its entire length, though it was not until 

*■ Erastu-! Yeomans, afterwards a prominent citizen of loni.i County. 



July, 1854, that it was declared opened through Clinton 
County. It has been an important thoroughfare to these 
two counties (though much le.ss so now than formerly), and 
it is still known and mentioned by its ancient name, — the 
Pontiac and Gra.nd River road. 

The Detroit and Grand River road — more generally 
known in the- counties through which it passes as the 
" Grand River Turnpike" — was established by act of Con- 
gress, passed on the 4th of July, 1832 (Michigan being 
then a Territory), directing the President to appoint three 
commissioners " to lay out a road from Detroit, through 
Sciawassee County,! to the mouth of the Grand River," 
for military and other purposes. The road was accordingly 
" laid out," and the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars 
was expended by the government in the years 1833 and 1834 
in working the eastern part of the road ten miles out from - 
Detroit. A further appropriation of twenty-five thousand 
dollars was made by Congress, March 3, 1835, and this 
amount was expended in 1835-3G in clearing the road one 
hundred feet wide through the timbered land, and in con- 
structing bridges on its line across the Rush, Huron, Shia- 
w.assee (south branch), and Cedar Rivers. This was the 
last work done on the Grand River road by the general 
government, as Michigan had cea^^ed to be a Territory and 
became a sovereign State. A grant of five thousand acres 
of land was, however, obtained from the United States for 
the benefit of the Grand River and Saginaw roads, of which 
grant this road received its proportion. 

After the United States ceased making appropriations 
for the Grand River road very little was done on it for a 
time. The State, however, took up the work soon after, 
and the construction of the road was continued by State ap- 
propriations from time to time, one of these being made by 
an act approved April 2, 1841, which provided that five 
thousand dollars be expended on the construction of this 
road, under the direction of the Board of Internal Im- 
provement ; this sum being taken from the sixty thousand 
dollars which remained unexpended of the appropriations 
previously granted for the Northern Wagon-Road,J which 
project had at that time been virtually abandoned. By 
these appropriations, and by the expenditure of local high- 
way taxes upon it, the Grand River Turnpike was finally 
made an excellent road, which for many years accommodated 
a vast amount of travel. So great was the traffic upon it 
at one period prior to the opening of the railroads through 
the section tributary to it that the vehicles passing over it 
— heavy wagons, light carriages, and stage-coaches — formed 
an almost continuous procession. With the opening of the 
Detroit and Milwaukee, and Detroit, Lansing and Northern 
Railroads this great travel suddenly ceased, and the former 
glory of the Grand River Turnpike departed. The route 
of the turnpike, being entirely south of the present territory 



f Shiawassee County at that time extended south as far as the centre 
of the present county of Livingston. 

J The Northern Wagon-Road, of which the route lay through the 
whole breadth of Shiawassee and Clinton Counties, and for which the 
Legislature made au appropriation of thirty thousand dollars in 1841, 
will be found mentioned in succeeding pages in connection with the 
account of the old *' Northern R:iilro.ad." 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



27 



of Shiawassee, enters Clinton County at the southeast corner 
of the township of Watertown, and passes northwestwardly 
through that and tlie township of Eagle into louia County. 

The first Legislature of the State of Michigan, at its ses- 
sion of 1835-36, provided for the laying out and establish- 
ment of a large number of State roads, and among them 
were a number of which the routes were partially within 
the counties of Shiawassee and Clinton. These were au- 
thorized by act approved March 26, 183G, as follows : 

1. " A State road from Pontiac, in the county of Oak- 
land, on the most direct and eligible route to the village of 
Brooklyn, in the county of Clinton, and thence to the seat 
of justice in said county." Jonathan F. Stratton, William 
C. Ilumscy, and Enos Leek were appointed by the act 
" comiuissioners to lay out and establish the same." 

2. A State road " from the village of Pontiac, in the 
county of Oakland, by the most direct and eligible route, to 
terminate at the county-seat of Ionia." The commissioners 
appointed to lay out and establish this road were Alfred L. 
Williams, William Terry, and Erastus Yeomans. The 
route of this road crossed the entire width of the counties 
of Shiaw:issee and Clinton. 

3. " A State road from Jacksonburgh, in the county of 
Jackson, through the centres (as nearly as may be) of the 
counties of Ingham and Shiawassee, to Saginaw, in the 
county of Saginaw." Commissioners, Daniel Coleman, 
David Scott, and William 11. Thouip.son. 

4. A State road from Pontiac, in Oakland County, to be 
laid out " on the most direct and eligible route until it inter- 
sects the Grand River at the mouth of the Looking-Glass 
River, passing the White Lake (Oakland County) settle- 
ment, Alfred Williams' on the Shiawassee River, and the 
county-seat of Clinton County." The commissioners ap- 
pointed to 'lay out and e.stablish" this road were Alfred 
L. Williams, Jonathan F. Stratton, and David Scott. 

5. State road to be laid out running "from the village 
of Pontiac, in Oakland County, to Mapes and Bursley's 
mills, on Ore Creek, in townsliip 3 north, of range G east, 
and thence to the centre of Shiawa.ssee County." To lay 
out and establish this road John S. Webber, Samuel Slapes, 
and George Buckley were appointed commi.ssionors. The 
act authorizing the above-mentioned roads was declared to 
be inoperative and void after Dec. 31, 1839, as to such of 
them as should not at that time have been laid out and 
established. 

It will be noticed that four of the five roads above men- 
tioned were to have their eastern termini at Pontiac. As 
it is certain that the public good could not have required 
so many highways running through these counties to that 
point, it might seem strange that the Legislature should 
have authorized all of them, but for the fact that it was 
expressly provided in the law that all State roads so author- 
ized were to be under the care of the commissioners of 
highways for the several townships through which they 
were to pass, and " subject to be by them opened and kept 
in repair in the same manner as township roads may be by 
them opened and kept in repair." It was also provided 
that " in laying out and establishing the roads, or any of 
the roads named, the State shall not be liable for the ex- 



penses or damages incurred thereby." Therefore, as the 
laying out of these roads brought no expense to the State, 
it was the policy of the Legislature to grant such as were 
asked for by interested parties, though without any expec- 
tation that all would be actually built. 

The second Legislature of the State, at its regular session 
in 1837, passed an act (approved March 17th) which author- 
ized the laying out of State roads to cross the territory of 
Clinton or Shiawassee County, or both, as follows : 

1. A road " from Byron, in the county of Shiawassee, 
to Shiawassee town, so called, in town 6 north, of range 3 
east, and from thence to Leach's Place in section 10, of 
town 6 north, of range 1 east, and from thence by the most 
direct and eligible route to the village of Lyons in the 
county of Ionia." The commissioners appointed to lay out 
this road were Francis J. Prevost, Archibald Purdy, and 
Henry Leach. 

2. " A State road at or near Farmington City, so called, 
in the county of Oakland, running by the head of Walled 
Lake to Byron, in the county of Shiawassee," with Erie 
Prince, Isaac Wixom, and John Thomas as commissioners 
to lay out the same. 

3. A road " commencing at the village of Marshall, in 
the county of Calhoun, and from thence to Saginaw City, 
so called, in the county of Saginaw." The route of this 
road must necessarily pass through the county of Shia- 
wassee. The commissioners to locate and establish it were 
Sidney S. Alcott, Cyrus Hewett, and Charles T. Gorham. 

4. A road " from the seat of justice in Eaton County, 
to Cushway's trading-point, on Maple River, in the county 
of Clinton, on the most direct and eligible route." The 
commissioners appointed were William Wheaton, Stephen 
B. Rogers, and Philander R. How. 

5. A road " from De Witt, in Clinton County, to Pe- 
Shimnecon, in the county of Ionia ;" for the location of 
which Sylvester Scott, Alexander Chapel, and Philander 
R. How were appointed commissioners. 

6. Truman H. Lyon, A. F. Bell, and John McKelvey 
were appointed commissioners to lay out and establish a 
State road " from the village of Pontiac, in the county of 
Oakland, by the most direct and eligible route to the vil- 
lage of Lyons in the county of Ionia." 

In 1838 (by act approved March 9th) the Legislature 
authorized the establishment of a State road " from the 
Rochester Colony, in Clinton County, thence on the most 
direct and eligible route to the county-seat of Ionia," and 
appointed Lyman Webster, Lockwood Yates, and Cyrus 
Lovell commissioners for that purpose. In the following 
year (by act approved April 18th) Samuel Barker, Charles 
Baldwin, and John Fcrdon were appointed commissioners 
" to lay out and establish a State road, commencing at the 
village of Owosso in the county of Shiawassee, and running 
thence on the most direct and eligible route by the way of 
Rochester Colony, so called, to a certain point of intersec- 
tion with a State road running from Ionia to the Rochester 
Colony, at or near the dwelling-house of Hiram Benedict, 
in township 8 north, of range 3 west." 

An act of the Legislature, approved March 4, 1 840, ap- 
pointed Joseph P. Roberts, ApoUos Dewey, and I]lias Com- 
stock coiumis.-iioners " to lay out and establish a State road 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



commencing at the village of Mason, in the county of 
Ingham, thence in a northerly direction to the village of 
Owosso, in the county of Shiawassee, and to file the survey 
of so much of said road in the office of each township clerk 
[in any township] through which the road shall pass as 
shall be laid out in each township." And by another sec- 
tion of tlie same act Daniel Ball, Alfred L. Williams, and 
Alpheus F. Williams were made commissioners to lay out 
and establish another State road (a northern continuation 
of that above mentioned) " commencing at the village of 
Owosso, in the county of Shiawassee, running from thence 
in a northerly direction on the most practicable route to 
Saginaw City, in the county of Saginaw, and to file the 
survey of so much of said road in the oflSce of each town- 
ship clerk [in any township] through which the said road 
shall pass as shall be laid out in each township." 

For several years after 1840 the Legislature authorized 
very few State roads to be laid out through Shiawassee or 
Clinton County. The popular excitement in that direction 
had in a great measure expended itself during the first three 
years succeeding the organization of the State, and not one- 
half the roads authorized by the Legislature in those years 
had been built, or even located. Railroad schemes, too, had 
already begun to attract public attention, and a few years 
later projects for the construction of plank-roads became so 
popular that many persons believed that this kind of high- 
way was destined to come into universal use, and to super- 
sede the common road. These, and other causes, had the 
effect to divert attention from the opening of new State 
roads during a number of years preceding the removal of 
the State capital to Lansing, but the accomplishment of 
that removal, in 1847, caused the people, particularly those 
of Shiawassee, Clinton, and other neighboring counties, to 
desire more and better roads, to afford access to the new 
seat of government. Among the numerous State roads 
authorized at the next succeeding session of the Legislature 
(in 1848) were several to be laid out within Shiawassee and 
Clinton Counties, viz. : 

1. Alexander Mc Arthur, Jonathan M. Hartwell, and 
Luke H. Parsons were appointed (by act approved April 1, 
1848) commissioners "to layout a State road from the 
village of Flint, in the county of Genesee, by the way of 
the village of Corunna, in the county of Shiawassee, to the 
capital of this State, or to such other point, touching any 
road leading to the capital, as the said commissioners, or a 
majority of them, may deem proper." 

2. A State road was authorized, to run " from the vil- 
lage of Michigan, in the county of Ingham, on the most 
direct and eligible route by the way of Owosso, in the 
county of Shiawassee, and Northampton and the forks of 
Bad River, in the county of Saginaw, to the city of 
Saginaw." The commissioners appointed to lay out and 
establish this road were William Smith, Alfred L. Wil- 
liams, and Daniel Gould. 

3. Harvey T. Lee, Joiin Thomson, and James M. Cum- 
mings were appointed commissioners " to lay out and estab- 
lish a State road on the most eligible route from the village 
of Byron, in the county of Shiawassee, to the capital of 
this State." 

4. A northeastern extension of the last-named road was 



authorized by the appointment of Hartford Cargill, 
Ephraim Fletcher, and George C. Holmes as commissioners 
" to lay out and establish a public State road from Flint vil- 
lage, in the county of Genesee, through the township of 
Gaines ; thence on the most direct and eligible route to 
Byron, in the county of Shiawas.see, intersecting the State 
road at that place." 

5. James Seymour, Alexander McArthur, and Luke H. 
Parsons were appointed commissioners with authority " to 
lay out and establish a State road from the village of 
Corunna, in the county of Shiawassee, on the most eligible 
route to the village of Flushing, in the county of Genesee." 
And b}' the same act, J. B. Bloss, Simon Z. Kinyon, and 
Isaac Castle were made commissioners to lay out and estab- 
lish a State road from Corunna " to a point at or near 
where the present traveled road, leading from said village 
of Corunna to Shiawasseetown, touches the Shiawassee 
River." 

An act approved March .31, 1848, appropriated six 
thousand acres of internal improvement lands " for the pur- 
pose of improving certain roads in tlie county of Clinton, as 
follows, viz. : three thousand acres thereof upon a road to 
b&laid out from the village of De Witt to the village of 
Mapleton, in the township of Duplain, crossing the line of 
the Northern Railroad at or near the residence of Stephen 
W. Downer; also one thousand acres thereof for laying 
out and improving a branch of said last-mentioned road, 
commencing at a point where it intersects the Northern 
Railroad line, and running thence to the northeast corner 
of section 25, in the township of Essex; and from thence 
on the most eligible route to a point at or near the 
centre of the township of Greenbush, in said county of 
Clinton ; and also two thousand acres of said land for 
laying out and improving a road from the village of De 
Witt through the German settlement in Westphalia to 
Lyons, in iho county of Ionia; .said appropriation to be 
expended within the limits of the county of Clinton." An 
act pas.sed at the .same session (approved March 21, 1848) 
appropriated seven thousand acres of internal improvement 
lands in the lower peninsula " for the purpose of opening 
and improving the road leading from Corunna, in the 
county of Shiawassee, to a point at or near the forks of 
Bad River, in the county of Saginaw." 

It should be borne in mind, in reference to the roads au- 
thorized by the Legislature, as above mentioned, that the 
"laying out" of roads in that manner (particularly in the 
earlier years) was by no means equivalent to opening and 
making tliem ready for travel ; that some of them so au- 
thorized were never opened at all ; and that in nearly every 
case a long time (sometimes a number of years) intervened 
between the time when a State road wa.s laid out by the 
commissioners and the time when it was actually worked, 
opened, and made passable for vehicles. 

There have been a number of State roads laid out in 
Clinton and Shiawassee Counties later than tho.se mentioned 
above. It is impracticable to notice in detail the laying 
out and construction of all these, but it is proper to men- 
tion the Shiawassee and Saginaw, and the Clinton and 
Gratiot State roads, as among the most important north-and- 
soulh thoroutrhfares of these counties. The first mentioned 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



29 



was liiid out from Owosso to St. Charles in 1861, and was 
worked tlirouuh in 1802 10 ISG-I- by Philip Mickle, con- 
tractor. The project of planking this road between Chesa- 
nin"- and Owosso was started, and a short distance was 
planked in 18(55 (the first plank being laid April 27th of that 
year at Chesaning), but the planking was not extended 
into Shiawassee County. 

The fine thoroughfare passing northward through the 
village of St. John's, and thence into Gratiot County, is a 
part of the line authorized by act of Feb. 12, 1859, which 
provided for the layingout of a State road " from Port Hu- 
ron, in St. Clair County, to Bay City ; thence westerly to the 
meridian township line between ranges 2 and 3 west ; thence 
southerly to St. John's, in Clinton County ; to be known as 
the Port Huron, Bay City and Clinton road." The sec- 
tion passing through the north part of Clinton into Gratiot, 
however, has usually been known as the St. John's and 
Gratiot road. This section was built by Christopher C. 
Darling, of Lansing, in 1859 and 1860, but has since been 
improved at great expense by the townships of Bingham 
and Greenbush, so that it is now one of the best highways 
in the county or State. 

PLANK-ROADS. 

Projects for the construction of plank-roads began to 
come into general favor in Michigan about the year 181:7, 
and it was in that year that the first two of these companies 
whose proposed route lay across any part of the territory of 
Shiawassee or Clinton County were formed, as follows : 

The Pontiac and Corunna Plank-Road Company — in- 
corporated by act approved March 17, 1817 — was "em- 
powered and authorized to survey and lay out a road com- 
mencing at the village of Pontiac, and running thence 
northwesterly through the village of Byron and the village 
of Shiawassee to the village of Corunna, in the county of 
Shiawassee, . . . and to construct and keep in repair a 
plank or macadamized road on the route so established from 
the village of Pontiac to the village of Corurma." Horace 
C. Thurber, J. W. Crandall, Jairah HiUman, George C. 
Holmes, J. B. Blo.ss, Seth Beach, and William Axford 
were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to 
the capital stock, which was authorized to the amount of 
two hundred thousand dollars. 

The Portland and Shiawassee Plank-Road Company was 
incorporated at the same time as the above. This company 
was authorized " to survey and lay out, on the line of any 
existing highway, or elsewhere, a road commencing at the 
village of Portland and running thence easterly to some 
eligible point on the Pontiac and Corunna Plank-Road." 
Commissioners appointed, Peter Laing, David Sturgis, and 
Harvey Hunter. Capital authorized, two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. The object of these two companies was 
to plank the Pontiac and Grand River Road from Pontiac 
to Portland. 

After 18-17, and before the enactment of the general 
plank-road law, tlie Legislature incorporated the following- 
named companies, each of which proposed to build plank- 
roads through some part of Shiawassee or Clinton County, 
viz. : 

The Clinton and Bad River Plank-Road Company, in- 



corporated April 3, 1848. Route, '"from the village of 
De Witt, in the county of Clinton, on the most eligible 
route to the forks of Bad River, in the county of Saginaw." 
Commissioners, J. W. Turner, Daniel Ferguson, Stephen 
W. Downer, Chandler W. Coy, and Robert E. Craver. 
Capital, seventy-five thousand dollars. 

The Portland and Michigan Plank-Road Company, in- 
corporated April 3, 1848. To build a plank-road from 
Portland, Ionia Co., to the town of Michigan (now Lan- 
sing), Ingham Co. Commissioners, William F. Jennison, 
A. Newman, and Hezekiah Smith. Capital, fifty thousand 
dollars. An amendatory act, approved March 8, 1851, 
empowered this company to enter upon and use the De- 
troit and Grand River turnpike between Lansing and Port- 
land. 

The Owosso and Bad River Plank-Road Company. In- 
corporated April 3, 1848, to build a road from the village 
of Owosso to the forks of Bad River, in Saginaw County. 
Commissioners, Alfred L. Williams, Amos Gould, and 
John B. Barnfts. Capital, forty thousand dollars. 

The Michigan and De Witt Plank-Road Company. In- 
corporated April 3, 1848. Proposed route, " from the town 
of Michigan, in the county of Ingham, to the village of 
De Witt, in the county of Clinton." Capital, ten thousand 
dollars. Commissioners, James Seymour, Siloam S. Carter, 
J. W. Turner, George T. Clark, and David Ferguson. 

The Corunna and Saginaw Plank-Road Company. In- 
corporated April 3, 1848, " to lay out, establish, and con- 
struct a plank-road from Corunna, in the county of Shia- 
wassee, to Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw, or to such 
intermediate point as the stockholders of said company 
shall determine." Capital, fifty thou.sand dollars (after- 
wards increased to seventy thousand dollars). Commis- 
sioners, Isaac Castle, Alexander McArthur, Ransom W. 
Hawley, Luke H. Parsons, Ebenezer C. Kimberly, and 
Samuel W. Cooper. To these were afterwards added 
Gardner D. Williams, James Fraser, Charles S. Kimberly, 
and David Eaton. 

The Howell and Byron Plank-Road Company. Incor- 
porated March 25, 1850, to construct a plank-road from 
Howell, Livingston Co., to Byron, Shiawassee Co. Capital, 
thirty thousand dollars. Commissioners, Josiah Turner, 
George W. Lee, B. W. Dennis, F. J. Prevost, and Noah 
Ramsdeli. 

None of the above-mentioned companies built their pro- 
po.sed roads, or any part of them, within these two counties, 
and the only reason why they have been noticed here is to 
show how general was the plank-road mania here, as in 
other portions of the State, and also to show what were the 
several projects of this kind, and who were their originators. 

MAPLE KIVEK NAVIGATION PKOJECTS. 
In the first half of the present century, before the days 
of railroad communication, the people of Michigan, like 
those of other States, were disposed to place an extrava- 
gantly high estimate on the importance and value of their 
rivers for purposes of navigation, and to favor bold and 
often visionary projects for the improvement of the streams, 
in the expectation (which was seldom if ever realized) of 
securing great advantages from the utilization of these 



30 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



water-ways. Such projects were conceived and their pro- 
secution Commenced with regiird to the principal rivers of 
Clinton and Shiawassee Counties, — the Shiawassee, Grand, 
and Maple, and the improvement of the latter two was em- 
braced in the internal improvement system (more fully 
noticed in succeeding pages) which was adopted by the 
State at the I'egular session of its second Legislature in 
1837. 

In that year an act was passed (approved March 20th) 
which provided : '• Section 5. — That the sum of twenty 
thousand dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated 
out of any moneys which shall come into the treasury to 
the credit of the internal improvement fund, for the fol- 
lowing surveys, to be made under the direction of the board 
of commissioners: for the survey of a canal or for a canal 
part of the way and railroad the balance of the route, com- 
meneiug at or near Mount Clemens, on the Clinton River, 
to terminate at or near the mouth of Kalamazoo River ; 
and for the survey of a canal route to unite the waters of 
the Saginaw River with the navigable waters of the Maple 
or Grand Rivers, and for the purchase of surveyors" and 
other instruments ; and for the survey of the St. Joseph, 
Kalamazoo, and Grand Rivers, with a view to the improve- 
ment of the same by slack-water navigation." Section 7 
of the same act provided : " That the sum of fifteen thou- 
sand dollars be and the same is hereby approj)riated out of 
any moneys which shall come into the treasury to the 
credit of the said internal improvement fund, to be applied 
to the construction of a canal to unite the waters of the 
Saginaw with the navigable waters of the Grand or Maple 
Rivers, if said board of commissioners shall decide that it 
is practicable to construct a canal on said route. ' 

Under the authority conferred by this act the board of 
internal improvement caused a survey to be made by Tracy 
McCracken, Esq.. chief engineer of the Saginaw and Maple 
Rivers Canal, and this survey resulted in the location and 
adoption of a route running from the forks of the Bad 
River (a navigable tributary of the Saginaw), in Saginaw 
County, westward to the Maple River, at its " Big Bend," 
in Gratiot County. The report of the survey was regarded as 
exceedingly favorable, showing the existence of a remarkable 
valley or depression, extending westward from the waters 
of the Saginaw to those of the Maple ; that these waters, 
flowing in opposite directions, were only three miles distant 
from each other at one point, and that between them the 
higiiest elevation necessary to be crossed was only seventy- 
two feet above Lake Michigan. It was along this valley 
and across this low summit that the engineer located the 
route of the canal, which, with certain slack-water improve- 
ments to be made to the east and west of it, on the Bad, 
the Maple, and the Grand Rivers, was to open a line of 
uninterrupted navigation between Lake Michigan and Sag- 
inaw Bay, and to bring prosperity to all the country contig- 
uous to it. 

Contracts were let for the grubbing and clearing of the 
route and for the excavations upon a five-mile section on 
the most difficult portion of it ; the last-named contract 
being taken by Norman Little, of Saginaw. Another part 
of this work was taken by Alphous Williams. Work was 
commenced in 1838, and was continued with more or less 



vigor until July of the following year, when it was sus- 
pended. The immediate cause of the suspension is made 
apparent by the following extract from the official report of 
Rix Robinson, president of the State board of internal 
improvement, dated Nov. 30, 1839. He says: " Early in 
the season Norman Little, Esq., the principal contractor on 
this work, expressed to me his incapacity to proceed with 
the work in case the State should fail to pay his estimate 
for labor monthly, and punctually according to the tenor of 
his contract. There being no possible means for me to 
obtain sufficient funds for that purpose, the work has ac- 
cordingly boon abandoned by him. The chief engineer, Mr. 
McCracken, in his report for 1831), said: " It was not to 
be expected that the contractor fur this work, which, from 
its position, is one of the most difficult to execute, would 
be able or willing to prosecute it without prompt payment 
on the part of the State, which, failing to meet its engage- 
ment in the payment of the monthly estimates, was averred 
by the contractor as the cause of the work being aban- 
doned. This occurred some time in June last [1839] ; 
since then nothing has been done towards the construction 
of the work. . . . Most of the work required upon one 
section of the canal, together with the greater part of the 
clearing and grubbing of the line under contract, has been 
completed. There is now upon the line several thousand 
feet of plank and timber intended for the locks and dams. 
A great portion of the timber is framed, and will, from its 
present exposed condition, decay very rapidly." 

The suspension of work by the contractors in July, 1839, 
proved to be a final abandonment of the construction of the 
canal as a State work. The timbers mentioned by the chief 
engineer as having been intended for the construction of 
locks and dams remained to rot on the ground, and the 
remnants of some of theui have been visible in recent 
years in the town of Chapin, Saginaw Co. (a few miles 
from the northeast corner of Clinton County), having been 
left to decay in the place where they were framed more 
than forty years ago. 

The sums expended on the Saginaw and Blaple River 
Canal (and which were, of course, a total loss to the State) 
were as follows : In the year 1838, $6271.12 ; in the year 
1839, $15,985,69; total, $22,256.81. 

Ten years after the abandonment of this canal project by 
the State, the Legislature of Michigan (by act approved 
March 30, 18 19) incorporated Gardner D. Williams, James 
Frazier, and D. J. Johnson, of Saginaw City ; Adam L. 
Roof, of Ionia County ; Rix Robinson, of Kent ; D. H. 
Fitzhugh, John F. Mackie, and Charles Yates, of New 
York City, as the " Saginaw and Grand River Canal Com- 
pany," with authority " to enter upon the canal commenced 
by the State, as their property, at the forks of the Bad 
River, and upon lands on either side and through which 
the said canal may pass, to the bend of Maple River, a 
tributary of Grand River, and as far on that river as may 
be thought proper ; to construct a tow-path, and concen- 
trate the water for canal use, and to dig, construct, or ex- 
cavate the earth ; to erect or set up any dams, locks, waste- 
weirs, sluices, feeders, or any other device whatsoever to 
render the same navigable with boats, barges, or other 
craft." The company was also empowered to make such 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



31 



improvements on the BaJ, JMaiile, and Grand Rivers as 
nii^lit be necessary to carry out tlie ubjoots for wliich it was 
incorporated. The capital stock of the company was placed 
at two hundred thousand dollars, and its charter was to 
continue for a term of sixty years. The revival of the 
project reawakened hopes that the Maple River was at last 
to beconfo part of a navigable water-way between the two 
fireat lakes ; but no work on the canal was ever done by 
the company, and finally the enterprise was definitely 
abandoned, never to be again revived. 

At the present time a small steamboat, named the " May 
Queen," is running on the river from Maple Rapids to 
Bridgeville, Gratiot Co. ; this part of the stream being 
deepened and made navigable for craft of that size, by the 
dam at the Rapids, which sets the water back for ruany 
miles. 

At about the same time when the Maple River improve- 
ments were in agitation, a project was started for the con- 
struction of a canal along the Looking-Glass River between 
De Witt and Wacousta, but the work was never accom- 
plished, or even actually commenced. 

NAVIGATION ON THE SHIAWASSEE. 

The improvement of the Shiawassee River, so as to form 
a slack-water navigation from the Big Rapids of that stream 
northward to the Saginaw, was a project which had been con- 
templated by the founders of Owosso from the time when 
the first settlements were made at that place. Between 
them and the outside world there were no roads practicable 
for heavy transportation, and the obstacles to the construction 
of such for a distance of more than fifty miles (to Pontiac) 
were at that early day regarded as almost insurmountable. 
It seemed to them, therefore, that their settlement must 
continue in its isolated condition, and that very little im- 
provement as a village could be expected until they could 
secure communication with Saginaw by making the river 
beatable. These were the considerations which gave birth 
to the idea of improving the Shiawassee, and but a short 
time elapsed before they moved towards the execution of 
the plan by procuring the necessary authority from the 
Legislature. 

The "Owosso and Saginaw Navigation Company" was 
incorporated by act approved March 21, 1837. By this 
act Daniel Ball, Alfred L. Williams, Benjamin 0. Wil- 
liams, Lewis Findley, William Gage, Gardner D. Williams, 
Norman Little, Samuel G. Watson, Ephraim S. Williams, 
Elias Comstock, Alexander Hilton, and Perry G. Gardner 
were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to 
the capital stock, which was authorized to the amount of 
one hundred thousand dollars. The company thu.s incor- 
porated was empowered " to enter upon the river Shiawas- 
see, and upon the lands on either side, and to use the rocks, 
stones, gravel, or earth which may be found thereon in the 
construction of their works, first giving notice to the owners 
or occupiers of the land ; and to form and make, erect and 
set up any dams, locks, or any other device whatsoever 
which they shall think mo.st fit and convenient to make a 
complete slack-water navigation between the points herein 
meniionedjtowit: from the village of Owosso, situate on the 



Shiawassee River, to and down said river to a point where 
the Flint River intersects the Shiawassee ; and the locks for 
the purposes of passing steamboats, barges, and other craft 
up and down said river shall be of sufficient width and 
length to admit a safe and easy passage for steamboats, 
barges, and other craft, up as well as down said river." 

The company (in which Daniel Ball* was the leading 
man, and Sanford M. Green a prominent member) com- 
menced the work in 1837, and continued it during that 
and the following season, expending several thousand dol- 
lars on the river in removing fallen timber, driftwood, 
and other obstructions (principally between Chesaning and 
the mouth of Bad River), erecting dams, and constructing 
tow-paths above Chesaning. The river was thus made nav- 
igable lor flat-bottomed boats or scows, several of which 
were built with foot-boards at each side, on which men 
walked forward and aft in " poling" the craft up the stream. 
This poling process was employed on that part of the river 
which is below Chesaning, but above that place horses were 
used. At some points the tow-path was made on the east 
side of the stream, and at others on the west (for the sake 
of economy in its construction), the horses being crossed on 
the boat from one side of the river to the other as occasion 
required. Larger boats were afterwards used for floating 
produce down the river from Owo.sso. One " Durham" 
boat, built at that place by Ebenezer Gould and others, 
carried a cargo of two hundred barrels of flour from 
Owosso to Saginaw. 

The company was reincorporated under the same name by 
act approved May 15, ISlt!, Amos Gould, i\lfred L. Wil- 
liams, Benjamin O. Williams, Elias Comstock, Ebenezer C. 
Kimberly, Lemuel Castle, Isaac Gale, George W. Slocum, 
George Chapman, Edward L. Anient, Anson B. Chipman, 
and John B. Barnes being appointed commissioners to re- 
ceive subscriptions to the stock, which was authorized to 
the amount of one hundred thousand dollars. In addition 
to the powers granted by the incorporating act of 1837, the 
company was now authorized " to construct a canal from 
some point on said river Shiawassee to such point on Bad 
River as they may hereafter determine upon, and to make 
such improvements on said Bad River as will render the 
same navigable." After this reincorporation there were 
some further improvements made on the river by the con- 
struction of a lock at Chesaning, the building of several 
weir-dams, and in other ways ; but the company never 
availed itself of the authority conferred to build the canal 
between the Bad and Shiawassee Rivers. Boats continued 
to be run on the river at favorable stages of water for some 
years, and in foct this navigation was never wholly aban- 
doned until the opening of the Detroit and Milwaukee 
Railroad superseded this unreliable and unsatisfactory 
means of transportation. It was then entirely discontinued, 
after having been used to a greater or less extent for some 
fifteen years, during which time it is doubtful whether its 
advantages ever compensated for the outlay incurred in the 
improvement of the river. 



® Mr. Bull had previously been engaged in boiiting on the Genesee 
River, in New York, iinJ it was he who originated the idea of secur- 
ing navigation by the Shiawassee Kiver. 



32 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



NORTHERN RAILROAD AND NORTHERN WAGON- 
ROAD. 

Very soon after Michigan emerged from the condition of 
a Territory to assume that of a sovereign State, and even 
before its admission as a member of the Federal Union, 
measures were originated having for their object the adop- 
tion by the State of a comprehensive system of public 
improvements ; and, in pursuance of this phin, the Legis- 
lature at the session of 1837 passed an act (approved 
IMarch 20th in that year) " to provide for the construction 
of certain works of intern.il improvement, and for other 
purposes," by which the board of commissioners of internal 
improvements in the State was authorized and directed, 
" as soon as may be, to cause surveys to be made fur three 
several railroad routes across the peninsula of Michigan ; 
the first of said routes to commence at Detroit, in the 
county of Wayne, and to terminate at the mouth of the 
St. Joseph River, in the county of Berrien, to be denomi- 
nated the Central Railroad. The second of said routes to 
commence at the navigable waters of the river Raisin, pass- 
ing through the village of Monroe, in the county of Mon- 
roe, to terminate at New Buffalo, in Berrien County, and 
to be denominated the Southern Railroad. The third of 
said routes to commence at Palmer, or at or near the mouth 
of Black River, in the county of St. Clair, and to terminate 
at the navigable waters of the Grand River, in the county 
of Kent, or on Lake Michigan, in the county of Ottawa, 
to be denominated tlie Northern Railroad ; which roads 
shall be located on the most eligible and direct routes be- 
tween the termini above mentioned." It was provided by 
the same act, " That the sum of five hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars bo and the same is hereby appropriated, 
to be taken from any moneys which shall hereafter come 
into the treasury of this State to the credit of the fund for 
internal improvement, for the survey and making of the 
three railroads mentioned in the first section of this act, as 
follows : for the Southern Railroad, the sum of one hundred 
thousand dollars; for the Central Railroad, the sum of four 
liundrod thousand dollars ; and for the Northern Railroad, 
the sum of fifty thousand dollars." 

The State Board of Internal Improvement, acting under 
the provisions of this act, caused the surveys to be made 
without unnecessary delay. The routes thus surveyed for 
the " Central Railroad" and the " Southern Railroad" were 
(excepting the western portion) substantially the same as 
those of the Michigan Central and Michigan Southern 
roads of the present. The '• Northern Railroad" route was 
surveyed and located to run from the St. Clair River by 
way of Lapeer and Flint River village (now Flint City), 
nearly due west, to the Big Rapids of the Shiawassee (now 
the city of Owosso) ; thence through Owosso and M'ddle- 
bury townships, in Shiawassee County, and westwardly in 
the same tier of townships through Clinton County (pass- 
ing through the southern part of the present corporation 
limits of St. John's) to Lyons, in Ionia County, and from 
there westward to Lake Michigan, at the mouth of Grand 
River, a distance of two hundred and one miles. This was, 
of course, the first survey made for railroad purposes 
through any part of Clinton or Shiawassee Counties. The 
work was done by Tracy MeCracken, chief engineer of the 



road, and his assistants, under supervision of Commissioner 
James B. Hunt, who had been placed in charge of the 
survey by the Board of Internal Improvement. 

In 1838 contracts were let for clearing and grubbing 
that portion of the line between its eastern terminus and 
Lyons, Ionia Co., a distance of about one hundred and thirty 
miles. The contract for the section extending from Lyons 
to the line between ranges 2 and 3 east (near the cen- 
tre of Shiawassee County) was awarded to A. L. and 
B. 0. Williams, of Owosso. The section joining this, and 
extending eastward across the remainder of Shiawassee 
County, was taken by A. H. Beach & Co., of Flint. The 
next .section eastward was awarded to Gen. Charles C. Has- 
call, of Flint. Twenty miles of the section east of Lyons 
was sublet by the Williams brothers to Messrs. Moore & 
Kipp at about two hundred and fifty dollars per mile. The 
specifications required the grubbing of a central strip , 
twenty feet wide, and the clearing of a breadth of twenty 
feet on either side of this strip. Outside the.se clearings, 
on both sides, " slashings" were to be made, each twenty 
feet in width, making a total breadth of one hundred feet. 
The work of clearing the route was commenced in the fall 
of 1838, and by the 1st of September following it was 
completed in all the sections between Lyons and Port 
Huron, except about three miles in Shiawassee County east 
of Owosso, and seventeen miles east of Lapeer. 

Contracts for grading some parts of the line were made 
in the fall of 1838, among these being that of a ten-mile 
section eastward from Lyons to B. 0. Williams and Daniel 
Ball, of Owosso. The work of grading was commenced 
on the contracted sections in January, 1839, and was pros- 
ecuted till the following July. " The contractors then 
stated," said the chief engineer, in his report dated Dec. 7, 
1839, " that unless they were paid punctually they could 
not proceed with their work. I then informed them, in 
accordance with my instructions, that if they continued 
the work their estimates would, as usual, be made monthly, 
but that it was probable that they would only be paid 
in treasury orders, which would be payable out of any 
moneys received into the treasury to the credit of the 
internal improvement fund. The contracts for grading 
were then abandoned immediately, but those for clearing 
and grubbing, which were not then finished, have 
since been completed." In regard to these contracts for 
grubbing and clearing the chief engineer said : " It may 
not be improper for me to state that it is probable that 
many of the contracts upon this road were let to those who 
considered that they were to be benefited by its speedy 
completion, and, in consequence, bid so low that they have 
lost money in the prosecution of the works assigned them." 
This remark of the engineer was probably as applicable to 
the grading contracts as to those made for clearing the 
line. It is certain at all events that those who took the 
latter class of contracts found them to be decidedly unprofit- 
able. 

The last of the appropriations by the Legislature for the 
construction of the Northern Railroad was one of forty 
thousand dollars, made by act approved April 20, 1839, 
making the total amount appropriated for the enterprise 
one hundred and fifty thou.sand dollars. Of this there was 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



33 



expended upon the line in surveys, clearing, and construc- 
tion tlie following amounts, viz. : 

InlS.IT $S,22G.25 

" 1838 12,772.44 

« 18:J9 39,122.09 

Total .<60,12n.78 

The figures given above* show that at the close of oper- 
ations in 1889 there remained of the amount of appropiia- 
(inns made for this northern line of raih-oad an unexpended 
balance of eightj--nine thousand eight hundred and seventy- 
nine dollars and twenty-two cents. In view of this fact, it 
might at first be regarded as strange that, with this very 
considerable balance remaining, the work should have been 
so suddenly brought to a close, but it must be remembered 
that the figures indicating the unexpended balance did not 
represent a corresponding amount of ready cash on hand 
and immediately available. The extract given above from 
the chief engineer's report fully explains the reason why 
the contractors abandoned their jobs in the summer of 
1839 ; and it only remains to say that the construction of 
the Northern Railroad, being suspended at that time, was 
never resumed. 

As has already been stated, all legislative aid to the 
northern line of railway ceased with the appropriation made 
in April, 1839. Soon after this, the financial embarrass- 
ments of the State caused a feeling to spring up among 
the people and their representatives that the adoption of so 
extensive a plan of internal improvements had been pre- 
mature, to say the least, and the result of this growing 
sentiment was the restriction of appropriations to such 
works as did, or could easily be made to, return the inter- 
est on their cost. Accordingly, further aid was withheld, 
except to the central and southern 4ines (then in partial 
operation), and finally, in 1841, all idea of the construction 
of the " Northern Railroad" as a State work was abandoned, 
.and the Legislature passed "an act relative to the appro- 
priation upon the Northern Railroad" (approved April 2d 
in that year), which recited iu its preamble that " it is 
thought impolitic under the pre.«ent embarrassments of the 
State to make at present further expenditures on said road 
for the purpose of a railroad ;" that " a large amount has 
been expended in chopping, grubbing, and clearing said 
road, which, if left in its present condition, can be of no 
interest to the people of the north ;" and that " it is the 
united wish and request of the people in the vicinity of 
said road that the same should for the present be con- 
verted into a turnpike- or wagon-road, and thus open an 
important thoroughfare through the centre of the tier of 
counties through which the said road passes, and tliereby 
render the money heretofore expended on said road avail- 
able to the best interests (under existing circumstances) of 
the people in the northern section of the State." It was 
therefore enacted that the commissioners of internal im- 
provement be directed to expend thirty thou.sand dollars 
of the unexpended balance of the moneys which had been 
appropriated for the Northern Railroad " for bridging, clear- 



* Tuken from the ofBcial report of Ri.\ Robinson, L. S, Humjitircy, 
unJ Willhini K. Thompson (composing the Board of Commissioners 
of Intern.al Improvemcuts) (o the Legislature of Michigan, dated 
Doc. 1, 1839. 



ing, and grading said road, or so much of it as the said 
commissioners shall judge will be most beneficial to the 
inhabitants and public in the section of country through 
which the same passes, so as to make a good passable wagon- 
road." 

In March, 1843, an act was passed "to authorize the 
construction of a Wagon-Road on the line of the Northern 
Railroad," and ordering the application and appropriation, 
for that purpose, of all the non-resident highway taxes for 
a distance of three miles on either side of the line, to be 
expended under the superintendence of a special commis-. 
sioner to be appointed for each of the counties of St. Clair, 
Lapeer, Genesee, Shiawassee, Clinton, and Ionia. The act 
was repealed in 1846, but in the following year another act 
was passed (approved April 3, 1848) " to provide for the 
construction and improvement of the Northern Wagon- 
Road from Port Huron, in the county of St. Clair, through 
the counties of Lapeer and Gene.see to Corunna, in the 
county of Shiawassee," and appropriating " twenty thou- 
sand acres of internal improvement lands" for the purpose. 
To carry its provisions into effect the Governor of the State 
was authorized to appoint a special commissioner, and he 
did so appoint to that position the Hon. Alvin N. Hart, of 
Lapeer. Still another act was passed in 1849 appointing 
Lewis S. Tyler, Albert Miller, and Henry Hunt as com- 
missioners, " with power to relocate, upon the most eligible 
ground, the Northern Wagon-Road from the village of 
Flint, in the county of Genesee, to the village of Corunna, 
in the county of Shiawassee." 

The result of all the laws passed and appropriations made 
for the construction of the Northern Railroad and Northern 
Wagon-Road was the clearing of the route of the former 
as before mentioned, and the grading or partial grading of 
parts of that route (but principally east of Owosso) into 
an indifferent wagon-road, which never proved to be of 
much practical advantage to Shiawassee County, and still 
less to Clinton. 

DETROIT AND SHIAWASSEE RAILKOAD COM- 
PANY. 

The Detroit and Shiawassee Railroad Company was in- 
corporated by act of the Legislature, ajjproved March 22, 
1837, under the provisions of which Marshall J. Bacon, 
Silas Titus, Elijah F. Cook, Thomas Curtis, Alfred A. 
Dwight, Robert Warden, Jr., and Ely Barnard were ap- 
pointed commissioners to receive subscriptions to the capital 
stock, the amount of which was placed at five hundred 
thousand dollars. The company so created was author- 
ized and empowered " to construct a railroad with a single 
or double track from Detroit, in the county of Wayne, 
through Farmington, in the county of Oakland, Kensing- 
ton, in the township of Lyon, Byron, in the county of 
Shiawassee, to Shiawas.see village, in said county of Shia- 
wassee ; with power to transport, take, and carry persons 
and property upon the same by the power and force of 
steam or animals, or of any mechanical or other power, or 
combination of them." The company was required by its 
charter to commence the construction of its line within 
one year; to finish and put in operation twenty-five miles 
of road within three years; and to complete the whole dis- 



34 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



tance within six years from the date of incorporation, under 
penalty of forfeiture of charter. A change of route was 
authorized by act approved April 6, 1838, but no part of 
the line was ever built ; few, if any, subscriptions to the 
stock were procured, and the company, having eifected only 
a temporary organization, ceased to exist by non-compliance 
with the conditions under which it was created. The in- 
corporation of this company being a matter of very little 
importance is mentioned here only because its charter was 
the first which was granted by the Legi.slalure authorizing 
the construction of a railway in any part of the territory 
which now composes the counties of Shiawassee and 
Clinton. 

DETKOIT, GEAND HAVEN AND IIILWAUKEE 
RAILWAY. 

The line now known as the Detroit, Grand Haven and 
Milwaukee llailway was the first which was built and com- 
pleted to any point within the boundaries of the counties 
of Shiawassee and Clinton; and it was also over the eastern 
link of this line (the old Detroit and Poiitiac road, which 
was in operation many years before the locomotive reached 
the waters of the Shiawassee River) that the inhabitants 
of these counties enjoyed their earliest railway facilities, by 
means of stage lines which ran from Lyons, by way of De 
Witt, Laingsburg, and other points in Shiawassee, Genesee, 
and Oakland Counties, eastward to the successive termini 
of the railroad, — first at Royal Oak, then at Birmingham, 
and finally at Pontiac. For this reason it seems proper to 
make brief mention here of the building and opening of 
the Pontiac Road, for though it was purely an Oakland 
County enterprise, yet it was one in which the people of 
Shiawassee and Clinton were interested, — first, because its 
connecting stage lines gave them communication over it, 
and afterwards because by its extension it became a part of 
the grand through line which passes through these coun- 
ties to Grand Haven and Milwaukee. 

The Detroit and Pontiac Railroad project was agitated 
in Oakland as early as the spring of 1830, and an act in- 
corporating the " Pontiac and Detroit Railway Company" 
was passed by the Legislative Council of the Territory, and 
approved by Gov. Cass, on the 31st of July in the year 
named, this being the first railway company ever chartered 
in Michigan. The corporators were John P. Helfenstein, 
Gideon 0. Whittemore, William F. Mosely, William 
Thompson, Hervey Parke, " and such other persons as 
shall associate for the purpose of making a good and suffi- 
cient railway from Pontiac to the city of Detroit," the 
stock of the company to consist of one thousand shares, at 
one hundred dollars each. This company, however, found 
the project to be too heavy for the means which they could 
command, and their charter became void by reason of their 
failure to comply with its conditions. 

A second company was formed, and an act granting a 
new charter was passed by the Territorial Legislature, and 
approved by the Governor, March 7, 1834. Under this 
act, William Draper, Daniel Le Roy, David Stanard, John- 
son Niles, Seneca Newberry, Elisha Beach, Benj. Phelps, 
Joseph Niles, Jr., and Augustus C. Stevens were appointed 
commissioners to receive subscriptions to the stock of " The 



Detroit and Pontiac Railroad Company," the amount of 
which was fixed at fifty thousand dollars. The work was 
to be commenced within two years from the passage of the 
act, and completed within six years, the charter to be for- 
feited by failure to comply with these conditions. The 
principal stockholders were Alfred Williams, and Sherman 
Stevens, of Pontiac, who were also managers of the affairs 
of the company. Operations were soon commenced, but 
very slow progress was made in the construction of the 
road, and it was not until the fall of 1838 that a track 
(which even then was composed of wooden rails for a part 
of the distance) was completed as fiir as Royal Oak, and 
trains made up of cars of the mo.st inferior description were 
run from Detroit to that point by horse-power. In the fall 
of 1839 the road was extended so that the trains ran to 
Birmingham, and steam was introduced as a motive-power 
for their propulsion. At that tin)e (September, 1839) the 
Pontiac papers contained the advertisement of Henry J. 
Buckley, agent and conductor, informing the public that 
the trains were then running two trips a day between De- 
troit and Birmingham, and making connection at the latter 
place with a daily line of " post-coaches" for Pontiac and 
Flint, and a semi-weekly line for Lyons on the Grand 
River, by way of Byron, De Witt, and other points in 
Shiawassee and Clinton Counties. 

In 1 840, the company being heavily in debt and without 
moans of payment, the road was sold at sheriff's sale, and 
passed into the hands of Dean Richmond, of Buffalo, and 
other capitalists of the State of New York. Then followed 
another period of delay and discouragement, but finally, in 
September, 1844, the road was opened to Pontiac, which 
for more than t.en years continued to be the western ter- 
minus, and the point ef connection with the stage-lines run- 
ning to Flint, Saginaw, and the Grand River. 

In the earlier years of its operation, this road was made 
the subject of unmeasured ridicule on account of the poverty 
of the company, the rough and superficial manner in which 
the line was constructed, the poor quality of its carriages 
and machinery, and the exceedingly slow and irregular time 
made by the trains between Pontiac and Detroit. From 
an article which appeared in the Detroit Post a few years 
since, containing some reminiscences of pioneer railway 
travel, the following — having reference to the Pontiac line 
— is extracted : " The trains would frequently stop be- 
tween way stations at a signal from some farmer who 
wished to ask a few questions, or to take passage. An 
old lady denizen of a farm-house, with spectacles of a primi- 
tive manufacture placed high upon her forehead, came 
running out to the train, waving her bandanna. Her signal 
being heeded, the train was brought to a stop, and her 
inquiry of the conductor was, if a certain lawyer named 
Drake was on board. After receiving a negative answer, a 
short conversation was kept up before the train started on 
its journey. It was no uncommon occurrence for the en- 
gineer, who kept his shot-gun with him, to bring down 
game from his engine, shut off steam, and send his fireman 
after the fruits of his marksmanship. The road being laid 
with strap-rail, one of the duties of the conductor was to 
keep a hammer for the purpose of sjiiking down ' snake-heads' 
whenever they were seen from the cab of the engineer." 



INTERNAL IMPEOVEMENTS. 



35 



Aa old resident of Shiawassee County has said to the 
writer, that he recognizes this as a truthful description of 
the operation of the Pontiac road in the year IStl, and 
there are no doubt many others who have similar recollec- 
tions of their travel upon it at about tiie same period. 

After a fov" years of operation with the primitive and 
unsafe "strap-rail," the line was leased for ten years to 
Gurdon Williams, but the lease was purchased or relin- 
quished before its expiration, and the road came into the 
possession of a company, of which H. N. Walker, Esq., 
was made the president. Under his administration a sufiB- 
cient amount of money was raised ou the bonds of the road 
to relay the track with solid T rails and to make other 
improvements necessary to put the road in condition for 
business. 

Immediately after the completion of the road from De- 
troit to Poatiac a project was formed to build a railroad 
from that village westward through Shiawa.ssee, Clinton, 
and other counties to Lake Michigan at the mouth of Grand 
River, to connect at that point with steamers for Milwaukee 
and other lake ports. This resulted in the formation of the 
'• Oakland and Ottawa llailroad Company," and its incor- 
poration by act of Legislature approved April '6, 1848. 
The persons appointed as commissioners to receive sub- 
scriptions to the capital stock (which was fixed at two mil- 
lion five hundred thousand dollars) were Gurdon Williams, 
Edward A. Brush, H. C. Thurber, Alfred Williams, Bow- 
man W. Dennis, John Hamilton, C. P. Bush, W. A. Rich- 
iiiond, and Charles Shopard. The company was empowered 
by the act " to construct a railroad with a double or single 
track from the village of Pontiac, in the county of Oakland, 
to Lake Michigan, in the county of Ottawa, passing it 
tiirough the most desirable and eligible route, by the way 
of Fentonville," and was required to begin its construction 
within five years and to complete it within fifteen years 
from the passage of the act. In 1850 an act was passed 
(approved March 20th), providing " That the Detroit and 
Pontiac Railroad Company be and they are hereby author- 
ized to extend said railroad so as to connect with the Oak- 
land and Ottawa Railroad when constructed, thus forming a 
continuous line of railroad through the village of Pontiac." 

The construction of the Oakland and Ottawa road was 
commenced in 1852, and in the following year H. N. 
Walker (who was a leading spirit in this as well as in the 
Pontiac road) purchased in England twenty-six hundred 
tons of iron, which was estimated to be sufficient to lay the 
track through to Fentonville. On the 13th of February, 
1855, the Governor approved " An act to authorize the 
consolidation of the Detroit and Pontiac and the Oakland 
and Ottawa llailroad Companies, so as to form a continuous 
line from Detroit to Lake Michigan, under the name of 
the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway* Company." By this 
act the name of the Detroit and Pontiac was changed 
to that of " The Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Com- 
pany," which was empowered to iucrea.se its capital stock 
to an amount not exceeding ten millions of dollars ; and it 
was provided that " the said company is hereby authorized, 

•The name was ch.angcd to "DctroU and Milwaukee Railroad 
Cuiupanj" iu ISdO. 



for the purpose of forming a continuous line, to purchase 
all the property, rights, and franchises of the Oakland and 
Ottawa Railroad Company upon such terms as shall be 
mutually agreed upon ; and the stockholders of the said 
Oakland and Ottawa Railroad Company shall, in case of sale, 
become stockholders of the said Detroit and Milwaukee Rail- 
way Company, in such proportions as may be agreed upon 
in the terms of sale ; and the said Oakland and Ottawa Rail- 
road Company shall thereupon become merged in the said 
Detroit and Milwaukee Railway Company." 

Under the authority so conferred the two companies were 
consolidated, and the Oakland and Ottawa became the De- 
troit and Milwaukee line. The work of construction west 
of Pontiac had proceeded but slowly during the three years 
succeeding its commencement, but as the new company had 
negotiated a loan in Europe to the amount of one million 
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, it was now pushed 
more vigorou.sly, so that in October, 1855, the road was 
opened to Fentonville, where stage connections were made 
for Grand River, and for Flint and Saginaw. In the fol- 
lowing spring the locomotive entered Shiawassee County for 
the first time, and on the 1st of July, 1856, the road was for- 
mally opened to Owosso, where the arrival of the pioneer 
train was hailed with demonstrations of almost unbounded 
delight and exultation. The same enthusiasm greeted the 
opening of the road to St. John's on the' IGth of January 
following. Well might the people of Clinton and Shia- 
wassee congratulate themselves as they saw the first trains 
speeding westward, for their coming was an event which 
lifted the ban of isolation from these counties, and more 
than doubled the value of their domain. 

Between St. John's and Ionia the work was prosecuted 
with vigor, and the road was completed to the last-named 
place in September, 1857. Finally, on the 22d of Novem- 
ber, 1858, the line was opened to its terminus at Grand 
Haven, and the locomotive traversed the entire peninsula 
from Detroit River to Lake Michigan. 

The Detroit and Milwaukee road, although a very great 
benefit to Shiawassee and Clinton Counties, proved a bad 
investment for its original stockholders. The foreclosure of 
the bondholders' mortgage in 18G0 placed the road in the 
hands of a receiver, and it remained in this condition until 
Oct. 19, 1878, when it became the " Detroit, Grand Haven 
and Jlilwaukee Railway," by passing into the possession of 
a company of that name, organized in the interest of the 
Great Western Railway of Canada. It is still owned and 
controlled by that company. 

The road enters Shiawassee County in the township of 
Vernon, and passes thence northwestward into Caledonia. 
Then, turning to a nearly due west course, it crosses the 
remainder of Shiawassee County and all of Clinton through 
the third tier of townships north of the south line of the 
counties. The stations on the line within these counties 
are Vernon, Corunna, and Owosso, in Shiawa.sscc, and 
Ovid, Shcpardsville, St. John's, and Fowler, in Clinton. 

JACKSON, LANSING AND SAGINAW RAIL- 
ROAD. 

The first link iu the present important line known as the 
Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw llailroad was built as part 



36 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



(if a proposed lino to run from Aniboy, near tlie south line 
of the State, to Traverse Bay on Lake Michigan. The 
Ainboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad Company 
became incorporated in 1857 for the purpose of construct- 
ing the lino above mentioned, and in the expectation of 
receiving in aid of such construction certain lands granted 
by an act of Congress approved June 8, 185G. The act 
referred to provided " that there be, and hereby is, granted 
to the State of Michigan — to aid in the construction of 
railroads from Little Bay de Noquet to Marquette, and 
thence to Ontonagon, and from the two last-named places 
to the Wisconsin State line ; also from Amboy, by Hillsdale 
and Lansing, and from Grand Rapids to some point on or 
near Traverse Bay ; also from Grand Haven and P6re 
Mar<juette to Flint, and thence to Port Huron — every 
alternate section of land, designated by odd numbers, for 
six sections iu width, on each side of each of said roads." 
Where such odd-numbered sections had already been sold 
by the United States, or pre-empted, then the deficiency to 
be made good by selections of a like number of alternate 
sections of land owned by the government outside of the 
six tiers of .sections ; but in no case to be farther than fif- 
teen miles from the lines of the proposed roads. By an 
act of the Legislature of Michigan, approved Feb. 14, 1857, 
the State accepted this grant of lands from the United 
States, with the terms and conditions imposed. 

The route on which it was originally proposed to build 
the road from Amboy to its Lake Michigan terminus was 
by way of Hillsdale and Lansing, and from the latter point 
northwestwardly to Traverse Bay, leaving Owosso and 
Saginaw far to the east of its route; but the influence of 
these two cities was exerted to change the route and bring 
the road to their own borders. This was accomplished, 
though at great danger of losing the land-grant, a strong 
eft'ort being made to deprive the company of its benefit, on 
the ground that it had never been the intention of Congress 
to give lands in aid of roads built on routes unnecessarily 
circuitous, as this was claimed to be. One of the Lansing 
newspapers, in ridiculing the alleged crookedness of the 
line, named it in derision the" Ramshorn Railroad," a term 
which clung to it (almost entirely superseding its legitimate 
title), and has not yet been forgotten. 

Among the men who were most influential in promoting 
the success of the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay road, 
and who were especially prominent in its board of directors, 
were Judge Amos Gould and Alfred L. Williams, ol'Owosso ; 
George C. Monroe, of Jonesville ; and Alvin N. Hart, of 
Lansing. The construction of the road was commenced in 
1857 on the section between Lansing and Owosso; and 
though there ensued many delays and discouragements to 
the friends of the enterprise, the obstacles were finally 
so far overcome that the road between Lansing and Owosso 
was completed and opened for travel and traffic about Nov. 
20, 18G2. The Owosso Press of Jan. 10, 1863, said, 
" The rush over the Ramshorn road to Lansing this week 
has been like the rush to a newly-discovered gold-mine." 
The business of the road seems to have been considerable 
from the first, but it was far from being sufficient to render 
it profitable to the stockholders, and in 1864, under pres- 
sure of financial difficulties, it p.issud into the hands of a 



receiver, — the Hon. C. C. Trowbridge, — who held posses- 
sion about two years, operating it through the superintend- 
ent of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, that road fur- 
nishing the rolling-stock. In the latter part of the year 
1866 it was sold with all its franchises to the Jackson, 
Lansing and Saginaw Railroad Company, which was or- 
ganized as the Jackson and Lansing Railroad Company, 
Feb. 2.3, 1864, and changed its name to that of Jackson, 
Lansing and Saginaw, Feb. 24, 1865. It opened its road 
for business from Jackson to Lansing in June, 1866, and 
through the whole distance, — Jackson to Owosso, — in- 
cluding the purchased road, in January, 1867. 

The Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Company, after 
opening its road to Owosso, in 1862, continued the work 
of construction on the section of the road between Owosso 
and Saginaw, and a considerable amount of grading was 
done before their financial diSicultios compelled suspension. 
The work was continued by the Jackson, Lansing and Sagi- 
naw Company immediately afte" the pureha.se, and was 
pushed with such vigor that the road was opened through 
Saginaw and Bay City in the same year. The railway 
line thus opened, affording communication with important 
points north and south, was and has continued to be an 
important one to the interests of Shiawassee County, though 
much less so to those of Clinton. The road is now operated 
by the Michigan Central Railroad Company. Its route 
lies through De Witt, Bath, and Victor townships, in 
Clinton County, and Sciota, Bennington, Owosso, and 
Ruish, in Shiawassee. At Owosso City it crosses and con- 
nects with the Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee 
Railroad. 

DETROIT, LANSING AND NORTHERN RAILROAD. 

The railroad line now known as the Detroit, Lansing 
and Northern, which crosses a corner of the southwestern- 
most township of Clinton County, was formed by a con- 
solidation of the Detroit and Howell, the Howell and Lan- 
sing, and the Ionia and Lansing Railroads. The last-named 
road (which included all of the Detroit, Lansing and 
Northern line that is within Clinton County) was com- 
pleted and opened for travel between Ionia and Lansing in 
December, 18G9. The Detroit and Howell and the How- 
ell and Lansing Companies (the titles of which indicate 
their respective routes) were consolidated in April, 1870. 

In September next following the consolidation the fran- 
chises were conveyed to James F. Joy and other capitalists 
composing the " Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad 
Company," to which the Ionia and Lansing Railroad was 
soon after conveyed by consolidation. The road between 
Detroit and Lansing was completed about Aug. 10, 1871, 
and on the 22d of the same month the officers of the com- 
pany opened the line from Detroit to its (then) northern 
terminus at Kay wood Station, five miles north of Green- 
ville, Montcalm Co., the road having been completed from 
Ionia to the last-named point in September, 1870. It was 
completed in August, 1871, to Howard City, where it forms 
a connection with the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad. 
This point continued to be its terminus for several years. 
In 1877 the name was changed from Detroit, Lansing and 
Luke Michigan, to Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad, 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 



37 



as it is at present. It has been extended from Howard 
City to Big Rapids, Mecosta Co., and was opened for traffic 
to the hist-nained point May 31, 1880. The road passes 
throujih Clinton County for a distance of about twelve miles, 
and three of its stations — tliose of Eagle, Delta, and In- 
gersoll's — arc. located in the townships of Eagle and Water- 
town. 

THE PORT HURON RAILROAD PROJECT. 
Soon after the abandonment of the old " Northern Rail- 
road" by the State, — which has been mentioned in pre- 
ceding pages, — the project was taken up by an association 
of individuals vpho were, by act of Legislature approved 
Jan. 30, 1847,* incorporated as " the Port Huron and Lake 
Michigan Railroad Company," with authority " to construct 
a railroad with a double or single track from Port Huron, 
in St. Clair County, running westerly until it shall intersect 
Lake Michigan at or near the mouth of Grand River, with 
power to take, transport, and carry property and persons 
upon the said railroad, or any part thereof herein author- 
ized to be constructed, by the power and force of steam or 
of animals, or of any mechanical or other power, or of any 
combination of them which the said company may choose 
to use or apply." John Wells, Alvin N. Hart, Charles C. 
Hascall, Allied L. Williams, Jesse F. Turner, Ira Porter, 
Edmund B. Bostwick, and Thomas W. White were ap- 
pointed cliartor commissioners to receive sub.scriptions to 
the capital stock, which was authorized to the amount of 
two millions of dollars. The company was required to com- 
mence its road in five years, and to complete it in fifteen 
years, from the passage of the act. And the State relin- 
quished to the company all her rights and privileges in the 
line of the Northern road wherever the company might 
wish to construct its road over that route. In alluding to 
this relinquisliment by the State, the directors of the com- 
pany (in a statement published for the purpose of influen- 
cing subscriptions to the stock) said that " instead of pay- 
ing the State for what it has done towards the construction 
of the road, the company have a donation of all that one 
hundred and ten thousand dollars in cash, and twenty 
thousand acres of land, have accomplished." 

It was, in effect, a revival, by a private company, of the 
Northern Railroad scheme, which had been commenced and 
abandoned by the State ; and its proposed route, east of 
Ionia County, was to be tlie same as that which had been 
grubbed and cleared in lB38-o9 for the old road. Of 
course, the resuscitation of tlie scheme, and the prospect 
that after all a railroad would be built through Shiawassee 
and Clinton Counties (the Oakland and Ottawa company 
not having then been chartered), was very cheering to the 
people living on or contiguous to the route, but the hopes 
thus rai.scd were destined never to be realized. 

During a long series of years great efforts were made by 
the promoters to secure funds for the construction of the 
road, and many changes were made in the management of 

* The I.L'gisliituro hail passed an act of incorporation of the same 
company in 1846, but it had been vetoed by Governor Felch on the 
ground that it might defeat the sale of the Southern and Central roads, 
negotiations for their purchase from the .Slate being then in progress. 
This sale having been eflected, and the oi'jcction thus removed, the 
incoi'purutiug act was approved in 1S-J7, as stated. 



the company, but all to no effect ; the accomplishment of 
the object so earnestly desired seemed as remote as ever. 
In 1855, Mr. N. P. Stewart, of Detroit, procured the or- 
ganization of a new con)pany, under the general railroad 
law, called the "Port Huron and Milwaukee Railroad Com- 
pany," to build a railway line from Port Huron to Grand 
Haven, there to connect with steamers for Milwaukee. The 
survey of the route was made without delay, the right of 
way obtained, and for a time the work of construction was 
pushed most vigorously. A dock was built at Port Iluroni 
some twenty miles of grading was done, and about a mile 
of track was laid at the Port Huron end of the line, so that 
the people living in the counties traversed by the route 
(who cared chiefly for the success of the project, with but 
little regard as to which company should build the road) 
began to feel sure that at last their hopes were to be real- 
ized. But they were again to be disappointed, for, about 
the time that the work had progressed to the stage above 
mentioned, Mr. Stewart procured — or at least assented to — 
the passage of an act of Legislature consolidating tliis with 
the Detroit and Milwaukee road at Owosso ; and from that 
time, work on the eastern portion of the road was sus- 
pended, and the means raised for its construction were used 
on the last-named road west of Owosso. This help to the 
Detroit and Milwaukee road pushed that line westward 
through Shiawas.see and Clinton Counties, but it prostrated 
all hope of the building of the additional line to I'ort 
Huron. 

To follow the history of the hopes, disappointments, and 
delays in the building of the Port Huron and Lake Michi- 
gan road is unnecessary, for it has little reference to these 
counties. It is sufficient to mention that, under a reor- 
ganization of the company, work was resumed near Port 
Huron in March, 18(56, and that after nearly .six years 
more of disaster and delay the road was, on the 13th of 
December, 1871, opened for travel from Port Huron to the 
city of Flint, beyond which point, westward on the original 
route to Owosso, nothing has since been done. A con- 
siderable part of the route, however, had previously been 
graded between Flint and Owosso, several miles of this 
grading being in Shiawassee County. 

CHICAGO AND LAKE HURON RAILROAD LINE. 

The " Chicago and Northeastern Railroad Company" was 
incorporated under the general law by the filing of articles 
of association in the oflice of the Secretary of State, Aug. 12, 
1874, the object of its formation being the construction of 
a railroad from Lansing to Flint, to connect at the former 
city with the Peninsular Railway and at Flint with the 
Port Huron Railroad, and with these to form a through 
line from Chicago to the city of Port Huron. 

The preliminary work on the Chicago and Northeastern 
road was commenced in November, 1874, and it was pushed 
with vigor during 1875 and 1876, so that at the close of 
the latter year the road was nearly ready for traffic. It 
was formally opened about the 1st of February, 1877, and 
was operated as a part of the " Chicago and Lake Huron" 
line, which enjoyed a very heavy business (particularly in 
freighting) until the early part of 1879, when it was broken 
up by the Chicago and Nortlicastern liuk being purchased 



38 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



by an Eastern capitalist (understood to be William H. Van- 
dorbilt, or parties in his interest), for the purpose of de- 
stroying a formidable competitor to other through lines 
under his control. This was for a time a severe blow to 
the Grand Trunk Railway, as it destroyed its Chicago con- 
nection, and measures were at once taken by that company 
to supply the place of the Chicago and Northeastern link 
by a new road from Flint to Lansing by way of Owosso. 
A survey of the route (or rather a resurvey of the original 
route of the Port Huron and Lake Michigan road between 
Flint and Owosso) was made in April, 1879, and this re- 
sulted so favorably that in July of that year Mr. Charles 
B. Peek, general manager of the Chicago and Lake Huron, 
advertised for bids for the immediate construction of the 
road, full-tied, with stone and iron bridges and steel rails. 
It seemed then as if the old project of a railroad from 
Shiawassee County direct to Flint and Port Hurou^a pro- 
ject which, as the Northern Railroad and afterwards as 
the Port Huron and Lake Michigan Railroad, had been 
agitated, but held in abeyance for more than forty years — 
was destined at last to be realized ; but the hopes of the 
people in this direction were destined to be again disap- 
pointed, for the Grand Trunk Company afterwards suc- 
ceeded in regaining possession of the Chicago and North- 
eastern link between Flint and Lansing, which is still owned 
and operated by that company as a part of their through 
line to Chicago. The road, entering Shiawassee County at 
its southwestern corner, passes in a northeasterly direction 
diagonally through the townships of Woodhull, Perry, An- 
trim, Shiawassee, and Vernon, from which last-named town- 
ship it crosses the county-line into Genesee. 

OTHER PROJECTED RAILROAD LINES. 
In August, 1869, the Owo.sso and Big Rapids Railroad 
Company was incorporated under the general railroad law, 
liaving for its object the construction of a railroad from 
Owos.so to Big Rapids, Mecosta Co., this being intended 
as a northern connection of the Toledo, Ann Arbor and 
Northern Railroad, which was incorporated in the same 
year, designing to build a road from Toledo by way of Ann 
Arbor, Howell, and Oak Grove, in Livingston County, to 
Owosso. Nothing was accomplished by this company (the 
Owosso and Big Rapids), and in 1871 it was changed in 
name and object, becoming incorporated as the Owosso and 
Northwestern Railroad Company, with T. D. Dewey as 
president, Gilbert R. Lyon secretary, and E. A. Todd as 
treasurer, for the purpose of building a road from Owosso 
to Frankfort, Benzie Co., on Lake Michigan. Work was 
commenced on the line, and a great part of the nece.<sary 
grading was done on a section of about thirty miles in 
length, from Owosso to Pine River, in Gratiot County. 
This was done prior to the financial revulsion of 1873, but 
the panic of that year caused a suspension of operations, 
and no progress has since been made in the prosecution of 
the enterprise. Its promoters, however, believe that the 
road is destined to be completed, and to prove successful. 

The subject of railroad communication from St. John's 
village southward began to be agitated in 1804, upon the 
incorporation of the Jackson and Lansing Railroad Com- 



pany, which, as was understood, contemplated not only the 
building of a road from Jackson to Lansing, but also the 
securing of a northern connection through the counties of 
Clinton, Gratiot, and Isabella. The route, if so extended, 
would almost ncces.sarily pass through St. John's, and so 
great was the confidence of the people of this part of Clin- 
ton County that such a result would surely be reached that 
one of the papers of the village, in its issue of June 3, 1864, 
announced, in reference to this project, that " the enterprise 
is now a fixed fact." The opinion, however, proved to be 
unfounded, for in the following year the Jackson and 
Lansing became the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Rail- 
road Company, and changed the proposed route of its road 
to conform to its change of name and title. The old 
" Ramshorn" road to Owosso was purchased, and became a 
part of the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw line, and St. 
John's had no longer anything to hope for from that com- 
pany. 

The Lansing, St. John's and Mackinac Railroad Company 
(having for its object " the construction of a road from 
Lansing northward through the villages of De Witt, St. 
Joiin's, Ithaca, Alina, St. Louis, and Salt River to Mount 
Pleasant, Isabella Co., and thence north to a junction with 
the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad," and eventually to 
Mackinac) was incorporated about May 1, 1869, its ofiicers 
being R. M. Steel, President; I. A. Fancher, Vice-Presi- 
dent ; Oliver L. Spaulding, Secretary ; and S. S. Walker, 
Treasurer. In aid of the construction of this road the 
townships of I)e Witt, Olive, Bingham, and Greenbush, in 
Clinton County, voted an aggregate sum of eighty-five 
tiiousund dollars, and deposited their bonds to that amount 
in the office of the Secretary of State, under Act No. 4.5, 
of the Laws of Michigan for 1869. But this act was de- 
clared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the State; 
and upon this announcement the townships took the neces- 
sary measures to recall and cancel their bonds. In conse- 
quence of this the company proceeded no further towards 
the construction of the road, and became to all intents and 
purpo.ses dead. The survey of the route of the road be- 
tween Lansing and St. John's had been made in November, 
1869, and it was continued northward from St. John's, but 
beyond these preliminary surveys the company did no 
work upon the line. 

Upon the collapse of the Lansing, St. John's and Macki- 
nac Railroad the Gratiot and Isabella County promoters of 
that enterprise transferred their support to the Owosso and 
Big Rapids and Saginaw and St. Louis Railroad projects, 
which were then being agitated. This withdrawal of sup- 
port, however, did not wholly discourage the people of St. 
John's from making a further attempt, and in the fall of 
1871 the Lansing and St. John's Railroad Company was 
incorporated for the purpose of building a railroad between 
the two points named in its title. The corporators resident 
in St. John's were Oliver L. Spaulding, Alvah H. Walker, 
Henry M. Perrin, Porter K. Perrin, John Hicks, Charles 
Kipp, 0. W. Munger, R. M. Steel, Samuel S. Walker, 
Randolph Strickland, M. Heavenrich, George W. Em- 
mons. The ofiicers of the company were R. M. Steel, 
President; H. M. Perrin, Treasurer; 0. W. Munger, 
Secretary; O. L. Spaulding, Charles Kipp, and P. K. Per- 



MILITARY RECORD OP SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON. 



39 



rin, Executive Committee. Tlie sum of sixty thousand 
dollars was raised by subscriptions to the stoelc, and the 
company proceeded to make the preliminary surveys; but 
the monetary panic of 1873 caused a suspension of opera- 
tions, and nothing has been done towards grading the road- 
bed. 



CHAPTER IV. 

MILITAHY RECORD OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLIN- 
TON. 

The Mexican War — The First Michigan Roginient— Record of the 
two Counties in the War of the Rebellion — The Second Infantry — 
IJull Run Cam|iaign — Peninsula Campaign — Batlles of Williams- 
burg and Fair Oaks — The .^evcn Da.vs' Fight — Cam]iaign under 
Gen. Pope— Fredericksburg— Campaigns in Kentucky and Missis- 
sippi—In E.ast Tennessee — Veteran Rocnlistment — Campaign of 
the Wilderness — In Front of Petersburg— Fall of Petersburg — 
Muster Out, and Return Home. 

Neither Shiawassee nor Clinton County has any mili- 
tary history datinc; farther back than the commencciiient of 
tlio war between the United States and Mexico. At the 
breaking out of the " Bhick Hawk War," about fourteen 
years before that time, the entire territory of these coun- 
ties was but a wilderness, containing less than ten white 
inhabitants; and its condition was nearly the same when, 
three years later, the quarrel known as the " Toledo War" 
cau.sed the mustering of a considerable number of troops, 
which were furnished by the older counties of the State. 
At the outbreak of the Mexican war the circumstances 
were diifercnt. The total population of these two counties 
had increased to nearly nine thousand, and included about 
thirteen hundred men liable to do military duty, but still 
there were not many who were in a condition which made 
it possible for them to leave their families and farms to be- 
come soldiers. Of these a few volunteered in the Michigan 
Regiment (and some probably in other commands), and 
served honorably through the war. A part of the names 
of those who so volunteered have been found, and are giveu 
in this chapter. 

On the 18th of May, 1846, was issued the requisition 
of the President of the United States, calling upon the 
several States for troops to serve in the war with Mexico; 
and under this requisition the" First Michigan Volunteer In- 
fantry Regiment" was organized and placed under command 
of Col. T. B. W. Stockton. Company C of that regiment 
was raised and commanded by Capt. A. H. Hanscom, of 
Pontiac, assisted by his first lieutenant, Thoma.s II. Hunt, 
and second lieutenants (for it had two of that grade) C. O. 
Conant and A. P. Hanscom. It was made up of men of 
whom a few were enlisted at Detroit, but by far the greater 
part at Pontiac and other points in Oakland County, at 
Brighton in Livingston County, and at Corunna and other 
places in Shiawassee County; recruited in November and 
December, 1846. From the roll of the company, as mus- 
tered at the Detroit Barracks, Dec. 22, 1846, are taken the 
names of those who enlisted in Shiawassee County, as fol- 
lows: 



Charles Baker, enlisted at Corunna. 

Timothy W. Brown, enlisted at Corunna. 

Charles Curl, enlisted at Corunna. 

James Culbert, enlisted at Corunna. 

Charles Harpe, enlisted at Corunna. 

J. Jingall, enlisted at Corunna. 

Lewis Lyons, enlisted at Corunna. 

William II. Lovejoy, enlisted at Corunna. 

Andrew H. Letts, enlisted at Corunna. 

Elisha A. Morgan, enlisted at Corunna. 

William R. Chapman, enlisted at Owosso. 

H. P. Blurray, enlisted at Owo.sso. 

Levi Prangle}', enlisted at Caledonia. 

Daniel Phelps, enlisted at Caledonia. 

Nathan M. Smith, enlisted at Caledonia. 

Matthias Scherraerhorn, enlisted at Caledonia. 

Bartley Siegel, enlisted at Caledonia. 

George W. Ormsby, enlisted at Burns. 

Joseph B. Stone, enlisted at Burns. 

The First Michigan Regiment was rendezvoused at 
Detroit, where it was mustered on the 22d of December, 
and on the 25th of the same month (before its ranks were 
full) it left for the seat of war to move by way of Spring- 
field, Ohio, Cincinnati, and New Orleans. Arriving at 
Cincinnati it was embarked on the steamer "Andrew Jack- 
son," and arrived in New Orleans ten days later. After a 
stay of about one week, during which time it was encamped 
on Gen. Jackson's battle-ground of 1815, it took passage 
for Vera Cruz, and arrived at that city about the middle of 
January, 1847. It remained encamped outside the walls 
of Vera Cruz for about three weeks, at the end of which 
time it ipoved with other forces, amounting in all to two 
thousand men, under command of Gen. Bankhead, to the 
city of Cordova, in the interior. A second detachment, 
under Lieut.-Col. (afterwards general) A. S. Williams, had 
left Detroit some time after the departure of the main body 
of the regiment; and this detachment now came up and 
joined the command at Cordova. Col. Stockton, of the 
First Michigan, was made military governor of the city, 
and remained there in that capacity until the close of the 
war. While there the regiment was engaged in gar- 
rison duty and occasional .skirmishes with guerrillas while 
acting as guard to supply-tmins, but did not participate in 
any general engagement, though it suffered severely from 
sickness among the men. It was ordered home in May, 
1848. and in due time reached Detroit, where it was mus- 
tered out of the service July IStli in that year. 

The Fifteenth United States Infantry, which served in 
Mexico in the division of Gen. Gideon J. Pillow, and 
fought in some of the principal battles, contained a large 
number of volunteers from this part of Michigan, and is 
said to have included a few from Shiawassee and Clinton 
Counties, but the names of these cannot be giveti here, for 
the reason that the muster-rolls of the regiment are not 
accessible. 

The Mexican war, however, was but a trivial matter when 
compared with that mighty struggle — the war of the Re- 
bellion — which opened some fifteen years later, and it is 
with the commencement of that great conflict that the real 
military history of these counties begins. When on the 



40 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



13th of April, 1861, the tremendous news ran through the 
wires of the telegraph that a United States fort had struck 
its colors to a band of armed insurgents, and when, two 
days later, the President of tlie republic called on the States 
to furnish a great army of volunteers to preserve the life 
of the nation, there was no State which responded with 
more alacrity than Michigan, and there were none of the 
counties in the Beautiful Peninsula in which the fires of 
patriotism flamed up more promptly or burned more 
bri"htly than in Clinton and Shiawassee. Five days after 
the issuance of the President's call, and just one week after 
the day when the rebel flag supplanted the stripes and stars 
above the brown ramparts of Sumter, an impromptu mass- 
meeting (the largest which had ever convened in Shiawassee 
County) was held at Owosso, to take measures for sustain- 
ing the government in its time of peril. The Hon. Amos 
Gould was called to the chair, and Judge Josiah Turner, 
B. 0. Williams, and T. D. D^'wey were made vice-presi- 
dents of the meeting. Resolutions were presented and 
adopted by the meeting without a dissenting voice, calling 
upon every man to ignore and bury all party differences and 
prejudices, and to devote life, fortune, and sacred honor to 
the support of the government and the preservation of the 
Union. 

A meeting similar in purpose, and equally large and en- 
thusiastic, had been held on the previous evening (Friday, 
April 19, 1861), at Clinton Hall, in the village of St. 
John's. James W. Ransom was called to the chair, and a 
committee was chosen to draft resolutions. This committee, 
composed of Oliver L. Spaulding, Randolph Strickland, 
\V. H. Moote, Joab Baker, Henry Walbridge, H. C. Hodge, 
and H. S. Gibbons, reported resolutions nearly identical 
with those passed at the Owosso meeting, and these were 
adopted unanimously, and with great enthusiasm. At this, 
as at the Owo.sso gathering, arrangements were made for 
holding another meeting a few days later, and at these sub- 
sequent meetings measures were taken to promote the 
raising of companies of volunteers in the two counties, and 
resolutions were pa.ssed pledging support (if needed) to the 
families of soldiers absent in the army. 

These meetings at St. John's and Owosso were supple- 
mented by others, held in many of the townships of both 
couutics, and at all these the same patriotic spirit was mani- 
fested. Enlistments commenced immediately. Men left the 
farm, the store, and the workshop to volunteer in their coun- 
try's service. Many of these, unwilling to wait for the 
organization of companies in their own county, went to 
other places to enlist, and before the 1st of May a few men 
from both counties had left for Detroit, Lansing, and Grand 
Rapids, to place their names on the rolls of companies or- 
ganizing there. By that time, however, recruiting had com- 
menced both in Clinton and Shiawa.ssee, and on the 4th of 
]\Iay the papers announced that Capt. Richard Baylis had 
made good progress towards enlisting a company at St. 
John's and Ovid, and that a company recruited at Owosso 
and Corunna was already full, and had been accepted by 
the military authorities of the State. 

From that time, during four years of war and terror, the 
counties of Clinton and Shiawassee responded well and 
promptly to the numerous calls for volunteers, and furnished 



for the several armies fully three thousand men,* who served 
in more than fifty regiments, — infantry, cavalry, artillery, 
and engineers. Several of these regiments, most notice- 
able for the number of Shiawassee and Clinton County 
men included among their members, are especially men- 
tioned in succeeding pages in historical sketches of their 
organization and services in the great war for the union. 

SECOND INFANTRY. 

When, at the fall of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln 
called on the several loyal States for an army of seventy- 
five thousand men to sustain the power of the government 
against a rebellion which had unexpectedly proved formid- 
able. Governor Blair, of Michigan, responded by issuing 
his proclamation calling for twenty companies out of the 
uniformed volunteer force of the State, with field and staff 
oflScers, to compose two regiments of infantry, to be placed 
at the disposal of the President if required. The War 
Department had placed the quota of Michigan at one full 
regiment, but the Governor very wisely concluded — and 
the people of Michigan concurred in the opinion — that a 
second regiment should be made ready for service if it 
should be needed, as he believed it would be. Four days 
after the Governor's call (April 19th) the State's quota 
was filled, and her first regiment ready for muster into the 
service of the United States, fully equipped with arms, 
ammunition, and clothing, awaiting only the orders of the 
War Department, and on the 13th of May it left Detroit 
for Washington, being the first regiment to arrive at the 
capital from any point west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

The Governor's call for twenty companies had been 
promptly and fully responded to ; and so, after making up 
the First Regiment, there still remained ten companies 
which, having failed to secure places in the First, were 
ready and anxious to be organized as the Second Regiment 
of Michigan. Nine of the companies composing this regi- 
ment contained men from Clinton and Shiawassee, though 
none of them were principally, or even largely, made up of 
volunteers from these counties. 

On the 20th of May, 1861, the Second Regiment was 
announced to be full, and on the 25th it was mustered into 
the United States service for three years by Lieut. -Col. E. 
Backus, U.S.A. The field-officers of the regiment were 

'■ Clinton and .Shiawassee were credited in the adjutant-general's 
office for about three thousand four hundred men furnished to the 
government, but this is considerably above the number of those who 
actually served in the army from these counties. This discrepancy is 
to be explained by the fact that of the large number who re-enlisled 
as veterans each man was counted twice, and that each man who 
paid commutation money in lieu of personal service was counted as a 
soldier furnished by the county, though never actually in the service. 
A few men also volunteered in the naval service, and these went to 
swell the aggregate credit. 

In regard to the lists given in these pages of officers and men from 
these counties serving in the several regiments, it is proper to say 
that great care has been taken in transcribing them from the rolls in 
the adjutant-general's office, and in verifying them, when practicable, 
by surviving members of the regiments to which they have reference. 
If, notwithstanding this, they are found (as they doubtless will be, to 
some extent) incomplete, it should be remembered that it is on ac- 
count of the neglect of officers whose duty it was to return full and 
complete records with the muster-out rolls tiled in the adjutant-gen- 
eral's office. 



MILITARY RECORD OP SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTOiSr. 



41 



Israel B. Richardson, colonel ; Henry L. Cliipraan, lieu- 
tenant-colonel ; Adolplius W. Williams, major. In the 
afternoon of Thursday, June 6th, the Second Regiment, 
one thousand and twenty strong, emharked on three steamers 
(one side-wheel and two propellers), and at eight o'clock 
P.M. left Detroit for Cleveland, arriving there the following 
morning. From Cleveland it proceeded by railway, via 
Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Baltimore, to Washington, 
reacliing the capital on the 10th. 

The regiment made a stay of several weeks in the District 
of Columbia, its camp being named " Camp Winfield Scott." 
It was brigaded with the Third Jlichigan, First Massachu- 
setts, and Twelfth New York, the brigade-commander 
being Col. Richardson, of the Second Michigan. When 
Cien. McDowell made his forward movement towards Ma- 
nassas, this brigade moved with the army into Virginia, and 
was engaged in the fight at Blackburn's Ford, July 18th, 
and in the battle of Bull Run, Sunday, July 21st. In the 
panic and disorder which ended that disastrous day the 
Second Regiment behaved with great steadiness, covering 
the retreat of the brigade towards Washington, for which 
it was warmly complimented by the heroic Richardson. 

After Bull Run the regiment was encamped for some 
weeks near Arlington, and later in the season at Fort Lyon, 
Va., where it remained during the fall. About December 
20th, substantial and comfortable winter quarters were con- 
structed at " Camp Michigan," three miles from Alexandria, 
on the Acotink Road. While this camp was in process of 
construction an officer wrote that " Cabins are growing up 
on every side, adorned with doors and windows, procured 
by a process called ' cramping,' which is somewhere on the 
debatable ground between buying and stealing." Here 
the regiment remained until March, 1SG2, when it moved 
with its brigade and the Army of the Potomac to Fortress 
Monroe, and thence, up the Peninsula, to Yorktown and 
Williamsburg, at which latter place it took active part in 
the severe engagement of Monday, May 5lh, sustaining a 
loss of fifty-five killed and wounded. 

From Williamsburg the Second moved, with the army, 
up the Peninsula to and across the Chickahominy, and 
fought in the battle of Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 
1SG2. Its loss in that engagement was fifty-seven killed 
and wounded, though only seven of the companies were 
engaged. 

In the retreat (or " change of base," as it has sometimes 
been called) from the York River Railroad to James River, 
the regiment fought at Glendale (or Charles City Cross- 
Roads), June 30th, and at Malvern Hill, July 1st. From 
the latter field it retired with the army, and moved to Har- 
rison's Landing, on the James, where it remained until the 
general evacuation of that position, August 15th, when it 
marched down the Peninsula, and was moved thence, by 
way of the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River, with other 
troops, to the assistance of the imperiled army of Gen. Pope 
in the valley of the Rappahannock, during which campaign 
it took part in the fights of August 28th, 29th, 30th, and 
in the battle of Chantilly, September 1st. 

At Fredericksburg the Second was not actively engaged. 
It crossed the Rappahannock on the 12th of December, but 
in the great battle of the next day was held in reserve, and 
6 



sustained only a loss of one killed and one wounded by the 
enemy's shells, but was, with the Eighth Michigan, among 
the last of the regiments of the army to recross to the north 
side of the river on the IGth. 

On the 13th of February, 1863, the regiment moved to 
Newport News, Va , and on the 19th of March took its route 
to Baltimore, and thence, by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road and steamers on the Ohio River, to Louisville, Ky., 
with the Ninth Army Corps, of which it was a part. The 
corps remained in Kentucky during the months of April 
and May, and in June was moved to Mississippi to reinforce 
the army of Gen. Grant, near Vicksburg. The Second went 
into camp at Milldale, near Vicksburg, on the 17th, and 
a few days later was stationed at Flower Dale Church. On 
the 4th of July, the day of the surrender of Vicksburg, the 
regiment left Flower Dale, and moved east towards the cap- 
ital of Mississippi, to take part in the operations against 
the rebel army of Gen. Johnston. It arrived in front of 
Jackson in the evening of the 10th, and on the 11th ad- 
vanced in skirmi.sh line on the enemy's rifle-pits, which were 
taken and held for a time. Superior numbers, however, 
compelled the Second to retire from the position, with a loss 
of eleven killed, forty-five wounded, and five taken prison- 
ers. On the 13th and 14th of July the regiment was again 
slightly engaged. On the 17th and 18th it was engaged in 
destroying the Memphis and New Orleans Railroad, in the 
■vicinity of Jackson and Madison, and then moved through 
Jackson (which had been evacuated by the enemy) back to 
Milldale, where it remained till August 5th, when it marched 
to the river, and thence moved with the Ninth Corps, by 
way of Cincinnati, to Kentucky, and encamped at Crab 
Orchard Springs, in that State, on the 30th of August. 
Here it remained twelve days, and September 10th broke 
camp and took the road for Cumberland Gap and Knox- 
ville, Tenn., reaching the latter place September 26th. It 
moved from the vicinity of Knoxville, October Sth, and was 
slightly engaged at Blue Springs on the 10th. On the 
20th it was again at Knoxville, but immediately afterwards 
moved to Loudon, and thence to Lenoir, Tenn., where, on 
the 8th of November, its men commenced building winter 
quarters. The strength of the regiment at tiiat time was 
reported at five hundred and three, present and absent. 

The anticipation of pa.ssing the winter at Lenoir was soon 
dispelled by the intelligence that the enemy, under Gen. 
Longstreet, was moving up the valley of the Tennessee in 
heavy force, evidently having Knoxville as his objective 
point. On the 14th of November, the Second Regiment 
with its division (the First Division of the Ninth Corps) was 
ordered out to meet and repel Longstreet, who was reported 
to be crossing the Tennessee, below Loudon. He was found 
in force near IIu8"s Ferry, on the Holston,and the division 
fell back to Lenoir. Here a line of battle was formed, but 
on the enemy coming up, the retreat towards Knoxville was 
resumed, the Second Regiment, with its brigade, forming 
the rear-guard. On the 16th it again stood in line at Camp- 
bell's Station to resist the advance of Longstreet, who was 
pressing up with great vigor. A sharp engagement ensued, 
in which the Second lost tliirty-one in killed and wounded. 
The position was stubbornly held till dark, when the retreat 
was resumed, and the regiment reached Knoxville at five 



42 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



o'clock in the morning of the 17tli, after a march of nearly 
thirty miles through mud and niin, and a battle of several 
hours' duration, all without rest or food. It took position 
on a hill below the city, at Fort Saunders, where rifle pits 
were constructed, and where the regiment remained during 
the .siege which followed. On the lL)th and 20th it was 
slightly engaged, and on the 24th, under orders to attack 
a line of rifle-pits, it advanced under command of Maj. By- 
ington, moving several hundred yards across an open plain 
swept by a front and flank fire of musketry and canister. 
The line was carried, but could not be held ; the attacking 
force was di-slodged and compelled to retire, with a loss to 
the Second Regiment of eighty-one killed and wounded ; 
this being very nearly one-half its whole number who were 
in the fight. Among the killed was Adj. William Noble, 
and Maj. Byington was mortally wounded. 

In the morning of Sunday, Nov. 29, 18(53, a force of 
the enemy, consisting of two veteran Georgia brigades of 
McLaws' division, made a furious and persistent assault on 
Fort Saunders, but were repelled, and finally driven back 
in disorder, with a loss of eight hundred in killed, wounded, 
and prisoners, and three stands of colors. With the force 
inside the fort during this assault were Companies A, F, G, 
and H, of the Second Michigan. Their loss, however, was 
inconsiderable, being only five killed and wounded. From 
that time the regiment saw no fighting at this place other 
than slight skirmishes, and on Friday night, December 4th, 
the enemy withdrew from before Knoxville, after a siege of 
eighteen days' duration. 

The Second marched from Knoxville, December 8th, 
and moved to Rutledge. On the 16th it moved to Blain's 
Cross- Roads, which was its last march in 18G3. During 
the year that was then about closing the regiment had 
moved a distance of more than two thousand five hundred 
miles. It remained at Blain's for about a month, during 
which time it was " veteranized,'' the number re-enlisting 
as veterans being one hundred and ninety-eight. About 
the middle of January, 1864, it moved to Strawberry 
Plains, thence to Knoxville, and to Erie Station, remaining 
at the latter place until February 4th, when it moved under 
orders to proceed to Detroit, Mich., and reached there 
twenty days later. Here the veteran furlough was given 
to those who had re-enlisted, and Mount Clemens was 
made the place of rendezvous. At this place the regiment 
received orders, on the 4th of April, to proceed to An- 
napolis, Md., to rejoin the Ninth Army Corps, which had, 
in the mean time, moved from Tennessee to Virginia to 
reinforce the Army of the Potomac. The regiment left 
Annapolis on the 22d, proceeded to Washington, and 
thence into Virginia, where, on the 5th of May, it crossed 
the Rapidan and joined the army, which was then moving 
into the Wilderness. For six weeks following this time 
the Second was, witli its companion regiments of the brigade, 
so constantly employed in march, skirmish, or battle, that 
it is hardly practicable to follow the intricacies of the 
movements ; but the following statement of casualties during 
that time shows where and how it fougbt. The statement, 
which includes only the killed and wounded (and not the 
missing), is taken from the report of the regimental sur- 
geon, Richard S. Vickcry, viz : 



In the Wilderness battle, May 6th, killed and 

wounded 3S 

At Spottsylvania Court- House, May 12th, killed and 

wounded II 

At Ox Ford. North Anna, May 2Jth, killed 1 

Skirmish of May 27th 1 

Pamunkey River, May 31sl 2 

Skii'mi?h, .Tune l.st 5 

Skirmish, June 2d 2 

Battle of Bethesda Church, .Tune 3d 38 

Cold Harbor and other actions, from June 4th to 

June loth 9 

The regiment crossed to the south side of the James 

River on the 15th, reached the enemy's works iu front of 

Petersburg on the 16th, and took part in the attacks of 

the next two days with the following losses in killed and 

wounded, viz. : 

In battle of June 17th 91 

In battle of June 18lh .- 83 

Recruits to the number of five hundred or more had 
joined the regiment since the veteran re-enlistment, — other- 
wise such losses would have been impossible. 

On the 30th of July the Second took part in the engage- 
ment which followed the explosion of the mine, and sus- 
tained a loss of twenty killed and wounded and thirty-seven 
missing. Having moved with the Ninth Corps to the 
Weldon Railroad, it there took part in repelling the ene- 
my's assault on our lines, August 19th, losing one killed 
and two wounded. On the 30th it crossed the AVeldon 
Railroad, and moving towards the enemy's right flank, par- 
ticipated in the engagement of that date at Poplar Grove 
Church, losing seven wounded and twelve mi.ssing. It was 
then encamped for about a month at Peebles' Farm, but 
moved, October 27th, in the advance on Boydton Plank- 
Road, losing seven wounded in that affair. It then re- 
mained at Peebles', engaged in picket duty and fortifying, 
till November 29th, when it moved to a point about ten 
miles farther to the right, on the City Point and Peters- 
burg Railroad, and there remained in the trenches during 
the winter. On the 25th of March it fought at Fort 
Steadman, and sustained severe loss. It again lost slightly 
at the capture of Petersburg, April 3d. It then moved to 
the South Side Railroad, eighteen miles from Petersburg, 
and remained nearly two weeks, but in the mean time the 
army of Lee had surrendered, and the fighting days of the 
regiment were past. It moved to City Point, and embark- 
ing there on the 18th, was transported to Alexandria, Va., 
from whence it moved to a camp at Tenallytown, Md. On 
the 27th of May it was detached for duty in Washington 
City, and remained there for about two months. On the 
29th of July (having on the previous day been mustered 
out of the service) it left by railroad for Michigan, and on 
the 1st of August it reached Detroit, and was soon after 
paid and disbanded, after four years and a quarter of hon- 
orable service. 

OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE SECOND INFANTRY FROM CLINTON 
COUNTY. 

FicU ami .Sdijf. 
Maj. Porter K. Perrin, St. John's; cum. Ajjril 1, 18G4; diach.for disubility, Nov. 

23, 1864. 

Compantj A. 

2(1 Lieut. Joa. Berry, Duphiin ; com. April 1, 18C4; taken pria. July aO, 1804; 

ilied in rebel prison, 1805. 
Geo. C. Bell, mustered out. 

Reasou Craven, Duplain ; died of disease at Aumipolis, Md., Oct. 30, 1864. 
Luke B. Uicks, mustered out. 
Miner Hicks, mustered out. 



THIRD INFANTRY. 



43 



Company B. 

1st Lieut. Alex. Richards, St. John's; com. April 25,1865; must, out July 28, 

1865. 

Company C. 

Mortimer Dnyor, died of disease at White Hall, Pa., Aug. 20, 1804. 
Sidney C. Johnson, must, otit July 28, ISliJ. 
Wm. J. Eogere, must, out Aug. 1", 18G5. 

Company E. 
2d Lieut. James H. Wellings, De Witt; com. April 1, 18G4; discli. Dec. 28,1364. 
Abiani F. Kimball, must, out Aug. 9, 1865. 
John F. Munsuii. must, out July II, 1805. 
Geo. Passniort', must, out July 28, 18G5. 
Wm. Schnler, mis-^ing in action. 
Asa Tillotson, died in action near Petersburg, Va., Aug. 1, 1804. 

Company F. 
Jas. M. Birmingham. Duplain; mustered out. 

Company G. 
Jerome L. Cnrtii*, died of wounds at Washington, April 10, 1865. 
Daniel C. Pierce, died of wounds, June 17, 1801. 
Wm. B. Parkei-,jiiu8t. out 5Iay 15, 1805. 

Company H. 

Silas S. Babcock, died in div. hosp., March 10, 1865. 

Geo. B. Morse, died in Washington, D. C, July 3, 1864. 

Smith H. Stanton, died in action m-ar Petersburg, June 17, 1861. 

Ichabod I. Towne, died in Washington, D. C, Nov. 11, 1864. 

Abram White, must, out June 22, 1865. 

John U. Wilhums, must, out June 20, 1805. 

Company T. 
Emory Vance, disch. at end of service, July 21, 1864. 

Company K. 
2d Lieut. Orlando S. Perkins, St. John's; com. April 19, IS61 ; sergt. 27tb Inf.; 

disch. Dec. 28, 1S64. 
Barzillai Coals, died at Philadelphia of wounds, July 30, 1864. 
Sanford Hayes, must, out July 20, 1805. 
Caleb Hall, must, out July 28, 1865. 
Enoch Hand, must, out Oct. lo, 186.5. 

Isaac V. Jones, Bengal ; died in hosp. 9th Army Corps, July 1, 1801. 
Wathew Moore, died of wounds in 1864. 
Corp. E. Teet^, Groenbush. 

SOLDIERS OF THE SECOND INFANTRY FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Company C. 
Andrew Allen, must, out July 28, 18G5. 

Company E. 
Orren C. Chapman, died of wounds at Washington, D. C, July 17, 1864. 
Frank Collins, must, out July 31, 1805. 
Sanford Haddcn, disch. for disability, Sept. 18, 1864. 
George W. Kf-yes, must, out July 28, 1865. 
James D. Millsi, died of disease at Washington, D. C, July 21, 1864. 

Company F. 
Dennis Birmingham, disch. for disability. May 12, 1862. 

Com^pany K. 
Charles C. Loynes, disch. by order, June 3, 1805. 



CHAPTER V. 

THIRD INFANTRY. 

Organization of the Regiment nt Grand Rapids — Battle of Bull Run 
— Peninsula Campaign — Seven Days' Rattles — Fredericl(sburg, 
CliiincellorsviUe, and (lettysburg — Service in New Yorli — Mine Kim 
— Ttie Wilderness and Spoltsylvania — Coid Harbor — The New Third 
Infantry — Service in Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas. 

The Third Micliigaa Infantry was recruited in the 
month of May, 1861, and had its rendezvous and camp of 
instruction at Grand Rapids. Clinton and Shiawassee 
Counties furnished to this regiment about seventy men, 
who were distributed among six of its companies, the 
larger number being found in Company G. Most of the 
Shiawassee men in the Third were originally members of 



the " IngersoU Rifles," which was raised by Capt. Quack- 
enbush for the Fifth, but were transferred to this regiment 
on account of the " Rifles" being filled to considerably more 
than the maximum strength. 

The Third Regiment was mustered into the United 
States service, one thousand and forty-two strong (oflBcers 
and enlisted men), on the 10th of June, 1861, under Col. 
D. McConnell. Three days later it left Grand Rapids and 
proceeded to Washington, D. C, where it arrived on Sun- 
day, the 16th, and moved to the Chain Bridge, where it 
encamped at " Camp McConnell." It was soon aft«r 
assigned to the brigade commanded by Col. Israel B. 
Richardson, and first met the enemy at Blackburn's Ford, 
Va., on the 18th of July. On the 21st the regiment, 
with its brigade, was engaged in that famed conflict, the 
first battle of Bull Run. In the disaster of that day the 
Michigan regiments proved themselves to be among the 
bravest and most steadfast of the troops engaged. The 
army commander. Gen. McDowell, said, in his report, that 
" Richardson's troops were the last to leave the field," and 
the correspondent of the New York Tribune who was pres- 
ent at the battle wrote to that journal an account of the 
fight, in which he said, " I was told that a few regiments, 
besides the three faithful ones of Blenker's brigade, had 
come in in fair order, and that they were the Second and 
Third Michigan and the Massachusetts First, of Richard- 
son's brigade." When the defeated and disorganized Union 
army fell back on Washington, tliis brigade served as rear- 
guard. It maintained its position at Centreville Heights 
until the morning of July 22d, and when all detachments 
and stragglers had passed to the rear, it deliberately took 
up the line of march to Washington, where it arrived in 
good order. Immediately afterwards the brigade was 
assigned to the duty of guarding the position at Bailey's 
Cross-Roads, and picketing other highways leading to 
Alexandria and Washington from the South. After assist- 
ing in the construction of the defenses of Washington, the 
Third went into winter quarters near Alexandria, Va., and 
remained there until IMareh, 1862, when it moved with 
McClellan's army to the Peninsula. 

At the battle of Williamsburg, fought on the 5th of May, 
1862, Berry's brigade* of Kearney's division moved to the 
front through mud and rain, at double-quick, formed line 
under fire, and immediately charging a superior force of 
the enemy, recaptured a lost position and artillery, and did 
not stop until the enemy was dislodged and beaten back from 
his position. In regard to this fight, a New York Tribune 
correspondent said : " By confessions of rebel prisoners, eight 
hundred of Berry's men, mostly of Michigan regiments, drove 
back sixteen hundred of the enemy." At Fair Oaks, on the 
31st of May, the Third particularly distinguished itself, 
losing thirty men killed, one hundred and twenty-four 
wounded, and fifteen missing. Among the wounded was 
its commander, Col. Stephen G. Champlin. The Prince de 
Joinville, an eye-witness of this battle, said : " As at Wil- 
liamsburg, Kearney comes to re-establish the fight. Berry's 
brigade of this division, composed of Michigan regiments 



* Composed of the Second, Third, and Fifth Michigan, and Thirty- 
Seventh New York regiments. 



44 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



and ill) Irish battalion, advances firm as a wull into the 
midst of the disordered mass which wanders over the battle- 
field, and does more by its example than the most powerful 
reinforcement." 

The Tliird was engaged at Savage Station and Peach 
Orchard, June 29, 18G2 ; Gh^ndale (or Charles City Cross- 
Roads), June 30th; Malvern Hill, July 1st; and Grove- 
ton (or Second Bull Run), Aug. 29, 18G2. In the latter 
battle it lost twenty men killed, besides a large number 
wounded and missing. Proceeding from Edwards' Ferry, 
Md., via Warrenton and Falmouth, Va., to Fredericks- 
burg, Va., the regiment was engaged at the latter place 
Dec. 13, 18G2, losing nine men wounded. At Clnuicel- 
lorsville, on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of May, 18G3, it sustained 
a loss of sixty-three men killed, wounded, and missing. 

On the 11th of June the regiment began a toilsome 
march via Centreville, Va., p]dwards' Ferry, and Frederick 
City, Md., to Gettysburg. The roads were dusty, the heat 
intense, and the men suffered terribly. At Gettysburg, on 
the 2d and 3d days of July, 18G3, the Third fought 
bravely, sustaining a loss of forty-one men, killed, wounded, 
and missing. Having followed the enemy to Williamsport, 
it marched thence to Harper's Ferry, crossed the Potomac 
at Berlin, and moved forward to Manas.sas Gap. On the 
17th of August, 18G3, the regiment proceeded to Alex- 
andria, Va., and from there to New York City, whither it 
had been ordered to aid iu the preservation of the public 
peace and in keeping down a mob during the then pending 
drall. Remaining there a few days, it proceeded up the 
Hud.son to Troy, N. Y., where it was stationed two weeks. 
It theu returned to its brigade in the Army of the Potomac, 
arriving at Culpeper, Va., Sept. 17, 1863. 

On the 2Gth of November, 18G3, the regiment took part 
in the Mine Hun campaign, engaging the enemy on the 
27th at Locust Grove, and on the 30th at Mine Run. 
With the array it returned to Brandy Station December 2d, 
having lost during the movement thirty-one men in killed, 
wounded, and missing. One hundred and eighty members 
of the regiment re-enlisted as veterans Dec. 23, 1863. 
They received a thirty days' furlough, and at the expiration 
of that time returned to their command. 

From December, 1863, until the beginniugof May, 18G4, 
was a season of inactivity. On the 4th of the latter 
month the Third cro.sscd the llapidan at Ely's Ford, ad- 
vanced to Chancellorsville, and during the three following 
days was in the midst of the terrific battle of the Wilder- 
ness, sustaining a heavy lo.ss. It was also engaged at 
Todd's Tavern on the 8th and at Spottsylvania on the 12th, 
where it participated in the successful charge of the Second 
Army Corps. At the North Anna River it again encoun- 
tered the enemy, May 2od and 24th. The Paraunkey 
River was crossed on the 27th, and the advance continued 
towards Cold Harbor. During this month of continuous 
fighting the regiment sustained a loss of thirty-one men 
killed, one hundred and nineteen wounded, and twenty-nine 
missing. 

At Cold Harbor, on the 9th of June, 1864, the regiment, 
with the exception of the re-enlisted men and such as had 
joined since the original organization, and certain desig- 
nated officers, was ordered home for the purpose of being 



discharged. The remaining officers and men — some three 
hundred and fifty in number — were formed into a battalion 
of four companies, and attached to the Fifth Michigan In- 
fantry. The order consolidating these regiments was con- 
finned by the War Department June 13th, and on the 20th 
day of June, 1864, the old Third, which had been one of 
the first to take the field in defense of the government, was 
formally mustered out of the United States service. 

THE NEW THIRD INFANTRY. 

On the 18th of July, 1864, the President issued his proc- 
lamation calling upon the loyal States for five hundred thou- 
sand more men. Volunteers from the several States were to 
bo accepted for one, two, and three years, as they elected. 
Michigan's quota under this call was more than eighteen 
thousand, of which twelve thousand had to be' recruited or 
drafted. Governor Blair determined to raise six new regi- 
ments of infantry, viz., the Third, Fourth, Twenty-eighth, 
Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-fiist, or one in each 
Congressional district, and in pursuance of this plan, issued 
his proclamation on the 21st of July, 1864. Oh the 29th 
of the same month orders were issued to reorganize the 
Third Infantry, and to Col. Moses B. Houghton (formerly 
lieutenant-colonel of the old organization) was intrusted 
the charge of raising the new regiment. Grand Rapids was 
named its place of rendezvous, and the Fourth District its 
field for recruiting. 

The exigencies of the service did not permit the com- 
plete organization of all these regiments before the enforce- 
ment of the impending draft (Sept. 5, 1864), and seven 
companies, which had been raised for the Thirtieth at 
Pontiae, were distributed between the Third and Fourth, 
four companies going to the former and three to the latter, 
and the organization of the Thirtieth was abandoned. The 
Third, thus reinforced, completed its organization at once 
(October 15th), and, being mustered in with eight hun- 
dred and seventy-nine officers and men, left camp for Nash- 
ville, Tenn., Oct. 20, 1864, going thence to Decatur, Ala. 
It remained at Decatur — having meanwhile a skirmish with 
the enemy at that point — until November 25lh, when it was 
transferred to Murfreesboro', Tenn., and ordered to duty at 
Fortress Rosecrans. 

On the 7th of December, while Gen. Milroy was engaged 
at the Cedars with the principal part of Forrest's rebel com- 
mand, Faulkner's rebel brigade of mounted infantry made 
a dash on the picket-line at Murfreesboro', drove in the 
guard, and gained possession of the town. After a .spirited 
engagement of an hour's duration, four companies of the 
Third, together with an equal number of companies of the 
One Hundred and Eighty-first Ohio, with a section of ar- 
tillery, repulsed the rebels and pursued them two miles. 

The regiment remained at Murfreesboro' and its vicinity 
until Jan. 16, 1865, when it was moved to Huntsvillo, Ala., 
and assigned to the Fourth Army Corps. On the 31st of 
January it was ordered to Ea.stport, Miss., and proceeded 
as far as Nashville, Tenn., when, the order being counter- 
manded, it returned to Huntsville, remaining there until the 
middle of March. With its brigade it then marched to 
East Tennessee, occupying successively positions at New 
Market, Bull Gap, and Jonesboro', where it was employed 



FIFTH INFANTKY. 



45 



in pursuing, capturiiiLr, and driving off the numerous guer- 
rilla bands infesting that rogiun. The Tliird was ordered to 
Nashvillcj Tenn., on the 20th of March, arrived there the 
28th, and on the 15lh of June, 18G5, with its corps, pro- 
ceeded by rail from Nashville to Johnsville, Tenn.; thence 
by steamers down the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi 
Rivers to New Orleans, arriving on the 5th of July. After 
a short delay the regiment proceeded in vessels to Indian- 
ola, Texas, and thence it marched to Green Lake. On the 
12th of September it started out for Western Texas, and, 
after a fatiguing march of fourteen days' duration, it 
reached San Antonio. During the following winter two 
companies were on duty at Gonzales. Early in the spring 
of 186G the entire regiment was ordered to Victoria, Texas, 
and was there mustered out of the service, May 26, 1866. 
Marching to Indianola, it took steamers to New Orleans, 
going thence via the Mississippi Kiver to Cairo, 111., whence 
it was transported by railway to Detroit, Mich. It arrived 
there June 10, 1866, and was soon after discharged. 



SHIAWASSEE COUNTY SOLDIERS IN THE THIRD INFANTRY. 
Company B. 
John N. Foster, died of disease, June 15, 18G2. 
Bicliard norritigtun,di8cti. for disalnlity, April 1, 18G2. 
Aaron Ht'rrington,disch. for disability, March II, 1B63. 
Reuben Hopkins, disch. for disability, March oO, 186J. 
Tlieron Janes, veteran, enl. Dec. 23, 18G;j ; mnst. out July 5, 1865. 
Mortimer Markhiim, died in action at Fair Oaks, May 31, 1802. 
Lymun BIcCarty, disch. lor disability, Aug. 9, 1861. 
Kzra KaiiHoni, dizich. fur disability, Aug. 1, 1862. 

Compntvj C. 
W'illiani Cfioatos, died of disease at Camp Blair, Va., July 1, 18GI. 
Christian Foster, diach. for disability, Oct. 10, 18G1. 
Henry ReuNelman, veteran, unl. Dec. 21, iSGii. 
Abljah Southard, disch. at end of service, June 20, 1864. 
Cuspor Thener, veteran, eul. Dec. 21, 1863. 

Company D. 
Willard McKay, diech. for disability, Aug. 8, 18G1. 

Company F. 
James Gunnegal, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1864. 

Company G. 

Charles T. Goodell, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; died in action at Wilderness, 

Va., May 5, 18G4. 
Ehen D. Jackson, disch. for disability, Nov. 10, 18G2. 
rutrii;k Kilboy, disch. lor disability, Oct. 24, 18G1. 
FranciH Mnguire, discli. for disability, Dec. 21, 18G1. 
Lemuel Smith, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 18G:1; mii>t. out July .'">, 1865. 
Chailes Shaft, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; must, out Aug. 23, 18Go. 
John Shaft, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; died June 22, 1S64. 
James Trimmer, diucli. for disability, Aug. 6, 1862, 
Arthur Walkins, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; must, out July 5, 1865. 
Philo H. Wier, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1803; died June 16, 1864. 

SOLDIERS IN THE THIRD, FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Company li. 
Burnett Hopkins, trans, to .'3th Mich. Inf.; must, out July G, 1865. 
Lewis Rogei-8, trans, to 5th Mich. Inf.; must, out July 5, 1865. 
Ebenezer Sweet, trans, to oth Mich. Inf.; must, out July 5, 1865. 

Company C. 
Francis Brinnick, died in Andersonville prison pen, July 12, 1864. 
Herman Hardenburgh, missing in action, June 30, 1802. 
Alexander Parka, tnins. to 5th Mich. Inf. ; diach. for disability, Sept. 3, 1864. 

Company D. 
Jerome Briggs, missing in action. 
Clinton Corey, veteran, onl. Doc. 24, 1803 ; trans, to 5ih Mich. Inf. ; must, out 

July 5, 1 05. 
Edgar Green, disch. for disability. May, 18G2. 
Amos W. Oillolt, died in Virginia, Sept. 2(f, 1H62. 
Williiim H.'Hickrt, disch. for -lisability, F.-b. 24, 1803. 
Phiiander J. Myers, disch. to onl. iu regular army, Jan. 18, 1863. 
Webster Morris, Ovid. 
JamuB IteynoUls, disch. at end of service, Juno 20, 1804. 



Charles Vosburg, disch. for disability, May 20, 18G3. 
Elbridge W^ellingtun, disch. for disability, Aug. 5, 1861. 

Company F. 
Asa H. Daniels, trans, to 5th Mich. Inf. ; must, out July 5, 1865. 
Elijah Fish, died in action at Grovt-ton (Bull Run), Aug. 20, 1862. 
Warren Stoup, trans, to 5th Mich Inf; muMt. out July 5, .805. 
Charles B. Sands, trans, to 5tli Mich. Inf.; must, out July 5, 1865. 
CImuncey D. Webster, trans, to 5th Mich. Inf.; must, out July 5, 1865. 

Company G. 
Sergt. George M. Cook, Eagle; disch. for disability, Feb. 10, 1863. 
Corp. John Blancbard, died in action at Seven Pines, May 31, 1802. 
<,'orp. Ca>ie B. Wickham,died Iti action at Seven Pines, May 31, 1862. 
Mus. Dewitt C. Formati. iiro. to principal mns. 

Augustus Billings, died at Douglas Ho-ipibil of wounds, June 17, 1862. 
Joshua R. Benson, veteran, enl, Dec. 24, 1863; trans, to 5th Inf.; must, out July 

5, 1865. 
John Bissell, must, out July 5, 1865. 
William Clark, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; trans, to 5th Inf.; must, out July 

5, 1865. 
George W. Davis, veteran, enl, Dec. 24, 1863 ; trans, to 5th Inf.; must, out July 

5, 1805. 
William H. Davis, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; died in action at Wilderness, 

May 5, 18 4. 
Charles Gaskill, died in action at Seven Pines, May 31, 1862. 
Calvin D. Holmes, dieil of wounds, May 18, 1RG4. 
Andrew J. Helh, disch. for disability, March 18, 1803. 
Henry W. McKoberts, died of disease at Fort Monroe, March 23, 1862. 
Moses F. Newman, trans, to 5tli Mich. Inf.; must, out July 5, 18G5. 
Henry J. Patterson, veteian, enl. Dec. 24, 18G3; traua. to 5th Mich. Inf.; must. 

out July 5, 1865. 
Charles H. Rose, disch. for disability, May 25, 18G2. 
Chauncey Strickland, died of disease at Grand Kapids, June 13, 1861. 
Harrison Sickles, died of disease in Virginia, March 24, 1862. 

Company K. 
Wallace W. Wade, must, out Aug. 13, 18G2. 

Company C {new Third). 

Corp. Benjamin F. Fuller, Westphalia; enl. Sept. 3, 18G4; died of disease in 

Texas, Nov. 5, 1865. 
Samuel F. Crauson, must, out May 25, 1806. 
John Gallagher, must, out Sept. 25, 1805. 
John J. Langdon, must, out June 14, 18GG. 
Jafion S. Mershon, must, out Miiy 2.5, 1860. 

Spencer H. Noithrop, died of disease at Cincinnati, Ohio, Ang. 9, 1865. 
G«Oi-ge Rich, died of disease at Nashville, Feb. 28, 18G5. 
William S. Stiles, died of disease in Texas, Dec. 7, 1S65. 
Piescott Vernon, must, out Blay 25, 1806. 



CHAPTER VI. 

FIFTH INFANTRY. 

Organization at Fort Wayne — Winter Quarters in \*irginia — Battles 
of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, and Charles Citj Cross-Roads — 
Second Bull Kun, Fi-eduricksburg, Chancellorsville, and (Scttys- 
burg — Mine Run — Veteran Reenlistuicnt — The Wilderness Cam- 
paign — Consolidation oi' the Third and Fifth — Spring Campaign 
of 1865 — Close of Service. 

One of the companies of the Fifth Infantry was raised 
wholly in Shiawassee County, and two others contained 
a number of men from that county and Clinton. The 
Shiawassee company — originally known as the " Ingersoll 
Rifles" — was the first one raised in the county for actual 
service, its formation having been commenced in the latter 
part of April, 18G1. On the 4 th of May following its strength 
had been raised to seventy-four, rank and file (as was an- 
nounced in the Shiawassee American of that date), and not 
long afterwards its ranks were filled to about twenty men more 
than the maximum number. This excess of men afterwards 
joined the Third Infantry at Grand Rapids. The com- 
manding officer of the " Rifles" was Capt. Louis B. Quack- 
eubush, who had been principally instrumental iu recruiting 



46 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



the company. The other two original commissioned ofiBcers 
were First Lieut. William Wakenshaw, and Second Lieut. 
AVilliam K. Tillotson, both of whom had been active in 
procuring enlistments. 

Several weeks passed after the company was full before 
it was definitely assigned to its regiment. This period was 
passed in perfecting its organization, drill, and discipline, 
and on the 10th of August the " Ingersoll Rifles" left 
Owosso one hundred and ten strong, and proceeded to the 
regimental rendezvous at Fort Wayne, Detroit, whore it 
lost its recruiting name, and was designated as Company 
" H" of the Fifth Michigan Infantry. The regiment hav- 
ing completed its organization was mustered into the United 
States service on the 28th of August, 18G1, with a total 
strength of about nine hundred oflBcers and men, under 
command of Col. Henry D. Terry. 

On the 11th of September, at an early hour in the morn- 
ing, the men of the Fifth Regiment broke camp at the 
Fort Wayne rendezvous, packed their knapsacks, and pre- 
pared for their departure to the front. It was a momentous 
business, and nearly all the day was consumed in the prepa- 
rations which in their later days of campaigning they 
learned to accomplish in a half-hour. At a little before 
four o'clock in the afternoon the several companies were 
marched to the parade-ground of the fort, and there formed 
ill line for the reception of a flag, — the gift of Messrs. F. 
Buhl, Newland & Co., of Detroit, — which was about to be 
presented to the regiment. There were many spectators 
present, consisting of citizens of Detroit and friends and 
relatives of the departing soldiers, who had come to say 
good-by, — many of them for the last time. The crowd 
was kept back by the unceasing labor of guards stationed 
along the line. When the swaying to and fro of the people 
in the vain effort of each one to stand in front of the others 
had «eased, Marshal Whiting, with Mr. Frederick Buhl on 
one side and Alderman Backus on the other, stepped for- 
ward bearing the colors. Approaching to within a few 
paces of Col. Terry, Mr. Backus made a few well-timed 
remarks on behalf of Mr. Buhl, which were responded to 
by Col. Terry in an appropriate manner. The flag, which 
was of heavy silk, fringed with gold and surmounted by a 
gilded eagle, was handed to Sergt. Asa A. Rouse, of " E" 
company, who had been designated as the color-bearer of the 
regiment. At the conclusion of the ceremony the companies 
were marched back to the camp-ground for supper ; a few 
final preparations were made, and between seven and eight 
o'clock the command was marched to the river and em- 
barked for Cleveland, en route for the national capital. The 
journey of the regiment from Detroit to Washington was 
described in a letter written by an officer of the regiment, 
from which account the following extracts are given : 

" We embarked on Wednesday evening, September 11th, 
on the steamer ' Ocean,' for Cleveland. Our journey 
was pleasant but rapid. As the shrill whistle of the 
steamer gave the signal for our departure, the most intense 
excitement prevailed, and when she swung round from her 
moorings cheer after cheer rose from the decks, for our 
country and her flag, our homes and the dear ones left be- 
hind us, and was returned with the same spirit ana enthu- 
siasm by the numerous crowd that thronged the wharves to 



witness our departure. About three o'clock in the morn- 
ing we arrived at Cleveland, where we were detained till 
nine o'clock, and then took the cars for Pittsburgh. As 
the bell rang to warn us of our departure, crowds of people 
gathered round the cars to bid the Wolverine boys good- 
by. Nor was Cleveland behind in giving us a warm re- 
ception. The whole line as far as Pittsburgh was crowded 
with people of all grades, from the aged grandparent to the 
lisping child, to see us pass. At nine o'clock the same 
evening we arrived at Pittsburgh, where we took supper, 
changed cars, and resumed our way for Washington by the 
way of Harrisburg. We arrived in the latter place be- 
tween two and three o'clock the next morning. There we 
were numbered off and stowed away in cattle-cars of the 
most old and dilapidated kind, and in this wretched way 
we proceeded to Baltimore, where we were again furnished 
with good coaches. We arrived in Washington on Sunday 
morning, somewhat fatigued from our long journey. We 
remained there til! night, when we received orders to 
march, — to what place we did not know. We were soon 
prepared for the journey, and after a march of some three 
or four miles we arrived at Meridian Hill, where we learned 
we were to encamp." 

" Meridian Hill is in the northwest part of the city of 
Washington, and at this place the Fifth remained until the 
morning of Wednesday, September 18th, just one week 
from the day of departure from Detroit. It then broke 
camp and marched down through the city to the arsenal, 
where the men were furnished with indifferent Springfield 
muskets. Thence the regiment moved across the Long 
Bridge into Virginia and out to Arlington, where it bi- 
vouacked for the night, and on the following day marched 
about two miles farther from the river to Hunter's Chapel, 
where it halted and pitched a camp, named Camp Richard- 
son, in honor of Col. Richardson, to whose brigade (of 
Heintzelman's division) it had been assigned for duty. On 
the 22d a part of the regiment was placed on picket some 
two miles farther to the front. This was the first time the 
men of the Fifth stood in front of the enemy, and here it 
was that they first heard the crack of hostile rifles. 

On Saturday the 28th of September, six companies of 
the regiment moved to Munson's Hill, Va. The remainder 
of the regiment came up immediately afterwards, and to 
Col. Terry's command is due the credit of first occupying 
this position in the front where an attack was hourly looked 
for, though none was made. At this place the regiment 
was without tents, and constantly engaged on fatigue duty, 
felling timber, and, with the Thirty-seventh New York, 
constructing substantial earthworks on the hill. On the 
12th of October the Fifth moved to Hunter's Creek, two 
miles south of Alexandria, and the men were put on similar 
duty in the construction of Fort Lyon, and remained so 
occupied at that place for about two months. 

In the early part of December the regiment moved about 
three miles farther down the Potomac, to " Camp Michi- 
gan," where the men were supplied with Sibley tents, and 
set about preparing winter quarters. The enemy was in 
their front, though not in much force, and the. regiment 
remained here in comparative comfort through the winter 
of 1861-62, and until the general movement of the Array 



FIFTH INFANTRY. 



47 



of the Potomac, in March. The first of the operations of 
that caiiipaij;;!) was a feint made by nearly the wliole army 
in tlie direction of Manassas, wliich was immediately fol- 
lowed by the transportation of the immense host down the 
Potomac to Foitress Monroe. The Fifth embarked at Al- 
exandria, and moved with the army to the Virginia Penin- 
sula, wJien, on the 4tli of April, 18G2, it marched with its 
division towards Yorktown, arriving in front of that strong- 
hold on the following day. 

The Filth, as a part of the investing force, remained in 
front of Yorktown until Sunday, the 4th of May, when the 
Union army was electrified by the announcement that the 
hostile works had been evacuated during the previous night, 
and that the enemy was retiring towards Richmond. The 
forces of Gen. McClellan were at once put in motion to 
pursue, and the Fifth Jlichigan, with its brigade, moved 
from camp on through the evacuated intrenchments at about 
three o'clock p.m., taking the road towards Williamsburg, 
but bivouacking for the night a short distance beyond York- 
town. At two o'clock in the morning of Monday, the 5th, 
the men were turned out in the pouring rain to prepare for 
marching ; but the regiment did not move until about ten 
A.M. Then forward over the almost bottomless roads, 
which were clogged and blockaded by artillery, cavalry, and 
army wagons, the men of the Fifth pressed on towards the 
field where the battle had been in progress since the early 
morning. For hours they struggled on through the mud 
and rain, and as they approached Williamsburg the thun- 
der of artillery and the continuous roar of volleys told too 
plainly of the work on which they were about to enter. 
Order after order came from the front to hurry up the 
brigade, and about the middle of the afternoon the Fifth 
stood in line of battle, about five hundred strong, in front 
of the enemy's position, the Thirty-seventh New York 
joining its line, the Third Michigan being in support of a 
battery, and the Second Michigan being lield in reserve. 
These four regiments formed the Third (Berry's) brigade, 
of Gen. Phil. Kearney's division. 

It was not until between three and four o'clock that the 
Fifth delivered its first fire, but from that time it was kept 
up without intermission till nearly dark. The ammunition 
being then nearly exhausted, the order was given to charge 
with the bayonet. It was obeyed with alacrity. The reg- 
iment charged, carried the rifle-pits in its front, and occu- 
pied them through the night. The rain ceased and the 
sky cleared during the night, and the morning of the 6th of 
May opened bright and beautiful ; but the enemy had retreat- 
ed, and was then some miles away on the road to Richmond. 

Williamsburg was the first battle-field of the Fifth 
^lichigan, and a wild initiation it was. The regiment went 
in with about five hundred men, and out of this force its 
loss was one hundred and fifty-three in killed and wounded. 
The heroism of the Fifth and its companion regiments of 
the brigade in this battle is attested by the following order 
of Gen. Berry, the brigade commander, viz. : 

"SPECIAL ORDER. 
"HEADguAiiTERs Third Bric.^he, Kearney's Division, 
"Williamsburg Battle-Field, May 8, 1S62. 

" The commander of the brigade takes great pleasure in 
making this official communication to his command: That 



they by heroic fortitude on Monday last, by making a 
forced march tlirough mud and rain, each vying with the 
other to see who could most cheerfully stand the hardships 
the time called for, making thereby a march that others 
shrank from; coming into a fight at double-quick, made 
doubtful to our side by the overwhelming mass of the 
enemy poured upon our centre ; by a rapid deploy and 
quick formation, and by coolness, precision, and energy 
beat back the enemy, recapturing our lost position and 
artillery, and also by a heroic charge took a stronghold of 
the enemy, and thereby dislodged him and drove him on 
the plain beyond his well-chosen position, have done them- 
selves great honor, have honored the States of Jlichigan 
and New York, and have won a name in history that the 
most ambitious might be proud of. 

" R. G. Berry, 
" Brig.-Gen. commanding Third Brigade." 

In the advance from Williamsburg the Fifth moved with 
its brigade up to and across the Chickahominy, and took 
its place in the lines confronting Richmond. Again, on 
the 31st of May, it fought in the battle of Fair Oaks, and 
again it sufiered terribly ; its loss in killed and wounded 
being one hundred and forty-nine out of about three hun- 
dred men who entered the fight, — this being proportion- 
ately much greater than its less at Williamsburg. Among 
the killed of the Fifth at Fair Oaks was Capt. Louis B. 
Quackenbush, commanding the Shiawassee company. 

During the "Seven Days'" battles which accompanied 
the " change of base," or more properly the retreat, of the 
army from the Chickahominy to the James, the Fifth 
Michigan fought bravely at Charles City Cross-Roads, 
losing thirty-three killed and wounded and eighteen miss- 
ing. It was also engaged at Malvern Hill, July 1st, with 
slight loss. After the evacuation of Harrison's Landing 
the regiment was moved with its command and other 
troops up the Potomac, and thence to the succor of the 
sorely-pressed Army of Virginia under Gen. Pope. In 
this duty it was engaged, but without severe loss, at 
Manas.sas, August 30th, and at Chantilly (where the gal- 
lant Kearney fell) on the 2d of September. Later in the 
fall, when the Army of the Potomac under its new com- 
mander, Gen. Burnside, marched towards Fredericksburg, 
the Fifth Michigan, as part of the force, marched from 
Leesburg, Va., on the 1st of November, moved down the 
Rappahannock, and encamped on the left bank of that 
stream near Falmouth. 

When the operations were commenced against the strong 
position of the enemy on the heights of Fredericksburg, the 
regiment crossed the Rappahannock with the attacking col- 
umn on the 12th of December, and took gallant part in the 
disastrous battle of the following day, in which it lost its 
commanding officer, Lieut.-Col. John Gilluly. The story how 
the men of the Fifth fought on that bloody day is briefly 
told in the official report of Maj. Sherlock, who assumed 
command when his superior officer fell. It is as follows : 

"Headquarters Fifth Michigan Volunteers, 
"Bivouac on the Cattle-Field, Dec. 15, 18(i2. 

" Capt. Wilson, A. A. A. Gen. 

" Sir, — In accordance with a circular from headquarters, 
I have the honor to submit the following report of the part 



4S 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



which this roginient sustained in the action of the 13th 
instant- The regiment, under connuand of Lieut.-Col. 
John Gilluly, came ujxm the field at half-past one o'clock, 
and after sliifting from jilaee to place, occupying different 
jHisitions, constantly exposed to a furious fire of shot and 
shell, was at length detailed to support Randolph's Battery, 
which was in rather a precarious situation, on account of 
the (ailing back of some regiments thrown out in front of 
it. At this juncture the regiment was ordered forward, and 
opened an effective fire upon the enemy, who were sheltered 
by a brush fence, and afVer a brisk conflict drove them to 
the woods. Lieut. -Col. Gilluly fell mortally wounded 
while cheering on the men, and I assumed command. 
The raiment remained on tlie scene of action till evening, 
when the First New York relieved us, and we retired in 
perfect order, carrying with us our dead and wounded. 
The regiment numbered two hundred and seventy-two, rank 
and file, and our loss is nine killed and seventy-four wounded. 
The ofiicers and men behaved nobly throughout the short 
but sharp conflict, and it would be an act of injustice to pir- 
ticul.wiic where .all demeaned themselves so well ; yet I can- 
not forbear mentioning Color-Set^gt. Bergher, who stood up 
bravely, waving the colors defiantly in the face of the foe. 
" I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" R. T. SUERLOCK, 
" Major Commandv)^ fiflfi Michigan Infantry." 

On the 15fh of December the regiment recrassed the 
river from the battle-field, and returned to its old camp at 
Falmouth. In January it took }>art in the historic •■ Mud 
March" up the Rapfnahannock to Banks' Ford, and on the 
abandonment of that expedition returned agaiu to its camp, 
where it passed the remainder of the winter. On the 1st 
of January, IStio, it numbered less than seventy men fit 
for duty, but this number was soon after increased by re- 
cruitment and returns from hospital. 

On the opening of the spring campaign, under the new 
commander of the array, — Gen. Hooker, — the Fifth moved 
up the Rappahannock, crossed the river on the 1st of May. 
was engaged at the Cedars on the 2d, and took part in the 
great battle of Chaneellorsville on the 3d, where it again 
lost its commanding oflSeer, Lieut.-Col. Sherlock, killed in 
action. The losses of the regiment in the engagement of 
the 2d and 3d were fifty killed and wounded and thirty-one 
missing. On the 6th of May it recrossed the river to its 
north b.ink, and marching twenty-eight miles in twelve 
hours, reoccupied its winter quarters at Falmouth. 

Immediately after the battle of Chaneellorsville the Con- 
federate commander marched northward with the intention 
of invading Maryland and Pennsylvania, and as soon as the 
object of this movement became apparent the Army of the 
Potomac was put in motion to intercept him. Ou the 11th 
of June the Fifth Michigan moved northward with the 
column, and in that day marched eighteen miles in seven 
hours. On the following day the same distance was made, 
through intolerable heat and dust, in six hours. The 
march was exceedingly rapid and laborious through all the 
distance. Ou the 25th of June the regiment marched 
twenty-eight miles in eleven hours, though the day w.is ex- 
cessively sultry. In the evening of the 1st of July it 



bivouacked at Kinraettsburg. Md., within six hours' march 
of the field of Gettysburg. 

The regiment with its brigade left Eramettsburg at four 
o'clock in the morning of the 2d. and marched with the 
greatest jx^ssible rapidity to Gettysburg, where it arrived at 
ten o'clock .\..m., having made the last ten miles of the dis- 
tance in three hours. The regiment was placed in position 
on the field near the left centre of the line, where it re- 
maine<l till about two o'clock, when the brig-.ule was moved 
to the front- Between three and four o'clock three com- 
panies — A, B, and H — of the Fifth, under C-apls. Waken- 
shaw and (jcncrous, were deployed as skirmishers, and 
moved forward across a ravine, up a steep, rocky hillside, 
and through an ojien wood to the edge of a wheat-field ; 
the remainder of the regiment moving up over the s:ime 
ground to a position partly sheltered behind trees and 
rocks. Soon a battery opened on them directly in front, 
but soon changed position about one hundred rods farther 
to the left and ag-ain oj>ened, but soon ceased firing, when 
a heavy body of Confederate infantry moved out in close 
column from the cover of the woods, and charged furi- 
ously with the peculiar rebel yell. They were received 
with a fire which drove back their firet line, but they re- 
formed and again charged with greater desperation than 
before. Simultaneously the enemy charged also on the 
centre and drove it back, thus exposing that part of the 
line in which was the Fifth Michigan to a murderous cross- 
fire and the danger of being assaulted in flank. This cir- 
cumstance, with the furious charcre in front, compelled the 
regiment and its brigade to fall back for nearly half a mile, 
which they did in good order, and fighting over every rod 
of the lost ground. Soou after this the regiment was re- 
lieved by another, and was not again engaged, though the 
battle continued till darkness closed the carnage of the day. 
The Fifth h.id been engaged less than one hour, but in that 
brief time it had lost one hundred and five men killed and 
wounded, and five missing. On the 4th of July it was 
held in reserve aud not engaged, except slightly in skirm- 
ishing. In the evening of that day the Confederate retreat 
commenced. 

The regiment moved from Gi;ttysburg with other troops 
in pursuit of the retiring enemy to Williamsport, on the 
upper Potomac, and afterwards, the pursuit having been 
abandoned, marched down the river to Berlin, crossed from 
that point into Vii^inia, and moved by way of Manassas 
Gap to a beautiful camp at Fauquier White Sulphur 
Springs, where aud in that locality it remained until the 
IGth of August^ when orders were received for the Fifth 
and Third Michigan Regiments to rejKirt at Alexandria, 
"\"a. The movement ordered was a mysterious one, and aH 
kinds of surmises were indulged in by officers and men as 
to their probable ultimate destination. 

The Fifth Regiment embarked at Alexandria, August 
22d, on board the ocean steamer '• Baltic," which had also 
on board four other regiments of the " Ohio brigade," to 
which the Fifth was at that time temporarily attached. The 
ship moved down the Potomac early in the morning of the 
23d, but had onlj" proceeded as far as Matthias Point when 
she grounded on a sand-bar, and remained fast in that position 
for four days. By removing the anchor, three hundred 



FIFTH INFANTRY. 



49 



tons of coal, and two regiments, and with the assistance of 
five tiif;-hoats, she at last got afloat and moved down the 
river and tlirough Clicsapcake Bay to the oooan, where she 
turned northward towards iicr destination (whicli was the 
city of New York), and arrived there on the 'Mth. The 
troops, which had been sent here to assist in quelling the 
draft riots, if necessary, were disembarked on Governor's 
Island. The Tliird Michigan had preceded the Fifth by 
another vessel, and these two regiments were now ordered 
to proceed up the Hudson River to Troy. They embarked 
on river steamers, reaching Troy the next niorniiig. They 
were first quartered at the armory, a day or two later at 
the courthouse, and finally, on the 5th of September, they 
were removed to the Fair-Grounds. The Trojans were 
very much surprised at seeing two Michigan regiments in 
their streets, but they received them most hospitaVjly, so 
that the men of the Fifth counted their stay at Troy among 
the most pleasant of all their war experiences. No duty be- 
yond that of the camp and the drill-ground was required 
of the regiment during its sojourn at Troy, and the neces- 
sity for its presence there having pa.ssed it left on Sunday 
evening, September 13th, for New York by steamer, and 
arriving there in the following morning, left immediately 
by railroad for Washington under orders to rejoin the Army 
of the Potomac. It arrived at Washington in the night of 
September 15lh, and three days later proceeded to Alex- 
andria, whence, after a stop of one day, it was moved to 
Fairfax Station, and from there to the camp of its old bri- 
gade, between that place and Culpeper. The brigade was 
the Third of the First Division, Third Corps, Army of the 
Potomac. 

On the 17th of November the regiment moved to the 
Rappahannock River, crossed at Kelly's Ford, and soon 
after moved to near Brandy Station, occupying a deserted 
camp of the enemy. On the 2(jth it crossed the Rapidan 
with the forces which were moving to Mine Run. Taking 
part in that expedition, it was engaged at Locust Grove on 
the 27th, and there lost several killed and wounded. It 
reached the front of the enemy's works at Mine Run, where 
for thirty-six hours it remained in support of a battery. 
From Mine Run the Fifth fell back with the army, and 
again occupied its camp at Brandy Station, which became 
its winter quarters until the 28th, when (the requisite num- 
ber of re-enlistments having been obtained) it left for 
Michigan on veteran furlough. It arrived on the 4th of 
January at Detroit, which was designated as the rendez- 
vous, and then its members entered upon a brief period of 
freedom and enjoyment with their families and friends. 

Having been considerably augmented by recruiting 
during its stay in Michigan, the Fifth Regiment, composed 
of veterans and recruits, left Detroit on the 10th of Feb- 
ruary, 18G4, and proceeding by way of Washington, reached 
Brandy Station in the evening of the 17th, and marched 
lour miles northwest to camp, and took position with its old 
command in the Army of the Potomac. In the latter part 
of March a general order was issued dissolving the First 
and Third Corps, and consolidating their troops with those 
of the Second, Fifth, and Sixth Corps. The First and 
Second Divisions of the Third Corps were transferred to the 
Second Corps, and made to constitute its Third Division. 
7 



The Third Division of the old corps was transferred to the 
Sixth Corps.* " Thus," wrote a member of the Fifth 
Regiment, — A. K. Sweet, of Detroit,—^" was wiped out of 
existence the gallant old Third Corps, with which our for- 
tunes had been so long a.ssociatcd, and of which wc formed 
a part. Its glorious name, which we in some small degree 
had helped to make illustrious, and in which we justly felt 
a soldier's pride, became one of the things that were. The 
corps had long been a mere skeleton of its former self. 
The old Third Division had been consolidated with the 
I'^irst and Second immediately after the battle of Gettys- 
burg, and a new division of ten thousand fresh troops, 
under command of Gen. French, added. The old com- 
manders of heroic fame, whom the men had learned to 
love and respect, had gone, and a stranger filled the place 
of command made glorious by Heiiitzelman and Hooker. 
Still the glorious as.sociations that clustered around the 
name gave it a tender place in our hearts, and when at last 
its death-knell struck, and the men so long a.«.sociated in a 
common history of the toil and triumph separated to tbeir 
various destinations, many a brave fellow felt a twinge of 
sorrow and pain like that which pierces the heart as we 
stand at the grave of a friend, and the cold clods of the 
valley close over the dear face and shut it from our sight 
forever. . . . 

" On the 31st of March we broke camp and marched to 
the south side of the railroad in the vicinity of Brandy 
Station, and took up our new quarters in the Second 
Brigade, Third Division, and Second Corps. The men 
were allowed to retain the diaiuond badge, — a deference to 
their feelings which was thankfully appreciated. The sense 
of pain and disgrace slowly pa.ssed away as we became 
better acquainted with our new companions in arms, for 
they were as fine a corps of men as the Army of the Po- 
tomac or any other in the world could boast, and we were 
now under command of a general of brilliant abilities and 
most intrepid bravery. Gen. W. S. Hancock. Gen. D. B. 
Birney, our old brigade and division commander, was in 
command of the division. We soon began to feel at home 
in our new relations, and with the old red diamond to re- 
mind us of the glorious past, we were soon ready as ever to 
do and dare for the honor of the old flag and the success of 
the common cause. 

"... Towards the last of April nature had begun to 
spread her rich garniture of green over hill and plain, and 
soft gales from Southland fanned us with the first delicious 
breath of spring. The warm sunshine, as May approached, 
soon dried up the mud from the spring rains, and the roads 
were once more in a condition for the movement of army 
trains. On every hand the sure indications of an early 
opening of field operations were apparent. A few days of 
bustle and preparation and the last finishing touches were 
complete. A week of comparative quiet followed, like the 
lull that precedes the bursting of the storm, and then, on the 
evening of the 3d of Jlay, the first move in what will go down 
to history as the great campaign of the war commenced. No 
drum-beat or bugle-note sounds a warning, but silently as 



* The Fifth Kcgimeot at this time was only three hundred and 
ninety strong, including twenty-four siclc. 



50 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEK AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



spectres in a dream, rogiraonts, brigades, and divisions leave 
their camps and fall into line. Already the vanguard is on 
tlie march, and tlic dull tramp, Iraiiip, comes from out the 
darkness mingled with the low rumbling of artillery and 
baggage trains. The camp-fires, as they light up the scene 
wilii tlicir litful glare, reveal the faces of the men as they 
stand leaning on their guns awaiting their turn to fall into 
the lino of marcli. Tliey have little time to wait, for every- 
thing moves with dock-like precision, and the long lines 
follow each other in quick succession and disappear in the 
darkness, until at last what was a few hours before a vast 
city of snowy tents, with streets thronging with busy life, 
is now one vast tenantless expanse of smouldering camp- 
fires, over which broods the midnight stillness, unbroken 
save by the echoes that come fainter and fainter from the 
distant footsteps of the receding hosts. 

" The morning finds us still on the march and ncaring 
the llapidan, which we cross without opposition at Pily's 
Ford, about nine a.m. Wo rest half an hour on the heights 
beyond, from which we enjoy a fine view of the surround- 
ing country, — a picturesque succession of hill and plain, 
with its distant background of mountains against the west- 
ern horizon. 

" The men, having marched all night with only a short 
respite at suriri.se for coffee and ' hard tack,' began to feel 
the need of rest and sleep. But the march is soon re- 
sumed and pushed forward at a rapid pace. The weather 
is uncommonly hot for the time of year, and the narrow 
forest-roads, walled in on either side by a dense under- 
growth, aflorded scarce a breath of cooling air. It was the 
first march of the season, and the men had not become 
hardened to fatigue by exposure. But tired, sleepy, and 
footsore, we hobbled on as best we could until about two 
P.M , when we arrived on the old battle-ground of Chaneel- 
lorsville and halted for the rest of the day. 

" How familiar looks every object around ! There is the 
old Chaucellorsvillo House, whore Gen. Hooker had his 
headquarters. But only the roofless, blackened walls re- 
main ; the rest was destroyed by fire during the battle. 
Farther on is the little country cemetery, with its white 
fence and the white farm-house standing near, around 
which raged the fiercest tide of battle on that lovely Sab- 
bath morning in May. There is the field hard by where 
the regiment lay for two hours or more the target for a 
rebel battery. Just across that low swale, a little to the 
left, is the open field where that battery stood, and on 
which, the night before, Birney's division formed for the 
midnight charge ; and there, too, is the thick hedge of 
cedars bordering the field, through which we tore our way 
to the charge, making niL'ht hideous with yell and whoop 
and wild uproar, as if Paudemonium had turned loose all 
its fiends at once. 

" There is the old rifle-pit along the edge of the swale 
still standing, and the narrow belt of open timber between 
it and the plank-road, where the regiment rallied after the 
uproar had subsided, and, in blissful ignorance of our im- 
minent danger, pas.sed the remainder of the night in sleep. 
And here on the same ground and almost the identical spot 
we again bivouac for the night." 

The men of the Fifth had started on the campaign each 



canying five days' rations, and sixty rounds of ammunition. 
In the morning of the 5th of Jlay the regiment left its 
bivouac at Chancellorsville, and moved on the road leading 
to Orange Court-House. The enemy was met, and a des- 
perate battle ensued. On the morning of the Gth the regi- 
ment was again engaged, nniking a successful charge on the 
rebel works, capturing a stand of colors and tliirteen hun- 
dred prisoners, and .suffering in this, as in the fight of the 
previous day, a heavy loss in killed and wounded. By the 
loss of Col. Pulford and Maj. Matthews (both severely 
wounded in the fight of the 5th of May, the command of 
the regiment had devolved on Capt. Wakenshaw. In the 
battle of the Gth he also fell, severely wounded, losing his 
right arm. 

The Fifth was again engaged with the enemy on the 8th 
of May, and lay under a heavy artillery fire until noon of 
the 10th. It fought again on the 11th, and (with the rem- 
nant of the Third Michigan, which was acting with it) 
took part in the charge on the enemy's works at Spottsyl- 
vania Court-House on the 12th. In this charge it cap- 
tured two stands of the rebel colors, and was highly com- 
plimented for gallant conduct both by Gen. Hancock and 
Gen. Meade. 

From Spottsylvania it moved forward by forced marches, 
and, on the 2!5d of May, took part in the as.sault of the 
works on the north bank of the North Anna Hiver, at 
Jericho Bridge ; the regiment carried them, captured a 
number of prisoners, and drove the rebel force across the 
river. In the afternoon of the 24th the regiment crossed 
the river under a very heavy artillery fire, and again drove 
the enemy from his position. On the 27th it recrossed the 
North Anna and marched to the Pamunkey River, which 
it crossed the same day. From the 28th to the 31st of 
May the wearied and hungry men worked day and night 
throwing up fortifications, and on the latter date the regi- 
ment took part in a charge upon a lino of works, which 
they gallantly carried. Marching from the Pamujikey. it 
reached Cold Harbor on the 5th of June, and immediately 
commenced the erection of earthworks. It remained here 
a week, and during that time the Third Michigan Infantry 
(having become reduced to a mere skeleton, and the terra 
of service of a large part of its men having expired) was 
consolidated with the Fifth under the following field-order 
of the corps commander, viz. : 

"IlEADQl'.VnTERS SlCCOND Al!MV CoIlPS, 

"Juno 10, 1SB4. 
" Special Orders. 

(E.vtrnct.) 

" The term of service of the Third Michigan Volunteers 
having expired, that regiment, with the exception of re- 
enlisted men or such as have joined since date of original 
organization, and such oflficers as are hereafter designated 
to be retained, will at once proceed to Michigan, and report 
to the Superintendent of Recruiting for that State, for the 
purpose of being discharged. Descriptive lists must accom- 
pany all men sent home. The remaining ofiicers and men 
of the regiment will be formed into a battalion of four com- 
panies, to be attached to the Fifth Michigan Veteran Vol- 
unteers, which regiment will be at once consolidated into 
six companies, — and all ofiicers not hereinafter designated 



FIFTH INFANTRY. 



51 



to be retained will be mustered out of service. The follow- 
ing officers will be retained in tlie above ori^anizatioii : 

^'■T hi III Micliii/an llcyiiiu'iit. — Colonel B. 11. Fierce, 
Captain Simon Breniian, Captain Daniel S. Root, Captain 
Thomas Tate, Lieutenant Daniel Converse, Lieutenant John 
F. MeGinley, First Lieutenant Jerome B. Ten Eyck, First 
Lieutenant Charles A. Price. 

•' Fifth Michic/aii ItcginieiU. — Major S. S. Matthews, 
Surgeon Henry F. Lyster, Assistant Surgeon P. B. Ross, 
Adjutant Ueurge W. Waklron, lli'j,'imental Quartermaster 
Hudson B. Blackman, Captain William Wakenshuw, Cap- 
tain Charles M. Gregory, Captain James W. Colville, Cap- 
tain Amos A. Rouse, Captain Edgar H. Shook, Captain 
James O. Gunsolly, First Lieutenant Walter Knox, First 
Lieutenant John Bradon, First Lieutenant Andrew Ham- 
lin, Second Lieutenant George B. Dudley, Second Lieu- 
tenant S. S. Lyon. 

" Tins order is subject to the approval of higher au- 
thority. 

" By command of Major-General Hancock. 

(Signed) " Francls A. Walker, 

" Assistant Adjutant-General." 

The order was confirmed by the War Department on the 
13th of June. 

The Fifth left Cold Harbor June 12th, crossed the 
Cbickalioniiny at Long Bridge on the same day, reached 
Harrison's Landing on tiie 13th, crossed the James River 
on the 14th, and arrived in front of Petersburg late in the 
night of the l.jtli. On the following day, towards evening, 
it was engaged with the enemy, and carried the assaulted 
line of works. 

During all the memorable but monotonous siege of Peters- 
burg, from tlie time when tlie regiment reached the front of 
that stronghold until the close of the great drama of tlie 
Rebellion, the service of the Fifth Michigan embraced a 
series of movements, changes of position, labors on fortifi- 
cations, picket and railroad duty, life in the trenches, 
marchings, skirmishes, and battles, which it would be too 
tedious to follow or to enumerate. In its as.saults upon the 
works in front of Petersburg, during the campaign of 18G4, 
its loss was fifteen killed, fifty-two wounded, and nineteen 
missing, — total, eighty-six. It fought at Deep Bottom, 
July 27th, 2Slh, with a loss of twelve wounded, and at 
Boydton I'lank-Road, October 27lh, losing nine killed, 
fifty-two wounded, and forty-three mi.«sing. It was also 
engaged at Strawberry Plains, August 14th to 17th, and at 
Poplar Spring Church on the 30th of September. During 
the year following the commencement of the Mine Run ex- 
pedition, in November, 18G3, the total loss of the regiment, 
in killed, wounded, and missing, was five liundred and forty- 
nine. 

From October, 18G4, to the middle of January, 1865 
the Fifth occupied Fort Davis, in the front line of works 
at Petersburg. On the 15th of January it formed a part 
of the force with which Gen. Warren made his raid south- 
ward to the Weldon Railroad ; and after its return from 
that expedition w;is posted for about two weeks at Hum- 
phrey's Station, and then moved back to the front of 
Petersburg, and remained there until the 25tli of March, 



when it moved with other forces to Hatcher's Run, and 
took part in the assault on the works at that place, sustain- 
ing the weight of a heavy engagement for four hours. In 
the final assault on Petersburg the Fifth took part, and is 
said to have been the first to plant its colors on the cap- 
tured works. On the 6th of April the regiment with its 
brigade attacked the retreating enemy at Sailor's Creek, 
and captured a stand of colors and a large number of pris- 
oners. The enemy being followed closely by the brigade 
on the 7th and 8th of April, tlie V'lhh Regiment, acting 
as flankers and skirniisliers, became engaged at New Store, 
but with slight loss. And finally, on the 9lh, it was present 
in the front, in line of battle, at the surrender of the Con- 
federate army by Gen. Lee. It lay at Clover Hill, near 
the place of surrender, until the 13th, when it moved back 
to Burkeville, and on the Lst of IMay .started on the march 
to Washington by way of Richmond. 

The regiment took its place in the great review of the 
Army of the Potomac, at Wasliington, May 23d, and re- 
mained in the vicinity of the city until June lOtli, when 
it left for the West, proceeding by the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad to Parkersburg, W. Va., and thence by steamer 
on the Ohio to Louisville, wliicli place it reached on the 
14th. Moving to Jeffersonville, on the north side of the 
Ohio, it remained there until July 4th, when it was mus- 
ered out of the service as a regiment, and on the Gth left 
by railroad for Detroit, where it arrived on the 8lh, and 
where, on the 17th of. July, 18G."), the men of the Fighting 
Fifth received their pay and discharge. 

OKKICEllS AND MEN OF THE FIFTH FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTV. 
Fitld and Staff. 

l8t Lieut, and Q.M. Willinm H. Allen, Byron ; com. Aug. 28, 1SC4 ; bvt. capt. 
U. S. Vols, April 9, ISW, " for gallant and nicritoriuus servicer timing 
recent campaigns terminating in the surrender of the rebel army under 
Gen. Robert £. Lee;'' mimt. out July 5, 18G5. 

Non-Commixeioned Staff. 
Hosp. Steward William H. Allen, Byron ; veteran, enl. Doc. 10, 18C3 ; pro. to 2d 

lieut. Co. D, June 10, 18C4. 
Cora.-Scrgt. Geo. A. Winans, Middlebury ; pro. to lst lient. Co H, Jnric 10, 18C4. 

Company A, 
Samuel M. Atkins, died in action at Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862. 
Edward IJnrgoyiio, discli. for disability, Dec. 4, 1804. 
Diivid nines, trans, lo Vet. lies. Conis, Nov. 15, 18S3. 
John Little, veteran ; enl. Dec. l.l, 18(;:i. 
Isaac Lovejoy, veteran ; must, out July 21, 1805. 

(Jompctiiy B. 
Abraham Vandeniarli, mu->t, out July 5, 1805. 

Company C. 
John W. Cook, must, out May 24, 1805. 

Company D. 
Capt. James 0. Gunsolly, OwosBO, CODI. Juno 25, 180.3 ; dlscll. at end of service, 

Oct. 1.1, 1804. 
2d Lieut. William 11. Allen, Byron ; com. June 10, 18G4; pro. lst lieut. and q.m. 
K.lgur Calkins, died of disease at Washington, D. C, May 27, 1803. 
Antliony Clees, disch. by order, May 11, 18(35. 
Charles Condon, disch. for disability, Aug. 29, 1802. 
John Holcomli, disch. at end of service, Aug. 27, 1804. 
Hiram Johnson, disch. for disability, Jan. 19, 1863. 
David Johnson, must, out June 15, 1805. 
Patrick Kcveny, must, out June 15, If'GS. 
\V'illiaui Kinters, disch. at end of service, Aug. 27, 1804. 
■Sylvester Neariiig, died of disease near Falnioiltli, Vll., Nov. 22, 1802. 
Asahel Rust, disch. Aug. 9, 18U2. 
James M. Sliippey, disch. at end of sorvico, Aug. 27, 1804. 

Company F. 
Joseph H. lieunelt, disdi. for disability, Nov.riO, 1801. 
Andrew Bliss, disch. for disability, April 11, 1802. 



52 



HISTORr OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Ashley B. Clark, ilisch. for disability, Aug. 21, 18C2. 

Ri.bcit CtimplK'll, liiscl). for disiil.ility, Aug. 15, 18G2. 

TI1..111HS MkUii, ilii-d i.f WDiMids, July U, 1HG2. 

I);inii-1 Hurley, discli. for disiibility, July, 1HG2. 

Bmdlurd F. Sniitli, tliistl of disease, Oct. 18, 18ni. 

Williain K. Whitney^ died of disoaso nt Camp Midilb^iin, Fob. 24, 18112. 

Compnvy G, 
Otis U, FulI.T, tniua. to Vet. Uch. Corps, April 10, 18G-1. 

Company II. 
Capt. Louis IJ. Quiickenbuali, Owoswo; com. Jnue 19, 1861 ; killed in battle of 

Fair Oiika, Va., 3Iuy ;J1, 1802; buried in Seven Pines National Cemetery, 

Va. 
Capt. William Wakensbiiw, Owosao; com. June 1, 1862; 1st liout., June 19, 

18C1; wounded May 6, 1804; capt. in Vet. Ilea. Corps, Nov, 7, 1864. 
let Lieut. \Vm. K. Tillotsou, Owo».so; com. Juno 1, 1862; 2d lieut., June 19, 

1861 ; wountlod at Williamsburg, Va., May r>, 1862; disch. for sorvicea in 

Vet. Ilea. Corps, June H(i, lS6:i. 
l8t Lieut. James 0. Gnnsolly, Owosao; com. July I'i, 1802; 2d lieut,, June 1, 

1862 (sergt.) ; pro. to tapt., Co. D. 
1st Liout. Geo. A. Wiiiatis, Miildlebury ; com. June 10, 1864 ; pro. to capt. and 

must, out, July 5, 1805. 
1st Lieut. Diivid B. Wyker, Owosso; com. June 29, 186:1; 2d lit-ut., June 1,1862; 

died in action at Germania Ford, Nov. 27, 180:i. 
2d Lieut. John Shont/., Byron ; com. Nov.7, 18tU ; 2d lieut., Oct. 1, 1804 ; must. 

out July 5, 1805. 
Sergt. Iliram L. Chapmau, euL Aug. 28, 1801; dJach. for disability, April 10, 

1802. 
Sergt. Morton Gregory, eiil. Aug. 28, 1861 ; diach. for dipability, Dec. H), 1801. 
Sergt. David B. Wyker, enl. Aug. 28, ISOl ; pio. t* 2il lieut., Juno 17, 1862 ; lat 

lieut., Juno 29, lS6:i ; killed at Gennaiiia Ford, Nov. :i7, ISOi. 
Sergt. Joliu Shonlz, enl. Aug. 28, 1801 ; pro. to 2d li'-ut. 

Sei gt. Lucieu A. Cliaso, enl. Aug. 28, 1801 ; diach. for disability, April 14, 1862. 
Sergt. Washingtou Howard, enl. Aug. 28, 1861 ; died of disease, Feb. 22, 1802. 
Corp. William Bowles, enl. Aug. 2S, 1861; trans, to Inv. Corps; disch. Aug. 27, 

1864. 
Corp. James 0. Gunsolly, enl. Aug. 28, 1861 ; pro. to 2d lieut. 
Corp. Orpheua B. Church, enl. Aug. 28, 1861 ; disch. for disability. 
Corp. Alpha A. Carr, enl. Aug. 28, 1801 ; disch. for disubility. 
Corp. George A. Wiuans, enl. Aug. 28, 1861 ; pro. to com.-aergt. 
Corp. Charles Ormsby, died of disease at Fortress Monroe, April 10, 1862. 
Wiigoiier Jerome Trim, disch. for disability, Nov. 18, 1862. 
John C. Adams, diach. for di.sabdity, July 22, 1862. 
Cliauucey W. Anible, diach. for disability, Sept. :tO, 1862. 
Wm. H. Boi-st, diach. for disability, Nov. 27, 1802. 
John Beebe, veteran, died June 16, 1864. 

Auguatua Breekell, died of disease at Camp Pitcher, Dec. 27,1862. 
Franklin S. Church, dii-il of disease at Ale.xarulria, Jau. 11, 1802. 
diaries II. Collier, died of wounds, May 8, 1864. 
Jeremiah Cassidy, trans, to Vet. U\'S. Corps, Feb. 15, 1864. 

William Cummings, veteran, onl. Dec. IS, 186;i; diacli. by order, June :J, 1805. 
Levi Clark, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863; diach. for disability, Jau. 15, 1805. 
Egbett Campbell, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 186^; must, out July 5, 1805. 
Alfred B. Crane, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803; must, out, July 5, 1805. 
Charles Oolmau, must, oiit May 3U, 1805. 
Marcius S. Crawf..rd, disch. for disability, Oct. 8, 1802. 
Tbonuts M. Clay, disch. lor disability, Oct. 8, 1802. 
John W. Close, diach. for disability, Oct. 8, 1862. 

Benjamin C. Cook, disch. for disability by reason of wounds, Oct. 8, 1862. 
John Q, A. Cook, disch. for disability, Dec. 4, 1802. 
James Carniody, disch. for disability, Sept. 24, 1862. 
Isaac Felti-r, wounded at bailie of Wilderness. 
Amos Finch, discli. for disability, May II, 1862. 
Clark Fineout, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863; must, cput July 5, 1865. 
Dwight I). Gibbs, disch. for disability, Oct. 8, 1802. 
Wm. II. lliurin^tou, disch. for disability, Feb. 20, 1SG3. 
Melvin Houghteliu, disch. for disability, Aug. 22, 1802. 
Martin N. Halstead, die<i in action at Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862. 
Jlyron F. Halstead, died in action at Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862. 
Allen llerrington, died of wounds, May 27, 1864. 
William II. Herrington, wounded in battle of tlie Wilderness. 
Michael Helms, trans, to Vet- lies. Corps, Sept. 1, 1863. 
William F. Herring, died May 3, 1803. 
Christopher Ilayuos, killed in battle of Wilderness. 
William .\. Hall, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803; died in action at Wilderness, Va., 

May 5, 1804. 
Oscar F. Halatead, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803; diach. by order, Oct. 21, 1804. 
Henry Herrick, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803 ; disch. by order, Fob. 4, 1805. 
George W. Harris, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863; must, out July 10, 18t(5. 
Stephen M. Hammond, veteran, enl, Dec. 15, 1803; must, out July 6, 1805. 
Benjaiiiin Hoag, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803 ; must, out July 5, 1805. 
Kichard Haley, must, mit May 31, 1865. 
Ebcnezer M. Ishatu, di^ch. at 1 nd of service, Aug. 27, 1864. 
Joid M. Jackson, diach. for disability, Oct. 2, 1805. 
Jeflei-son Kinney, disch. for disal'ility. May 22, 1804. 
Henry A. Keyes, disch. for disability. 
John K. Kelly, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 15, 1804. 



John D. Keyes, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863; must, out July 5, 1865. 

John V. Lindsay, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803 ; must, out July 5, 1805. 

Irtaac Lovejtiy, wounded at battle of Wiblerness, May, 1864. 

Thomas Lawrence, di^ch. for disability, Nov. 20, 1802. 

Edgar M. Leonard, disch. for disability (loss of arm at Gettysburg), Oct. 14, 

1803. 
Daniel Martindale, disch. for disability, July 22, 1802. 
Orlando Matson, killed at Frederickshurg, Dec. 13, 1802. 
William F. Bh:Divit, disch. for disability, May 1, 1862. 
Lyman McCarthy, disch. for di.aabilily, Doc. 5, 1862. 
Peter McLean, disch. for disability, Sept. 25, 1862. 
Ale.\ander McDivit, died of disease at Ycu'ktown, Va.. May 6, 1862. 
Edward McNoal, died of disease at Alexandria, Va., July 25, 1862. 
Thomas Murliu, died of disease at Alexaudiia, Va., Oct. 28, 186:^. 
Amos Moore, veteran, onl. Dec. 15, 1863; died of disease near Pcteraburg, Va., 

Oct. 22, 1864. 
Jacob Mauahaw, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1803; disch. by order, Oct. 21, 1804. 
Merriman Morehouse, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863; died of disease at Salisbury, 

N. C, April '11, 1863. 
Milton Mattoun, veteran, onl. Dec. 15, 1803 ; must, out July 5, 1805. 
William l>Iurliii, must, out Miiy 31, 1865. 
William Miinsliawee, must, out May 25, 1865. 

Herman T. Newman, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863 ; must, ont July 5, 1865. 
Theodore Odell, veteran, en!. Dec. 15, 1863 ; disch. for disability. May 23, 1865. 
Andrew J. Pattei-son, disch. for ilisability, Dec. 1(), 1861. 
John M. Rosa, wounded at battle of Wilderness, Slay, 1864. 
James N. Peck, died of disease, Feb. 8, 1862. 

William H. H. Shulters, died of disease at Alexandria, Va., Nov. 6, 1862. 
Charles C. Scott, died of diseiise, April 12, 1862. 
Abram K. Swrut, must, out May 31, 1805. 

George A. Shelley, wounded at battle of the Wilderness, May, 1864. 
Samuel A, Sutberland, disch. for (liaability, May 25, 1805. 
Oreii S. Skinner, diach. for disability. 
Jamea Shulters, diach. for disability, Nov. 11, 1862. 
William Tayhu-, disch. for disability, Oct. 8, 18G2. 

Howard Wortliington, died of disease at Camp Michigan, Feb. 24, 1802. 
John Weia, died of disease, Jan. 18, 1803. * 

IHarcns Wakeuiaii, died of wounds, April 25, 1805. 
Patrick Watei-s, pro. to sergt.; wounded at Wilderness, May, 1864; veteran, 

enl. Dec. 15, 1863; must, out July 5, 1805. 

CLINTON COUNTY MEMBERS OF THE FIFTH INFANTRY. 
Compantj C. 
Frederick L. Buell, must, ont July 5, 1805. 
Chandler Ferguson, disch. for dis^ibility, June 20, 1862. 
David Goodrich, died of disease at Washington, Sept. 25, 1801. 
Wm. II. Goodrich, must, out July 5, 1805. 
Valorous Green, disch. for disability, Jan. 19, 1803. 
Orton B. Green, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Jau. 10, 1864. 
Merrill Howe, died in battle at Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862. 
Clinton WcSIuitry, St. John's. 

Jos. Morton, St. John's; disch. for disability, Aug. 10, 1862. 
Alvin McGowan, di-sch. for disability, Aug. 27, 1862. 
Eilwin Perry, discli. at end of service, Aug. 28, 1805. 
Uriah G. Tucker, died in action at Williaiuslmrg, May 5, 1862. 
Johu S. Weatlierwax.died in action at Wilderness, May 5, 1804. 
Geo. E. Webb, Ohve ; disch. for disaliility, Maich 18, 1S03. 
Nathaniel D. Wickbam, disch. at end of service, Aug. 28, 1864. 

Company D. 
Eliaha A. Elwood, must, out May 13, 1805. 
Edwin Formau, disch. for disability, June 20, 1862. 
James A. Forman, disch. for disability, March 19, 1863. 
David Frost, died of disease at Camp Michigan, Dec. 27, 1861. 
John D. lugall-i, veteran, enl. Doc. 15, 1863; must, out July 5, 1805. 
Ira P. Jones, disch. by order, Oct. 0, IS62. 
Saniuel Lee, tUscli. for disability, Feb. 7, 1803. 
Charles B. Laud, must, out July 5, 1805. 
Alson H. Reed, diach. for disability, Aug. 9, 1S62, 
W'illiam Reed, disch. at end of service, Aug. 27, 1865. 
Peleg Sweet, disch. for disability, Jan. 8, 1803. 
Robert K. Smith, must, ont May 13, 1865. 

Nathaniel S. Wells, veteran, enl. Dec. 15, 1863 ; must, out July 5, 1805. 
Henry C. Williams, disch. by order. 
Daniel G. Wade, disch. at end of service, Sept. 5, 1864. 

Comjyany F. 
Ist Lieut. Joshua R. Benson, Riley ; com. Nov. 9, 1804, 2d lieut.; Sept. 18, 1864, 
sergt.; must, out July 5, 1865. 

Company H. 
Russell N. Bagley, diach. for disability. Jan. 13, 1863. 
Almerou Daniels, disch. for disability. May 31, 1865. 
Daniel L. Harrington, died of disease, Feb. ii8, 1802. 
Nathan S. Ross, died in action at Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862. 

Company I. 
Alexander Parks, disch. for disability, Sept. 3, 1864. 



EIGHTH INFANTRY. 



53 



CHAPTER VII. 

EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

Organizntion of the Eiglith at Camp Anderson — The Port Royal Ex- 
pedition — Battles of Port Uoyal Ferry and Wilmington Island — 
Terrible Conflict at Seccssionville — Campaign unjer Gen. Pope — 
South Mountain, Antietam, and Fredericksburg— Campaigns in 
Kentucky, Mississippi, and East Tennessee — ^Veteran Ro enlist- 
ment and Return to the Army of the Potomac — The Wilderness 
and Petersburg — The Eighth leads the Union Column into the 
City — End of Service and Muster Out. 

The Eighth Regiment of Michigan Iiifantiy was or- 
ganized in the summer and fall of 1861 by Col. William 
M. Fenton, who became it:? commander, and led it bravely 
on many bloody fields. One company of this regiment was 
composed principally of Clinton County men, and another 
was in the same manner distinctively a Shiawassee com- 
pany. Volunteers from these counties were also found in 
the ranks of five of its other companies. 

The Clinton company contained the earliest enlistments 
that were made in that county, dating as early as May 1st, 
when Captain Richard Baylis commenced recruiting for 
a company to join the Second Infantry. It was called 
the " Clinton Rangers," and was filled in about two weeks, 
but was after all too late for acceptance in the Second, 
and this fact caused the announcement to be made, on the 
17th of May, that " the Clinton Rangers are hereby dis- 
banded." Afterwards, however, most of the " Rangers" 
volunteered in other companies, principally in the " St. 
John's Union Guard," which was organized at Clinton 
Hall, St. John's, June 22d, by the enrollment of fifty names 
of volunteers, and the choice of the following officers of 
the company, viz. : Oliver L. Spaulding, Captain ; W. H. 
Paine, First Lieutenant; Charles F. Smith, Second Lieu- 
tenant; William T. Magoffin, W. Ely Lewis, J. W. Brad- 
nor, N. T. Jones, and A. B. Nourse, Sergeants; and An- 
thony Cook, Luther Pratt, Edwin Hewett, and Aaron B. 
Taylor, Corporals. A " board of directors ' was also chosen, 
composed of Charles Kipp, Henry Walbridge, Timothy 
Baker, Stephen J. Wright, and William Sickels. The 
company met for drill under these officers, but was soon 
afterwards reorganized as the " St. John's Volunteers," un- 
der Capt. Gilbert E. Pratt and 1st Lieut. VV. Ely Lewis, 
and having been augmented by a number of volunteers 
from Gratiot County, was assigned to duty with the Eighth 
Infantry, and designated as Company B of that regiment. 

The Shiawassee County company of the Eighth was re- 
cruited and organized in August, 18(il, under Capt. J. L. 
Quaekcnbush, of Owosso, and 1st Lieut. Albert Bainbridge, 
of Byron, in the expectation that it would be joined to the 
Ninth or Tenth Regiment. It was, however, as.signed to 
duty with the Eighth, and designated in the organization 
of that regiment as Company I. 

The Eighth Infantry was rendezvoused at " Camp An- 
derson," Grand Rapids, on the 21st of August. There it 
remained for four weeks, engaged in drill, organization, and 
the filling of its ranks to the maximum number. On the 
18th of September it moved to Detroit, and thence to a 
camp at Fort Wayne, below the city, where, on the 23d, it 
was mustered into the United States service for three years 
by Capt. H. 11. Mizner, U.S.A., its strength when mus- 



tered being irine hundred. Its field-officers, besides Col. 
Fenton, were Lieut. -Col. Frank Graves and Maj. Amasa 
B. Watson. 

Orders for the departure of the regiment were received 
on the 26th of September, and on Friday (the 27th) it 
embarked on the steamers " Ocean" and " May Queen," and 
moved down the river and lake, arriving at Cleveland the 
following morning. From there it moved by railroad 
through Pittsburgh, Ilarrisburg, and Baltimore to Wash- 
ington, where it arrived on the 30th, and encamped on 
Meridian Hill, its camp being named " Camp Williams." 
In due time the men received arms and equipments, and on 
the 9th of October the regiment moved to Annapolis, Md., 
and there occupied the grounds of the Naval Academy. 
On the 19th of October it was ordered to embark on board 
the ocean-steamer " Vanderbilt," then lying at Annapolis. 
It was evidently bound on some distant expedition, but its 
destination and object were unknown, and'were matters of 
endless surmise and speculation among the officers and men 
during the pa.ssagc down the Chesapeake. On the " Van- 
derbilt" with the Eighth was the Seventy-ninth New York 
Regiment, called the " Highlanders," and neither regiment 
appeared to be very favorably impressed with the appearance 
or presence of the other. One who was present on board the 
ship at that time wrote afterwards concerning this, as follows : 
" The men of the Eighth Michigan and Seventy-ninth New 
York looked distrustfully on each other. The ship was 
rather uncomfortably crowded, having eighteen hundred 
persons on board, and every effort to obtain better storage 
by one party was jealously watched by the other. The 
Eighth regarded the Seventy-ninth as a set of foreigners 
and sots, and the latter regarded our men as a lot of un- 
drilled bushwhackers, tinged with verdancy." How long 
this state of feeling continued does not appear, but it is 
certain that there was afterwards developed between them a 
friendship which became absolute aflFection, — so strong and 
marked that it was proverbial among the different commands 
of the army where the two regiments were known. 

Upon their arrival at Fortress Monroe they found the 
roadstead crowded with a fleet made up of war-steamers and 
transports filled with troops. This fleet, including the 
" Vanderbilt," went to sea in the morning of October 29ih, 
and the sight was grand and in.spiriting. For a time the 
winds favored and the sea was comparatively smooth, but 
afterwards a heavy gale came on in which the vessels were 
scattered, and three or four of them were lost. During 
this time the troops suffered greatly from sea-sickness and 
overcrowding on the transports. The fleet had sailed under 
sealed orders, and its destination was as yet unknown ex- 
cept to the naval and military commanders. At last the 
storm abated, the vessels one by one returned within sig- 
naling distance of each other, and the low shores of South 
Carolina became visible on the starboard hand. Six days 
(which seemed as many weeks) from the time of its de- 
parture from Fortress Monroe the fleet arrived ofi" Hilton 
Head, S. C, Nov. 4, 1861. The object of the expedition 
was now apparent, and, with a smoother sea and an enemy 
almost in sight, sea-sickness and dejection gave place to 
buoyant spirits and eager enthusiasm. 

The fleet was composed of fourteen armed vessels, twenty- 



5i 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



two first-class steamers, twelve smaller steamers, and twenty- 
six sailing-vessels. The commander of the fleet was Com- 
modore (afterward Admiral) S. F. Dupont, whose flag-ship 
was the splendid steam-frigate " Wabash." The land forces 
consisted of thirteen regiments of volunteers, in three 
brigades, — in all, about eleven thousand men, — under com- 
mand of Gen. T. W. Sherman. The Second Brigade, com- 
posed of the Fiftieth and One Hundredth Pennsylvania, 
Eighth Rlicliigan, and Seventy-ninth New York, was under 
command of Brig.-Gen. Isaac I. Stevens. 

The channel connecting Port Royal harbor with the sea 
was guarded on either side by a strong rebel fortification. 
These were known as Forts Walker and Beauregard, and 
the reduction of these, by the navy, was the first work to 
be done. For three days after their arrival the vessels re- 
mained in quiet, below, as the weather was not considered 
sufiBciently favorable for operations; but on the 7th the 
" Wabash" set hfer signal for battle, and advanced to the 
attack, ibllowed by tiie other armed ships in their proper 
order. They moved in a circular line, up, past one fort, 
and down, past the other, delivering their tremendous 
broadsides into each as they came abreast of it. With the 
fire from the ships, and the responses from the forts, it was 
almost a continuous volley of artillery, which shook the 
earth and made the very waters tremble. But at length 
the fire of the forts began to slacken, their replies grew 
more and more feeble, and finally the stars and bars above 
their ramparts gave place to the white flag. A little later 
the standard of the Union floated above the captured works 
on both sides of the channel. 

On the following day the Eighth landed at Hilton Head, 
and occupied Fort Walker. On the 17 th of December, it 
moved to Beaufort, a place of surpassing beauty, where 
many of the wealthy people of Charleston had, in the old 
days of peace, made their summer residences. It was now 
found deserted by nearly all its inhabitants except negroes. 
The camp at this place was made in a grove of magnificent 
live-oaks, on the public square, which was surrounded on 
all sides by stately mansions. Except on account of the 
losses sustained by the Eighth in the vicinity of Beaufort, 
the stay of the regiment at this place was among the most 
pleasing of all its experiences during its term of service. 
On the 18th, Companies A and F, of the Eighth, were 
sent on a reconnoitering expedition to the mainland, across 
Coosaw River, and while engaged in this service, David 
Burns Foote, of Capt. Guild's company, was killed by the 
enemy ; he being the first man of the regiment who fell 
in his country's service. The Eighth, during the time it 
was stationed at Beaufort, was engaged in other reconnois- 
sances, and in picket duty ; and detachments occupied 
Grey's Hill, Ladies' Island, Pinckney's Island, Brickyard 
Point, and some of the neighboring plantations. 

The first battle in which the regiment was engaged was 
that of Coosaw River, or Port Royal Ferry, Jan. 1, 1862. 
An oflBcial report by Col. Fenton to Gen. Stevens, embracing 
an account of that engagement, is here given : 

" IIeadquartehs Eighth Michigan Kkgiment, 

" Mainland, Port Koyal Ferry, Jan. 1, 1862. 

" Brig.-Gen. Stevens : Sir, — I have the honor to re- 
port that in compliance with your order this regiment was 



safely landed at the Adams House on the mainland, having 
effected the crossing in flatboats from Brickyard Point, 
Port Royal Island, and took up its line of march towards 
the enemy's battery at this place at one o'clock p.m. On 
our approach towards the ferry we were ordered to attack 
(as skirmishersj a masked battery which opened fire on us 
from the right. I immediately detached the first two and 
tenth companies, and directed their march to the left and 
front on the battery, which was followed by four additional 
companies to the right and front. The fire of the battery 
with shells continued on our lines until the skirmishers 
reached the right, when it was turned on them, and on 
their approach right, left, and front to within fifty to one 
hundred yards of the enemy's position, a fire of musketry 
was opened upon them. The force of the enfemy, as well 
as the battery, was concealed to a considerable extent by 
trees, brush, and underwood, but appeared to consist of two 
mounted howitzers, supported by a regiment or more of in- 
fantry and some cavalry. The skirmishers were measurably 
protected by underbrush and furrows, and continued their 
fire upon the enemy, which was returned by volleys of mu.s- 
ketry and shells from the battery. Our fire was well di- 
rected, and .seemed to be eft'ective. One mounted ofiBcer 
who seemed to be very active, was seen to fall from his 
horse, at which the troops on the enemy's right were 
thrown into confusion. Their position seemed to be 
changing to the rear, and as our skirmishers were called 
off' and the regiment formed in line the enemy's fire ceased. 
The regiment was then marched to its position in line of 
battle in rear of the fort at this point. 

" Lieut.-Col. Graves led the left and Jlaj. Watson the 
right of the skirmishers. The major, in leading on the 
line, received a severe flesh wound in the leg. I have to 
report that officers and men behaved with admirable bravery 
and coolness. The loss of the enemy from the well-directed 
fire of our skirmishers cannot be less than forty. Our loss 
is seven wounded, two missing. A list is appended. I have 
the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" Wm. M. Fenton, 
" Cul. Eiglilh Micliii/aii Reijihneut." 

Of the three companies which made the attack, Capt. 
Pratt's company (" B," known in the regiment as the 
" Clinton Boys") had the right of the line. The left of 
this company was joined by the right of " A" company, 
and the left of the line was held by Company K. The 
affair of Port Royal Ferry, although not a great battle, 
was extremely trying to the qualities of raw troops, as 
they then were, but they went through it with the same 
cool and admirable bravery which they afterwards exhibited 
on many bloodier fields. Capt. Pratt's company sustained 
no loss in killed, but it had a number wounded, among 
whom were James Dodge, L. L. Warner, Henry 0. Brown, 
Frederick Miller, and Amos Wetherby, acting orderly- 
sergeant. 

During the months of January, February, and March 
the regiment was employed in drill and picket duty, but 
always ready to respond to marching orders, which were 
constantly expected, and were finally received on the 9th 
of April, when the Eighth left Beaufort and moved to 



EIGHTH INFANTRY. 



55 



Tybee Island, Ga., where it was reported to Gen. Q. A. 
Gillniore, commanding the operations against Savannah. It 
was present (but not engaged) at the bombardment of Fort 
Puhisici, on the 10th and 11th, as also at the surrender of 
that formidable work. 

On the 16th of April seven companies of the regiment, 
each about forty strong, and including the Clinton and 
Shiawassee companies, — B and I,— were detailed, with 
a detachment of Rhode Island artillery, as an escort 
to Lieut. C. H. Wilson, chief of the topographical engi- 
neers, Department of the South, to make a reconnoissance 
of Wilmington Island, with a view to the erection of forti- 
fications upon it if found practicable. The force was em- 
barked on the steamer " Honduras," and moved to the 
place designated, wiiere it landed and proceeded to the 
execution of the duty assigned. This resulted in an en- 
gagement with a force of the enemy, consisting of the 13th 
Georgia, " Oglethorpe Light Infantry," and the " Altamaha 
Scouts," in all about eight hundred strong. A detailed 
account of this movement and battle is given in Col. Fen- 
ton's official report, of which the following is a copy : 

" Hkadquarters Eighth Regiment Mich. Vols. 
"On board the steamer * Honduras,' off Wilmington Island, 
Ga., April 16, 1S62,— eleven p.m. 

" Lieut. W. L. M. Burger, Acting Assistant Adjutant- 
General. 

"Sir, — I have the honor to report, for the information 
of the general commanding, that in compliance with Special 
Orders No. 41, I embarked with seven companies of the 
Eighth Michigan Regiment, as an escort to Lieut. C. H. 
Wilson, Topographical Engineer, on a reconnoissance oiF 
Wilmington Island. Two companies were landed at Scri- 
ven's plantation under command of Capt. Pratt, with orders 
from Lieut. Wilson to skirt Turner's Creek. The other 
five companies were landed at Gibson's plantation. Two 
of those companies were ordered to skirt Turner's Creek. 
A third was to take the road to the right, towards the ferry 
at Canan's Bluff, to protect the boat party up Oatland 
Creek. Owing to the small number of boats, and the dis- 
tance from the steamer, which was aground, some delay 
occurred in the disembarkation. I directed Lieut.-Col. 
Graves .to follow with the second company to skirt Turner's 
Creek ; but he by misdirection took the road to the right, 
towards Canan's Bluff, and on landing with the remaining 
companies, I received information from him that the enemy 
were in force at Flatwood's plantation, and to the left of 
the road. This made the reconnoissance with boats unsafe, 
and I ordered the companies all in and stationed the re- 
maining companies to guard against an attack at our land- 
ing, and sent out strong pickets on both roads. I believe 
the advance of the company to the right, instead of along 
Turner's Creek, saved my command, as it sooner enabled 
me to post the men to advantage, and take a position from 
which the enemy's approach could be observed. The enemy 
appeared to be the Georgia Thirteenth, about eight hundred 
strong, armed with Enfield rifles. As they approached, 
about four p.m., with a strong body of skirmi.shers in the 
skirt of woods below the road, the companies to tlie right 
and left of the road, in accordance with my instructions. 



opened fire. I immediately sounded the charge for an ad- 
vance of the companies in the rear of the first line ; but 
the first line misunderstanding the signal, fell back to the 
next company. A constant and effective fire was kept up 
on both sides from the cover of the trees and bushes. 
Lieut. Wilson, who had returned with the boat's party, 
here proved of great service to me, and took a party, at 
my request, to the left. I ordered a company to the right, 
to flank the enemy. Both operations were successful, and 
in a few moments the enemy retreated in confusion, leaving 
several dead on the field, and followed by our men with 
loud cheers. It being now about sunset, I recalled our 
troops, and giving to Lieut. Wilson the command of pickets 
stationed to guard against surprise, formed the companies 
into line as originally posted, sent the dead and wounded 
in boats to the ship, and gradually and very quietly, under 
cover of darkness, withdrawing the men, sent them on 
board as fa.st as our limited transportation would allow. 
At the last trip of the boat I embarked, accompanied by 
Lieut. Wilson, Lieut.-Col. Graves, and the remainder of 
the command, at about ten o'clock p.m., and immediately 
brought on board the two companies left at Scriven's plan- 
tation. After the enemy retreated we were unmolested. 
It is due to the officers and men of the command to say 
that generally they behaved with cool and intrepid courage. 
Adj. Pratt fell dead near my side, gallantly fighting, musket 
in hand, and cheering on the men. Our loss, I regret to 
say, was comparatively large, — ten killed and thirty-five 
wounded, out of a command of three hundred men. 
Among the wounded was Acting Lieut. Badger, of Com- 
pany C, who was in charge of the advanced picket, and 
exhibited undaunted courage. He, with one of his men, 
was taken prisoner. Both escaped and wore brought in 
when the enemy retreated. The captain of the ' Honduras' 
is deserving of great credit for his kind attention to the 
wounded, and he afforded us every facility for the comfort 
of officers and men in his power. I respectfully refer j'ou 
to Lieut. Wilson's report, which I have seen, which con- 
tains some facts not embraced in this report ; among others, 
in relation to the men detailed in charge of the field-piece 
on board ship, who were vigilant and attentive. Herewith 
I transmit a list of casualties. 

" I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

" \VlLLI.\M M. Fenton, Col. Commanding.'" 

The part of Lieut. Wilson's report to which Col. Fenton 
alluded as having reference to the detachment in charge of 
the field-piece was as follows : " Lieut. Caldwell and sixteen 
men of the Rhode Island volunteers, with one light six- 
pounder, were left in charge of the steamer. The gun 
could not be bandied on account of the inability of the 
boat to lie alongside the landing. . . . After holding the 
ground for three hours the entire force was quietly em- 
barked without further accident, though it must be con- 
fessed that had the enemy renewed his attack while we 
were embarking we should have suffered great loss. Our 
five small boats could not move more than fifty men every 
thirty minutes, and the steamer lay in such a po.sition that 
the six-pounder could not be brought to bear without jeop- 
ardizing the lives of our own people." 



5(5 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



From Wilmington Island tlic command returned to Beau- 
fort, and the first knowledge wliich Gen. Stevens had of 
the battle of the IGth was conveyed by the arrival of the 
dead and wounded from that field. The dead were buried 
witli all military honors, the entire brigade attending their 
funeral. 

During the month of May the Eighth was engaged on 
picket duty and other similar service, on Port Koyal Island. 
On the 2d of June it moved thence to Stono River, S. C, 
to relieve the Twenty-eighth Ma.ssachusetts Regiment, on 
picket on James Island, where the Eighth arrived on the 
day following its departure from Port Royal. Here it was 
attached to the First Brigade of the Second Division, 
under Gen. Stevens ; the brigade being placed under com- 
mand of Col. Fenton, and Lieut -Col. Graves succeeding to 
the command of the regiment. 

The battle of James Island (or SecessionviJle, as it is 
frequently called) was fought on the IGlh of June. In it 
the Eighth Michigan took a more prominent part, and suf- 
fered more severely, than any other regiment, and its losses 
here were, taking everything into consideration, more ter- 
rible than it sustained on any other field during its long 
and honorable career. Secessionville, the scene of the 
battle, was described by Dr. J. C. Wilson, surgeon of the 
Eighth Regiment, as " a village composed of a few houses 
whose owners have seceded from them, situated on a narrow 
neck of land jutting into the stream on the east side of 
James Island, skirted by tidal marshes and swamps on 
either side, and difficult of approach, except from the 
westward, where is a rebel fcrrt which commands this 
entrance." The fort was a formidable earthwork, with a 
parapet nine feet in height, surrounded by a broad ditch 
seven feet deep, and protected by a broad and almost im- 
penetrable abatis. The neck of dry land over which (alone) 
it was approachable was barely two hundred yards in width, 
and every inch of it could be swept at close range by can- 
ister from the six heavy guns of the fort and by musketry 
i'rora its defenders. And it was over such ground, and to 
the assault of such a work, that the troops of Stevens' 
division moved forward at four o'clock in the morning of 
that bloody and eventful ICth of June, 1862. 

The attacking column was composed of Col. Fenton's 
and Col. Leasure's brigades, the former composed of the 
Eighth Michigan, Seventh Connecticut, and Twenty-eighth 
Massachusetts Regiments, and the latter of the Forty-sixth 
and Seventy-ninth New York and One Hundredth Penn- 
sylvania, with four batteries of artillery, — in all thirty- 
three hundred and thirty-seven men. The following account 
of the battle was written by the correspondent of the Nmo 
York Tribune, then at James' Lsland, and published in that 
paper immediately after the fight : 

"The advanced regiments were the Eighth Michigan, 
the Seventy-ninth New York, and the Seventh Connecticut. 
There is some confusion as to the order in which these 
regiments came up to the fort ; it seems, however, from the 
best information within reach that the glorious but unfor- 
tunate Eighth Michigan was the first there, led by its gal- 
lant Lieut. -Col. Graves. The immediate assault upon the 
fort was not successful, and the cause of its failure, as is 



usual in such cases, is difiScult to determine. . . . It appears, 
from the statements of some of the officers and men in these 
regiments, that about one-half mile from the fort there was 
a narrow pass through a hedge, and the men were compelled 
to pass through, a very few abreast, thus delaying their 
advance. The Eighth Blichigan got through and pushed 
on with great vigor up to the fort, which they assaulted 
with a shout. They were met with a murderous fire from 
the fort in front, and from flanking batteries. A few of 
these brave men overcame all dangers and difficulties, and 
rushing over the dead bodies of their slaughtered comrades, 
actually climbed into the fort ; but it was inipo.ssible for 
them to maintain their ground there against the fearful 
odds which opposed them, the men who should have sup- 
ported them being delayed in passing through the hedge. 

" The Eighth was obliged to fall back as the Seventy- 
ninth New York came up, led by the brave Col. Morrison, 
who mounted the walls of the fort and discharged all the 
barrels of his revolver in the very faces of the enemy. 
Wounded in the head, and unsupported, he was obliged to 
retreat. About as far behind the Seventy-ninth as that 
regiment was behind the Eighth Michigan came the Seventh 
Connecticut, which made a spasmodic and almost indepen- 
dent efl"ort against the fort, but was obliged to fall back. 
Thus the brave regiments which were intended to act in 
concert as the advance went into the fight one at a time, 
one repulsed and falling back as the other came up, thtis 
creating confusion, and rendering abortive the charge on 
the fort at this time. 

" The Eighth Michigan has been most unfortunate. For- 
ward in every skirmish and battle, always in the advance, 
it has lost a considerable number of its officers, and can now 
scarcely number three hundred men. All these regiments 
fought well, and piled their dead around the fort ; but it 
was a terrible sacrifice and a vain one. 

" The first, as has been said, to reach the fort were the 
Michigan Eighth, and New York Seventy-ninth. This was 
not the natural order, but the Seventy-ninth, hearing the 
cheers of the Eighth, ran past the other regiments and 
joined the Eighth as it reached the works. Both regiments 
sufiered terribly from the fire of the enemy as they ap- 
proached, — the Eighth from grape and canister, the Sev- 
enty-ninth from musketry, as the nature of their .wounds 
show. Badly shattered, and wholly exhausted from three- 
fourths of a mile on the double quick, many fell powerless 
on reaching the works ; while a few, in sufficiently good 
condition, mounted the parapet, from which the enemy had 
been driven by our sharp and effective fire, and called upon 
the others to follow them. 

" At about nine o'clock, which seemed to be the crisis of 
the battle, and when the generals seemed to be consulting 
whether they should again advance upon the fort, or retire, 
the gunboats decided the question by opening a heavy can- 
nonade in our rear, which, instead of telling upon the 
rebels, threw their shot and shell into our own ranks. This 
must have resulted from ignorance on their part as to our 
precise position, owing to the rapid changes upon the field, 
and in the intervening timber. The shells fell and burst 
in the very midst of our men, — several exploding near 
the commanding general and his staff. The effect of this 



J 



EIGHTH INFANTRY. 



57 



unfortunate mistake was an order for the troops to retire, 
which they did in perfect order, taking position on the old 
picket-line." 

In the Scottish American newspaper, of New York, there 
appeared, a few days after the battle, a communication from 
an officer of the Seventy-ninth Highlanders, in which the 
gallantry of the Eighth at Secessionville is thus noticed : 
" I should mention that the Eighth Michigan, small in 
number, but every man a hero, had been repulsed from the 
fort, with terrible loss, just as we advanced. The Michigan 
men could not have numbered four hundred when they ad- 
vanced ; wlien they retired they had one hundred and 
ninety killed and wounded. One company alone lost, I un- 
derstand, no less than ninety-eight men. The ordeal through 
which they had passed the Seventy-ninth were now experi- 
encing. Shot down by unseen enemies, and without having 
an opportunity of returning the fire with any effect, the 
men got discouraged, but remained stubbornly on the 
ground until the order was given to retire, — an order, let 
me say, which was only rendered necessary by the shameful 
fact that, notwithstanding the strong force within support- 
ing distance, no support came. The fort was ours had we 
re^eived assistance, but it is a fact that cannot be gainsaid 
that every man who fell around its ramparts belonged to the 
Eighth Michigan and the. Seventy-ninth New York, — the 
two weakest regiments, in point of numbers, in the whole 
force under command of Gen. Bcnham." 

The Eighth Kcgiment went into the fight with a total 
strength of five hundred and thirty-four officers and men, 
and its loss in the assault was, according to the surgeon's 
report, one hundred and forty-seven killed and wounded 
and thirty-seven missing; this being more than one-third 
of the number engaged. The first report of its loss made 
it somewhat greater than this. Gen. Stevens, in his 
" General Order No. 2G," dated James Island, S. C, June 
18, 1862, mentioned the heroism of the Eighth Michigan, 
as follows: " Parties from the leading regiments of the two 
brigades, the Eighth Michigan and Seventy-ninth High- 
landers, mounted and were' shot down on the parapet, offi- 
cers and men. These two regiments especially covered 
themselves with glory, and their fearful casualties show the 
hot work in which they were engaged. Two-fifths of the 
Eighth Michigan and nearly one-quarter of the Seventy- 
ninth Highlanders were down, either killed or wounded, 
and all the remaining regiments had a large number of 
casualties. ... In congratulating his comrades on their 
heroic valor and constancy on that terrible field, the 
commanding general of the division has not words to ex- 
press his and your grief at the sacrifice that has been 
made. Our best and truest men now sleep the sleep that 
knows no waking. Their dead bodies lie on the enemy's 
parapet." 

Gen. Stevens' command evacuated James Island on the 
5th of July, the Eigiith Kcgiment being the last to leave, 
as it had been the first in the advance. Moving to Hilton 
Head, it embarked there July 13th, with the Seventy-ninth 
New York, Twenty eighth Massachusetts, Seventh Con- 
necticut, and other regiments lor Fortress Monroe, where 
they arrived on the 16th, and landed at Newport News on 
the following day. Tliey knew they were destined to rein- 
8 



force the Army of the Potomac after its disasters in the 
Seven Days' fight, and they did not like the change, for 
they preferred to remain in the South, where their laurels 
had been won. The Eighth remained three weeks in camp 
at Newport News, and during this time Col. Fenton left for 
Michigan to obtain recruits, and Lieut.-Col. Graves was 
left in command of the regiment. The command left this 
camp* August 4th, and moving to the Rappahannock 
River, took part in the campaign of Gen. Pope, fighting at 
second Bull Run, August 29th and 80fh, and at Chantilly, 
September 1st, losing considerably in both engagements. 
Soon after, it moved with the Ninth Army Corps (to 
which it had been attached) into Maryland. It fought at 
South Mountain, September 1-lth, losing thirteen, wounded, 
and was again engaged in the great battle of Antietam, 
September 17th. Early in that day it formed in line on 
the right with its brigade, but about noon, when the battle 
became general, it was ordered to the left, and took posses- 
sion near the historic Stone Bridge. " A more terrific fire 
than we here met with,"' wrote an officer of the regiment, 
" it has not been my lot to witness. It equaled, if it did 
not exceed, that of James Island. At first our men gained 
ground and drove the enemy half a mile, but the battery 
tliat covered our advance and answered to the enemy's in 
front getting out of ammunition, together with the arrival 
of a fresh rebel brigade from Harper's Ferry, flanking our 
position and bringing our men under a cross-fire, changed 
the fortunes of the day in their favor, and when night 
closed upon the scene of carnage the enemy reoccupied the 
ground wrested from them at such fearful sacrifice in the 
afternoon." The bridge, however, was not retaken by the 
enemy, and, although the Union forces had been driven 
back here on the left, the advantage remained with them 
on other parts of the field. The battle was not renewed to 
any extent on the following day, and the enemy, while 
keeping up the appearance of a strong line in front, re- 
treated from his position to the Potomac, preparatory to 
crossing back into Virginia. 

The loss of the Eighth at Antietam was twenty-seven 
killed and wounded, — a loss which appears quite severe 
when it is remembered that the regiment went into action 
with considerably less than two hundred men, having been 
reduced not only by its terrible losses in previous battles, 
but also by discharges ; more than two hundred and fifty 
men being discharged from the Eighth in the year 1862, 
of whom just one hundred enlisted in the regular army. 
The places of these were being filled to some extent by re- 
cruits, of whom a number joined the regiment the day 
before Antietam ; and it was said of them that, although 
they had never before hoard a hostile gun, they endured 
the terrible initiation of that day with almost the steadiness 
of veterans. 

For about a month after the battle the regiment re- 
mained in Maryland, a short time in the vicinity of An- 
tietam, and a longer time in Pleasant Valley. On the 26th 
of October it marched to Weverton, and thence to Ber- 
lin, Md., where it crossed the Potomac on pontoons into 
Virginia. It passed through Lovettsvillo, Waterford, 
Slack's Mills, Ilectortown, and Salem, to Waterloo, where, 
on the 11th of November, it received the announcement of 



58 



HISTOllY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Gen. Burnside's promotion to the coiumaiid of the army. 
On tlie 15th it was at Sulphur Springs, and moved thence, 
by way of Fayettcvillo and Be;ilton Station, to a camp 
about ten miles east of the latter place, where was read the 
order forming the "right grand division" of the army, by 
uniting the Second and Ninth Corps, under command of 
Gen. E. V. Sumner. On the 18th the regiment marched, 
leading the brigade, to Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, 
where the army was rapidly concentrating. Here it re- 
mained (a part of it acting as provost-guard of the division) 
until the 12th of December, when it crossed the Rappa- 
hannock to Fredericksburg, but wa.s not engaged in the 
great battle of the 13th. It recrosscd on the 15th, and re- 
mained at Falmouth until Feb. 13, 18G3, when it moved 
with the Ninth Corps (which had been detaclied from the 
Army of the Potomac) to Newport News, Va., and there 
camped, evidently waiting orders for a further movement, 
which the officers and men hoped might take them back to 
the department of the South. 

On the 20th of March the Eighth Regiment, being again 
under marching orders, eirfbarked at Newport News, on tlie 
steamer "Georgia," preparatory to the commencement of the 
long series of movements and marches in the Southwest 
which afterwards gave it the name of " the wandering regi- 
ment of Michigan." It left Newport News on the 21st, 
arrived at Baltimore on tlie 22d, and proceeded thence by 
the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Parkersburg, W. Va., 
reaching there on the 24th, and embarking on the steamer 
" Majestic" for Louisville, Ky., where it arrived at noon on 
Thur.sday the 26th. At that time it was brigaded with the 
Second, Seventeenth, and Twentieth Michigan Regiments, 
under Brig.-Gcn. Orlando M. Poe (formerly colonel of the 
Second), as brigade commander ; this being the First 
Brigade, First Division, Ninth Army Corps. This corps 
(then a part of the Army of the Ohio) had for its im- 
mediate mission in Kentucky to observe and hold in check 
the forces of the guerrilla chief, John Morgan, who, at 
that time, seemed to be omnipresent in all that region, and 
whose movements were giving the government no little 
trouble and alarm. 

The Eighth moved by railroad from Louisville on the 
28th, proceeded to Lebanon, Ky., and remained stationed 
there and at Green River Ford, Ky., for some weeks. 
Wliilc the command lay at Lebanon there was issued the 
first number of a paper entitled The Wolvcriitc, which was 
announced as "published by members of the Eighth Michi- 
gan Infantry, and will be issued as often as circumstances 
will permit." How many numbers of this journal were 
ever published is not known. 

About the 1st of June the Ninth Corps, which had been 
scattered in detachments at various points in Kentucky, 
was ordered to move to Mississippi to reinforce the army of 
Gen. Grant, then operating against Vicksburg. The Eighth 
Regiment moved with the corps, going to Cairo, 111., by 
rail, and then embarking on boats on the Mississippi River, 
was transported to Haynes' Bluff, Miss. From there it 
moved to Milldale, Miss., and remained there and at Flower 
Dale Church, near Vicksburg, until the operations against 
that stronghold ended in its capitulation, July 4th. Then 
it uioved with the corps towards Jackson, Miss., in pursuit 



of the army of Johnston, who had been hovering in Gen. 
Grant's rear, attempting to raise the siege of Vicksburg. 
In the several engagements which occurred from the 10th 
to the 16th of July the Eighth participated, but suffered 
little loss; and after the evacuation of Jackson, on the 16th, 
it returned to its former camp at Milldale, remaining there 
till August 6th, when it again took boat on the Mississippi 
and moved north with the corps. It reached Memphis in 
the night of the 11th, and passed on to Cairo and thence 
to Cincinnati, where it arrived on the 18th, and, crossing 
the river, camped at Covington, Ky. From Covington it 
moved by way of Nicholasville to Crab Orchard, Ky., 
reaching there August 27th, and remaining there in camp 
two weeks. On the 10th of September it was again on 
the march, and moved by way of Cumberland Gap to Knox- 
ville, Tenn., reaching there on the 2Gth. 

The Eighth was slightly engaged with the enemy at Blue 
Springs, October 10th, and, after considerable marching and 
countermarching, went into camp, October 29th, at Lenoir 
Station, where it remained until November 14th. It was 
then, with its divi.sion, ordered to Huff's Ferry, on the 
Holston River, to check the advance of Longstreet, who 
was reported moving up from Georgia towards Knoxville. 
He was found in strong force, and the Union troops retired 
before him, and passing back through Lenoir, continued 
the retreat to Knoxville. Being hard pressed, however, a 
stand was made at Campbell's Station on the IGth, and a 
battle ensued, lasting from about one P.M. until dark, and 
resulting in a loss to the Eighth of eleven wounded. Du- 
ring the night the retreat was continued, and the regiment 
reached Knoxville in the morning of the 17th, after an 
almost continuous march of two days and three nights, in- 
cluding a battle of several hours' duration, moving over the 
worst of roads tliough mud and rain, and with less than 
quarter rations. 

Then followed the siege of Knoxville by Longstreet, 
which continued eighteen days, during all of which time 
the regiment occupied the front line of works. On Sunday, 
Novemljer 29th, two veteran Georgia brigades, belonging to 
McLaws' rebel division, made a furious assault on Fort 
Saunders (one of the works in the line of fortifications in- 
closing Knoxville), and were repulsed and driven back with 
a loss of nearly eight hundred men, the Eighth Michigan 
being one of the regiments which received and repelled the 
assault. 

In the night of the 4th and 5th of December the enemy 
withdrew from Knoxville. The Eighth took part in the 
pursuit, but with no results, and on the 16th it encamped 
at Blain's Cross-Roads. This proved to be the last camp 
which it occupied for any considerable length of time in 
Tennessee. It remained here about three weeks, during 
which time three hundred of its members re-enlisted as 
veterans. On the 8th of January, 1864, the veteranized 
command, under orders to report at Detroit, left its camp 
and took the road across the Cumberland Mountains for the 
railroad at Nicholasville, Ky., nearly two hundred miles dis- 
tant. It reached that place in ten days, having made an 
average of nearly twenty miles a day, over miserable roads, 
and through the ice and snow of the mountain passes. 
From Nicholasville the men went by rail to Detroit, reach- 



EIGHTH INFANTEY. 



59 



ing there January 25tli. At the end of their furlough, 
March 8th, they left for the front, and proeecded to Annap- 
olis, Md., where they rejoined the Ninth Corps, which had 
in the mean time been ordered from Tennessee, to reinforce 
the Army of the Potomac. 

On tlie 23d of April the Eighth moved by way of Wash- 
ington across the Potomac to Warrenton Junction. When 
the ."spring campaign opened it moved (May 4th) with the 
army, crossed the Kapidan on the 5th, and on the following 
day was hotly engaged in the Wilderness, losing ninety-nine 
in killed, wounded, and missing. On the 12th it took 
part in the assault on the enemy's intrenchmcnts at Spott- 
sylvania Court-House, losing forty-nine officers and men in 
the bloody work of that day. During the fight the corps 
commander. Gen. Burnside, rode up, and called out to the 
regiment, " Boys, you must support this battery and hold 
the hill at all hazards, for it is the key to our safety !" A 
moment later he inquired what regiment it was, and Col. 
Ely informed him. "Ah," returned the general, "the 
Eighth Michigan ! I know you. You'll hold it !" and 
rode away. 

The regiment crossed the Pamunkey River May 28th, 
and moved towards Bethesda Church, where, in the battle 
of June 3d, it gallantly charged and carried the enemy's 
rifle-pits, sustaining a loss of fifty-nine killed, wounded, and 
missing. On the 12th it was encamped near Mechanics- 
ville, Va. The next day it crossed the Chickahominy, and 
on the 14th crossed the James River, from which point it 
moved by a forced march to the front of Petersburg, ar- 
riving there in the evening of the ICtli. On the 17th and 
18th it took part in the attacks on the enemy's works, losing 
forty-nine killed and wounded. For six weeks after that 
time it was constantly employed on the fortifications, under 
fire. In the fight at the " Crater," July 3Uth, it was en- 
gaged, losing thirteen killed and wounded. Soon after it 
moved to the Weldon Railroad, and fought there in the 
action of August 19th, losing thirty in killed, wounded, 
and missing. It was again engaged, with but slight loss, 
on the 21st; and on the 30th it took part in the battle of 
Poplar Grove Church, losing eight wounded. 

The Eighth remained near Peebles' farm engaged in for- 
tifying and picket duty till November 29th, when it moved 
again to a position before Petersburg. The strength of the 
regiment at that time was only about three hundred men 
fit for duty. It assisted in repulsing the enemy in his at- 
tack on Fort Steaiman, March 25, 1865, and on the 2d 
of April it was engaged in the attack on Fort Mahon, as- 
sisting in carrying the work, and being the first regiment to 
place its colors on the hostile ramparts. The next day it 
marched into Petersburg. After this it was employed on 
guard duty on the South Side Railroad till the 20th, when 
it marched to City Point, and on the following day em- 
barked on transports and proceeded to Alexandria, Va., 
from which place it moved to Tenallytown on the 2Gth. It 
moved into the city of Witshington May 9th, and was there 
engaged in guard and patrol duty until July 30, 18C5, 
when it was mustered out of the service. It left Washington 
on the 1st of August, and on the 3d arrived at Detroit, 
where it was paid off and disbanded, and the survivors of 
the " Wandering Regiment of Michigan" returned to their 



homes. During its existence the Eighth Regiment had 
moved more than seven thousand miles by land and by sea; 
more than nineteen hundred men had marched in its ranks, 
and it had been engaged in thirty-seven battles and skir- 
mishes in seven diflfcrent States of the Union. 

OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE EIGHTH FHOM CLINTON COUNTT. 

Compttmj B. 

Capt. Will. Ely Lewis, St. John's; com. .\pril 1, 18G2 ; 1st lieut., Aug. 1, 1801 ; 

pro. to luaj. Murcli 12, 1803; killeil in uction at Cold Harljor, Va., June 3, 

18C4. 
Capt. Rolit. G. Hntcliinson, St. John's; com. Murch 13, 18G3; 1st lieut.. May H, 

1802; died of disease at Detroit, Jan. 2, 186.'). 
Capt. James I'. Dodge, SI. Jolin's; com. Jan. 2, 1865; 1st lieut., Co. G, Oct. 27, 

1804; must, out July 30, ISOJ. 
2d Lieut. Sauil. A. Baldwin, Watertown ; com. July 5, 1804; pro. to capt., Co. 

E, Nov. 0, 1864. 
Sergt Jas. Travis, St. John's; disch. for disability, Dec, 2, 1861. 
Sergt. Chas. F. Smith, St. Jolin's; pro. to 2d lieut, Co. K, May 14, 1802. 
Sergt. Jas. P. Dodge, St. John's ; veteran, eul. Dec. 29, 1863 ; pro. to 2d lieut., 

July 6, 1864. 
Corp. Wm. H. Smith, St. Jolin'n ; enl. Aug. 12, 1861 ; disch. Oct. 29. 1862. 
Corp. Chas. F. Valleau, St. John's ; enl. Aug. 13, 1801 ; died of disease at Wash- 
ington, Oct. 20,1801. 
Corp. M.J. Morton, St. John's; enl. Aug. 15, 18GI ; died of disease in Mississippi, 

July 30, 186 1. 
Corp. Tompkins Dunlap, St. John's ; enl. Aug. 15, 1861 ; disch. for disability, 

March 3, ISOi. 
Wagoner Mose.^ Brown, St. John's; enl. Aug. 12, 1861 ; disch. at end of service, 

Sept. 22, 1864. 
Joshua Aldricli, disch. to enl. in regular army, Oct. 28, 1862. 
John Austin, disch. Oct. 31, 1862. 
Benj. F. Brown, disch. for disability, Nov. 29, 1862. 
Frederick Burke, died of disease, Dec. 2, 1861. 
Chas. E. Blanchard, died of disease, April 9, 1862. 
Albert M. Bennett, died of disease at Baltimore, Md., March 21, 1863. 
Darrell Brewer, dieil of disease at Lebanon, Ky., April 19, 1863. 
Clark C. Brewer, died of disease in Michigan, Feb. 17, 1864. 
Henry A. Brown, died in' battle at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1804. 
Henry 0. Brown, disch. for disability, P'eb. 9, 1863. 
Wm. H. Brown, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 
Blarshall B.icheldor, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1804. 
John K. Brooks, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; must, out July 5, 1865. 
Sariford Baker, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803 ; disch. by order, June 13, 18(>5. 
Hansom A. Brooks, veteran, enl. Feb. 17, 18t>4; disch. by order, June 20, 1805. 
Sheldon Crowell, died in action at Antietain, Md., Sept. 17, 1862. 
Wm. A. Diltton, died in action at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1804. 
Henry W. Davenport, died ot di.iease at Washington, March 30, 1863. 
Enoch Doty, discll. Feb. 19, 1803. 
Franklin Doty, disch. for di.iability, April 11, 1803. 
Don A. Duty, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803; must, out July 30, 1866. 
Sanil. Ddlingbam, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps; discli. at end of service, Sept. *22, 

1804. 
Leroy M. Dodge, died at James Island, S. C, Juno 10, 1802. 
Jeremiah Dooling, must, out July 30, 1865. 

David Forest, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; disch. for disability, Aug. 17, 1864. 
Marchua M. Face, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 
Hiram Gardnei', Greetibiish; died of disease at Port Royal, NoV. 17, 1861. 
Willett S. Green, died of diiease at Millikoii's Bond, La, Juno 22, 1803. 
Francis F. Gleason, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803; must, out July 30, 1805. 
Wm. J. Hildieth, must, out July 30, 1865. 

Won is H. Hill, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803; disch. by order, June 13, 1805. 
Wm. J. [Janiinond, disch. by order, June 9, 1805. 
James M. Hinies, died of disease at Annapolis, Md., March 27, 18G4. 
Lester E. Jewett, disch. to enl. in regular army, Oct. 27, 1862. 
Chas. Kelly, disch. for disability, Dec. 9, 1862. 
Wm. Kelly, died in action at Blue Springs, Tenn., Oct. 10, 1863. 
John J. Kniffln, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803; must, out July 30, 1865. 
Enos 11. Kimmel, must, out July 30, 1800. 

Geo. W. Lewis, died of disea«e at Annapolis, Md., April 9, 1864. 
John M. Look, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1804. 
Joseph Miller, disch. to enl. in regular army, Oct. 29, 1862. 
Miles Mansfield, discb. for disability, Oct. '24, 1862. 
Saiiil. McVeigh, disch. for disability, Oct. 25, 1802. 
Horace Mosier, disch. by order, June 15, 1805. 
Frederick Miller, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1804. 
Geo. McVeigh, died in miction at James Island, S. C, June 16, 1862. 
Harrod Slorton, died in action at James Island, S. C, June 16, 1862. 
David Mayhew, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; died of diseaae at Nashville, Tenn., 

tliirch 7, 1804. 
James Morrison, must, out July 30, 1861. 
Chillies Myselt, must, out July 30, 186,5. 
Charles Marsted, must, out July 30, 1805. 
Charles Otis, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 15, 1864. 



60 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Andrew Post, disch. for disability, Aug. 20. 18(i2. 

Darius Pictdl, disch. for disaliility, Feb. 16, 1863. 

Cli:i8. P. PiitiiHin, discli. itt end of service, Oct. 19, 1864. 

Jiimes L. Putterson, disclj. by older, .June 5, 1865. 

Wm. S. Seaver, discli. by order, April 12, 1865. 

Wm. H. Siigc, discli. by order, June 1, 1865. 

Wm. H. Sniilli, ilisliarged Oct, 31, 1862. 

Andrew J. Smith, disch. for disability, Nov. 29, 1862. 

Joseph Silvcis, discli. for disability, Jan. 15, 1863. 

Frederick Schwarz, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 

George P. Steadman, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 

Samuel Strickland, died of disease, Dec. 15, 1861. 

Wm. J. Stiicklanrt, died in action at James Island, S. C, June 16, 1862. 

Myron Tiacy, died of disease, April 26, 1862. 

John D. Thotnns, died in action at James Island, S. C, June 16, 1862. 

Homer Terwilliger, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803 ; di»ch. by order, June 13, 1S6S. 

Amos Weatlierly, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863 ; must, out July 30, 1866. 

Company C. 
Capt. Clias. F. Smith, St. John's; com. May 27, 1863 ; ditcli. at end of service, 

Oct 18, 1864. 
Ist Lieut. Simon McLaiigUlin, St. John's j com. Sept. 28, 1864 ; must, out July 

30, 1865. 
Darius C. Wait, died of disease at Beaufort, S. C, Dec. 28, 1861. 
Ephraim Brown, St. Jolin's. 

Comptunj E. 
Capt. Samuel A. Baldwin, Watertown; com. Nov. 0, 1864, 2d lieut.Co. B , sergt. 

Co. E; must, out July :i(l, 18G5. 
1st Lieut. Tiuiotby L. Baldwin, Watertown ; com. April 25, 1865, sergt. Co. E; 

must, out July 30, 1865. 
Tlios. T. Davenport, died in action at Wilderness, May 6, 1864. 
Kenneth F. Morse, ti-ans. to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 15, 1864. 
Marcus L. McCrum, must, out July 30, 1865. 

Coiitpanif G. 
1st Lieut. Jas. P. Dodge, St. Jcdin's ; com. Oct. 1, 1864 ; 2d lient, July 5, 1RG4; 
pro. capt. and must, out July 30, 1865. 

Companlj if. 
Luther J. Winter, disch. by order, Jnue 1, 1865. 

C'ompttny I. 
Chas. Hildreth, disch. for disability, Dec. 9, 1863. 

Company K. 
Ist Lieut. Chas. F. Smith,St. John's; com. Nov. 1, 1862; 2d lieut. May 14,1862; 
pro. capt. Co. C. 

OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE EIGHTH FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Company A, 
Elisha Bird, died of wounds, Oct. 23, 1S64. 

John Mirichin, died in action at Weldon Railroad, Va., Aug. 19, 1864. 
Albert Marten, must, out July 30, 1866. 

Company E. 
Chavlcs Brott, disch. for disability, April 21, 1865. 

Company F. 
1st Lieut. Oscar P. Hendee, Corunna; com. April 25, 1865; 2d lieut. Way 6, 

1S64 ; must, out July 30, 1865. 
William S. Close, di.-ch. for prom"ticui in 29lh, Nov. 17, 1864. 
Joseph L. lloyt, died of disease at Wasliington, D. C. 
Edwin Wliitney, must, out July 30, 1865. 
Melancthon E. Whitney, must, out July 30, 1865. 

Company G. 
Smith Doubleday, died near Petersburg, Va., June 25, 1864. 

Company II, 
Ist Lieut. John R. Dougherty, Shiawassee; com. April 25,1861 ; must, out July 

30, 1865. 

Company I. 

Capt. Jay L Quackenbush.Owosao ; com. Sept. 6, 1861 ; resigned March 3,1862. 

Ist Lieut. Albert Bainbridse, Byron ; com. Sept. 5, 1861; resigned April 7,1862. 

1st Lieut. Bartley Siegel, Shiawassee; com. May 1,1865; must, out July 30, 
1866. 

Sergt. Wm. R. Smith, Owosso; enl. Sept. 7, 1861 ; disch. for disability, April 21, 
1863. - . 

Sergt. Bartley Siegel, enl. Sept. 10, 1861; veteran, Feb. 17, '63; pro. to 1st lieut. 

Sergt. John 1. Knoop, Byron ; enl. Sept. 9, 1861 ; disch. for disability, April 21, 
1863. 

Sergt. Cyrus H Roys, Byron; enl. Sept. 10, 1861; died of disease at Washing- 
ton, Feb. 10, 1863. 

Corp. Geo. W. Love, Owosso; enl. Sept. 7, 1861 ; disch. Oct. 22, 1862. 

Corp. Edwin Ayres, Owosso; enl. Sept. 16, 1861; died in action in Georgia, 
April 16, 1862. 

Corp. D. H. Williams, Veilion ; enl. Sept. 9, 1861 ; disch. for disability, Sept. 28, 
1862. 



Musn. Judson A. Clough, Shi.awassoe; enl. Sept. 2, 1861; disch. at end of 

service. Sept. 22, 1864. 
Joseph Ames, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 
David N. Arthur, veteran, enl. Jan. 15, 1864. 

Alonzo Bstchelder, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; must, out July 30, 1805. 
John K. Bunting, discli. for disability, April 16, 1862. 
Henry Brown, disch. for disability, Oct. 18, 1S6I. 
James W. Bronson, disch. for disability, Jan. 20, 1863. 
Albert Bittner, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22,1864. 
Frederick T. Bently, died near Petersburg, Va., July 31, 1864. 
Peter F. Camus, disch. Feb. 3, 1863. 
George F. Camus, died of wounds, June 20, 1862. 

Samuel B, Corsons, died of disease at Hiltim Ileail, S. C, Nov. 17, 1861. 
Horace L Clark, died of disease at Crab Orchard, Aug. 30, 1863. 
Thonws F. Clark, must, out July 30, 1865. 
Oscar I. Card, discb. for disability, Feb. 13, 1862. 
Wm. H. Carr, disch. for disability, Feb. 13, 1862. 
Philip W. Colnian, disch. for disability, Oct. 15, 1862. 
Wm. II. H. Chase, disch. for ili.sability, March 6, 1863. 
Benjamin Dutcber, ilisch. for disability, Feb. 13, 1862. 
William Deinond, disch. to enlist in regular service, Oct. 27, 1862. 
Cliarles Desoiiess, discii. by order. 
Martin Decker, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803 ; died of disease in Michigan, March 

17, 1S64. 
Gridson M. Dutcher, died of disease at Newport News, March 7, 1863. 
J.diu W. Eckman, discli. lor disability, Feb. 13, 186i. 
Charles Freeman, disch. for disability, Dec. 9, 1862. 
William Freeman, died of disease, Oct. 21, 1861. 
Royal D. Heudee, missing in action at James Island, July 16, 1862. 
Oscar P. Helulee, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863. 
Henry House, must, out July 30, 1865. 
Jacob Hubbard, disch. for disability, Feb. 13, 1862. 
Reuben Hydoni, discli. for disability, June 29, 1863. 
George W. Jewell, disch. for disability, Aug. 19, 1862. 

Adoni,jah Jewell, disch. to enlist in regular service. 

Frederick Kurrle, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1861. 
Jacob M. Klingiiigsinitli, disch. for disability, Oct. 9, 1861. 

Francis S.,Luni, disch. lor disjibility, Oct. 29, 1862. 

Wm. W. Leniuiiyon, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863. 

Jolin B. Malhewson, disch. at end ..f service, Feb. 6, 1865. 

Henry McClellen, disch. to enlist in regular service, Sept. 22, 1862. 

Asro Miller, died of disease at Clark's Plantation, Miss., July 21, 1863. 

George W. McCoinb, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863 ; died near Petersburg, Va., 
Aug. 21, lK6t. 

Alpheus Ott, veteiaii, enl. Dec. 29,1863 ; disch. fir disability, Feb. 7,1865. 

Edward Ogibn, disch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 

John W. I'landle, disch. at end of service, Sept. 19, 1861. 

George W. Porter, di-cli. lor disability, Feb. 22, 1S62. 

Wm. R. Punches, died of disea-se at Aniiapidis, Md., March 29, 1864. 

Walter S. Ryness, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; disch. by order, July '28, 1865. 

John Slionrtz, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1803; must, out July 30, 1865. 

Hiram Spear, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; must, out July 30, 1865. 

Bartley Seigel, veteran, enl. Feb. 17, 1864; must, out July 30, 1865. 

William Sliissler, died of wounds, Sept. 7, 1862. 

Benjamin O. Simons, disch. Feb. 15, 1862. 

Dewitt Titus, discli. for disability, Sept. 1, 1862. 

William Turner, discb. for disability, Oct. 15, 1862. 

Wm. 11. Wood, disch. for disability, Sept. 28, 1862. 

Francis Whitmore, d.sch. at end of service, Sept. 22, 1864. 

Benjamin L. Wasbbourne, died in action at James Island, July 16, 1862. 

Simon Wolf, veteran, enl. Dec. 29, 1863; died at Hanover Town, Va., May 31, 
1801. 

Charles W. Young, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Company K. 
John Emery, must, out July 30, 1865. 



CHAPTEll VIII. 

NINTH INFANTKY. 

Organization of the Ninth — Service in Kentucky — Battle tind Dis- 
aster at Murfrcesboro' — ^High Opinion of tiie Ninth expressed by 
Gen. Thomas — Assignment of the Regiment to Duty at Army 
Headquarters — Veteran Re-enlistment — Tlio Regiment on Duty at 
Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Nashville — Muster Out and Discharge. 

The Ninth Infantry Ilegiment of Michigan was raised 
during the latter part of the summer and in the early au- 
tumn of the year 1861. Its rendezvous was at Fort Wayne, 
Detroit, wliere its organization was perfected, under the 



NINTH INFANTRY. 



61 



following officers : William W. Duffield, Colonel; John G. 
Parkhur.st, Lieutenant-Colonel; Dorus M. Fox, Major; Eu- 
iiis Church, Surgeon ; C^rus Smith, Assistant Surgeon ; 
James G. Portman, Chaplain ; Henry M. Duffield, Adju- 
tant; Cliarles H. Irwin, Quartermaster. 

In the ranks of the Ninth during its term of service 
were more tlian one liundred men from Shiawassee, and 
some from Clinton County. Those from Shiawassee were 
principally in Capt. George K. Newcoiube's company, 
which was raised by him iu August, 18U1, and was known 
during the period of its enlistment as the " Fremont 
Guard." In the organization of tlic regiment this com- 
pany was designed as Company F. 

The regiment, having been armed with weapons of an 
inferior class, was mustered into tiie United States service 
for three years, by Capt. II. R. Mizner, United States army, 
at the rendezvous, October 23 and 25, 1861, and on the 
last-named day left Detroit for the seat of war in the South- 
west, being the first regiment from Michigan which entered 
the field in the Western departments. It reached Jeffiir- 
sonville, Ind., on the 27th, and on the following day was 
moved by steamboat to Salt River, Ky. It was soon after 
engaged in the construction of a defensive work on Mul- 
draugh's Hill, and made its winter quarters in that vicinity. 
During their stay at that place the men of the Ninth were 
terribly afflicted with measles and other disorders, as many 
as four hundred having been on the sick-list at one time. 

Immediately after the fall of Fort DoneLson, the regi- 
ment was moved by transports from Salt River to Nashville, 
Tenn., where it remained for some weeks ; then moved to 
Murfreesboro', and was posted there from April to July, as 
one of the chain of detachments which were placed to 
guard the rear and communications of Gen. 0. M. Mitchell, 
in his advance on Huut.sville, Ala. During that time it 
formed part of the force with which Gen. Negley made a 
demonstration against Chattanooga, reaching the north bank 
of the Tennessee River, opposite the town. After fliat 
expedition it was again stationed at Murfreesboro' and vi- 
cinity, and on the 13th of July the six companies which 
were at that place (the other four, under command of Maj. 
Fox, being at Tullaho'maj were attacked by a body of the 
enemy's cavalry, three thousand five liundred strong, under 
Gen. N. B. Forrest. Of this battalion of the Ninth at 
Murfreesboro' one company (B) forty-two strong, under 
First Lieut. Wright, was quartered in the court-house, and 
five companies were camped in a body in the northea.stcrn 
outskirts of the village on the Liberty turnpike, — all under 
command of Lieut.-Col. Parkhurst. Col. Duffield was pres- 
ent, but not on duty, he having arrived in the evening of 
the 11th, in company with Gen. Crittenden, on business 
connected with the formation of a new brigade, of which 
Col. Duffield was to have the command. The Third Min- 
nesota Infantry Regiment (nine companies, four hundred 
and fifty strong; was encamped on the bank of Stone River, 
less than two miles to the northwest of the town, and with 
it was Hewett's (First Kentucky) Battery of four guns. 

Forrest's attack on the camp of Lieut.-Col. Parkhurst's 
battalion was made at four o'clock in the morning of Sun- 
day, the 13th of July. He had evidently expected that it 
would be a surprise, but such did not prove to be the case. 



Col. Parkhurst had been warned of their approach, for 
the noise made by fourteen thousand hoofs sounding on the 
hard macadamized roads was so great that the alarm was 
given before the head of the rebel column reached the 
picket line, a mile out of tlie town, so that, although they 
came in at full speed, the Union force was prepared to 
give them a very warm reception. The result was that 
the first attack was successfully repelled, with considerable 
loss to the enemy, who then withdrew and proceeded to 
attack the company occupying the court-hou.se. Upon the 
withdrawal of the enemy from his front, Lieut.-Col. Park- 
hurst at once dispatched a messenger to the colonel of the 
Third Minnesota, at Stone River, informing him of the 
situation, and asking him to come to his (Parkhurst's) as- 
sistance. With this request the officer iu question, for 
what doubtless seemed to him good reasons, declined to 
comply. It was believed that he might have done so with 
good prospects of success, he having a comparatively large 
force, including an efficient battery. Certainly any attempt 
of Col. Parkhurst — with his little force of less thau three 
hundred men, including the company in the court-house, 
and with no artillery — to effect a junction with the Miniie- 
sotiaus, in the face of such an overwhelming body of the 
enemy, would have been almost fool-hardy. 

At the court-house the attacking party met a very warm 
reception from the defending garrison, who held them at 
bay for two long hours, and only yielded when they found 
such a course inevitable, the enemy having gained posses- 
sion of the lower story of the building and set fire to it to 
compel the surrender. Immediately after their capture 
they were sent to the rear, in the direction of McMinnville, 
without an hour's delay, for the rebel commander believed 
that his work might at any moment be interrupted by 
Union reinforcements from either or all of the several de- 
tachments posted at different points in the vicinity ; a very 
natural supposition, which uiight easily have been verified. 

From the siege of the court-house the enemy returned 
to the attack of Col. Parkhurst's position, which, during 
the brief cessation of hostilities, had been strengthened by 
such slight defenses as the men had been able to construct 
in the short time, and with the insufficient moans and ma- 
terials at their command. Slight as they were they al- 
forded some shelter to the defending force, who, though 
outnumbered more than ten to one by their assailants, 
fought with the most determined and persistent bravery 
until past noon, when, as it became evident that they need 
look no longer for succor, and that further resistance was 
useless, their leader submitted to the inevitable and sur- 
rendered. During the eight hours through which they had 
stood at bay their loss had been thirteen killed and eighty- 
seven wounded. The enemy admitted that his own loss 
in killed alone had been thirty-five, and there is little doubt 
that It was much beyond this figure. Among the captured 
officers were Lieut.-Col. Parkhurst and Capt. Mansfield. 
The first was marched away by tiie victorious rebels. Capt. 
Mansfield being unable to endure the march was left be- 
hind, paroled, as was also Col. Duffield, who had been badly 
wounded during the fight. His companion in his unfor- 
tunate visit to the po.st — Gen. Crittenden — had also beeu 
captured at the hotel in the village, and was taken away 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



willi the other prisoners, to whose numbers was also added 
the Minnesota regiment before mentioned, and the men and 
ofiBcers of Ilewett's Battery. 

At McMinnviiie, Forrest paroled the enlisted men vyhom 
he had captured, and they returned to Nashville, whence 
they were sent to Camp Chase. He, however, retained the 
officers and took them to Knoxville. From there they 
were sent to Atlanta, then to Madison, Ga., where they re- 
mained for a considerable time, then to Columbia, S. C, to 
Salisbury, N. C, and finally to Libby Prison, at Richmond, 
where they were eventually paroled. Col. Parkhurst was 
exciianged in December, 180-. In the mean time the 
portion of the regiment which had escaped capture at 
Murfree.*boro' had been engaged against the enemy at 
Tyree Springs, Tenn., and at Munlbrdsville, Ky., about the 
time of Gen. Buell's advance from Louisville to Perryville 
and Bowling Green. 

On the 24th of December, 18G2, Lieut.-Col Parkhurst, 
then in command of the Ninth (Col. Duffield was perma- 
nently disabled by the wounds received at Murfreesboro', 
and resigned less than two months after that time), reported 
for duty at the headquarters of Gen. Thomas, near Nash- 
ville, and was assigned to duty as provost-marshal ; his 
regiment (reorganized and witii ranks refilled by the ex- 
changed prisoners) being detailed as provost-guard of the 
Fourteenth Corps. The remark was made by Gen. Thomas, 
on the issuance of the order assigning it to that duty, that 
he had fully acquainted himself with the history of the 
part taken by the regiment in its defense of the post of 
Murfreesboro' against Forrest, and that just such a regi- 
ment was what lie needed at his headquarters. 

The duty to which the Ninth was thus assigned was 
performed by the regiment from that time until the expi- 
ration of its term of service. For the manner in which it 
peiformed the duties devolving on it at the battles of Stone 
River and Chickamauga (particularly the former), Col. 
Parkhurst and the regiment were warmly complimented by 
Gen. Thomas. When that general assumed the chief com- 
mand of the Army of the Cumberland, after Chickamauga, 
Col. Parkhurst (who received his promotion to the colonelcy 
Feb. 6, 18G3) was made provost-marshal-general of the de- 
partment, and the Ninth became provost-guard at army 
headquarters. In December, 18G3, the regiment, to the 
number of two hundred and twenty-nine, rc-enlisted as a 
veteran organization, received a veteran furlough, and re- 
turned to Michigan in a body, arriving at Coldwater in 
January, 1864. At the expiration of its furlough, re- 
assembling at the same place, it left on the 20th of Feb- 
ruary ibr the front, with its ranks filled to about five 
hundred men. At Chattanooga it returned to duty at 
headquarters, and in the summer and fall of 18G4 partici- 
pated in all the operations of the Army of the Cumber- 
land in Georgia and Tennessee. It entered Atlanta on its 
evacuation by the enemy, and was there engaged in provost 
duty till November 1st, when it returned to Chattanooga. 
During October sixty-nine members were discharged by 
expiration of their term of service, but as a large number 
of recruits had been received during the year, the regiment, 
on the 1st of November, 18G4, numbered eight hundred 
and ninety-seven enlisted men. It remained in Chatta- 



nooga until the 27th of March, 1865, when it was moved 
to Nashville. There it stayed on duty at headquarters and 
as guard at the military prison until the loth of September, 
when it was mustered out of the service, and on the fol- 
lowing day left for Michigan. It arrived at Jackson on 
the 19th of September, and one week later the men were 
paid ofi' and disbanded. 

SHIAWAS15EE COUNTY SOLDIERS IN TUB NINTH INF.ANTRY. 
Noji-Commifisioned Stnff, 
Sergt.-Miij. Wm. R. Senoii, Owusso; pru. tu 2d lieut. Co. G. 
Q.M.-Seigt. Artliur B. Hathaway, Owosso; pro. to 2d Ueut. Co. K. 

Covipantj A. 
Delos Hourd, disch. by order, June 22, 1865. 

Company B. 
James B. Ciininiings, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., May 28, 18G5. 
SlarsliaU F. Freiicl], disch. hy oriler, July 24, lSU-1. 

Compitmj D. 
Jolin Miller, iMscli. by order, Aug. 10, 186.'j. 
James N. Place, disc-h. by order, June 20, 1865. 
Wilson D. Smith, disch. by order, Aug. 'M, 1805. 

Ctntlpcniy E. 
Hiram B. Andrews, disch. by order. May 15, 1865. 
John K. Holt, disch. by order, Aug. 17, 1865. 
Mai tin Jtidil, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Ransom E. Rhodes, disch. by order, June 20, 1865. 

Compmuj F. 

Capt. Geo. K. Newcombe, Owosso, com. Oct. 12, 1861 i pro. to maj. of Ttli Cav., 

Dec. 1(J, 1862. 
William W. lirown, disch. by order, Aug. 25, 1865. 
William U. Babcock, disch. for disability, Oct. 1, 1863. 
John Colby, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1863; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Stephen A. Crane, veteian, enl. Dec. 7, 1863 ; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
George Cordrny, veteran, enl. Nov. 3, 1863; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Justus Coll'iii'u, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 

Jacob H. Doolittle, died of disease at Murfreesboro', Tenn., July 18, 1862. 
James Drown, died of disciuse at West Toint, Ky., Nov. 26, 1862. 
Luther Drown, disch. April 17, 1802. 

Francis Denning, veteian, enl. Nov. 3, 1863; must, out Sept. l.'i, 1865. 
Adam Dubeck, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1S63; must. out Sept. 15, 1865. 
John Doney, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1863; must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
Sulliiau Fay. veteran, Dec. 7, 1S6:S; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Henry T. Fish, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., April 13, 1865. 
Samuel H. Graham, disch. for disability, Fel>. 28, 1862. 
Edward Graliaiu, disch. for disability, Feb. 28, 1802. 
Isaac Gould, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1803; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Frederick Gliutekuust, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Reuben Harvey, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1863 ; must^out Sept. 15, 1S65. 
Lyman Hammond, must, out Sept, 15, 1865. 
George HollauJ, must, out Sept. 15, 1>0J. 

Cyrus Hill, died iif disease at Slnrfreesboio', Tenn., July 7, 1862. 
Edward Hagerman, dii-d of disease at Bowling Gieen, Ky., Oct. 21, 1862. 
Edward Jones, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1803; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Bartlett Jolmsoti, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Morris Jackson, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
James E. Jackson, disch. for disability, Dec. 14, 1862. 
George W. Knight, must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
John Latnpmati, disch. for disability, Feb. 28, 1802. 
Alfied Lefevre, disch. by order, Sept. 27, 1865. 

Herrick Lefevre, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1603; must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
Alexancler Morris, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1803 ; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Edward McCann, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1863 ; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Frederick Moore, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1803. 

Frederick Newman, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1863; must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
George W. I'hiUips, disch. for disability, Sept. 30, 1802. 
Joseph H. Rhodes, must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
Henry Uei«, disch. at end of service, Oct. 11, 1804. 
Williiini 11. Rhodes, dn-d of disease at Corunna, Mich., Feb. 27, 1864. 
Edwin W. Robinson, died of disease at Murfreesboi-o', Tenn., July 7, 1862. 
George A. Stickler, accidentally drowned at Chattanooga, Tenn., Jan. 18, 1865. 
Archer Simonds, veteran, en!. Dec. 7, 1863 ; disch. by order, Sept. 29, 1865. 
Rodolph M. Stickler, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1863 ; must, out Sept. 16, 1865. 
Obadiah Smith, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1803; must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
rhilipSchwable, must, out Sept. 10, 1805. 
Michael Strahel, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Herman Schmitgal, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 



TENTH INFANTRY. 



63 



Simoon SpaiiUIing, must, out Srpt. 15, 1805. 

Gfiirgf Scoiigiil, must, out Sept. l.'i, 18G5. 

Williiini P. Trciulwny, veienin, eiil. Dec. 7, l?f.;J ; must, rut Sept 15, 1805. 

Ini M. Warp, veteiHU, enl. Nctv. 28, 18G:J; must, uut S<-pt. 15. ISGr). 

J>ajic Wrttci, vctiTun, enl. Dec. 7, ISC:*.; uiu^t c ut Sfpt. l.^i, 18(i5. 

C'liauncey I). Wliitninn, veteran, enl. Kuv. 11. 180;s ; (li>cli. fur difealiilily, April 

17, 18114. 
Itartus WntKins, discli. for disaljility, Teh. 28, 18C2. 
Iticlinnl AVjilliice, distil, at end of service, Oct. 14, 1864. 
l>aniel D. Wiso, died of disea.*e at Blurfreesboru', Tenn., Murcli 14, 1803. 

Cr.mpa»ii G. 
2d Lieut. William R. Sellon, Owossn; com. Feb. 8, 1SC2; pro. to 1st licut., Co. I. 
Ilorare 0. Ciiilis, must, out Sejit. 15, 1805. 
.Iiinu'S Crandall, must, out St-itt. 15, 1865. 
George Holland, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
John Miller, mu.st. nut Sept. 15, 18G5. 
Eli K. Rood, must, out Sept. 15, 1S65. 

Company H. 
Levi A. Bronson, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Andrew Curtis, must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
Thaddeus llufl, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Joseph Iluft; disch. hy order, Sept. 6, 1865. 

Alexander Montgomery, died of disease at Chattanooga, Tenn., Apiil 9, 1SG4. 
John O'Conner, disch. by order, Sept. 0, 18G5. 

■\Villi3 Palmer, died of disease at Murfreesboro', Tenn., March 23, 1863, 
Patrick Quinn, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 

Company I. 
1st Lieut. William R. Sellon, Omosso; com. Sept. 23, 1802; pro. to lieut.-col. of 

I02d U. S. Col. Troops, Aug. 17, 1863. 
Joseph Brown, must, out Sept. 15, 18G5. 
Jeremiah Coll', must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Charles H. Culf, disch. by order, Sept. II, 1805. 
Ira A. Johnson, disch. by order, Sept. 11, 1805. 
Michael Punches, must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 

Company K. 
2d Lieut. Arthur B. Hathaway, Owosso; com. Oct. 14, 1SC4 ; must, out Sept. 15, 

18G5. 
David M. Arthur, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Leroy Chapin, disch. for iiisability, Si-pt. 18, 1863. 
Cornelius Corson, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Sept. 1,1803; must, out Sept. 15, 

1863. 
Kli F. Evatts, disch. for promotion, Dec. 14, 1864. 

William P. Uorton, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., July 10, 1865. 
Georgo \. Harrington, died of disease at Mui frecsboro', Tenn., May, 1861. 
Charles I'. Jones, must, out Sept. 15, 1S65. 
Daniel McCollum, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
William G. Rouse, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Chauiicey C. Rouse, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Suniuel U. Reed, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
Albert Snow, must, out Sept. 15, IfcOo. 
Franklin Scougall, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 
William Sbatluck, must, out Sept. 15, 18^5. 
Allen Slater, veteran, enl. Dec. 7, 1803. 
John Sabine, died of disease at Louisville, Ky. 
James B. Sanderson, disch. for disability, Jmifl 22, 1863, 
^ Lulher Truesdale, disch. by order, Sept. 28, 1805. 
Alexander Vanwormer, disch. by order, Sept. 6, 1863. 
Abel Vanwormer, disch. for disability, Sept. 0, 1863. 
Elthaner Vunwoimer, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 

Company L. 
Orlundu Hardngtun, disch. for disability, April 9, 1803. 



CLINTON COUNTY MEN IN THE NINTH. 

Company D. 
Wilbert Thompson, must, out Sept. 15, 1865. 



Company E. 
Pet*r Bertram, disch. at end of service, Oct. 14, 1804. 



CHAPTER IX. 

TENTH INFAWTEY. 

The Tenth Organized at Flint — Campaigns and Marches in Missis- 
sippi, Tennessee, and Alabama — Pursuit of Longstreet in East 
Tennessee — Winter Quarters in Georgia — Battle at Buzzard's Roost 
— Veteran Re-enlistment — Atlanta Campaign — March to the Sea — 
Carolina Campaign — March to Washington — ^The Grand Review — 
Muster Out. 

In the composition of the Tenth Regiment there were 
several companies which contained men from Shiawassee 
and Clinton Counties ; but the greatest number of these 
were found in the ranks of " A" company, which was 
largely recruited at Byron (the home of its commanding 
officer) and Corunna. and was made up almost entirely of 
volunteers from Shiawassee and the northern part of Liv- 
ingston County. The name by which this company was 
known while being recruited and before receiving its desig- 
nating letter in tlie regiment was that of " The Byron 
Guard ; ' its captain and first lieutenant being respectively 
Henry S. Burnett, of Byron, and Robert F. Gulick, of 
Corunna. 

The "Byron Guard"' was raised in the fall of 1861, 
under authority received by Capt. Burnett from the Gov- 
ernor of Michigan, dated October 4tli in that year. On the 
2Sth of the same month it had reached the minimum num- 
ber of men, and on the 2d. of November the captain re- 
ceived orders to report with his company at Flint, the 
rendezvous of the Tenth Infantry, to which regiment it 
had been assigned. It reached Flint November 5th, eighty- 
sis strong, and was the second company to report at the 
rendezvous, the company known as the " Saginaw Rangers" 
having reached there three days earlier. In the organiza- 
tion of the regiment, however, the " Byron Guard" re- 
ceived the first letter, and the " Rangers" were designated 
as Company B. The last of the ten companies reported 
at Flint on the 26th of December, and by the 20tli of Jan- 
uary all had been filled and the organization of the regi- 
ment was perfected. 

The camp of instruction at Flint was named " Camp 
Thomson," in honor of Col. Edward II. Thomson, of that 
city, president of the State Military Board. At this camp, 
on the 5th of February, 1862, the Tenth Infantry was re- 
viewed by Governor Blair, and on that and the following 
day it was mustered into the United States service by Col. 
Wright, US. A. The Tenth was now an organized regi- 
ment in the service of the government, under the following 
field-officers, viz. : Colonel, Charles M. Lum ; Lieutenant- 
Colonel, Christopher J. Dickerson ; Major, James J. Scarritt. 
The ceremony of presentation of a national flag to the 
regiment was performed on Friday, the 11th of April, at 
the camp of instruction. 

The regiment, nine hundred and ninety-seven strong, 
took its departure from Camp Thomson on Tuesday, the 
22d of April, its first destination being known to be St. 
Louis, Mo. There was then no railroad from Flint to the 
line of the Detroit and Milwaukee road, and therefore the 
men were moved to Holly Station on wagons and other 
vehicles i'urnished by patriotic citizens. This first stage of 
their long journey was accomplished in a snow-storm, which 



64 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



gave additional sadness to partings, some of wliich proved to 
be final. At Holly, after abundant feasting, the command 
took the train for Detroit, and after marching through the 
city to the Michigan Central depot, escorted by the "Lyon 
Guard" and Detroit " Light Guard," embarked on a train 
consisting of twenty-three passenger and five freight cars, 
drawn by two locomotives, and at a little before midnight 
left for the West. Michigan City was reached at two 
o'clock P.M. on Wednesday, and at six p.m. on Thursday 
the regiment was at East St. Louis. On the following day 
it embarked on the steamer "Gladiator," and at four p.m. 
on Friday moved down the Mississippi. Cairo was reached, 
and during the short stop which was made there the most 
sensational rumors were circulated : that desperate fighting 
was then in progress at Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennes- 
see (the known destination of the regiment) ; that the river 
at Paducah was filled with dead floating down from the bat- 
tle-field above ; and many other stories of similar import. 
But the" Gladiator" moved on up the Ohio and Tennessee 
on Saturday afternoon, passed Fort Henry on Sunday, and 
on Monday night reached Pittsburg Landing, but was or- 
dered to proceed four miles farther up the Tennessee to 
Hamburg, which place was reached on Tuesday, the 27th, 
just one week after the departure from Camp Thomson. 
Here the regiment was disembarked on the 28ih, and on 
the 29th was assigned to duty in Col. James D. Morgan's 
brigade, Payne's division, left wing Army of Mississippi. 
On its first advent among the veterans of Shiloh the regi- 
ment received the usual attentions which old soldiers pay to 
fresh troops, such as sneering allusions to the cleanness of 
uniforms and the size of knapsacks, with frequent appli- 
cations of the epithets "paper-collar soldiers," "band-box 
regiment," and many similar compliments ; but all this was 
given and received in good-humor, for all knew that a few 
days of marching would lighten the knapsacks and remedy 
the objectionable brightness of uniforms, and after the first 
action all would be old soldiers together. 

The first march of the regiment in the enemy's country 
was made on the 29th, when it moved up about five miles 
and bivouacked for the night in the woods. On the 1st of 
May it again advanced towards Farmington, Miss., and re- 
mained in the vicinity of that village until the enemy's 
evacuation of Corinth, May 30th. During this time it was 
several times .slightly engaged in skirmishing, but sustained 
no loss except on the 26th, when the adjutant, Lieut. Syl- 
vester D. Cowles, was instantly killed by the bullet of a 
sharpshooter while on picket. 

The entire summer of 1862 was passed by the regiment 
in marching, camping, picketing, and similar duties in the 
north part of the States of Mississippi and Alabama, but 
without any notable event (more than an occasional skirmish) 
occurring in its experience. On the 1st of June it was at 
llienzi. Miss., and from the 2d to the 11th was at Boone- 
ville and in its vicinity. About June 15th it encamped at 
Big Springs, six miles from Corinth, and remained there 
five weeks. At this place a Fourth of July celebration was 
held, and the stay at this camp was regarded by all as among 
the most agreeable of all the regiment's sojournings during 
the war. On the 27th of July the headquarters of the 
regiment were at Camp Leighton, Tuscumbia, Ala., but tlie 



several companies were posted at different places for a dis- 
tance of twenty miles along the Memphis and Charleston 
Railroad, engaged in guarding that line. Lieut.-Col. Dick- 
erson, who was at Town Creek, Ala., with a part of the 
regiment, evacuated that place in haste in the night of the 
31st on account of the (reported) advance of a heavy force 
of the enemy. The camp was reoccupied the next day, as 
the enemy (if there had been any in the vicinity) had 
moved in another direction. 

The headquarters of the regiment remained at Camp 
Leighton until Septe;nber 1st, when it received orders to 
move towards Nashville, and on the following day it crossed 
the Tennessee River and moved northward. The march 
(the line of which lay through Rogersville, Athens, Elkton, 
Pulaski, Lynnville, Columbia, Spring Hill, and Franklin) 
occupied nine days, and in the evening of September 11th 
the regiment with its brigade reached a point two miles 
south of Nashville. There it remained until the 15th, when 
it moved through the city and encamped in the suburbs. 

For nearly two months the force of which the Tenth 
Regiment was a part (consisting of the divisions of Gens. 
Palmer and Ncgley) remained at Na.shville without com- 
munications, surrounded by .the forces of the Confederate 
Gen. Breckinridge, and compelled to live by foraging on 
the neighboring country, crowding back the enemy every 
time that parties were -sent out from Na.shvillo for this pur- 
pose. But finally, on the 6th of November, the advance 
of the Army of the Cumberland (moving southward from 
Kentucky under Gen. Rosecrans, in pursuit of the rebel 
Gen. Bragg) reached Edgefield, on the north side of the 
Cumberland, opposite Nashville; thus opening communi- 
cation with the Ohio River for the force which had so long 
been beleaguered in Nashville. 

The army of Rosecrans remained encamped around Nash- 
ville until the 2Gth of Deceiuber, when it moved forward 
towards Murfreesboro', on the campaign which culminated 
in the great battle of Stone River, December 31st, and 
January 1st and 2d. The Tenth Michigan did not take 
part in this forward movement, but remained nearly seven 
months after that time at Nashville, engaged in provost, 
grand guard, and fatigue duty, and in protecting communi- 
cation between Nashville and Murfreesboro' and other 
points. Upon one occasion, Jan. 3, 1863, two companies 
(one of them being Capt. Burnett's), while guarding a train 
between Nashville and Murfreesboro', were attacked by a 
large guerrilla force of the enemy, but repulsed them, taking 
fifteen prisoners and killing an equal number without loss 
to themselves. Again, April 10, 1863, a force of forty- 
four men of the Tenth Regiment, having been sent under 
command of Lieut. F. W. Vanderberg to guard a railway- 
train, were attacked by a body of the enemy's cavalry in 
ambush at Antioch Station, three miles north of Lavergne, 
the train having been stopped for some cause when the 
attack was made. Lieut. Vanderberg fell mortally wounded 
at the first or second fire, and five of his men were killed, 
ten wounded, and three taken prisoners, making a total loss 
of nineteen, or two-fifths of the force engaged. This (with 
the exception of the loss of its adjutant, killed on picket 
in IMississippi) was the first loss inflicted on the regiment 
in acliiin by the enemy. 



TENTH INFANTRY. 



65 



The men and oflScers of the Tentli had begun to regard 
Nashville as their permanent camping-place, and some of 
them had formed such strong attachments there that when, 
on the 19th of July, orders were received to move south- 
ward, they were welcomed with very little of the enthusiasm 
which similar orders would have produced a few months 
earlier. But the regiment moved in the morning of the 
20th, and reached Murfrccsboro' at noon of the 21st. Here 
it remained on picket and guard duty till August 19th, when 
it again marched southward. 

The history of the regiment during the four months 
next succeeding its departure from Murfreesboro' is that of 
an almost continuous march through the States of Tennes- 
see, Alabama, and Georgia. It passed south through Foster- 
villo, Shelbyville, Faruiington (^Tonn.), and Lewisburg to 
Columbia ; remained there on provost duty from the 23d 
to the 26th of August; moved on through Pulaski and 
Lynnville to Athens, Ala.; remained there from August 
29th to September 1st; thence passed through Huntsville, 
Brownsville, on Flint River, Ala., Larkinville, Seottsboro', 
and Bellefonte to Stevenson, Ala., remaining at the last- 
named place on provost duty from the 7th to the 21st of 
September ; moved to Bridgeport, Ala., remained there till 
October 1st; moved at midnight, through dense darkness and 
fathomless mud, on the road to Jasper, Tenn. ; passed that 
place and moved to Anderson's Cross-Roads ; remained 
there picketing from the 3d to the 18th of October; 
moved to Dalhis, Tenn., thirteen miles above Chattanooga, 
on the north side of the Tennessee River ; remained there 
three days within hearing of the cannonading between the 
hostile armies at Chattanooga; moved again October 24th, 
passed through Washington, Tenn., and arrived on the 
2Gth at Smith's Ferry over the Tennessee, fifty-five miles 
above Chattanooga. There the regiment remained for 
nearly four weeks, during which time the men had con- 
structed comfortable quarters with fireplaces aud other 
conveniences, believing that this would be their camping- 
place for the winter, which was then approaching. But on 
the 20th of November marching orders came, and on 
Saturday, the 21st, the Tenth Michigan was again on the 
march. In the evening of the 22d it was once more 
within hearing of the cannonade from the batteries on 
Lookout Mountain, and on the 23d it reached Camp Cald- 
well, on the right bank of the Tennessee, four miles above 
Chattanooga. 

On the following day the Tenth crossed to the south side 
of the river aud stood in line during the progress of the 
great conflicts at Lookout and Mission Ridge, but was not 
'engaged in either of those battles. Soon after midnight, 
in the morning of the 26th, it moved up the Tennessee, 
crossed Chickamauga Creek on a pontoon-bridge, and 
marched up the right bank of that stream, where a part of 
the brigade met a small force of the retreating enemy, and 
a skirmish ensued in which one man of the regiment was 
slightly wounded by a spent ball. The enemy's evacuated 
works at Chickamauga Station were occupied on the same 
day, the Tenth being the first to enter the works. Ou the 
27th the regiment entered Georgia for the first time, pass- 
ing through Grayville and camping near Ringgold. On 
the 28th orders were received to march in pursuit of Long- 
s' 



street, who was known to be in the vicinity of Knoxville. 
Under these orders the regiment marched with its brigade 
on the 29th, and continued to move rapidly up the valley 
of the Tennes.see until December 6th, when it had reached 
a point some fifteen miles above Loudon, where the intelli- 
gence was received that Longstreet had withdrawn from 
Knoxville and retreated into Virginia. Then the column 
was ordered to return to Chattanooga. The Tenth passed 
through Madisonville to Columbus, Tenn. (remaining at 
the latter place from the 9th to the 15th of December, 
during which time the bridge across the Hiawassee River 
was constructed, and on the 18th reached its old camp, four 
miles above Chattanooga. Here it remained till the 26th 
when it moved to near Rossville, Ga., and prepared to go 
into winter quarters after a marching campaign of more 
than four months' duration. The men had come in from 
the East Tennessee march worn out, famished, and tattered, 
many of them having no shoes, having been compelled to 
cut up their ragged blankets into wrappings for their feet. 
No men ever stood more in need of rest and recuperation. 

At the Rossville camp the men built tight and comfort- 
able log cabins, each containing a fireplace, and in these 
(when not out on picket duty) the two remaining months 
of winter were spent in a very agreeable manner. Prepara- 
tions were made for mustering as veterans, and nearly all 
the companies had the requisite three-fourths of their num- 
ber re-enlisted, when, in the evening of February 3d, the 
regiment was ordered out on picket to Chickamauga Sta- 
tion, eight miles away. It remained out till the 14th, when 
it was marched back to camp, and the veteran muster was 
completed on the 16th, three hundred and eighty men 
signing the veteran enlistment for three years, dating from 
February 6th. The number of veterans was afterwards in- 
creased to over four hundred. The re-enlistment and mus- 
ter being perfected, the men were waiting impatiently for 
the veteran furlough (which some of them were destined 
never to receive), when, in the morning of February 23d, 
the regiment had orders to march immediately, with three 
days' rations and sixty rounds of ammunition. The men 
could hardly believe that they were again to march to the 
front before making the long-anticipated visit to their 
homes, but they fell in without much audible complaint, 
and marched away on the road which was to lead them to 
their first battlefield. The regiment moved to within a 
mile of Ringgold, and camped for the night. In the morn- 
ing of the 24th it moved to a point between that town 
and Tunnel Hill, where the brigade joined the forces 
which had moved out from Chattanooga to make a recon- 
noissance in force of the enemy's positions in the direction 
of Dalton and Lafayette, Ga. The enemy were flanked 
out of their works at Tunnel Hill, and retired towards 
Dalton. The Tenth (with other commands) followed in 
pursuit, and at about five o'clock p.m. arrived at Buzzard's 
Roost, — a rocky stronghold of the rebels, situated in a pass 
of the mountains known as Kenyon's Gap, — three miles 
from Dalton. The works were in the rear of Rocky-Face 
Ridge, and fully commanded the gap. Some skirmishing 
was done in the afternoon and evening of the 24th, and 
the regiment took position for the night between two spurs 
of Rocky-Face Ridge. 



66 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEB AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



On the 25tli tlie early part of the day was consumed in 
skirniisliiii,^, but about two o'clock p.m. the Tenth, with 
the Sixtieth Illinois, was ordered forward in line over the 
rid<i;es to attack the enemy and carry his po.sition if possible. 
They moved forward gallantly into a very hot artillery and 
musketry fire from greatly superior numbers of the enemy. 
They remained under this terrible enfilading fire for about 
forty minutes, and did what men could do to carry the 
position, but were at last forced back by superior numbers, 
and at the end of one hour and ten minutes the regiment 
reoccupied the position from which it had advanced to the 
charge. In this brief time it had lost forty-nine killed and 
wounded and seventeen missing, among the latter being 
Lieut. -Col. Dickerson, who was wounded and made prisoner 
by the enemy. 

A characteristic account of the battle given by a rebel 
paper (the Atlanta Register of Feb. 21), 1864) was as fol- 
lows: "On Thursday, the 25th, the enemy commenced, 
about nine a.m., to skirmish with our pickets and sharp- 
shooters. At one P.M. the Federal general, Morgan, ad- 
vanced on our right centre to force the gap. They were 
gallantly met by Reynolds' brigade, of Stevenson's division, 
Clayton's brigade, of Walker's division, and Stavall's bri- 
gade, of Stewart's division, when a lively fight took place. 
The enemy made three desperate assaults to take the gap, 
and were repulsed each time with great slaughter, being 
enfiladed at the same time by our artillery. We captured 
some twenty prisoners, among them Jjieut.-Col. C. J. Dick- 
erson, of the Tenth Michigan, which regiment alone lost 
two hundred and fifty killed and wounded. That night the 
enemy fell back behind their intrenchments, — some three 
or four miles from our front line, — and a portion of their 
forces moved over to our left, and succeeded in taking a 
gap leading to the Lafiiyette road, through Sugar Valley, 
three miles south of Dalton." 

It will be noticed that while this account made the loss 
of the Tenth more than five times what it really was in 
killed and wounded, it admits that the two regiments which 
formed the Union attacking column encountered a rebel 
force of three brigades in a strongly-fortified position. In 
fact, neither the Tenth nor the Sixtieth Illinois had all its 
strength present in the fight, — only eight companies of 
each, making a total of about nine hundred men, beinsr 
engaged. 

On the 2Gth the regiment with its brigade was relieved, 
and marched to Ringgold, from which place it returned to 
camp at Rossville on the 27th. About the 5th of March 
the veterans of the Tenth left the Rossville camp and 
moved to Chattanooga en route for Michigan, and arrived 
at Detroit on the 11th. There they received the veteran 
furlough, with orders to reassemble at its expiration at the 
rendezvous, the city of Flint. Upon reassembling they 
remained in Flint for some days, — a visit which was long 
remembered by both soldiers and citizens. The veterans 
and recruits left Flint on the 2()th of April, and moved by 
way of Fentonville to Detroit, thence by way of Kalamazoo 
and Lafayette to Jefiersonville, Ind., Louisville, Ky., and 
Nashville, arriving at the latter city April 24th. They left 
Nashville on the 27tli, and marched to Chattanooga, where 
they arrived on the 11th of May, and on the 12th marched 



to their old winter quarters at Rossville, which were found 
undisturbed and in good condition. On the 13th they 
marched in search of the brigade (which had moved for- 
ward with the army May 2d), and overtook it in the morn- 
ing of the IGth, marching nineteen miles farther the same 
day with Gen. Jeff. C. Davis' division, which was moving 
towards Rome. On the 17th the regiment took part in 
the fight at Oostcnaula River and in the capture of Rome 
on the following day, both without loss. Then followed a 
series of marches and manceuvres by which the Tenth 
moved to Dallas, to Ackworth, Ga., and by way of Lost 
Mountain to Kenesaw, where, in the assault of the 27th 
of June, it formed part of the reserve of the charging 
column. Its losses during June were fourteen killed and 
wounded. 

The enemy having evacuated his works at Kenesaw, the 
Tenth took part in the pursuit, marching on the 3d of 
July, and, having crossed the Chattahoochee River, it 
advanced on the 19th to Durant's Mill, on Peachtree 
Creek, and took part in the actions of that and the follow- 
ing day, losing twenty-three killed and wounded. Through 
the remainder of July and nearly all of August it lay in the 
lines of investment before Atlanta. August 30th it moved 
with a roconnoitoring column to Joncsboro', and took part 
in the battle at that place on the 1st of September, charging 
across an open field on the enemy's works, and losing thirty 
killed and forty-seven wounded, among the former being 
the commanding officer of the regiment, Maj. Burnett. 
It was claimed for the Tenth that in this action it took 
more prisoners than the number of men which it carried 
into the fight. For its conduct on this occasion it was 
complimented by Gens. Thomas, Davis, and Morgan, the 
corps, division, and brigade commanders. 

On the second day Ibllowing the battle of Jonesboro' 
the Tenth moved back to the front of Atlanta, and re- 
mained there until and after the capture of that city. On 
the 28th of September the brigade moved northward by 
railroad to Chattanooga, and thence by way of Bridgeport 
and Stevenson to Florence, Ala., the object being to expel 
the enemy's cavalry from the country north of the Ten- 
nessee River. In this the forces were but partially success- 
ful, and after a stay of about ten days they were moved 
back to Chattanooga, where a halt was made for several 
days. The Tenth with its brigade then moved up the 
Chattooga and Broomtown valleys to Rome, Ga., where it 
joined its corps (the Fourteenth), which was moving into 
Alabama in pursuit of the Confederate army under Gen. 
Hood. It moved across the mountain to Gaylesviile, Ala., 
where it remained only one day and then returned to Rome. 
From that point it moved rapidly to Etowah and Carters- 
ville, Ga., and thence south along the Atlanta Railroad, 
destroying the track and telegraph in its march, the object 
being to cut all communication with Atlanta, preparatory 
to Gen. Sherman's bold march across Georgia to the At- 
lantic. When the Tenth Regiment with its brigade ap- 
proached Atlanta in the afternoon of the 15th of November 
the city was on fire from end to end, it being the object 
of the Union general to destroy everything in it (except 
dwelling-houses) which could be of service to the enemy 
after the departure of the army. During the afternoon 



TENTH INFANTRY. 



67 



and evening of the 15th, shoes, clothing, and rations were 
issued to tiie troops, and everything was made ready for the 
forward march in the following morning. 

At noon on the 16th of November, the Tenth Michigan 
— forming a part of the First Brigade, Second Division of 
the Fourteenth Army Corps — moved out with its com- 
panion regiments (the Fourteenth Michigan, the Sixteenth 
and Sixtieth Illinois, and the Seventeenth New York, all 
under Col. Robert F. Smith, as brigade commander), and 
took the road to Stone Mountain, Ga., near which place it 
bivouacked for the night. The march was resumed on the 
17th, and was continued without intermission, except the 
necessary halts, until the evening of the 21st, when the 
command encamped several miles from Millcdgeville, and 
remained quiet there during the following day. On the 
23d the regiment resumed the march, and on the 24th it 
passed through Milledgeville. It reached Louisville, the 
county-seat of Jefferson County, on the 28th, and camped 
there for three days, engaged in foraging and picket duty. 
Again, on the 1st of December, it moved forward, and, 
crossing the Savannah and Charleston Railroad on the 10th, 
arrived in front of Savannah (four and a half miles distant 
from the city) in the morning of the 11th. Ten days 
later Savannah was evacuated by the enemy and immedi- 
ately occupied by the forces of Gen. Sherman. 

After a month's stay in Savannah, the Fourteenth Corps, 
including the Tenth Regiment, left the city (on the 20th of 
January, 18(55) for the march through the Caroliiias. The 
crossing of the Savannah River was made at Sister's Ferry, 
on the 5th of February. The Tenth remained here two 
days before moving north, and while here (February 6th) 
the non-veterans of the organization were mustered out of 
the service, just three years having expired since the com- 
pletion of the original muster at Camp Thomson. 

The regiment reached Fayctteville, N. C, March 11th, 
and was there slightly engaged in a skirmish with the 
enemy. On the 12th it crossed the Cape Fear River, skir- 
mishing at Averysboro', and on the 16lh was again engaged 
at the same place, losing three men killed. Moving in ad- 
vance of the corps on the ISth, six companies being de- 
ployed as skirmishers, they struck the enemy about noon, 
and a lively skirmish ensued. The regiment was ordered 
to take position at the junction of the Smithfield and 
Goldsboro' roads, and during the night it was attacked, but 
repulsed the enemy, and held its position until relieved by 
troops of the Twentieth Corps, on the 19th, when it moved 
and formed on the right of the second line of battle at Ben- 
tonville. About four p.m. the enemy moved up in heavy 
masses, and charged the first line, but was repulsed. Then 
the Tenth with its brigade moved forward to the first line, 
and in a few minutes the enemy was discovered coming in 
on the left flank. The line was at once changed to the 
opposite side of the works, and, after pouring a volley into 
the ranks of the rebels, they were charged and driven with 
the bayonet, many prisoners and arms being taken. On 
the 20th the regiment skirmished during the entire day 
and night, and on the 21st moved towards Goldsboro', 
reaching there on the 23d. Moving from Goldsboro', 
it reached Smithfield April lOth and Raleigh April 13th. 
From Raleigh it moved to Avery's Ferry, forty-five miles 



above Fayetteville, and lay there from the 15th to the 21st 
of April, when it moved to Holly Springs, on the road to 
Raleigh. On the 2Sth it was at Morseville, N. C, and there 
received the announcement that its campaigning was over 
and the war ended by the surrender of Johnston. In its 
passage through the two Carolinas the regiment had sus- 
tained a loss of fifteen, killed, wounded, and missing. 

Moving north on the 30th of April, the Tenth arrived 
at Richmond, Va., May 7th, and remained there till the 
lOth, when it marched on towards Washington, reaching 
there about the 16th. It took part in the grand review of 
Gen. Sherman's army at the capital on the 24th. It moved 
on the 13th of June, and proceeded to Louisville, Ky., 
where it was mustered out of the service July 19th, and 
ordered to Michigan. It reached Jackson on the 22d, and 
was paid off and discharged Aug. 1, 1865. 

The length and severity of this regiment's marches 
during its term of service were remarkable. It is shown 
that during 1862 and 1863 its foot-marches aggregated 
sixteen hundred miles; that its marches in 1864 amounted 
to thirteen hundred and seventy-five miles, and those in 
1865 to sis hundred and twenty miles, — a total of three 
thousand five hundred and ninety-five miles ; this being 
exclusive of the distances accomplished by railroad and 
steamer. There were few, if any, regiments in the service 
whose marching record surpassed this. The brigade to 
which the Tenth was attached during the period of its re- 
markable marchings through Tennessee, Georgia, and Ala- 
bama was quite generally known among the men of the 
Southwestern army as " Morgan's brigade of Davis' foot- 
cavalry," the division being that commanded by Gen. Jeff. 
C. Davis. * 

MEMDERS OF THE TENTH INFANTKY FKOM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Field atid Sli^ff. 
Miij. Henry S. Burnett, Byron; com. Nov. IG, 1SG3; died in action at Joncs- 
boro', Ga., Sept. 1, 1SC4. 

Non-Commieeioued Stojjf. 
Q. M.-Sergt. George A. Allen, Bj-rou ; enl. Oct. 2U, ISCl ; pro. to 2d iieut. Co. C. 

Company A. 
Cnpt. H. S. Burnett, Byron ; com. Oct. 4, 1S61 ; pro. to major. 
Capt. Samuel S. Tower, Byron; com. May 20, 1803; lat Iieut., Feb. 24, 18(!5j 

sergejint ; must, out July 19, 1865. 
1st Lieut. Eobert F. Gulick, Corunna; com. Oct. 4, '01 ; resigned May 23, 'G2. 
Sergt. Jay J. I'arkliuret, Byron; enl. Oct. 24, 18G1 ; died in Mississippi, July 30, 

1S62. 
Sergt. William B. Pratt, Byrou; enl. Oct. 18, 1801 ; veteran, Feb. G, 18C4; pro. 

to 2d Iieut. Co. D. 
Sergt. Cbarles nice, Byron; enl. Oct. 12, 18G1 ; veteran, Feb. C, 18G4; must. out 

July 19, 1865. 
Sergt. Delos Jewell, Byron. 
Corp. Jolin J. Campbell, Byron ; eul. Oct. 9, 18G1 ; died of disease at home, July 

30, 18G2. 
Corp. Marcus P. Andrews, Vernon; enl. Oct. 19, 1861 ; veteran, Feb. 6, 1«04; 

died of disease in hospitil. 
Musician William W. Barker, Newburgli; enl. Oct. 18, ISGl ; died at Cincin- 
nati, 0., June 27, 1802. 
MusQ. liiley W. Litclifleld, Corunna; enl. Jau. 14, 1802; trans, to brigade 

band. 
Wagoner Henry U. Keyes, Byrou ; disch. for disability, July 9, 1802. 
Robert Agnew, discb. for disability, Jan. 2, 18G3. 

William Brown, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1804 ; discli. Iiy order, May 3, 1865. 
Jonas W. Botsford, veteran, enl. Feb. 0, 1864; must, out July 19, 1805. 
Miner U. Blake, corporal ; veteran, enl. Feb, 0,1804 ; must, out July 19, 1865. 
Henry Baird, veteran, enl. Feb. G, 1804; must, out July 19, 1805. 
Martin Braylon, discb. Oct. 11, 1802. 
Henry Brown, must, out July 19, 1805. 

Horace S. Calkins, veteran, enl. Feb. 0, 1864; corporal ; must, out July 10, '65. 
Albert Campbell, veteran, enl. Feb. 0, 1804 ; Irans. to U. S. Eng.,Sept. 25, 18B4. 
Sil#s Crawloid, must, out July 10, 1805, 



68 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



jHCob Croup, discli. for disability, Feb. 11, 1862. 

Pliilip Cliamberlain, disch. Aug. 5, 1SC2. 

Diivi.l C. CalkiiiH, dlsch. for disability, June 24, 1862. 

George Ooffln, discli. for disability, Aug. 25, 1862. 

Alfred Cronkite, died of disease at Faruiirigtuii, Mies,, July 5, 18C2. 

Sheldon Dickson, died of disea-se at Farmington, Miss., July 22, 18G2. 

Lumim Jlarris, discli. for disability, Dec. 23, 1802. 

Ezekiol Jewell, must, out July 19, 1805. 

Tliurlow L. Millard, died of disease on board steamer "EmpreaV* Mississippi 

River, May 17, 18('.2. 
Albert Martin, disrh. for disability, Aug. G, 1862. 
M'illiam J. Mosely, <lisch. for disability, Oct. 24, 1862. 
Corp. tieurge E. Mills, veteran, enl. Feb. fi, 18G4; must, out July 19, 1865. 
Orlando Mills, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1864 ; must, out July 19, 1865. 
Henry Miller, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1864; must, out July 19, 1865. 
Chiirles Newman, disch. for dieabillly, Sept. 2, 18G2. 

George A. Parker, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1864; discli. for dis;ibility, July 22,1865. 
Tlionins J. Pettis, discli. at end of seivice, Feb. 6, 1865. 
Williaui J. Parka, must, out July 19, ISt'o. 

Alu-ani Reigle, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1864; must, out July 19, 1865. 
Philip Kieliardson, died at regi. hosp., Na-bville, Teiin., March 13, 1863. 
Isniel D. Russell, discli. at end of service, Feb. 6, 1865. 
Corp. Aureii Hoys, discli. at end of service, Feb. 6, 1865. 
Corp. Lemuel J. Sniedtey, discli. at end of service, Feb. 6, 1861. 
Allen Stejihens, discli. for disability, July 17, 1862. 
Charles F. Stewart, disch. for disability, Nov. liG, 1862. 
Ira I. Sweet, disbarged Jan. 14, 18G3. 

George Stroud, died of disease at Farmington, Mich., May 30, 1862. 
Edwin U. Scully, died of disease at Peach-Tree Creek, Ga., July 20, 18G4. 
William J. Tower, veterau, enl. Feb. 6, 1864; disch. by order, June 12, 18G5. 
Jndd Vincent, died near Goldaboro', N. C, March 23, 1865. 
Edgar D. Welch, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1864 ; must, out Jnly 19, 1865. 
Peter Wouliver, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1S64; disch. by order, June 13, 18G5. 
Gideon Whiting, discharged. 
John Walworth. 

Company li. 
Ist Lieut. Wm. Pratt, Byron ; com. May 20, 1865 ; 2d lieut. Co. D, May 8, 1865; 
must, out July 19, 18G5. 

Company C. 
2d Lieut. Goo. A. Allen, Byroii; com. March 31, 1863; discli. at end of service, 

Feb. fi, 1865. 
James M. Gillett, dind of disease at Smith's Ferry, Dec. 2, 1863. 
Edgar E. Giilly, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 18G4. 

Frank Munger, died of disease at Farmington, Midi., .Tuly 11, 18G2. 
Henry Ostraiider, died ofcdisease at Tuscnmbia, Ala., Aug. 22, 1862. 
Alvab Remington, disch. at end of service, Feb, 6, 1865. 
Daniel Spear, disch. for disability, Sept. 5, 1862. 
William E. Sprague, veteran, enl. Feb. 6, 1865. 

Company 0. 
Mna. Pliilip Goodwin, Shiawassee; enl. Jan. 14, 18C2; disch. for disability, 

fliarch 4, 186:i. 
George R. Knapp, disch. at end of service, Feb. 5, 1865. 

Compnnij H. 
Nathan Findlay, must, out July 19, 1865. 
Albert Hill, disch. for disability, Sept. 3, 1863. 
John Marshall, disch. by order, Juno 26, 1865. 
John W. M. Parks, must, out July 19, 1865. 

Company I. 
William B. GiUett, disch. for disability, July 24, 1862. 
David W. Gillett, disch. at end of service, March 10, 1865. 

Compaiiy K. 
Capt. Wm. B. Walker, Owosso; com. May 8, 1865; lat lieut. Nov. 8 1864- 2d 
lieut. Co. B, July 20, 1864; must, out July 19, 1865. 

MEMBERS OF THE TENTH INFANTRY FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Company B. 
Warren Chattiold, must, out July 19,1865. 
Sylvester Hall, must, out July 19, 1865. 

Company C. 
Martin B. Payne, discli. l>y order, June 12, 1865. 

Company E. 
Jaa. P. Salisbury, disch. by order, June 29, 1865. 



CHAPTER X. 

FOUKTEENTH INFANTRY. 

Organization at Ypsilnnti — Ciimpaigns in Mississippi and Alabama — • 
March to Nashville — Service at Franklin and Columbia — Veteran 
Re-enlistment — Atlanta Campaign — March to the Sea and through 
the Carolinas — Battles of Averj-sboro' and Bentonville — March to 
Washington — Muster Out at Louisville, Ky. 

. The volunteers from Shiawassee and Clinton Counties 
who served in the ranks of the Fourteenth Infantry were 
principally found in Companies D, E, and K, though a con- 
siderable number were scattered through several other 
companies. The two counties were about equally repre- 
sented in " D" company, which received its first enlistment 
Oct. 11, 1861, and attained minimum strength December 
12th. The original first and second lieutenants of this 
company were, respectively, Gilman McCliutock and Cyrus 
F. Jackson, of Owosso. 

Company E was chiefly made up of Shiawassee County 
volunteers. The date of the first enlistment in this com- 
pany is Nov. 4, 1861, and it attained the minimum 
strength December 3()th in the same year. Of its original 
officers, First Lieut. C. C. Goodale and Second Lieut. 
Daniel Wait were residents of Owosso at the time of its 
organization. It contained a small number of men from 
Clinton County. 

In Company K there were a few men from Shiawas- 
see County, but it was principally composed of Clinton 
County volunteers, recruited by John Kelly and Charles 
B. Hose, of Westphalia, and N. T. Jones, of Grcenbush. 
Capt. Kelly became the company commander, and Rose 
was made first lieutenant, though in the recruiting of the 
company Mr. Jones had been named as its .second officer. 
One of the county papers, dated Nov. 21, 1861, mentioned 
the recruiting of Capt. Kelly's company, as follows : " An 
artillery company is being raised by Capt. John Kelly, of 
Westphalia, to be attached to Col. Sinclair's [Fourteenth 
Infantry] regiment. The name of this company is ' Kelly's 
Clinton Dragoons.' " This raising of an artillery company, 
designated as dragoons, to form a part of an infantry regi- 
ment, is mentioned in this connection as being a rather re- 
markable military event. 

The name of the company was changed soon afterwards, 
and it became known as the " Clinton Rangers." The first 
enlistment in it was made on the 7th of November; the 
company attained the minimum strength on the 1st of Jan- 
uary, 1862, and on tlie 3d of the same month it was re- 
moved to Ypsilanti, the regimental rendezvous. The two 
other companies previously mentioned reached the camp 
of instruction at about the same time, and the three soon 
after received their designating letters — D, E, and K, iu 
the Fourteenth Infantry. 

The regiment was mustered into the United States service 
on the 13th of February, under command of Col. Robert 
P. Sinclair, with Robert W. Davis as lieutenant-colonel, 
and M. W. Quackenbush, of Owosso, as major. Two 
months more were spent in perfecting its organization and 
drill, and, after the presentation of a stand of colors at the 
camp of instruction, the command, nine hundred and 
twenty-five strong, moved from Ypsilanti on the 17th of 



FOURTEENTH INFANTRY. 



69 



April, and proceeded to the theatre of war in the South- 
west, reaching Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee River, 
about two weeks after the great battle of Sliiloh had been 
fought at that point. Passing on to Ilanibuigli Landing, 
four miles farther up the river, the command was disem- 
barked, and a few days later was assigned to duty as a part 
of Col. James D. Morgan's brigade, in the Army of the 
Mississippi. This brigade included the Tenth and Sixteenth 
Illinoisand the Fourteenth Michigan. Tlie Tenth Michigan 
and the Sixtieth Illinois were added soon afterwards, and 
the brigade, as thus composed, remained together the greater 
part of the time during the continuation of their terms of 
service. 

About the 1st of May the command moved forward to- 
wards Corinth, Mi.«s., at which point tlie enemy had made a 
stand and thrown up intrenchments. This march was a very 
laborious one, for the weather was excessively hot, and the 
Fourteenth was employed in guarding and moving to the 
front several siege-guns, each of which was drawn by twelve 
yokes of oxen, floundering through the almost bottomless 
mud of the Mississippi swamps. Tlie men wore continually 
engaged in extricating the ponderous guns from the slough ; 
in corduroying the roads, often in the face of the enemy's 
skirmi-shers ; and always throwing up temporary works of 
defense before bivouacking for the night. Several weeks 
were spent in this way before the Fourteenth arrived in 
front of Corinth, but, excepting some slight skirmishing, 
the regiment did not take part in the operations by which 
the enemy was forced to retire from bis stronghold. 

After the evacuation of Corinth the Fourteenth spent 
the remainder of the summer in marching, skirmishing, 
picketing, and guarding railroads through Northern Missis- 
sippi and Alabama ; camping for a considerable time at 
Farmington, at Big Springs, Miss., and for a longer period at 
Tuscumbia, Ala. At this place Lieut. Wait, of " E" Com- 
pany, was left in hospital prostrated by sickness brought 
on by the hardships of the service, and from which he has 
never fully recovered. 

About the last of August it was announced that the 
command was to move to Nashville, Tcnn., and on the 1st 
of September the detachments of the regiment concen- 
trated at the military ferry on the Tennessee River and 
awaited orders to move. The orders were received on the 
following day, and the command moved northward with its 
brigade. The march occupied nine days, during which the 
regiment passed through Rogersville, Athens, Eikton, 
Pulaski, Lynnville, Columbia, Spring ilill, and Franklin, 
and in the evening of the 11th bivouacked two miles from 
Nashville. Here it remained on picket duty for a few days, 
and then moved through the city to a camp on high ground, 
near Fort Negley. 

The labor demanded of the regiment during its stay at 
Nashville was severe, consisting of work on the extensive 
fortifications which had been laid out by Gen. Negley, the 
commandant of the post, besides constant picketing and 
guarding of forage-parties, which were continually sent out 
into the surrounding country, this being the only means of 
subsisting the forces in Nashville, as all communication 
with the city, by rail or river, was destroyed. This state 
of aifairs continued for about two mouths, Nashville being 



held by the divisions of Negley and Palmer, but out of 
communication with the outside world, and surrounded 
on every .side by troops of the enemy, principally cavalry. 
The Army of the Cumberland, however, having defeated 
the army of Bragg at Perryville, Ky., was marching south- 
ward from Bowling Green, under Gen. Ro^ecrans, to the 
relief of the beleaguered force, and on the 6th of November 
his advance-guard reached the river at Edgefield, opposite 
Nashville. In the early morning of the day preceding that 
of Rosecrans' arrival a large force of the enemy had at- 
tacked the positions of the troops in Nashville, and the 
Fourteenth was quite sharply engaged with the other forces 
in repelling them. Maj. Quackenbush, who was then in 
command of the regiment, had his horse shot under him 
(though not killed) in the fight. This occasion was the 
first on which the Fourteenth had ever delivered their fire 
on a battle-field. 

The arrival of the Army of the Cumberland at Nash- 
ville opened railroad communication from the Ohio River 
to Mitchelville, thirty-five miles north of Nashville, and 
soon after it was opened to the city. This gave relief in 
the matter of rations to the troops who had been so long 
imprisoned there, and lightened the forage and picket duty, 
but the labor on the defensive works of the town was still 
continued,' and a great amount of work was to be done in 
repairing roads and bridges for the advance of the army 
southward. 

In the movements preliminary to the advance of Gen. 
Rosecrans on Murfreesboro', the division of Gen. Palmer 
(in which was the Fourteenth Michigan) was the first 
pushed to the front on the line of Stone River near the 
" Hermitage," the former residence of Andrew Jackson. 
It remained at this point facing the enemy for about eight 
days, when on the general advance of the Army of the 
Cumberland (December 26th), it was moved back to Nash- 
ville by order of the commanding general, who, as he said, 
wished to have that important place held by some of his 
most trusty and reliable troops. Five days after the ad- 
vance of the main body of the army it was fiercely engaged 
with the enemy at Stone River in front of Miirfreesboro', 
and the conflict raged with great fury and with little in- 
termission until the evening of the 2d of January, at 
which time the Fourteenth Michigan received orders to 
move up wiih all speed to Stone River. In obedience to 
this order it was marched all night through thick darkness 
and pouring rain, and in the morning it had reached the 
field, twenty-seven miles from the camp which it had left 
in the preceding evening. But as the enemy had already 
retreated, and there was no more fighting to be done on 
that line, the regiment did not participate in the memorable 
battle which secured to Gen. Rosecrans the possession of 
Middle Tennessee. 

During the month of March, 1863, the Fourteenth was 
stationed for a few days at Franklin, Tenn., and in April it 
was ordered out with its brigade to the neighborhood of 
Brentwood, to hold the railway line between Nashville and 
Franklin. The brigade was at this time attached to the 
Reserve Corps, commanded by Gen. Gordon Granger. Hav- 
ing returned to its camp at Na.shville, the regiment was 
detached from its brigade on the 2d or 3d of July, and 



70 



niSTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



ordered to Franklin. Early in Soiitcmber the eoiumand 
wa.s transformed into a enrjis of mounted infantry, and 
eight of its eompanics, with a section of artillery, were 
moved to Columbia, Tenn. From tlnit time, for a period 
of eight months, Columbia and Franklin and the railroad 
line connecting the two places were held by the men of the 
Fourteenth, who, with their cavalry equipment and Spencer 
rifles, performed excellent service in clearing tlie surrounding 
country of guerrillas. They al:-o constructed a railway-bridge 
across the Duck Kivcr, and erected formidable fortifications 
at Columbia. 

In the first part of January, 1864, the regiment re-en- 
listed, as veterans, and on the 21st of February five com- 
panies — C, F, G, I, and K — left Columbia for Michigan on 
veteran furlough, at the expiration of which they returned 
to their post in Tennessee. The remainder of the regiment 
then spent a thirty days' furlough in Michigan, and return- 
ing, rejoined their comrades in the field about the middle 
of May. On the 21st of tliat month the regiment received 
orders to move from Columbia and join the army of Gen. 
Sherman in Georgia. How the people of Columbia received 
the announcement that the Fourteenth was to leave their 
town, is shown by the following con;munieation from a 
Columbia correspondent to the Nashville Union, and pub- 
lished in that journal on the day of the regiment's de- 
parture : 

" News having reached Columbia that the Fourteenth 
Michigan Veteran Volunteers, which has been stationed 
here since September last, was ordered off, a meeting of the 
citizens was convened at the court-house, and a series of 
resolutions adopted which do credit alike to the citizens and 
soldiers. The honorable and consistent and liberal policy 
of the Fourteenth Michigan has merited and won the es- 
teem and applause of all true lovers of their country, and 
their sudden removal from our midst has brought fear and 
mourning to all classes of the community. They have 
driven guerrillas and thieves from this country clear to the 
Tennessee River, and have done more to create a feeling of 
respect and veneration for the old government than ten 
thousand bayonets and proclamations could have done. 
They strengthened the hopeful, confirmed the faith of the 
true, won back the erring and terrified, and subdued the 
defiant. They fought bravely, often desperately, captured 
many prisoners, and disarmed opposition with gentlemanly 
kindness and courtesy. Ever mindful of their mission, 
they treated the people as feeling human beings,. and not 
as brutes. They will be long and aifectionately remembered 
by our people. 

"The chairman of the meeting, Joshua B. Frierson, 
Esq., accompanied by the committee and a large delegation 
of citizens, entered the Union Bank oflace (post headquarters), 
explained in a few feeling sentences to Maj. Fitzgibbon 
(who had been in command since Col. Mizner went home 
on furlough nearly a month ago) and read to him a series 
of resolutions adopted by the meeting, highly flattering to 
the officers and men of the regiment. The resolutions 
were replied to by the major in an eloquent and feeling 
manner which drew tears from many eyes long unused to 
weep." 

In compliance with the order the regiment left Columbia 



and moved to Bridgeport, Ala. ; thence up on the south 
side of the Tennessee River, by Lookout Mountain, to 
Dallas, Ga., where it rejoined its old brigade, which was 
then attached to the division of Gen. Jeff. C. Davis. From 
Dallas it moved by way of Ackworth, Ga., to Kenesaw 
Mountain, where the brigade participated in the battle of 
the 27th of June. The gallant part taken in this battle 
by the division of which the Fourteenth was a part is 
mentioned in the " Annual Cyclopisdia, 1864," as follows: 
" For the second, and more important attack, portions of 
Gen. Newton's division of the Fourth Corps and Gen. 
Davis' division of the Fourteenth Corps were selected. 
At a given signal the troops rushed forward with buoyant 
courage, charged up the face of the mountain amidst a 
murderous fire from a powerful battery on the summit, 
and through two lines of abatis, carried a line of rifle-pits 
beyond, and reached the works. The colors of several of 
the regiments were planted before the latter, and some of 
the men succeeded in mounting the ramparts ; but the 
death of Gens. Wagner and Harker and the wounding of 
Gen. McCook, the destructive fire of both musketry and 
artillery, and the difiiculty of deploying such long columns 
under such fire, rendered it necessary to recall the men. 
Gen. Newton's troops returned to their original line, while 
Gen. Davis' Second Brigade threw up works between those 
they had carried and the main line of the enemy, and there 
remained." 

On the evacuation of the rebel works at Kenesaw the 
Fourteenth moved in pursuit of the enemy, and coming up 
with him on the north side of the Chattahoochee River, 
assaulted and carried his first and second line of rifle-pits 
on the 5th and 6th of July, capturing a considerable num- 
ber of prisoners, and sustaining a loss of forty-four in killed 
and wounded. It then cro.ssed the Chattahoochee and took 
part in the operations in front of Atlanta, where, on the 7th 
of Augu.st, the Fourteenth sustained a loss of thirty-five 
killed and wounded in an assault which resulted in the 
carrying of two lines of the enemy's works, and the capture 
of a large number of prisoners. On the 30th of August 
it moved with its division towards Jonesboro', and was hotly 
engaged in the battle of September 1st at that place, losing 
thirty killed and wounded, and doing its part in carrying a 
strong line of works. After the battle at Jonesboro' the 
regiment returned to the front of Atlanta. 

On the 28th of September the Fourteenth left Atlanta 
and moved by rail to Chattanooga, Stevenson, Huntsville, 
Athens, and Florence, Ala., tearing up the Memphis and 
Charleston Railroad. For several days it was in pursuit of 
Wheeler's and Forrest's cavalry, but did not overtake them. 
On the 13th of October the regiment moved by rail, back 
to Chattanooga, where it remained five days, and on the 
18th again took the road, moving to Lee and Gordon's Mills 
Ga., to Lafayette, to Summerville, up Duck Creek, through 
Broomtown Valley, Alpine, and Rome, Ga., across the 
mountains into Alabama, to Gaylesville (October 20th), and 
then back to Rome, where it was in camp November 1st. 
On the 9th it was at Etowah, Ga., and on the 13th at Car- 
tersville, where, at six o'clock a.m. on that day, the force 
" bade good-by to the cracker line, and to all communica- 
tions, and plunged into the Confederacy with four days' 



FOUllTEKNTH INFANTRY. 



71 



rations, maroliing south and tearing up tlie railroad as it 
moved." On the 13th it made sixteen miles, on the 14th 
twenty-four miles, and on the 15th tjiirtoen miles, burning 
the bridge over the Chattahoochee, and reaching Atlanta at 
three o" clock in the afternoon of that day. 

" As we approached Atlanta," wrote an officer of the 
brigade, " a huge column of blaclc smoke was seen, and 
soon we found tlie railroad depots and buildinjis, with the 
foundries and manufactories, a burning mass." When night 
closed in the whole heavens were illuminated by the glare 
of the conflagration, and the innumerable camp-fires of the 
Union hosts which lay encircling the con(|uered city, busy 
with their final preparations for the storied March to the 
Sea. 

The troops, as they arrived at Atlanta, were immediately 
ordered to draw clothing and rations, and to make the last 
preparations for departure from the base of supplies, and in 
these preparations tliey were employed during a great part 
of the night. " All the troops," said Gen. Sherman, in liis 
report of the Georgia campaign, '' were provided with good 
wagon-trains loaded with ammunition and supplies, approx- 
imating twenty days' bread, forty days' sugar and coffee, 
a double allowance of salt ibr forty days, and beef-cattle 
equal to forty days' supplies. The wagons were aljjo sup- 
plied with about three days' forage in grain. All were in- 
structed by a judicious system of foraging to maintain this 
order of things as long as possible, living chiefly if not 
solely upon the country, which I knew to abound in corn, 
sweet potatoes, and meats." 

The forces composing the great army which Sherman 
had concentrated here for the mysterious expedition, who.se 
destination was then only a matter of conjecture, were com- 
posed of four corps d'arm^e,— the Seventeenth (a consoli- 
dation of the old Sixteenth and Seventeenth) and the 
Fifteenth forming his right wing, and the Fourteenth and 
Twentieth forming the left wing of his grand army of 
invasion. In that army the position of the Fourteenth 
Michigan was with the First Brigade, Second Division of 
the Fourteenth Corps. The other regiments of the brigade 
were the Tenth Michigan, tlie Sixteenth and Sistietli Illi- 
nois, and the Seventeenth New York, all under Col. Robert 
F. Smith as brigade commander. 

The right wing was the first to move out; then came the 
Twentieth Corps, and lastly the Fourteenth, and with this 
corps the Fourteenth Regiment marched away at noon on the 
16th of November. A distance of eleven miles was made 
during the afternoon, and at niglit the brigade bivouacked 
near the celebrated Stone Mountain, a round-topped knob 
of solid limestone about one mile in diameter at the base, 
and rising bare and gray from the level plain to a height of 
about thirteen hundred feet. From this halting-place the 
regiment set out at six o'clock in the morning of the 17th, 
and, with fine weather and a good road, made a march of 
fifteen miles, passing through the decaying settlements of 
Lassonia and Conyers' Station. On the 18th the Yellow 
and Alcova Rivers, tributaries of the Ocmulgee, were 
cros.sed on pontoons, and the tired men of the Fourteenth 
lighted their bivouac fires in the vicinity of Covington, the 
seat of justice of Newton County. During this day they liad 
marched as train-guard, and made a distance of ten miles. 



In the morning of the 19tli they resumed their journey 
at six o'clock, in a drizzling rain, and at night found them- 
selves twenty miles from Covington, and twice that distance 
from each of the towns of Macon and Milledgeville. The 
evening of the 20th saw them encamped three miles from 
Eatonton and fifteen from Milledgeville. Here the dull 
boom of distant artillery was heard, this being the first 
hostile sound whieli they had heard since their departure 
from Atlanta. Their march of the 21st was commenced at 
ten A.M. and was continued until three P.M., at which time 
twelve miles had been accomplished, and they went into 
camp for the night. 

Here they remained in rest during the following day, 
and here the order of Gen. Sherman was read to them 
giving the liberty to forage on the country, and to appro- 
priate anything necessary for the sustenance of man or 
beast. '■ These orders [said a letter written by an officer 
of the brigade] were generally lived up to, and often ex- 
ceeded. The citizens, on hearing of our approach, took 
everything of value to the woods and swamps and covered 
tliem with brush, or buried them in the ground. But the 
' Yanks' were not long in discovering this, and but little 
is presumed to have escaped their notice. Sweet potatoes, 
meal, flour, various kinds of liquor, tobacco, silk, and even 
coin were thus unearthed from their hiding-places, and 
many a frolic was had by the blue-coats at the Confederates' 
expense. 

" It was truly amusing to go ahead of the army proper 
and see the foragers' proceedings. They were as goo<l as 
skirmishers and advance-guards, and often were the only 
ones we had. They never failed to rout the rebels when- 
ever and wherever found. Citizens could tell our approach 
long before the army came along, by the popping of guns, 
squealing of hogs, and the noiscs of various farm fowls. 
Nothing escaped the foragers' notice, and but little that was 
serviceable to us eluded their grasp. When they came to 
a plantation they generally separated into small squads, 
each squad hunting for some special thing. As if taught 
by instinct that we meant them harm, all animals and fowls 
tried to secrete themselves or get out of reach of us. Hogs, 
sheep, and cattle would take to the woods, fowls to the 
outbuildings, and turkeys to the trees. But it was all 
of no avail. The enterprising and persistent Yankees, 
prompted by hunger and the thoughts of a savory dish, 
were sure to hunt them out and bring them to. We had 
orders not to fire our guns to procure food, but that order 
was only partially lived up to. Any animal whicli we could 
not corner and catch we shot; and when the fowls took to 
the trees or the tops of buildings the Enfield rifle was sure 
to bring them down. Often would the fat turkeys take 
shelter in the trees, and cry quit, quit! but there was no 
quit. Occasionally the foragers would find a lot of tobacco, 
honey, or sorghum molasses. Then there was a rush and 
scramble. To many, a swarm of bees was no more an im- 
pediment to the getting of the honey than if they had been 
so many blue flies. A crowd of soldiers might be seen 
around a barrel of molasses, the head knocked in, and they 
with their cups filling their canteens, colfee-pots, little pails, 
and every available kind of vessel that would hold the sweet 
fluid. At all hours of the day they might be seen coming 



72 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, jMICIIIGAN. 



in and taking their places in the ranks, with face, hands, 
and clothes besmeared with molasses and honey. To see 
them, one might think they would stick to the Union, or 
to anytliing else ; and they would, too. Such was foraging 
in Georgia, and even more than can be described with the 
pen. Imagination must supply the rest." 

In the morning of November 23d, at six o'clock, the 
regiment was again on the road, and marched leisurely to 
within two miles of Milledgeville, wliere it rested for the 
night. About noon of the 24tii it passed through Milledge- 
ville, and at night the men built their fires eight miles be- 
yond the town. Here the foragers brought in a ton and a 
half of captured flour found secreted in a swamp. On the 
25th a distance of eleven miles was made, and in the after- 
noon of the 2Gth the brigade reached Sandersville, the 
county-seat of Washington County. The marches of the 
27th and 28th brought the regiment to a camping-place 
one mile south of Louisville, the county-seat of Jefier.son, 
where it remained for three days picketing and foraging. 

In the first five days of December the men of the Four- 
teenth marched sixty-three miles, and camped on the night 
of the 5th at Briar Creek, sixty miles from Savannah. 
During the Gth and 7th they made thirty -six miles, though 
continually impeded by timber felled across the road and 
bridges destroyed by the enemy. They had now entered 
the marshy country lying along the south side of the 
Savannah Iliver. Their march of the 8lh was uneventful, 
but on the 'Jth they came upon a hostile battery of three 
guns, so posted as to command a road or causeway over 
which they were compelled to pass through one of the 
swamps which were numerous in that region. The Second 
Illinois Battery was ordered into position, and soon cleared 
the road, but with the loss of one of its lieutenants killed. 
The rebel battery on its retreat encountered the Twentieth 
Army Corps, and was captured. On the 10th the regi- 
ment with its brigade moved .southward to the crossing of 
the Savannah and Charleston Kailroad, and went on picket 
in that vicinity. In the morning of the following day 
they marched nine miles south, and took position in the 
Union line of investment four and a half miles from 
Savannah, — one line being formed to face the city, and 
another facing towards the country through which they 
had just passed. They had completed a distance of nine 
hundred and forty miles, marched since the 28lh of Sep- 
tember, and now sat down to the siege of Savannah. 

The city was defended by fifteen thousand to twenty 
thousand men behind exceedingly strong fortifications, and 
the artillery-fire under which the Fourteenth in common 
with other regiments lay was unintermitting day and night. 
On the 14th new.s was received of the capture and occupa- 
tion of Fort McAllister, south of the city. The first mail 
received by the regiment in a period of six weeks came to 
it here on the 17th. Finally, in the night of December 
20th-21st, the enemy evacuated the city, and on the 21st 
the troops marched in. 

The Fourteenth remained a little more than four weeks 
in Savannah, and it was whispered about among the men 
that the division to which it belonged would be designated 
as the one to hold and garrison the city when the army 



should move north. This hope was soon crushed by the 
arrival of Gen. Grover's division and its assignment to the 
coveted duty, and there were many and loud murmurs of 
dissatisfaction at the result, but these were of no avail, and 
the men of the Fourteenth, in common with those of other 
commands in the division, bore their disappointment as best 
they could, and prepared for the long and laborious march 
tlirough the Carolinas. 

On the 20th of January, 1865, the regiment moved out 
from Savannah, and took its way with the army up the 
right bank of the Savannah liiver, bound north. It 
reached Sister's Ferry, on the Savannah, January 28th, 
and remained there until the night of Sunday, February 
5th, when, with the other troops of the command, it 
crossed to the north side of the river. '• Shouts and wild 
hurrahs rent the welkin as the feet of each successive regi- 
ment touched the soil of Carolina," — so wrote an ofiBcer 
who was present at this memorable crossing. 

The regiment, after a two days' halt here, moved northward 
on the 8th, and passed through South Carolina without 
the occurrence of any especially notable event in its own 
immediate experience. The march through this State was 
much the same as it had been through Georgia, excepting 
that here the foragers found a le.ss productive field, and the 
track of the army was marked by a far more general de- 
struction of property than in Georgia, nearly all the build- 
ings being burned, and only the tall, naked chimney-stacks 
being Icit standing; while all along the western and north- 
western horizon great columns of smoke by day, and the 
red glow of conflagration by night, told how the cavalry of 
Kilpatrick were wreaking their treasured vengeance against 
the Palmetto State. 

The command marched through South Carolina by way 
of Barnwell Court-House, Williston, and Lexington to the 
vicinity of Columbia, the State capital, thence west of that 
city to and up the right bank of the Catawba River to 
Rocky Mount (where six days were spent in eflfecting the 
crossing of Davis' division), and on from that point by a 
forced march to the Great Pedee River, where a junction 
was formed with the main body of the army. Entering 
North Carolina a short distance above Cheraw, it reached 
Fayetteville on the 11th of March, and on the following 
day crossed the Cape Fear River, the brigade of which tlie 
Fourteenth was a part being the first of all the army to pass 
that stream. After this crossing, the brigade skirmished 
with the enemy continually until the 16th, when the Con- 
federate forces stood for battle at Averysboro'. In the en- 
gagement which followed, the Fourteenth Michigan took a 
leading part, advancing on the enemy's works with the 
greatest bravery and carrying the first line, losing twenty- 
two in killed and wounded, and taking a considerable 
number of prisoners, though failing to dislodge the foe 
from his second line of defense. The position thus gained 
was held through the night, and in the morning it was 
found that the Confederate works had been abandoned. A 
vigorous pursuit ensued, in which heavy skirmishing was 
kept up with very little intermission until the 19th of 
March, when the enemy again stood for battle at Benton- 
ville. The Confederate force at this point numbered be- 
tween forty and fifty thousand men, under one of the ablest 



FOURTEENTH INFANTRY. 



73 



of their coinraanders, — -Gen. Josqih E. Johnston. The 
position wiiith he liad chosen was a very strong one, beinj; 
formidably fortified and difficult of a.ssault by reason of a 
large swamp in its front. He did not, however, await an 
attack, bnt took the initiative, charging five times with the 
greatest fury on the temporary works of the Union troops. 
At the last charge the men of the Fourteenth Michigan 
(which held the extreme right of the Union lino) and the 
Sixteenth Illinois, which joined it on the left, leaped over 
their parapet and made a counter-charge witli such desper- 
ation tliat they captured thirty-two officers (including one 
general), two hundred privates, six hundred stand of arms, 
and the regimental colors of the Fortieth North Carolina. 
But while this was being done a force of the enemy had 
gained their rear, occupied their works, and planted their 
colors upon them. Upon seeing this they promptly faced 
to the rear, and charged back upon the works which they 
had themselves erected. A hand-to-hand fight ensued, in 
which the Confederates lost heavily, and were driven from 
the position iu disorder, leaving more than one hundred 
and thirty prisoners and the colors of the Fifty-fourth 
Virginia in the hands of the Unionists. 

This closed the day's fighting on this part of the line, 
but at about ten o'clock on the following morning the 
Fourteenth Michigau and Sixteenth Illinois were again 
ordered forward to attack the hostile position. They ad- 
vanced at double-quick, carried the work at the point of 
the bayonet, took one hundred prisoners, and drove the foe 
before them for nearly a mile. Here they were met by two 
fresh brigades of rebels, with a full battery, but notwith- 
standing these overwhelming odds the Michigan and Illi- 
nois men charged unhesitatingly and captured the battery. 
The enemy, however, rallied, and, being so greatly superior 
in number, recaptured the battery, and forced the two Union 
regiments to retire a short distance, where they threw up a 
light defense, and held it through the day and night, this 
being nearly a mile in advance of all other Northern troops. 
During the night the enemy retreated from his position, 
and on the following day the army of Gen. Sherman took 
up its line of march for Guldsboro'. The Fourteenth Regi- 
ment reached that place on the 23d of March, and remained 
there in camp until April 10th, when it moved on the road 
to Raleigh, and kept up an almost continuous skirmLsh with 
the rebel forces until it arrived at that city. From there it 
moved, on the 13th, to the Cape Fear River, at Avon's 
Ferry, where the cheering news of Johnston's surrender 
was received. The fighting days of the regiment were now 
over, and on the 30th of April it moved northward on the 
road to Virginia and Washington. Proceeding by way of 
Burkeville, Chesterfield, and Amelia Court-House, it reached 
Manchester (on the south side of the James River, opposite 
Richmond) on the 7th of 3Iay. After a halt of two days 
it moved across the river, through the Confederate capital, 
and pressed rapidly on towards the Potomac, where it 
arrived about the 15th of May, and went into camp at 
Arlington Heights. On the 24th it took its place in the 
grand review of Sherman's army at Washington. About 
three weeks later it led the capital, and was moved by rail 
and river to Louisville, Ky., where it was mustered out on 
the 18th of July. From Louisville it was ordered to Jack- 
lU 



son, Mich., and arrived there on the 21st. Eight days 
afterwards the men of the Fourteenth received their pay 
and were discharged from the service. 

SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY IN TUE FOURTEENTH. 

Field and Staff . 

Lieut.-Col. M. W. Qniickcnbusli, Owosso; com. Nov. 11, 18G2; miij. Nov. 1, 18G1 ; 

rosigneil March 25, 1803. 
Chiip. Thumiis B. Uuoley, Corunna ; com. Feb. 11,1862; resigned April 29, 1804. 

Non-Comvimwn€d SUfff, 
Q.M.-Sergt. Henry O. Jewell, Vernon ; enl. Jan. 2-1, 18C1 ; veteran Jan. 14, 1864; 

must, out July 18, 1806. 
Com.-Sergt. Addison Uiirtlett, Sbiawa.=see ; pro. 2d lieut. Co. B, Dec. 18, 1864. 

Company A. 

1st Lieut. Marsliall Kyte, Owosso ; com. Marcli 14, 1805 ; sergt. Co. K ; nuist. out 

July 18,1805. 
John Groom, discli. Aug. 6, 1862. 
Abel Hill, must, out July 18, 18G5. 

Gnnjiamj D. 

2d Lieut. Addison Bartlett, Shiawassee ; com. Dec. 18,1804; com.-sergt.; rea. 
April 9, 1865. 

Company D. 

1st Lieut. Gillnian McClintock, Owosso ; com. Nov. 18, 1861 ; rea. July 3, 1862. 
Ist Lieut. Cyrus F. Jackson, Owosso ; com. July 4, 1802; 2d lieut. Nov. 18, 1861 ; 

res. Aug. 2, 1864; maj. IStli U. S. Col. Troops. 
Charles II. Allen, veteran, eul. Jan. 4, 1864. 
William n. Adams, veteiau, enl. Jan. 4, 1864. 
Armead Botf-furd, must, out July 18, 1865. 
Beiijauiin E. Craudall, disch. Oct. 30, 1802. 

John H. Hays, veteran, eul. Jan. 4, 1804 ; must, out July 18, 1805. 
John Huy, luiist. out July 18, 1805. 

Henry King, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Walter Laing, died of 'disease at Evausville, lud., Sept. 16, 1862. 
Charles McCarthy, disch. for disability, July 17, 1862. 
Aaron Martin, discli. for disability, June 18, 1863. 
Orman Millard, died of disease, Middleburg, Mich. 
William C. McFarren, veteian, Jan. 4, 1804. 
David McCarty, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864. 
W'illiam Price, discli. at end of service, Feb. 2, 1865. 
John Ilichmouils, disch. for disability, Jan. 15, 1864. 
Sidney Smith, disch. for disability, Oct. 13, 18(,3. 
Peter Skutt, veteran, eul. Jan. 4, 1864; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Francis Summer, veteran, Jan. 4, 1804. 

William U. Shaffer, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Edwin K. Scott, veteran, Jan. 4, 1804. 

Company E. 

Capt. Edward S. Sinionds,Shiawaasee ; com. July 7, 1865; 2d lieut. Sept. 1, 1804; 

sergt.; must, out July 18, 1865. 
1st Lieut. C. C. Goodalc, Owosso; com. Nov. 1861; res. March 30, 1803. 
2d Lieut. Daniel Wait, Owosso; com. Nov. IS, 1861 ; rea. Feb. 4, 1803. 
Sergt. Edward S. Simonds, Owosso; enl. Kov. 0, 1861; veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; 

pro. to 2d lieut. 
Sergt. Henry Deuiiiig, Scioto ; enl. Dec. 4, 1S61. 

Sergt. Evan Roberts, Antrim ; enl. Nov. 28, 1861 ; disch. Jan. 22, 1863. 
Corp. Lasello C. Brewer, Owosso; enl. Dec. 2, 1861; disch. at end of service, 

Marcli 14, 1865. 
Corp. Robert C. Kyle, Owosso; enl. Dec. 21, 1801; disch. July 15, 1802. 
Corp. Beiij. F. Stevens, Owosso; enl. Dec. 21, 1861 ; disch. Feb. 16, 1B03. 
John Q. Adams, disch. Dec. 30, 1862. 
Edwin Bolslord, disch. Jan. 6, 1863. 
Ebenezer Brewer, disch, for disability, July 10, 1862. 
Beiijamiii Bagley, disch. Nov. 21, ls02. 
Jacob Bunch, disch. Oct. 17, 1862. 

John H. Barnes, disch. for promotion in 23d Regt., Aug. 11, 1802. 
Jacob Byerly, died of disease, Aug. 21, 1802. 

Leonard Black, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864 ; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Mathew Coif, disch. Oct. 10, 1862. 
George Clark, disch. for disability, April 17, 1802. 
Leviiius Coll', disch. for disability, July 15, 1802. 
Marcus Coif, disch. for disabilily, July 25, 1863. 
Ezra Dibble, disch. for disability, July 8, 1863. 
Byron A. Dunn, disch. for disability, July 8, 1863. 
Samuel C. Decker, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 
William B. Dunbar, veteran, Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Jacob De Forest, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864. 

Jesse Fleming, veteran, Jan. 4, 1804 ; must, out July 18, 1865, 
John Foil', died of disease at Andersouville, Ga. 
W illiam (iull, ditch at end of service, March 14, 1865. 
Jotliaiii Iliiiit, ilisch. for promotion. May 17, 1803. 
Charles S. Harris, disch. for disability, Oct. 18, 1802, 
Natlianiel Hyde, disch. for disability, July 22, 1802. 
\V'llliani Hill, died of disease at luka, Miss., Sept. 5, 1862, 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTOX COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Welles J. Haynes, veteran, Miu'ch .'il, 18G4 ; must, out July 18, 18G5. 

Albert C. Johnson, veteran, Jan. 4, 1S(14 ; must, out July 18, 1865. 

Valoit H. Morse, veteran, Jan. 4, 1SG4 ; must, out July 18, ISGo. 

Thomas Munger, veteran, March :il, IStU. 

Norman McLenithan, disch. March Id, 1803. 

Peter McNolly, disch. for disuMlity, July 1. 18fi2. 

llusten Waiiew, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1S65. 

Nuthau Monroe, (Usch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 

William B. Monroe, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 

Mason Phelps, disch. Sept. IG, 18G2. 

lanipl ParBhall, disch. Jan. 4, 1863. 

Ini .A. Polity, died at Colnmhia, Tenn., Nov. 18, 1863. 

William Steen, dicl of dist-ase at Ovvosso, Mich., June 15, 1^62- 

John Seevoord, died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 26, 18G2, 

Daniel D. See, diet! of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 15, 18G2, 

George Swimen, disch. for disahility, Oct. 10. 18C2. 

John W. Simpson, disch. for disability, July 25, 18G3. 

AVilliam Sargent, disch. for disability, June IG, 18G3. 

George AV. Smith, disch. Sept. 14. 1SG2. 

Edward Sanfurd. disch. Nov. 18, 18G2. 

Allen Tt-mplor, disch. April 2ii, 1863. 

Chark-s Teiwilliger, disch. by order, Jan. 3, 1803. 

Dor Tillotson, vi-teraii, Jan.4, 1SG4; must, out July IS, 180.'i. 

William Wiera, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 10, 1863. 

Everett Woodbury, disch. at end of service, Nov. 10, 18G3. 

Company H, 
Owen Miller, disch. to onl. in regular service. 
Company I, 
A7.;iriah Fitch, disch. Aug. 22, 18G2. 
Caleb Hall, disch. Aug. 2, 1862. 

Compaiiij K. 

Sergt. Thomas Crane, Owosso, enl. Dec. 7, 18G1 ; died of wounds at Nashville, 

Tenu., Nov. 9, 1SG2. 
John Buck, disch. March 18, 18G3. 

James E. Crane, died of disease at luka. Miss., Oct. 21, iSg2. 
Allen Davis, died of dist-ase at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 10, 1SG2. 
John G. Delliimater, veteran, Jan. 4, 1861. 
Peter Giirrison, veteran, Jan. 4, 18G4. 

Josi'ph Guyer, veteran, Jan. 4, 18G4; must, out July 18, 1SG5. 
Willi. im Garrison, disch. at end of service, Feb. 13, 18G5. 
Richard Odoll, di*?ch. 

William D. Piatt, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; must, out July 18, 18G5. 
Andruw Scott, discli. Aug. 29, 1864. 

Oliver B. Van Doran, veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; disch. by order, July 20, 1865. 
John W. Wester, disch. for disability, Dec. 17, 1862. 

CLINTON COUNTY SOLDIERS IN THE FOURTEENTET. 
Company A. 
Ira Armstrong, discli. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 
Nelson Brown, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 28, 18G2. 
William Hotaling, disch. Aug. 2o, 18G2. 

Olney H. K.chmond, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 18C4; disch. hy order, July 20, 18G5. 
William W. Thayer, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1SG4; died in actioTi at Bentonville, 

N. C. March 19, 1865. 
Perry Watkins, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., April 15, 1863. 

Company C. 
James Barrett, veteran, enl. Jan. 3, 1864 ; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Francis Hinton, died of disease at Cincinnati, Ohio, June 25, 1862. 

Cumpainj D. 
Iftt Lii'Ut. Sylvanus Bachelder, Bath ; com. March 14,1865; pro. to 2d lieut. 

Dec. 2a, 18G4; must, out July 18, 18G5. 
Sergt. Sylvanus Bachelder, Bath ; enl. Nov. 30, 1861 ; veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; pro, 

to 2d lieut. 
Corp. Tbcron Wead, Eagle; enl. Dec. 3, 1861 ; disch. Aug. 27, 1863. 
George Barnum, disch. March 26, 18G3. 
Berij. Lyman, disch. for disability, June 18, 18G3, 
John A. Bixi.y, disch. Oct. 13, 1S62. 
Ezra Benjamin, disch. by order, Juno 13,1865, 
Jotuilhan Burke, died of disease at Ypsilanti, Midi., Jan. 19, 1862. 
Samuel Carl, disch, for disability, April IG, 1802. 
George S. Culver, disch. by order. May 20, 1865. 
Stephen B. Crane, disch. at end of service, April G, 1SG5. 
William II. Clark, disch. at end of service, April 11, 18C5. 
Jacob S. Clark, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; must. out July 18, 1865. 
Jared De Bar, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 18G4; must, out July 18, 1865. 
William W. Fenton, disch. July 24, 1862. 
George W. Howe, disch. Feb. 10, 1863. 
Napoleon B. Howe, disch. Oct. 8,18G2. 

Hanford I!. Hawley, disch. at end of service, April 11, 1865. 
Jonathan Henderson, veteran, enl. Jan. 4. 1864. 

John ». Morgan, veteran, enl.. Ian. 4, 1864; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Samuel McKibbin, died of disease at Ypsilanti, April 16, 18G2. 



Levi M.organ, died of disease in New York harbor, April 16, 1865. 

Henry W. Newsom, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 

Juhu Sinclair, disch for disability, April IG, 1SG2. 

John E. Swe-'t, disch. Dec. 10, 1862. 

Judson Smith, disch. 

Wilfurd N. Scadin, disch. at end of senice, ftlarch 14, 1865. 

Andrew Sockengor, dieil of disease at Farmington, Miss., Aug. 2, 1862. 

Ansel Stevens, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 19, 18G2. 

William Showerman, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 18Gi; died in action at Atlanta, Ga., 

Aug. 7, 1864. 
Alfred Sprague, must, out July 18, 18G5. 
Harlan P. Towner, must, out July 18, 18G5. 

William P. Tromhly, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 18G4; must, out July 18, 18G5. 
Herman V. Trombly, vetemn. enl. Ja:n. 4, 1864; disch. by order, July 25,1865. 
Richard Thorp, disch. by order, Sept. 18, 1865. 
Samuel Talnian, discli. f.>r disability, Feb. 11, 1865. 
Joshua Thuma, died of disease at Big Springs, Miss., June 26, 1862. 

Company E, 
2d Lieut. William II. Shiffer, St. John's, com. July 7, 1865; must, out July 18» 

1865. 
Oliver D. Beebe, disch. Sept. 14, 1802. 

Hezokiah Marcy, died of disease near Farmington, Miss., July .17, 18G2. 
William A. Mainh, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864. 

Company F. 
Corp. Ferdinand Plalte, Westphalia; enl. Oct. 14, 1861 ; re-enl. as veteran, Jan. 

4, ISGl; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Anthony Ainst, disch. at end <)f service, March 14, 18G5. 
Henry Amerlu-ini, disch. at end of service, March 14, 18G5. 
Fi'ancis Blondy, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 
John Baker, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1SC4; disch. by order, July 19, IS65. 
Peter Fox, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; must, out July 18, 18G5. 
Sibres Miller, lUsch. for disability, Aug. Hi, 1SG2. 
Peter Pung, disch. at end of service, March 14, 1865. 
Henry Roclial, veteran, enl. Feb. 5, 1864; died in a-'tion in North Carolina, 

March 19, 1865. 
Peter Siindy, died of di^^ease in Mississippi, Aug. 20, 18G2, 
Timothy Serge, trane. to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 10, 18G5. 
Jacob Stenkle, must, out July 18, 1865. 
Anthony WVrtz, disch. for disability, July 10, 1SG2. 
Anthony Wehr, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; disch. July 19, 18G5. 

Company H. 
Henry Myers, disch. Oct. 1, 1862. 

Company K. 

Ciipt. John Kelly, Westphalia; com. Nov. 18, 1861 ; res. June 4, 18G3. 

1st Lieut. Clias. B. Rose, Westphalia ; com. Nov. 18, 1861 ; died of disease at 
Fiirmington, itiss., June 11, 18G2. 

Corp. Edward Brass, Diiplain ; enl. Dec. 13, 1861 ; died of disease at Farming- 
ton, Miss., July 18, 1SG2. 

Corp. David Looniis. Victor ; enl. Nov. 8, ISGl ; disch. April 24, 1863. 

Corp. Samuel Kinney, Greenbnsli ; enl. Dec. 13, 18G1; veteran, Jan.4, 1SG4 ; 
absent on fuiluugh on muster out. 

Corp. Martin C. JJyers, Eagle ; enl. Dec. 31, 1861 ; veteran, Jan. 4, 1864 ; died 
in action in Georgia, July 6, 18G4, 

Sergt. John Sly, Bengal; enl. Nov. 19, 18GI; veteran, Jau. 4, 1864; must, out 
July 18, 1865. 

Wallace Anthony, disch. Dec 9, 1862. 

Talman Beardsley, disch. for disability, July 1, 1862, 

Wm. H. Barnes, died of disease in Ohio, Jan. 31, 1SG5. 

Edwin Baldwin, veteiun, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18, 1865. 

Samuel S. Bennett, must, out July 18, 1865. 

Fredk. Carpenter, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 18G4; must, out July 18, 1865. 

Jacob Cook, must, out July IS, 1865. 

Michael Cook, must, out July 18,1865. 

Charles Calkins, disch. for disability, July 23, 1862. 

Jacob L. Doud, died of disease May 29, 1802. 

Franklin Fish, died of disease, March 25, 18G2. 

Zuriel Fish, disch. for disability, March 1, 1802. 

John Fisler, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; disch. by order. May 15, 1865. 

Deander Ferris, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864 ; disch. by order, Aug. 1, 18(i5. 

Jasper Harrington, disch. for disability, July 24, 1802. 

Richard Jones, disch. for disability, July 1, 1862. 

Robert M. Junes, veteian, enl. Jan. 4, 18G4 ; must out July 18, 1865. 

Marshall T. Kjte, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18,1865. 

David Loomis, disch. April '.^4, 1S03. 

Mathias Miller, must, out July 18, 1865. 

John Morolf, must, out July 18, 1805. 

Henry Murphy, veteran, enl. Jau. 4, 18G4; must, out July 18, 1865. 

Jeptha Owen, disch. for disability, Sept. 8, 1862. 

Oscar Peck, disch. for disability, Feb. 15, 18G2. 

Homer Parks, disch. for disability, July 10, 1862, 

Orrin Parks, disch. Jau. 8,1863. 

Wm. H. Parka, died of disease at Detroit, Aug. 5, 1862. 

Albert Passage, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; died in action in Georgia, July 5, 
1865. 



TWEiNTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 



75 



Alpheua Passage, discli. for disability, March 22, 18G5. 

Thos. RiclinvnJ, died of d'srase, TMarcli 12, 1802. 

Clias. Robinson, died of disi'ase at Big Springs, Miss.. Jnly 16, 1802. 

Edward Rjiby, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, lsr.4; mu-t. out July 18, 18C5. 

Thos. Shaw, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, ISC4 ; died in action at Jonesboro', Ga., Sept. 

1,1804. 
Henry Sliiffer, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804 ; pro. to 2d lieut. Co. E. 
Caleb Silvers, veteran, enl Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18, 1SC5. 
Richard Silvers, disch. for disability, July 15, 1862. 
John Shook, veteran, enl. Feb. 9, 1SC4; discli. by order, July 29, 1865. 
John Spears, discli. Dec. 4, 1802. 

Belton Soper, discli. at end of service, March 14, 1865, 
Nicholas Schernish, disch. by order, June 8, 1865. 
Jerry Sullivan, died of disease in Indiana, July IT, 1862. 
John Sly, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; must, out July 18, 1R6.5. 
Moses R. Tuttle, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, lSli4; died on tlie held, .Inly 5, 1804. 
Marvin Thomas, veteran, eul. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18, 1805. 
Henry H. Tillapaugh, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out July 18, 1865. 
Thos. Ulrich, died of disease at Nashville, Oct. 19, 1802. 
David B. Wheeler, disch. for disability, July lU, 1802. 
Chas. S. Wise, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; disch. by order, July 26, 1805. 



CHAPTER XI. 

TWENTY-THIHD INFANTRY". 

Rendezvous and Organization at E.ast Saginaw — Service in Kentucky 
and Ohio — March to East Tennessee and Campaign in that Section 
— The Georgia Campaign — Pursuit of Hood — Battles of Columbia, 
Franklin, and Nashville — Transfer to the East and Service in North 
Carolina — End of the War and Return Home. 

The Twenty-third Regiment was made up of men from 
the counties composing the Sixth Congressional District, 
and was raised and organized in the summer of 1862 under 
the President's call for volunteers, Issued on the 2d of 
July, immediately after the close of the Seven Days' bat- 
tles on the Virginia peninsula. The regimental rendezvous 
was established at East Saginaw, and D. H. Jerome, Esq., 
was designated as commandant of the camp of instruction 
and organization. 

In this regiment the county of Clinton was represented 
by one full company under command of Capt. (now General) 
O. L. Spaulding, and another company (under Capt. Henry 
Walbridge) of which very nearly all the members were from 
Clinton. 

Shiawassee County furnished for the Twenty-third a i'uU 
company under command of Capt. John Carland,* of 
Coruuua, and besides the above-mentioned companies sev- 
eral others of the regiment contained men from Shiawassee 
and Clinton Counties. 

The headfjuarters of both the Clinton companies were 
at the village of St. John's. The first enlistment in Capt. 
Spaulding's company was made on the lijili of July, and 
on the Gth of August it had attained the minimum strength 
necessary for muster. Soon afterwards it was reported at 
the East Saginaw rendezvous, and was incorporated in the 
regiment ;is ('ompany A, with William Sickles as its first 
and James Travis as second lieutenant. 

Capt. Spaulding had been assisted in the recruiting of 
his company by Henry Walbridge, with the expectation 
that the latter would be made its first lieutenant, but when 
it became apparent that many more than enough men to 

* Capt. Carland was afterwards major of the regiment, and is now 
an officer in the Sixth United States Infantry. 



fill one company could be obtained here he commenced the 
formation of a sefcond company, which was filled without 
much difficulty, and he became its captain, with Stephen 
J. Wright as first and Alonzo 0. Hunt as second lieu- 
tenant. This company was designated as G company of 
the Twenty-third. 

The Shiawassee company was recruited by Capt. Carland, 
1st Lieut. Benjamin F. Briscoe, and 2d Lieut. Marvin 
Miller, who were its original officers. In the organization 
of the Twenty-third this became Company H. The regi- 
ment was mustered into the United States service on the 
13th of September, 18G2, with eight hundred and eighty- 
three officers and men under command of Col. Marshall W. 
Chapin. The regimental surgeon was Dr. Louis Fasquelle, 
of St. John's. 

When the Twenty-third Regiment left East Saginaw for 
the theatre of war it moved by detachments. The first of 
these — composed of Coinptinies C, H, and K — broke camp 
in the morning of September 17th, and were transported on 
the cars of the Flint and Pere Marquette Railway to Mount 
Morris, which was then the southern terminus of the road ; 
and thence were moved across the country, by way of Flint, 
to the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, over which they 
proceeded by train to Detroit. On the following day the 
remaining companies left the rendezvous, and moved by the 
same route to Detroit, where they arrived in the evening, 
and all were hospitably entertained by the patriotic citizens. 
With but little delay the ten companies were embarked on 
steamers, which landed them at Cleveland the next morn- 
ing, the weather being rainy and dismal, and the condition 
of the men anything but comfortable. From Cleveland, 
the regiment moved by rail across the State of Ohio to 
Cincinnati, whence, after a stop of some hours, it again 
proceeded by railroad, and on Sunday morning, September 
21st, reached JeSersonviile, Ind., on the north bank of the 
Ohio River, opposite Louisville, Ky. In the afternoon of 
the same day the command moved to " Camp Gilbert," 
near by, and that night, for the first time, the tired men of 
the Twenty-third slept upon the soldier's bed, — the bosom 
of mother earth. 

The city of Louisville was at that time in a panic-stricken 
condition on account of the reported approach of the rebel 
general S. B. Buckner, with a strong Confederate force. 
In consequence of this, many people were leaving their 
homes in the city and crossing to the north side of the 
river. Large quantities of government stores were also 
being transferred to the Indiana side, by order of the gen- 
eral then in command at Louisville. The Twenty-third 
was placed on duty, guarding the public property and ferry 
landings at JeflFersonville, and remained so employed for 
two days and nights, at the end of which time it crossed 
the river and camped in the southwestern suburbs of Louis- 
ville. Here the situation of the men was not the most 
comfortable, and it was made worse by their almost com- 
plete ignorance of the methods by which veteran soldiers 
manage to force something like comfort out of the most 
unfavorable surroundings. A few hours later they were 
ordered to move to another camping-place, and while on 
their way thither they passed a brigade or division of the 
army of Gen. Buell, which had then just entered the city 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



after a fatiguing forced march from Nashville in pursuit of 
the Southern army under Gen. Bragg. As the Twenty- 
tliird marched past the dusty and battle-scarred veterans of 
Shiloh, Farmington, and luka, tlie latter indulged (as vet- 
erans are apt to do) in many a sneer at the expense of the 
fresh troops, few of whom had yet heard the whistle of a 
hostile bullet. An officer of the Twenty-third* says of this 
incident : " The contrast of their dirty, tattered, and torn 
garments with our men was a matter of much comment. 
We were surprised that they jeeringly hinted at our green- 
ness and inferiority, which a few months' experience in 
marches and on battle-fields would change. In time we 
learned that they had not been mistaken in their estimate 
of our relative merits as soldiers." 

The camp to which the regiment was moved at this time 
will be well recollected by those who occupied it as " the 
brick -yard camp," a dreary and comfortless place, where the 
command remained without tents or other shelter until the 
afternoon of the .3d of October, when the Thirty-eighth 
Brigade (Army of the Ohio), composed of the One Hun- 
dred and Second and One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio, 
One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Illinois, and Twenty-third 
Michigan, all under uommand of Gen. Dumont, marched 
away from Louisville, on the road to Shelbyville, Ky. The 
weather was very hot, the road dusty, water almost impos- 
sible to obtain, and the men, not having yet learned the 
meaning of " light marching order," were overloaded with 
the cumbrous outfits which they brought froiu home ; so 
that when, late at night, they halted on the bank of a muddy 
stream known as " Floyd's Fork," the exhausted and foot- 
sore troops were glad enough to lie down upon the ground, 
with no shelter but their blankets, and no thought but that 
of rest from the fatigues of this, their first severe march. 
Late the next morning they arose stiff and sore in every 
joint, and soaked with the rain which was still falling. 
Coffee was made from the muddy water of the stream, in 
which hundreds of mules were stamping and wallowing. 
The rations were neither very good nor plentiful, but these 
were on this occasion supplemented by supplies taken from 
a mansion which stood near by, and from which the occu- 
pants had fled on the approach of the troops. " The sol- 
diers, impressed with the idea that all food, raiment, and 
other movables found in the enemy's country belonged to 
Uncle Sam's elect, proceeded to ransack the premises, 
bringing off meat, meal, vegetables, sauces, honey, jellies, 
preserves, and some pretty good stock for the stable, — a 
portion of which we recognized the next spring grazin"- in 
Michigan." 

From Floyd's Fork the regiment moved early in the follow- 
ing morning towards Shelbyville, which was reached the same 
evening, and the Twenty-third encamped in the vicinity of 
the village. Here the brigade remained until the morning 
of October 9th, when it moved through the villnge and on 
towards Frankfort, arriving in the neighborhood of that 
town the .same night, the advance-guard of the force having 
already entered the city after a skirmish with the cavalry 
of the enemy, who had succeeded in destroying the fine 



«- Ciipt. W. A. Lewis, of the Twenty-third, from whom all the quo- 
tutiuua in this sketch (unless utherwise noted) are made. 



bridge of the Lexington and Frankfort Railroad, and had 
attempted the destruction of the turnpike-bridge, but had 
been driven away before accomplishing it. 

Large numbers of negroes had fallen in with the column 
on its march from Louisville to Frankfort. Some of these 
had engaged as servants to the officers, but the greater part 
of them were following the troops without any definite ob- 
ject that was apparent. So numerous were the dusky 
crowds that " there were found among them the names or 
lineal descendants of every prominent general in the rebel 
army." A considerable number of Kentucky horses had 
also " fallen in" on the line of march, and were being ridden 
by officers and privates; but " on arrival at Frankfort there 
came for these a host of claimants, and the day was one of 
reckoning for those in whose possession they were found." 
A court-martial was instituted, and held a protracted session 
at Frankfort. " It must have made sad havoc among the 
Wolverines but for the fact that our fighting companion, 
Capt. Walbridge, who rode the best captured steed into the 
town on that eventful morning (October 10th), was the 
honored judge-advocate in the court." 

With the exception of an expedition in pursuit of the 
guerrilla chief, John Morgan, the Twenty-third remained at 
Frankfort thirteen days. It was at this time under com- 
mand of Maj. B. F. Fisher, the colonel being in command 
of the brigade, and Lieut. -Col. Pratt being absent. It was 
while the regiment laid at this place that the death oc- 
curred of Lieut. John Earle, of" E" company, on Sunday, 
Oct. 19, ] 8G2. His remains were sent home to Michigan in 
charge of Sergt. Lyons, and at about the same time the regi- 
ment received the sad news of the death of Capt. Norville, 
of fever, at Saginaw City, October 3d. 

At a little past midnight on the morning of the day of 
Lieut. Earle's death, the men of the Twenty-third were 
startled from their sleep by the thrilling sound of the " long 
roll," and at one o'clock a.m. they were marching rapidly 
away in pursuit of the redoubtable Morgan, who was re- 
ported to be at Luwrenceburg. Two companies of the 
regiment, however (G and K), were left as guard at 
Frankfurt. The pursuing column was, almost as a matter 
of course, a little too late to overtake the main body of 
Morgan's force, but succeeded in capturing a few men and 
horses belonging to his rear-guard, and with these trophies 
the command returned the same evening to the camp at 
Frankfort, having marched twenty-six miles under the 
usual disadvantages of choking dust and great scarcity of 
water. 

The regiment took its final departure from Frankfort late 
in the afternoon of the 21st of October, and encamped that 
night in an oak grove, a few miles down the road towards 
Lawrenceburg. On the following day it passed through 
that town, and made its camp for the night at Big Spring, 
some miles farther on. The weather had suddenly grown 
cold, and many of the men suffered for need of the blankets, 
which had been foolishly thrown away as incumbrances in 
the heat and dust of previous marches. In the morning 
of the 23d the Kentucky hills and vales were white with 
hoar frost. The regiment was early in line, and during 
this day's march passed through Harrodsburg. Here the 
men were not permitted to make a free exploration of the 



TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 



town, on account of their rather damaginir record as indis- 
criminate foragers. Ahout noon of the 24th they passed 
throuuh the little village of Perry villc, in the outskirts of 
which the armies of Buell and Bragg had fought the battle 
of Chaplin Hills, sixteen days before, many of the Union 
and Confederate wounded from tliat engagement being still 
in the village, and in the farm house hospitals of the vi- 
cinity. That night the weary men of the Twenty-third 
made their bivouac on the banks of an abundant and toler- 
ably clear stream of water, called the Rolling Fork. In 
the march of the following day, this stream was crossed 
and recrossed many times in its meanderings, and late in 
the day the regiment reached the little half-burned village 
of Bradfordsville. The latter part of the day's march had 
been made in a cold, drenching rain, which, as night fell, 
turned to snow, and on the following morning (Sunday, 
October 2Gth) the Arctic covering lay six inches deep over 
the ground. This was considered a remarkable event for 
that latitude, and it brought remembrances of their Northern 
homes to the minds of many whose eyes would never again 
look upon the whitened expanse of the Michigan hills and 
valleys. During all that Sabbath day the tired men en- 
joyed a season of rest and recreation around their comforta- 
ble camp fires, and while they rested the snow disappeared, 
so that their march of the following day was over bare 
roads, but free from tormenting dust. In the evening of 
the 27th the brigade arrived at New Market, Ky., where 
several commands of the rearguard of Buell's army were 
found encamped, and where the Twenty-third and its com- 
panion regiments also wont into camp and remained for 
eight days, engaged in recuperation, drill, and the prepara- 
tion of muster-rolls, to be used upon a payday which all 
hoped might come in the near future. 

The Twenty-third again moved forward with its brigade 
on the 4th of November, and on the following day it passed 
through Munfordsville, where a Union force of ten thousand 
men lay encamped. On the 6th it reached Dripping Springs, 
where it remained one day, and in the afternoon of the 8th 
arrived at Bowling Green, Ky.,a town which " had the ap- 
pearance of having been visited by pestilence, famine, and 
the besom of destruction," as was remarked by some of the 
oiEcers of the Twenty-third. " A large rebel force had 
wintered there, and remained until driven out by the Union 
forces under Gen. Mitchell, and they had made of the 
whole visible creation one common camping-ground." This 
place was destined to be the homo of the regiment for a 
period of more than six months. Its camp (which was 
afterwards transformed into substantial and comfortable 
winter quarters) was pitched near the magnificent railroad- 
bridge crossing the Big Barren River, and the guarding of 
this bridge formed a part of the duty of the regiment during 
the winter of 1862-63 ; its other duties being camp rou- 
tine, drill, picket, provost, and railway guard, and the con- 
voying of railroad trains of stores over the road from 
Bowling Green to Nashville. While here the Twenty- 
third, with its brigade, formed part of the Tenth Division 
of the Army of the Cumberland, and they were successively 
under command of Gens. Granger, Manson, and Judah, as 
commandants of the po.st during the six months that they 
remained here. 



Many notable events — some pleasant, some painful, and 
others ludicrous — occurred in the history of the regiment 
during its long stay at Bowling Green. Near the town was 
a pleasure-ground, many acres in extent, with a magnificent 
spring of clear cold water in its centre. This seems to have 
been a favorite resort for both citizens and soldiers, and we 
are told that " here, upon many a happy occasion, the beauty 
and the chivalry of Bowling Green, and many inveterate 
Yankees, assembled to enjoy the scene of unequaled hilarity 
and mirth." It was several times the case that snow fell to 
a sufficient depth for sleighing, and those opportunities for 
pleasures were improved to the utmost. Private entertain- 
ments, too, were sometimes given by the citizens, and 
" there ware, in several instances, strong indications of at- 
tachments between some of the boys in blue and the fair 
damsels of Bowling Green. . . . These were oases in the 
dreary Saliara of the war." On the morning of the mo- 
mentous 1st of January, 1863, the artillery on College Hill 
fired a salute, which was afterwards changed to target prac- 
tice ; and during a part of the time of its continuance the 
camp of the Twenty-third Michigan seems to have been the 
target, for several solid shots were thrown into it, doing some 
damage to quarters, and creating no little consternation. 
This was the first time the regiment had been actually under 
fire. 

On the (ith of April, 1863, occurred one of the most dis- 
tressing events in the experience of the regiment at Bow- 
ling Green. This was the sudden death of Lieut.-Col. 
Pratt. He had mounted a powerful and restive horse, but 
was scarcely seated in the saddle when the fiery animal 
plunged and reared so violently as to fall backwards upon 
the colonel, crushing and killing him instantly. He was a 
good and popular officer, and was sincerely mourned by the 
men and officers of the regiment. 

Upon the death of Lieut.-Col. Pratt, Maj. O. L. Spauld- 
ing (who had been advanced to that rank to fill the vacancy 
caused by the resignation of M:ij. B. F. Fisher, February 
3d) was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty- 
third, dating from the day of the gallant Pratt's death. 
From that time until the close of the war Col. Spaulding 
was almost constantly in command of the regiment. 

When spring had fairly opened, it began to be rumored 
that the troops occupying Bowling Green would soon be 
moved from there and enter active service. The men of 
the Twenty third Michigan did not regret this probability 
of a change, for although their experience there had been 
in some respects as pleasant as any which soldiers in time 
of war have a right to expect, yet they had been terribly 
reduced in numbers by sickness while there, and it was be- 
lieved that this evil would be aggravated by the coming of 
warm weather. Besides, they had grown tired of the mo- 
notonous duty which they were called on to perform here, 
and were, as soldiers almost always are, inclined to wish for 
a change. About the 20tli of May orders were received to 
make all preparations for a movement, and to hold the com- 
mands in readiness for the march ; and on the 29th of the 
same month the regiment broke camp, and moved with its 
brigade on the road to Glasgow, Ky., which point was 
reached on the 30th, and here the Twenty-third remained 
until the 13th of June, when it was ordered in pursuit of a 



78 



HISTORY OF SlilAWASSEK AND CLIiNTGN COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



force of guerrillas, said to be at Randolph, about twelve miles 
distant. Almost as a matter of course notliing resulted 
from this expedition, and the regiment returned to Glasgow 
on the 16th, after a most severe and exhausting march. 
On the 22d it again moved, with Manson's brigade, to 
Scottsville; thence, on the 26th, to Tompkinsvillc ; and, 
July 4th, back to Glasgow. Here, however, it made little 
stay, but marched out (now in full pursuit of John Mor- 
gan) to Munfordsville, reaching there July 7th, then to 
Elizabethtown and Louisville by rail, reaching the latter 
city on the 1 1th. Morgan was now reported across the 
Ohio River, in Indiana. The Twenty-third, as part of the 
command of Gen. Judah, crossed to New Albany, Ind., but, 
making little stop there, proceeded to Jeffersonvillo, and 
thence up the river by steamer, passing' Madison, Ind., on 
the 12th, and reaching Cincinnati in the evening of the 
K'th ; its brigade being the first to reach that city. From 
Cincinnati the fleet (on which was the Twenty-third, with 
the other regiments under command of Gen. Judah) passed 
up the river to Maysville, Concord, and Portsmouth, Ohio, 
at which latter place they remained until July 20th, when 
they returned to Cincinnati, and disembarked the troops. 
From there the Twenty-third Regiment, under command 
of Lieut.-Col. Spaulding, — and unaccompanied b}' any other 
troops, — was transported by railroad to Chillicothe, and 
thence to Hamden Junction, where it encamped for ii few 
days. Within the camp-ground of the regiment at this 
place there remained a rude rostrum, from which, on a 
previous occasion, the notorious Vallandigham had set forth 
his peculiar views to the population of Southern Ohio. But 
now the same ro.strum was occupied by the chaplain of the 
Twenty-third, the Rev. J. S. Smart, who most eloquently 
" consecrated it to the cause of freedom, while the regiment 
made the welkin ring with shouts for liberty and the 
Union." 

The pursuit of Morgan had now ceased, for the forces of 
that daring leader had already been driven from Ohio, ex- 
cept such as had been destroyed or captured. The regi- 
ment soon after this returned to Cincinnati, and after a 
short delay moved (under orders delivered by Gen. Burn- 
side in per.son to Col. Spaulding) across the Ohio to Cov- 
ington, and thence by rail to Paris, Ky., where Lieut.-Col. 
Young, with two companies of the One Hundred and 
Eighteenth Ohio, was threatened by a superior force of 
Confederate cavalry, commanded by the rebel general 
Pegram. The Twenty-third reached Paris on the 29th of 
July, just at the close of a brisk fight, which had been 
brought on by an attempt on the part of Pegram to destroy 
an important railway-bridge at that point. The opportune 
arrival of the Twenty third prevented any further attempt 
by the enemy to burn the bridge, and doubtless ahso saved 
the force of Lieut.-Col. Young from a second attack and 
not improbable capture. The conduct of the regiment in 
this affair was most creditable to its commander, Lieut.-Col. 
Spaulding, and to all the officers and men under him. 

The regiment remained at Paris until the 4th of August, 
when it moved, by way of Lexington and Louisville, to 
Lebanon, Ky., and thence to New Market, where it arrived 
on the 8th of August, and was incorporated with the 
Second Brigade, Second Division, of the Twenty-third 



Army Corps, then organizing at that point. In this or- 
ganization Col. Cliapin commanded the brigade (composed 
of the Twenty-third Michigan, the One Hundred and Elev- 
enth Ohio, the One Hundred and Seventh Illinois, and the 
Thirteenth Kentucky), and the Twenty-third remained 
under command of Lii'ut.-Col. Spaulding. 

Marching orders were received on the 16th of August, 
and at two P..M. on the following day the regiment, with its 
division, moved out and took up the long and weaiisome 
march for East Tennessee. The camp of that night was 
only seven miles out from New Market, on Owl Creek, 
where the command rested during all of the following day 
and night, but moved forward again at daybreak in the 
morning of the 19th, and camped that night on Greeu 
River. The march was resumed on the following morning, 
and two days later (August 22d) the regiment forded the 
Cumberland River and began to ascend the foot-hills of 
the Cumberland Mounlain.s. In the evening of the 25th 
it made its camp at Jamestown, the county-seat of Fentress 
Co., Tenn. 

On the 30th the command reached Montgomery, Tenn., 
where were Gens. Burnside and Hartsuff, with the main 
body of the army, commanded by the former officer. In 
passing through this little settlement "an enthusiastic old 
lady harangued the corps upon the glory of its mission, 
alternately weeping and shouting, invoking the blessings 
of heaven upon the troops, and pouring out volleys of 
anathemas upon the enemies of the country." 

On the 1st of September the men of the Twenty-third, 
having passed the gorges of the mountains, descended their 
soulheaslern slope to the valley of the Tennessee, and camped 
late at night on the right bunk of the Clinch River, a trib- 
utary of the larger stream. Fording the Clinch in the 
forenoon of the 2d of September, the coips marched for- 
ward and passed through Kingston, a considerable town of 
East Tennessee, near which the waters of the Clinch join 
those of the Holston and form the Tennessee River. The 
camp of the Twenty-third was pitched for the night about 
two miles beyond Kingston. At five o'clock in the morning 
of the 3d the troops were in line ready for the march, and 
then, for eight long weary hours, the Twenty-third Michi- 
gan and its companion regiments of the brigade waited for 
the order to move. At nine o'clock in the forenoon the 
brigade was formed in square four lines deep, and while 
standing in that formation was addressed by its commander, 
Gen. White, who read a dispatch just received from Gen. 
Burnside, announcing the capture of Knoxvilleby the Union 
forces. Gen. White then congratulated his command, and 
called on Col. Chapin of the Twenty-third for a speech. 
The colonel responded in an address, which being brief and 
comprehensive is given here entire. He said, " Boys, the 
general calls on me to make a speech. You know that I 
am not much of a speaker, and all I have to say is, that 
you've done d d well 1 Keep on doing so !' 

Long and loud acclamations greeted this vigorous ha- 
rangue ; then the brigade resumed its previous formation, 
and, after another tedious delay, moved out on the road to 
Loudon, which was reached early in the afternoon of Fri- 
day, September 4th. The enemy had hastily evacuated all 
the strong works which they had built at this place, but 



TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 



79 



had succeeded in destroying the great and important rail- 
road-bridge across the river. Here the brigade remained 
for about ten days. 

During the latter part of the march acrcss the mountains 
supplies had become so much reduced that rations of corn, 
in the ear, were issued to some of the troops, and after their 
arrival at Loudon this situation of affairs was but little im- 
proved until Tuesday, the Sth of September, when the first 
railroad-train reached the town from Knoxville, and was 
hailed with wild delight by the weary and hungry soldiers. 
Before this, however, their necessities had been partially 
relieved by repairing and putting in running order a grist- 
mill which the enemy had dismantled before his evacuation. 
The advance of the wagon-trains also came up at about tjie 
same time that the railroad was opened for use. 

At two o'clock in the morning of September 15th the men 
of the Twenty-third were roused from their slumbers to 
prepare for a march, and one hour later they wore moving 
on the road to Knoxville, twenty-eight miles distant. This 
march was performed with all possible speed, and lute in the 
afternoon the regiment bivouacked within a short distance of 
the capital of East Tennessee. The next morning it entered 
the city, but soon after proceeded by rail to Morristown, a 
distance of about forty miles. Only a short stay was made 
here, and on the 19th it returned to Knoxville, and went 
into camp at the railroad depot. The next day was the Sab- 
bath, and here, for the first time in months, the ears of the 
men were greeted by the sound of church-bells, and they 
passed the day in rest and quiet, little dreaming of the furi- 
ous battle that was then raging away to the southward, upon 
the field of Chickamauga, or of the rout and disaster to the 
Union arms which that day's sunset was to witness. 

At four o'clock IMonday morning the brigade took the 
road towards Loudon, and arrived there the same night. 
Here the regiment occupied a pleasant and elevated camp 
in a chestnut grove, and remained stationed at Loudon for 
about five weeks, engaged in picket duty and scouting, and 
during the latter part of the time frer|Uontly ordered into 
line of battle, and continually harassed by reports of the 
near approach of the enemy under Longstreet, who had 
been detached from the army of Bragg in Georgia, and was 
pressing northward with a heavy force towards Knoxville. 

This advance of Longstreet decided Gen. Burnside to 
retire his forces from Loudon, and on the 28th of October 
the place was evacuated; the Twenty-third Michigan being 
the last regiment to cross the pontoon-bridge, which was 
then immediately swung to the shore, and the boats loaded 
upon cars and sent to Knoxville. All this being accom- 
plished, the army moved to Lenoir, Tenn., and camped be- 
yond the town, the line of encampment extending many 
miles. The same night the camp-tires of the enemy blazed 
upon the hills of Loudon, which the Union forces had just 
evacuated. 

At the new camp on the Lenoir road the regiment re- 
mained until the 12th of November, when it moved with 
the army back to HuS's Ferry, wiiere a heavy engagement 
ensued, in which Col. Chapin's brigade (the Second of the 
Second Division, Twenty-third Army Corps) moved to the 
attack on the double-quick, and, after a severe fight against 



overwhelming odds, drove the rebels back for more than 
three miles. The enemy's force (consisting of three of 
Longstreet's veteran regiments) took up an apparently im- 
pregnable po.sition on a hill ; but the Second Brigade 
(Chapin's) charged the works promptly, and with such 
effect that in less than fifteen minutes the hill was cleared 
and the enemy in disorderly retreat. 

The next day after the battle the army retreated to 
Lenoir, the Second Brigade holding the most exposed po- 
sition in the column, that of rear-guard, to cover the re- 
treat. At Lenoir the camp equipage and transportation 
was destroyed, the teams turned over to the several bat- 
teries, and in the following morning the army continued its 
rapid march towards Knoxville. On the 16th the retreat- 
ing column was overtaken by the pursuing forces of Long- 
street at Campbell's Station, where a severe battle was 
fought, resulting in the repulse of the enemy and the re- 
tirement of the Union force in good order, but with a loss 
to the Twenty-third Regiment of thjrty-one killed and 
wounded. The part •.vhich this regiment and its brigade 
took in the engagement was mentioned in the Journal of 
Louisville, Ky., by a correspondent writing from the field, 
as follows : 

" One brigade of the Ninth Corps was in advance, the Sec- 
ond Brigade of the Twenty-third Corps in the centre, and one 
brigade of the Ninth Corps as rear-guard. The skirmish- 
ing was begun by the Ninth Corps forming in the rear of 
Gen. White's command, which formed in line to protect 
the stock, etc., as it passed to the rear, and to cover the 
retreat of the Ninth Corps, which was the rear-guard, and 
was to file past it. Again was the Second Brigade in posi- 
tion where it must receive the shock of battle, and must 
sustain more or less the honors already won. The arrange- 
ments for battle had hardly been completed before the 
cavalry came in from the front, followed by the infantry of 
the Ninth Corps, and two heavy lines of the enemy emerged 
from the woods three quarteis of a mile in front. Each 
line consisted of a division, and the men were dressed al- 
most wholly in the United States uniform, which at first 
deceived us. Their first line advanced to within eight 
hundred yards of Gen. White's front before that officer 
gave the order to fire. Henshaw's and the Twenty-fourth 
Indiana Batteries then opened on them with shell, but 
they moved steadily forward, closing up as their lines would 
be broken by this terrible fire, until within three hundred 
and fifty yards of our main line, when the batteries men- 
tioned opened on them witji canister, and four batteries in 
the rear and right and left of Gen. White opened on their 
rear line with shell. This was more than they could stand. 
Their front line broke and ran back some distance, where 
they reformed and deployed right and left, and engaged the 
Thirteenth Kentucky and Twenty-third Michigan on the 
right, and the One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio and the 
One Hundred and Seventh Illinois on the left, which were 
supported by Gen. Ferrero's command of the Ninth Corps. 
This unequal contest went on for an hour and a half The 
only advantage over them so far was in artillery, they not 
having any in position yet. It seemed to be their object 
to crush the inferior force opposing them with their heavy 
force of infantry. The men were too stubborn ; they would 



80 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



not yield an ineli, but frefnicndv drove tlic rebels from ibeir 
position and liolj their jjround. Finding: they could not 
move them with the force ahoady cmiiloycd, the rebels 
moved forward another line of infantry as heavy as either 
of the first two, and placed in position three batteries. 
Their <;uns were heavier and of lonirer range than those of 
tlie Second Brigade, and were posted so as to command Gen. 
White's position, while his guns could not answer their fire. 
They got the range of these guns at once, and killed and 
wounded several gunners and disabled several horses, when 
Gen. White ordered them back to the position occupied by 
those in the rear, the infantry holding the position covered 
by the artillery on the liill. An artillery fight tlien began, 
wliich continued nearly two hours till it was growing dark, 
and the order was given for our troops to fall back to re- 
sume the march to Knoxville." 

The Twenty-third with its brigade arrived at Knoxville 
a little before daylight in the morning of the 17th, after a 
march of twenty-eight miles without rest or food, and 
having fought for five hours, losing thirty-one killed and 
wounded, and eight missing. Then followed the memor- 
able siege of the city, which continued until the 5th of 
December, when the enemy retreated. In the operations 
of this siege the regiment took active and creditable part, 
and on the withdrawal of the forces of Longstreet it joined 
in the pursuit, though no important results were secured. 
The enemy having passed beyond reach, the regiment 
camped at Blain's Cross-Roads, December 13th, and re- 
mained until the 25th, when it was moved to Strawberry 
Plains. From the commeneeuient of the ratrcat to Knox- 
ville until its arrival at the Plains the situation and con- 
dition of the regiment Iiad been deplorable, for many of 
its men had been without blankets, shoes, or overcoats, and 
in this condition (being almost entirely without tents) they 
had been compelled to sleep in unsheltered bivouac in the 
storms and cold of the inclement season, and at the same 
time to subsist on rjuarter rations of meal, eked out by 
such meagre sujiplies as could be foraged from the country. 
The command remained at Strawberry Plains about four 
weeks, engaged upon the construction of fortifications, and 
on the 21st of January, 18G4, marched to the vicinity of 
Knoxville, where it was employed in picket and outpost 
duty until tlie middle of February, having during that 
time three quite sharp affairs with the enemy's cavalry 
(January 14th, 22d, and 27th), in the last of which seven 
men were taken prisoners and one mortally wounded. From 
this time until the opening of the spring campaign it was 
chiefly engaged in scouting, picket, and outpost duty, in 
which it was moved to several different points, among 
which were Strawberry Plains, New Market, Morristown, 
and Mossy Creek, at which last-named place it lay encamped 
on the 25th of April, 1864. 

At this time orders were received for the troops in East 
Tennessee to move at once, to join the forces of Gen. 
Sherman in the forward movement which afterwards be- 
came known as the campaign of Atlanta. Under these 
orders the Twenty-third with its companion regiments left 
Mossy Creek on the 26th of April and marched to Charles- 
ton, Tenn., from which place it moved out on the 2d of 
May and took the road to Georgia. In this campaign the 



regiment, under command of Col. Spaulding, was still a 
part of the Second Brigade (then under Gen. Hascall) of 
the Second (Judah's) Division of the Twenty-third Army 
Corp.s. Passing down the valley of the Tennessee, and 
thence up Chickainauga Creek, it reached the vicinity of 
Tunnel Hill on the 7th, and confronted the enemy at 
Rocky-Face Ridge, Ga., on the 8th of May, opening the 
fight on that day by advancing in skirmish-lino, and taking 
possession of a commanding crest in front of the hostile 
works. In the advance from Rocky-Face the regiment 
with its brigade passed through Snake Creek Gap, arrived 
in front of Resaca on the 13th, and on the following day 
took a gallant part in the itSsault on the enemy's strong 
works at that place. The result of this attack was a 
repulse of the attacking column and severe loss to the 
Twenty-third Michigan. The commanding officer of the 
regiment (Col. Spaulding), in his report of this engage- 
ment, said: "The assaulting column was formed in three 
lines; this regiment being in the second line, advancing 
over an open field, within easy rifle-shot of the enemy's 
position, under a terrible fire of musketry and artillery. 
The regiment in advance of the Twenty-third broke and 
was driven back, and the one in the rear followed them. 
We moved forward until we reached a deep creek which 
it was impossible to cross, and held our position until 
ordered back. In this advance the regiment lost sixty-two 
killed or wounded. Lieut. William C. Stewart was among 
the killed." All this severe loss (out of a total of not 
more than two hundred and fifty muskets which the regi- 
ment took into the fight) was sustained during only a few 
minutes of most desperate fighting. 

Resaca was one of the most memorable among the many 
bloody battles in which the Twenty-third showed conspicu- 
ous gallantry. Gen. John Robertson, Adjutant-General of 
Slichigan, says of it, "Although this reliable and model 
regiment acquitted itself with much celebrity in every en- 
counter with the enemy in which it was engaged, Campbell's 
Station, Resaca, Franklin, and Nashville will always be rec- 
ognized as prominent among its many hard-fought battles; 
and the memories of those fields, on which so much patri- 
otism and daring courage were evinced, will last while a 
soldier of that noble regiment lives." 

The enemy, though successful in repelling the as.sault on 
his works at Resaca, evacuated his position there and moved 
to the Etowah River, where his rear-guard was overtaken 
and slightly engaged by the Union pursuing force, of wliieh 
the Twenty-third Michigan formed a part. From this point 
the regiment moved on to Dallas and took a position in front 
of the rebel works at that place, where it remained from the 
27th of May until the 1st of June, and during this time 
was almost constantly enf,aged day and night in skirmish- 
ing with the advanced lines of the enemy. Again the rebel 
forces evacuated their strong position and moved south 
towards Atlanta, the Union troops pressing on in clo.se and 
constant pursuit, in which service the Twenty-third Regi- 
ment participated, and took part in the engagements at Lost 
Mountain, Ga., and Kenesaw Mountain, and at the crossing 
of the Chattahoochee River at Isham's Ford, on the 8th of 
July. It had been given out by the enemy that a most 
determined stand would be made on the Hue of this river, 



TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 



81 



and it was expected that the crossing at this place must be 
a bloody one. Gen. Schofield liad decided to attempt the 
passage of the river at about four o'clock in the afternoon 
of the 8th, and his plan was carried out successfully, and, 
contrary to expectation, without loss. From an account of 
this crossing, found in Moore's " Rebellion Record," and 
written by an officer who was present, the following extract 
is made : 

" On the morning of the 8th the Twenty-third Corps broke 
camp at an early hour, and directed its march eastward, 
aiming to strike the river at Isham's Ford, eight miles 
above the railroad-bridge. Headquarters moved out in ad- 
vance, and riding at a rapid pace with an old man, a resi- 
dent of the country, as a guide, we emerged suddenly from 
the thick forest out upon the brink of the river bluff's. . . . 
Moving a little farther down the bluff, a close reconnois- 
sance with the glasses discovered on top of the opposite 
hill, just in the edge of a newly-harvested wheat-field, a 
single twelve-pound brass howitzer with a few gunners 
walking about it, and close down to the river's edge half a 
dozen rebel sharpshooters squatted under a large tree, just 
opposite the ford. The river here is about four hundred 
feet wide, and from crest to crest of the hills on either side 
of the river, between which the cannon must play, was 
about a third of a mile. . . . Meantime, and until late in 
the afternoon, the troops were slowly getting into shape, 
and the lumbering pontoon-trains were coming up and park- 
ing on the hill, ready to go down into the valley when 
needed. A little before four, Gen. Schofield sent orders to 
Gen. Cox to have his skirmish line in readiness, and at that 
hour pass it rapidly across a few rods of corn-field which 
lay between the hill and the river, and if they drew the 
rebel fire, to open with his cannon and silence it. 

" As the hour approached, a small party of spectators 
posted themselves half-way down the liill.side, a mile below 
the ford, and with glasses thrust out from behind convenient 
trees and fences, eagerly awaited the spectacle. The cap- 
tain of the rebel gun could be clearly seen on the distant 
hill, seeking comfort as best he could (it was the hottest 
day of the year), and reading a January number of the 
Ckattanooga Rebel. The gun had been drawn back to 
conceal it a little, and a sentinel sat on the brink of the 
hill to observe our movements and give notice to the gun- 
ners to bring forward the piece. The sharpshooters also 
could be seen, glaring intently out of their cover upon the 
opposite opening in the willows where the ford was ap- 
proaclied. 

" Our skirmish line was composed of about two hundred 
men from several regiments ; and a volunteer detachment 
of two hundred men from the Twenty-third and Twenty- 
fifth Michigan, One Hundred and Eleventh Ohio, and 
other regiments, which had in their ranks many old Lake 
Erie sailors, were assigned to the use of the oars in the 
pontoons which were to cany over the first companies. 

" At half-past four o'clock the little squad of skirmishers 
issued out of the woods which had concealed them perfectly, 
ruslied rapidly across the corn-field, and when they came 
close in the rear of the willows they began pouring a sharp 
fire upon the rebel gun on the hill, and kept it up without 
cessation. Tlie sentinel was seen to leap up hastily and 
11 



run to the rear, the gunners trundled out their gun in plain 
sight, and the sergeant stoops to sight it. But it is in vain, 
the bullets whistle so thick about his ears that, after dodg- 
ing a few moments from one side to the other, he gives up 
in despair, the lanyard is pulled, the shot plunges harmless 
in the middle of the river, and the rebel gunners all incon- 
tinently take to their heels and disappear in the woods. . . . 
Suddenly a pontoon-boat filled with blue-coats is seen Hear- 
ing the opposite shore, then another, and another. As the 
first boat touches land. Captain Daniels, whose eye is riveted 
to his glass, shouts, ' They hold up their hands ! they drop 
their guns ! they run down the bank !' The shells have 
cut off their retreat ; there is no other resource, and they 
come running down to the boats with uplifted hands in 
token of surrender. 

" Soon the pontoons had ferried over several regiments, 
who formed in lino of battle at once on the top of the hill, 
but found no enemy. Soon after the troops began to cross 
the corps below began to open a lively cannonade, doubtless 
with a view of attracting the enemy's attention away from 
us. Detached as this corps is, so far away from the others, 
I am unable to learn whether they have yet crossed over 
any forces or not ; but if I am not greatly mistaken, the 
Twenty-third Corps has crossed the first regiment of the 
army. True, they did not encounter strong forces in their 
front ; but none could tell what they would find, and the 
gallantry of the men who rushed forward to man the pon- 
toons in the face of these uncertainties, and those who ran 
up the hill with no others yet over to support them, when 
they might be met by a deadly fire from behind some 
screen, is worthy of all praise. When men are compelled 
thus to go upon suspense, and charge, it may be, upon lurk- 
ing volleys which shall leave no one of them to return, it 
requires a stouter heart than to dash forward amid the roar 
and rattle of arms, to meet a foe whom they can see. I 
have not known a more dramatic, brilliant, and at the same 
time bloodless episode in the whole campaign than was en- 
acted to-day by the corps of Gen. Schofield." Among the 
troops to whose bravery at the passage of the Chattahoochee 
the above tribute was paid, one of the most prominent 
regiments was the Twenty-third Michigan, whose men vol- 
unteered to form a part of the forlorn hope which crossed 
on the pontoon-boats. Unexpectedly, the regiment suffered 
DO loss in killed, but its record of gallantry at the Chatta- 
hoochee was as bright as at Campbell's Station or Resaca. 

Arriving in front of Atlanta, the Twenty-third took part 
in the operations of the army which resulted in the capture 
of that stronghold. It was afterwards posted at Decatur, 
Ga., from which place, on the 3d of October, it moved north- 
ward in pursuit of the Confederate Gen. Hood, who was 
then marching his army towards Nashville. While engaged 
in this service, the regiment marched with its division (it 
was still in the Second Brigade, Second Division of the 
Twenty-third Army Corps) to Marietta, New Hope Church, 
Big Shanty, Allatoona, Cartersville, Kingston, and Home, 
Ga., and from the last-named place, through Snake Creek 
Gap, to Summerville, Tenn., and Cedar Bluff, Ala., and 
thence back to Rome, where it remained a short time, and 
early in November again moved through Alabama into 
Tennessee, and was stationed at Johusouville, employed in 



82 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTOX COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



garrison duty and the construction of defensive works until 
the 24th. It was then moved by rail to Columbia, Tenn., 
where it arrived on the 25th, while a heavy skirmish, 
amounting to almost a general engagement, was in progress 
near that place between the armies of Thomas and Hood. 
A part of the regiment was immediately advanced upon 
the skirmish line, while the remainder of the command 
went into position. At midnight it was withdrawn and 
ordered to the line of Duck lliver, where it lay on the 
south side of the stream, throwing up defenses and fre- 
quently .skirmishing with the enemy ; being constantly on 
duty day and night until near daylight in the morning of 
the 28th, when it retired across the river to the north 
bank, where it held position, and keeping up an almost con- 
tinual skirmish with Hood's advance till noon of the 29th, 
when it fell back with the army to the vicinity of Spring 
Hill, Tenn., about ten miles north of Duck River. Here, 
at about dark on the same day, the enemy was found in 
force occupying the road. An attack was made, and after 
a short fight the Confederates were driven from their posi- 
tion. The Union forces then resumed the march to 
Franklin, Tenn., and arriving there in the morning of the 
30th, immediately took position and commenced throwing 
up temporary defenses, which was continued through the 
day. At about sunset the forces of Hood, moving in four 
strong lines, assaulted the position most furiously, but were 
repulsed with heavy loss. The attack was several times 
renewed, but without success to the enemy. Finally at 
about ten o'clock p.m. the Confederate forces, concentrating 
all their energies in a supreme eflFort to carry the defenses, 
made their final, and by far their most desperate assault, 
charging up to and over the parapet, and planting their 
colors on the work in front of the Twenty-third IMichigan. 
But beyond that limit they did not go, for Col. Spaulding's 
men gave them the bayonet, in a counter-charge which is 
described as one of the most brilliant and eifective in the 
entire history of the war. It was a short, but very desper- 
ate hand-to-hand struggle, in which the IMichigan men 
gallantly held their position against the furious assault of 
the Confederates. 

Immediately after this successful repulse of the enemy, 
the Twcnty-thiid with the other Union troops withdrew, 
and crossing the river, moved on the road to Nashville, ar- 
riving there at two p.m. on December 1st, having marched 
fifty miles in forty-eight hours, five hours of which time 
had been passed under fire in the desperate battle of 
Franklin. During the week which had elapsed since the 
arrival of the Twenty-third at Columbia the men had suf- 
fered severely from scarcity of provisions, and in the last 
two days of the movement had subsisted on less than quar- 
ter rations. 

The regiment lay widiin the works of Nashville for two 
weeks, and then in the morning of the 15th of December 
it moved out with its division and the other commands 
under Gen. Thomas to attack the Confederate army, which ' 
had in the mean time concentrated in their front just south 
of the city. In the great battles of the 15th and 16th of 
December, which resulted in the defeat and complete rout 
of Hood's army, the Twenty-third took an active part, 
and was conspicuous for steadiness and bravery during those 



two days of carnage. On the first day of the battle, " Col. 
Spaulding, with his regiment, then in the brigade of Col. 
^loore, made a most daring and dashing charge on a posi- 
tion occupied by a portion of the enemy's infantry, posted 
behind a heavy stone wall on the crest of a hill, which it 
carried in most brilliant style, capturing more prisoners than 
there were men in the line of the regiment. The flag-staff 
was shot in two and the color-sergeant severely wounded, 
but before the colors fell to the ground they were grasped 
by the corporal of the color-guard and gallantly carried to 
the front. On the 17th the pursuit of the enemy com- 
menced, and during the first three days of the march the 
rain fell in torrents, the mud being fully six inches deep, 
which, with the swollen stream, rendured progress ex- 
tremely difficult and tedious. The pursuit was continued 
until Columbia was reached, where a halt was made and 
the movement ended."* 

Soon after this utter rout of Hood's army and its expul- 
sion from Tennessee, the Twenty-third Army Corps received 
orders to move east to the city of Washington, and on the 
1st of January, 1865, the Twenty-third Michigan, as part 
of this corps, left Columbia and took up its line of march 
for Clifton, two hundred and fifty miles distant, on the 
Tennessee River, at which point it arrived on the 8th of 
the- month. On the 16th it embarked at that place, and 
proceeded thence by steamer, on the Tennessee and Ohio 
Rivers, to Cincinnati, where it arrived on the 22d, and im- 
mediately left there by railroad for Washington. Reaching 
that city on the 29tli, it went into camp at " Camp Stone- 
man." D. C, and remained there until the 9th of Feb- 
ruary. At that time the regiment moved to Alexandria, 
Va., where, on the 11th, it embarked with its corps on 
transports bound for Siuithville, N. C, at the mouth of the 
Cape Fear River, and reached that point of destination 
after a passage of four days. On the 17th it moved with 
the other forces against Fort Anderson, taking position be- 
fore it on the 18th, and commencing the work of intrench- 
ing, under a furious artillery and musketry fire. Upon the 
capitulation of the fort and its occupation by the Union 
forces on the morning of the 19th of February, the Twen- 
ty-third Michigan Infantry was the first regiment to enter 
the captured work. The regiment was again engaged at 
Town Creek, N. C, on the 20th, taking three hundred and 
fifty prisoners and two pieces of artillery. In the morning 
of the 23d the Union force crossed the Cape Fear River to 
its north bank, and found that the city of Wilmington had 
been evacuated by the enemy during the previous night. 
The corps moved up the coast on the 6th of March, and 
reached Kinston, N. C, just at the close of the severe en- 
gagement at that place. In this movement the Twenty- 
third marched one hundred and twenty-five miles in six 
days, and during the last twenty-four hours moved con- 
stantly without halting, except long enough to draw rations 
and to Lssue thirty additional rounds of ammunition to the 
men. 

The corps left Kinston March 20th, and on the 22d 
reached and occupied Goldsboro', where, on the following 
day, the advance of Gen. Sherman's army made its appear- 

* Gen. Robertson's Reports. 



TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 



83 



ance, coming in from the south. The Twenty-third Regi- 
ment was then ordered back ten miles to Mosely Hall, to 
guard the railroad at that point while the army was receiv- 
ing its supplies. On the 9th of April the regiment moved 
with the army on the road to Raleigh, which was occupied 
by the advance on the 13tli, the Twenty-third Michigan 
entering the city on the following day and receiving the 
welcome news of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. The 
regiment remained at Raleigh until after the war had been 
closed by the surrender of the Confederate array under 
Johnston. Its fighting days were over, but its men had 
yet to experience a little more of the fatigues of marching. 
On the 3d of May it moved on the road, by way of Chapel 
Hill, to Greensboro', ninety miles distant, and reached that 
town on the 7tl'. Two days later it left by rail for Salis- 
bury, N. C., and remained there until the 28th of June, 
■when it was mustered out of service. All that now re- 
mained of military life to the men of the Twenty-third was 
the homeward journey to Michigan, and their final pay- 
ment and discharge. They were transported by railroad 
through Danville and Petersburg to City Point, Va., and 
thence by steamer to Baltimore, Md., where they again took 
railway transportation for the West, and arrived at Detroit 
July 7, 1865. On the 20th of the same month they were 
paid and disbanded, and each went his way to resume the 
vocations of civil life. 



OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE TWENTV-THIRD INFANTRY FROM 
CLINTON COUNTY. 

Field and SItij: 
Col. Oliver L. Sp<TuIding, St. John's; com. April IG. 1SG4 ; lieu(.-col. April 6, 

1803; uiiij. Feb. l:), 1863; capt. Co. A; l)Vt. brig.-gcii. U. S. Vols., June 

25, 1865, " for f.iitlifnl .and meritorious services during the war." 
Surg. Louis Fasquellc, St. John's; com. Aug. 23, 1802; res. Nov. 20, 180-2. 
Asst. Surg, Jos. II. Baclieior, St. John's; com. Nov. 25, 1804; hospital steward; 

must, out June '28, 1805. 
Q.M. Clmrles Fowler, St. John's; com. June 20, 1864 ; 1st lieiit., Co. C; must, out 

June 28, 1865. 

Non-Coininisswucd Stnjf. 
Sergt.-Maj. Charles Fowler, St. John's ; pro. to 2d liout., Co. C. 
Q M.-Sergt. .loel H. Cranson, St. John's; trans. t<i 28lh Mich. Inf., June 28, 1805. 
Q.M.-Sergt. Edwin A. Forman, De Witt; pro. to 2d l.eut., Co. E. 
llosp. Stew. Abram L. Casterline, De Witt. 

Company .4. 
Capt. 0. L. Siwuliling, St. John's ; corn. .\ug. 1, 1802 ; pro. lo niaj., Feb. 13, 1803. 
1st Lieut. William Sickles, St. John's ; com. Aug. 1, 1862 ; res. Dec. 22, 1802. 
1st Lieut. James Travies, St. John's; com. Dec. 22, 1802; 2d lieut., Aug. 1, 1S02; 

died of disease, Jan. 26, ISO.i. 
Ist Lieut. Edwin A. Forman, De Witt; com. Aug. 15, 1864; must, out June 28, 

1865. 
2d Lieut. Michael LafUin, St. John's ; com. Nov. 1'2, 1804 ; must, out Jime 28, 

1805. 
Sergt. Charles S. Fowler. St. John's ; enl. July 22, 1802 ; pro. to sergt.-maj. 
Sergt. Elbridge G. Wellington, Bengal j eul. July 18, 1862; pro. to 2d lieut, Co. 

B, Feb. 20, 1863. 
Sergt. Edwin A. Forman, St. John's; enl. Aug. 1,1802; pro. to 2d lieiit., Co. B, 

April 10, 1804. 
Sergt. John T. Cobb, Dnplain; enl. July '2.3, 1802; died of disease at Bowling 

Green, Ky. 
Sergt. Zelotes Avery, hingham; enl. Aug. 5, 1802; died at Citicinnuti, Ohio, 

Feb. 22, 18C3. 
Sergt. Isaac N. Cochran, Watertown; enl. July 31, 1802; pro. to 2d lieut.; must. 

out June '28, 1805. 
Corp. Sanmel W. Taylor, St. John's ; enl. July 28, 1862 ; died of disease at Knox- 

ville, April 21, 1864. 
Corp. Kirby Thompson, Greenbush; enl. July 24, 1802; must, out May 27, 

1805. 
Corp. Lyman N. Barber, Greenbush ; enl. July 23, 1862 ; on detached service nt 

must. out. 
Corp. Michael Rochford, Essex; enl. July '26, 1802; must, out July 28, 1805. 
Corp. Michael J, Murphy, Kssex; enl. Aug. 5, 1802; must, out by order, June 

17, 1805. 
Corp. Michael Lnfilin, St. John's ; onl. July 19, 1802 ; pro. to 2d liout. 



Corp. Albert Bovee, St. John's ; enl. July 30, 1862; must, out by order, June 17, 

1803. 
BIus. Albert E. Niles, Watertown ; enl. Aug. 4, 1802; died of disease at Kuox- 

ville, Tenn., July '24, 1864. 
Mus. Theodore R. Birmingham, Dnplain; enl. July 22, 1802; appointed chief 

mus., March 1, 1S65. 
Wag. George Mowalt, St. John's; enl. July 21, 1862 ; must, out May 31, 1865. 
Horace W. Avery, liisch. for disability, Nov. 10, 1802. 
John A. Annis, disch. for disability, April 20, 1863. 
J. A. T. Anierman. disch. for disability, April 26, 1863. 
Erviu H. Ameiman, died in Andersonville prison-pen, Aug. 7, 1864. 
Lyman Aldiidge, must, out June 28, 1S05. 
Charles T. Andrews, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Robert Anderson, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Seymour Barrows, must, oiit June 28, t86.5. 
John S. Brnliaker, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Sylvester Brown, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Moses Brown, discli. for disability, March 25, 1803. 
Robert Burnett, Dnplain ; disch. for disability, Feb. 20, 180.3. 
William Bannister, died of disease at Newtiern, N. C, April 0, 1865. 
James V. Carr, dinch. for disability, Oct. 24, 1862, 
Roilerick D. Carrier, disch. for disability, Dec. 3, 1862. 
Irving Carrier, disch. for disabilit.v, Feb. 25, 1803. 
Nelson Caprou, disch. for disability, Jan. 8, 1S03. 
Jos. N. Cochran, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Samuel Cochran, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Hiram ColTman, must, out June 28,1865. 
Charles Cook, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Marvin B. Dinion, must, out June 28, 1865. 
John H. Davidson, died iif disease. 

Rodney Eldridgp, killed on foraging expedition, Decatur, Ala- 
William W. Emery, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Eli W. Foglesang. must, out June '28, 1865. 

Loren 11. Flint, died of dise.ise at Bowling Green, Ky., March 31, 1863. 
Chas. 51. Ferdon, disch. lor disability, Feb, 3, 1863. 
Jas. J. Forman, disch for disability, April 15. 1863. 
Bartlett B, Hill, died of disease at Marietta, Ga„ Oct, 20, 1804, 
Wni, W, Hammorul, died nf disease, April 10, 1804. 
Jlilo H, Hewitt, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Tlieo, Hoyt, must, out June 28, ISOJ. 
Levi Halsingor, must out June 28, 180.5, 
Robt. D. Heron, must, out June 28, 1865. 
John Hensell, trans, to 28th Inf.; must, out June 5, 1866. 
Lafayette Kergan, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Jas. Larkin, must, out .liine 28, 1805. 
Jos. G. Lamb, must, out June 28, 1865. 
John n. Lowell, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Benj. Land, uuist. out June 28, 180.'». 
Richard C. Lewis, trans, to Vet, Res. Corps. 
Burney B. Martin, trans, to Vet. Res, Corps. 
Sanford S. Messenger, trans, to 28tli Jlich. Inf. 

Alex. McCraig, traus. to 28th Inf.; disch. at end of service, Oct. 14, 1805. 
John SlcCraig, trans, to 28th Inf. ; disch. at end of service, Oct. 14, 1865. 
Wayne E. Moore, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Geo. W. Myers, must, out June 2S, 1805. 
Geo. Myer, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Wnl, Miller, nnist. out June 28, 1865, 

Wm, W. Jlorton, died of disease in Indiana, April 14, 1864. 
Jolin H. Owen, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky,, Dec, 1, 1862, 
Gilbert Odell, died of disease at Birwliug Green, Ky,, Dec. 7, 1802. 
James Odell, must, out June 20, 1865. 
Leander L. Ono. must, out June '1^^ 1865. 
Thos. Parris, must, out June 28, 1805. 

Si.lney D. Parks, traus. to 28th Inf.; must, out June 19, 1805. 
Wm. H. Pennington, trans, lo 28th Inf, ; must, out July 25, 1865. 
Peter Kced, dscb. for disability, Nov. 17, 1863. 
Guy S. Saul, disch. for disability, April 13, 1863. 
Wm. M. Spangle, disch. for disability, Feb. 25, 1863. 
David Smith, died of dise.ise at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 11, 1802. 
Clias. Strickland, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky, Nov. 9, 1802. 
Reuben Spade, died of wounds, Jan. 21, 1864. 
Merritt .Sealon, died of disease at Knoxville, April 4, 1864. 
Wesley Sprague, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Geo. Titus, must, out June '28, 1805. 

Henry M. Taylor, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., March 19, 1863. 
.Joseph Vernia, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky,, March 3, 1863. 
Cornelius Van Sickle, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Jay H. Van Deusen, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Tlieo. J. Wagner, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Ossian D. Wheeler, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Jas, B, Woodard, trans, to 2Sth Inf, ; must, out Nov, 9, 1805. 
Calviu P. Wellor, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky,, March 1, 1803. 
Delso W. Warner, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Feb. 13, 1803. 
Franklin Warner, died of disease at Wilmington, N. C, March 1, 1864. 
Emery N. Warner, died in action at Resaca, Ga., May 14, 1864. 
Fred Willard, died of disease at Knoxville, Tenn., July 14, I8G4. 
Bouj. Young, trans, to 28th Mich. Inf.; must, out June 6, 1801). 



8-t 



niSTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Compavtf B. 
2(i Lieut. Klhridgo G. WoIIinglon, Bengal; com. Fob. 26, 18G3; sprgt. Co. A; 

rcHigiU'il Aug. 19, 1864. 
2(1 Lieut. Etiwin A. Funnan, Dp Witt ; com. April 10, 18C4 ; pro.tolst lieut.Co. A. 
Jolin Bhintftiill. disch. at cml of service, Oct. U, 1865. 
jHCiib »ftrtriiflr. liiiisl. out May 22, 18C.*». 
Joacpli HufiKT, must, out June 28, 18G5. 
Owen McGutiegiil, truim. to 28tli Inf. 

Compant/ C 
Cfipt. GeorpoR. Long, St. John's; com. Nov. 30, 1864; must, out June 25, 1865. 
Isl Lieut. Clmrli's Fowler; com. Dec. 25, 1S63 ; 2*1 lieut., Dec. 17, 1862 ; pro. to 

(j.-ni. 
John J. Oftlitey, must, out July 10, 1865. 
John liiiniftey, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Jubu \V. Wilson, tlieil of di^euse ut Chattiinoogft, Tenn., Sept. 21, 1864. 

Compani/ E. 
]8t Lieut. George R. Long, St. John's ; com. Feb. 24, 18C4 ; pro. to capt. Co. C. 
OeorgR W. Anderson, died in Andersonville prison-pen, Dec. 27, 1864. 
ChiirIt-8 KessHw, must, out June 28,1865. 
John Shaffer, must, out May 30, 18G5. 

Company F. 
Henry Barnes, trans, to 28th Mich. Inf. ; must, out Aug. 3, l?fi5. 
Jesse Newsom, tnins. to 28th Mich. Inf.; must, out Sept. 13, 1865. 

Company G. 
Capt. Henry Wiilbridge, St. John's; com. Aug. 1,1862; resigned Jan. 3, 1864. 
lat Lieut. Stephen J. Wright, St. John's ; com. Aug. 1, 1862; resigned Feb. G, 

1863. 
2d Lieut. Alonzo 0. Hunt, St. John's; com. Aug. 1, 1862; resigned Dec. 29, 1862. 
2d Lieut. Miisou S. Alexander, De Witt ; com. Oct. 6, 1864; must, out June 28, 

18G5. 
Sergt.John G. Cronkite, Riley ; enl. Aug. 11,1802; disch. for disability, Feb. 13, 

1864. 
Sergt. George R. Long, St. John's; enl. Aug. 22, 1862; pro. to 2d lieut. Co. I. 
Sergt. Benj. C. Mucomber, Eagle; enl. Aug. 18, 18G2; traTis. to Inv. Corps, Jan. 

15, 1804. 
Corp. Elliott Shattuck, Eagle; enl. Aug. 18, 18G2; on detachwl service since 

Aug. 17, 1863. 
Corp. Pembroke S. Buck, Bengal; enl. Ang. 11, 1862; must, out June 28, 1865. 
Corp. George G. Bush, Bingham; enl. Aug. 12, 1862; disch. for disability, April 

2, 1863. 
Corp. Gilbert W. Smith, De Witt; enl. Aug. 20, 1862; must, out June 28, 1865. 
Corp. Daniel L. Kelly, DeWitt; enl. Aug. 13, 18G2; died in Richmond prison, 

Feb. 15, 1864. 
Corp. Harry C. Nutting, Riley; enl. Aug. 12, 1862; died at Bowling Green, Ky., 

Feb. 1,1863. 
Corp. George W. Pray, St. John's; enl. Aug. 15,1862; must, out June 16, 1865. 
Wagoner Asii W. Williams, Lebanon; enl. Aug. 13, 1862 ; died in Kentucky, 

Nov. 17, 1862. 
Abijali Arnott, died of di.seaseat Bowling Green, Ky., June G, 1863. 
Paul A. Averill. disch. for disability, April 28, 1863. 
Albert Benjamin, disch. for disability, April 2, 18G5. 
Oliver Blizzard, died of diseaso at Bowling Green, Ky., Feb. 15, 1865. 
Henry H. Bund, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 12, 1804. 
Francis Brown, trans, to 28th Inf.; mustered out. 
Joshua Brown, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Sidney J. Bliss, must, out May 31, 1865. 
Henry N. Blakeslee, must, out May 30, 1865. 
Edward Chase, must, out June 28, 1805. 
John F. Carpenter, must, out Juno 28, 1865. 
George II. Crego, nnist, out June 28, 1805, 
Lorenzo D. Chadwick, must, out June 28, 1865. 
John P. Caster, must, out June 28, 18G.'j. 
Freeman N. (/arr, must, out June 28, 1805. 

Lewie H. (Carpenter, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 7, 18G2. 
John Culp, died of disease at Louisville, Ky., Dec. 16, 18(i2. 
Benj. Cddwell, died in Andei-sonville prison-pen, Sept. 17,1864. 
Charles M. Cronkite, died of disease at Cincinnati, U., Jan. 16, 18b3. 
Andrew T. Chapman, disch. for disability, Sept. 13, 1864. 
Ezra Dunsmore, disch. for disability, April 28,1863. 
Abraru Dtdong, must, out June 28, 1865. 
A. V. Dickinson, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Samuel Evans, must, out June 28, 1805. 
Uriah Frills, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Nov. 15, 1863. 
William 0. Ferguson, disch. for disability, Feb. 10, 1863. 
William It. l-reeman, disch. for disability, Feb. 12, 18C3. 
E/.ra Glass, died of wounds at Knoxvillo, Tenn., Jan. 14, 1864. 
Lewis Grucsbock, must, out June 28, 18G5. 
■Walter W. *;ortliy, must, out June 28, 1805, 
Delos Hayes, died of wounds at Kuoxvil'e, Tenn., July 14, 1804. 
Chas. W. Hinman, disch. for disability. 
Nathan K. Jones, discli. for disability, Jan. 7, 1863. 
Goo. C. Kniflin, died of discise at Cincinnaii, Ohio, Jan. 17, 1863. 
John D. Knapp, died pf disease at Bowling Green, Ky., March 18, 1863. 
John Lewis, died of diseaso at Bowling Green, Ky., Jan. 22, 1863, 



Wm.L. Miller, disch. for disability, Feb. 20, 1863. 
^ Wm, L. Nichols, died of dipease at Frankfort, Ky., Dec. 17, 1862. 
John N<'al, died of disease at Bowling Green. Ky., Dec. 7, 1862. 
John M. Newsome, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Nov. 23, 1862. 
Daniel Newsome.died of discnso at Bowling Green, Ky., Jan. 4, 1863. 
Jesse C. Owen, dijcli. for disability, March 26, 1863. 
John Redmond, disch. for disability, April 2, 1863. 
Peter Russell, died in Andersonville prison-pen, April 5, 1864. 
John Reed, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Andrew Robb, must, out June 28, 18G5. 
Myron Sherman, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Stephen W. B. Temple, Duplain ; must, out June 28, 1865. 
L. H. Treat. 

Davis Thurston, died of disease at Frankfort. Ky., Nov. 22, 1862. 
Edwaril L. Tinklepaugh, died of disease at Lebanon, Ky., Nov. 3, 1862. 
Clark A. Vredenburgli, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 30, 1862. 
Frank Vredenburgh, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Wm. G. A''anb«rgh, must, out Aug. 3, 1865. 
Shubael Vincent, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Dec. 1, 1863. 
Milo White, trans, to 28tli Inf.; must, out April 4, 1866. 
Asa fli. Williams, died of disease at Louisville, Ky., 1862. 
Tbos. J. Winters, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Jan. 24, 1863. 
Alex. Watson, died of disease at Bowling Green. Ky., Feb. 7, 1863. 
Chas. G. Wri*;ht, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., April 1, 1863. 
Jared Wriglit, disch. for disability, Oct. 9, 1863. 
Henry West, must, out June 28, 1865. 

Compavy S. 
Henry L. Porter, must, out June 28. 1865. 
Edward Rose, must, out July 24. 1865. 
Danl. Steele, died of disease at Brooke's Station, Va., Dec. 2, 1862. 

Compavy I. 
2d Lieut. Geo. R. Long, St. John's; com. Feb. 13, 1863; sergt.; pro. to Ist lieut., 

Co. E. 
Anthony Newman, trans, to 28th Inf. 
Henry Yager, trans, to 28lh Inf. ; disch. at end of service, Oct. 14, 1805. 

Compamj K, 
J.din W. Drake, trans, to 28lh Inf. ; must, out June 5, 186G. 
Hiram Murphy, trans, to 28th Inf. 

OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY FROM 
SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Field and Staff. 
Maj. John Carlandj Caledonia ; com. Dec. 29, 1864, capt., Co. H ; must, out June 
28, 18G5. 

Company A. 

James Gay, must, out Juno 28, 1865. 

David R. Nicholson, disch. at end of service, Oct. 18, 18G5. 

Edwin A. Walter, must, out June 16, 1865. 

Co^npany B. 
Alfred M. Bennett, must, out June 28, 18G5. 

Company C. 
Abel D. Livermore, must, out July 24, 1865. 
Moses A. Norris, must, out May 15, 1865. 

Compamj D. 
Albert Guyer, must, out June 5, 1S06. 

Company E. 
2d Lien t. James H. Anderson, Caledonia; com. March 11,1864; pro.tolst lieut., 

Co. I, Oct. 6, 1864 ; trans, to 2Sth Mich. Inf. ; must, out June 5, 1866. 
Daniel R. Muuger, disch. for wounds. 

Company G. 
Capt. Benj. F. Briscoe, Corunna; com. Feb. 24, 1864; lat lieut. Co. H ; must, out 

Jan. 8,1860. 
Sergt. Alonzo H. Crandall, Shiawassee, Aug. 14, 1862 ; pro. to 2d lieut. Co. F. 
Samuel Goron, must, out July 13, 1865. 

Truman Husted, died of disease at Camp Chase, Ky., May 15, 1864. 
Oi-son Post, disch. for disability, Oct. 15, 1862. 
Daniel S. Post, must, out June 28, 1865r 
James St. John, disch. for disability, April 2, 1863. 
William Sterling, died of wounds, June 24, 1864. 
Edward A. Vining, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Jan. 20, 1863. 

Company H. 
Capt. John Garland, Corunna; com. Aug. 1, 1862; pro. to major. 
1st Lieut. Benj. F. Briscoe, Corunna; com. Aug, 1, 1862; pro. to capt. Co. G. 
2d Lieut. Marion Miller, Caledonia; com. Aug. 1, 1862; res. Dec. 17, 1862. 
2d Lieut. Calvin Smith, Caledonia; com. Oct. 6, 1864. 
Sergt. Wm. H. Jones, Caledonia; enl. July 26, 18G2; disch. for disability, Feb. 

12, 1863. 
Sergt. James H, Anderson, Caledonia; cnl. Aug. 9, 1862 ; pro. to 2d lieut. Co. B. 
Sergt. Caleb Mead, Caledonia ; enl. Aug. 6, 1862; must out June 28, 1865. 



TWENTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY. 



85 



Sergt. Isaac H. Post, Anln'ni; trans, to Invalid Corps. 

Seigt. Lutlier Santell, Venice ; trans, to liivnH<l Corps. 

Corp. Andrew S. Parsons, Perry ; enl. Ang. fl, 1802; must. out. 

Corp. U.ivid West, Caledonia; enl. Ang. 7, 18G2; must, out, 

Corp. E. L. M. Ford, Csledoniii ; enl. Aug. 5, 1862 ; died of wounds at Knoxville, 

Feb. IS, 18G.5. 
Corp. Jason S. "Wiltse, Burns; enl. Aug. 14, 18C2; discli. for pro. in V. S. Col. 

Art., Ang. 11, 18C4. 
Corp 0*-*ian W. Caon. Bennington; enl. Aug. 13, 1SC2 ; disch. for disability, 

May 15.18&i. 
Corp. Gt'orge Dippy, Antrim ; died at Chattanooga, Tenn., May 18. 1864. 
Corp. Charles F. Beard, Antrim; ditd in action at Campbell's Station, Tenn., 

Nov. 16, 18G3. 
Corp. .John M. Calkins, Venice ; enl. Aug. 13, 1862 ; disch. by order. May £9, 18f 5. 
Ct^rp. William H.Baker, Burns; enl. Aug. 14, 18G2; disch. for disability, Feb. 20, 

IS&i. 
Corp. Charles E. Smith, Perry ; enl. Aug. 15, 1862 ; died at Louisville, Ky., Oct. 

8, 18fi3. 
Oliver M. Able, disch. for disaljility. Feb. 20, 18C3. 
Uriah Arnold, must, out June 5, 18t:i6. 
Israel G. Atkins, mnst. out June 28, 1865. 
William D. Bailey, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Alvah D. Beach, must, out June 28, 1865. 
James Boutee, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Orestus Blake, must, out Juno 5, 1806. 
Archibald Brown, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky. 
George L. Bailey, died of disease at New Albany, Ind., July 16, 1862. 
Samuel Brown, died of disease at New Albany, Ind., June 23, 1864. 
Ebenezer Ball, tians. to Vet. Bes. Corp«, Jan. 15, 1864. 
Cyrus Brigham, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Dec. 15, 1863. 
Cliauncey W. Barnes, trans, to Missirisippi Marine Brigade. 
William C. Baker, disch. for dit^ability, Feb. 20, 1863. 
George Bt-nlley, disch. for dii^abilily, Dec. 10, 18C2. 
Henry P. Calkins, disch. for disability, April 13, 1863. 
Sidney Coy, died of disease at Louisville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1862, 
William H. Cobnrn, died of disease. 

Daniel J. Cloiigh, died in action at Town Creek, N. C, Feb. 20, 1865. 
Asa F. Chalker, trans, to Vef. Res. Corps. 
Calvin H. Card, mnst. out June 28, 1865. 
Samuel Conklin, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Nelson K. Calkins, must, out June 28, 1865. 
George Ceraven, mnst. out June 28, 18G5. 
Charles Dean, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Benjamin F. Dickerson, must, out June 28, 18G5. 
John L. Dippy, died at Stone Mountain, Ga., Sept. 2r>, 1864. 
Willett C. Day, died of disease at Frankfort, Ky., Oct. 10, 1862. 
Charles P. Day, disch. for disability, Feb. 20, 1863. 
Benjamin Defrics, disch. for disability, Feb 22, 1863. 
Alfred Dunham, disch. by order. Jan. 5, 1865. 
Henry B. Dibble, disch. for wounds, Sept. 29, 1864. 
Daniel P. Eldridge, must, out June 5, 1865. 
Frank Garabrand, must, out June 28, 1S65. 

Francis A. Hall, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., Jan. 29, 1863. 
Jerome E. Harris, died of disease at Corunna, Mich., May 21, 1865. 
Merritt S. Harding, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps ; must, out July 5, 1865. 
George Lytle, died of disease at Knoxville, Tenn., April 15, 1864. 
Samuel A. Lytle, disch. at end of service, Feb, 13, 1866. 
Perrin S. Linge', disch. for disability, Oct. 20, 1S62. 
Chester W. Lynds, disch. for disability, Oct. 31, 1862. 
tnos P. Mi-lvin, died of disease ai Bowling Green, Ky., April 1, 18G3. 
Philander Murray, died of disease in Michigan, May 20, 1864. 
Marmon Moore, died of disease at Marietta, Ga., Sept. 21, 1864. 
George N. Macomber, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Dec. 15, 1863. 
James W. McKnight, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Frederick S. Mitts, must, out June 23, 1865. 
Julius W. Piper, must, out June 8, 1865. 
Francis Purdy, must, out June 28, 1865. 
John F. Piper, must, out June 28, 1865. 
William Plase, trans, lo 28th Regt. 
George F. Prentiss, disch. for disability, Dec. 4, 1862. 
Mosely W. Potter, disch. for disability, Aug, 20, 1863. 
James J. Peacock, disch. by order. Dec. 17, 1864. 
William H. Ream, trans, to Vet. Res, (kjrps, Dec. 1, 1863. 
David M, Ricbatdsou, must, out May 31,1865. 
Charles O. Russell, must, out June 28, 1865. 
George P. Seal, must, out June 27, 1805. 
Frederick Stickuey, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Thomas Slmw, must, out June 28, 1865. 
Godfrey Shaoutz, must, out June 28, 1865. 
John B, Swan, uiust. out June 28, 1865. 
William H. Stickney, must, out June 28, 1865. 

Hubert L. Shurt1e£f, died of disease at Frankfort, Ky., Oct. 29, 1862. 
Guy J. Scofield, died of disense at Cincinnati, O., Dec. 20, 1862. 
George H. Spaulding, missing at Campbell's Station, Tenn., Nov. 16, 18G3. 
Charles P. Stevens, trans, to Mississippi Marine Brigade. 
William H. Shaw, disch. for disability, Nov. l.'>, 1862. 
Orlando Titus, died of disease at Bowling Green, Ky., April 6, 1863. 



Edward A. Thompson, must, out June 28,1865. 

Austin Trowbridge, must, out Juno 28, 1865. 

Panl Trnynon, mnst. out June in, lS6-i. 

Edgar L. Tyler, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Feb. 15, 1864. 

William D. Voohies, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Dec. 15, 1863. 

Horace Wakeman, died of disease at Grand Rapids, Mich. 

John Walters, must, oyt June 5, 1866. 

Charles P. Williams, mnst. out June 14, 1865. 

William J. Warren, must, out June 28, 1865. 

Alonzo Wallace, must, out June 28, 1863. 

Charles Wilkeson, must, out June 28, 1865. 

Company K. 
Walton Jlitcbell, missing in action near Na-^hville, Tenn., Nov. 29, 1S64. 
Monroe Wolvey, must, out May 30, 1865. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TWENTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

Organization at Ypsilanti — Services in Kentucky and Mississippi — 
Campaign in East Tennessee — Battles at Huflf's Ferry and Camp- 
bell's Station — Transfer to Army of the Potomac — The Wilderness 
Campaign — Operations at Petersburg — Assault and Capture of Fort 
Mabun — Close of Service. 

Recruitinq for the Twenty-seventh Regiment was com- 
menced in 1862, and its first rendezvous was established at 
Port Huron. Anotlier regiment, to be designated as the 
Twenty-eighth, was commenced not long afterwards,- with 
a rendezvous at Ypsilanti. Both these filled very slowly, 
and the exigencies of the service demanded their consolida- 
tion. An order was accordingly issued, directing the nu- 
cleus at Port Huron to break camp and proceed to the ren- 
dezvous of the Twenty-eighth at Ypsilanti, where the two 
commands were consolidated as the Twenty-seventh Infan- 
try, under command of Col. Dorus M. Fox. The other 
field-oflficers of the regiment were Lieut.-Col. John H. 
Richardson and Major William B. Wright. 

Clinton and Shiawassee Counties were represented by a 
few men in " A,'' " B," " C," " E," and " H" companies, 
and by a larger number in the " Independent Company of 
Sharpshooters," wliich was attached to the Twenty-seventh ; 
but the greatest number was found in Company I, which 
■was principally made up of volunteers from Clinton, and 
was on this account usually mentioned in the regiment as 
the Clinton company. Its ofiicers were Capt. Abner 5. 
Wood and First Lieut. Porter K. Perrin,* of St. John's, 
and Second Lieut. John Q. Patterson, of Ovid. All its 
original non-commissioned ofiBcers were of Clinton County. 
This company, however, was not organized until several 
months after the regiment took the field, and therefore took 
no active part in its earlier campaigns. 

On the 12th of April the Twenty-seventh Regiment — 
then composed of only eight companies — left Ypsilanti and 
proceeded, by way of Cincinnati, to Kentucky, where it be- 
came a part of the Ninth Army Corps. In the following 
June it was moved to Mississippi and took part in the ad- 
vance against Jackson, as well as in some of the other 
movements in the Vicksburg campaign. In August it re- 
turned with the Ninth Corps to Kentucky, and on the 10th 
of September received orders to move with that corps to 

* Afterwards promoted to captain of the Sharpshooters, and to major 
of the Second Infantry. 



86 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Cumberland Gap, where it arrived about ten days later. 
Tlicnce it moved on to Kiio-wille, and reached there on the 
26th. From Knoxville it moved to Lenoir Station, and 
remained encamped there several weeks. On the 14th of 
November it moved with its division to Huff's Ferry, Tenn., 
wiiere a brisk fii^ht ensued with the advance of Longstreet's 
army. From this place it moved back through Lenoir on 
the retreat to Knoxville. At Campbell's Station the column 
was overtaken by the enemy, who attacked vigorously, and 
a battle of several hours' duration was fought, in which the 
Twenty-seventh lost eleven killed and wounded and ten 
missing. After this engagement the retreat was continued, 
and the regiment reached Knoxville on the following day. 
Then followed the siege of Knoxville by Longstreet, during 
which the regiment occupied a position at Fort Saunders, 
and participated in the repulse of the enemy's furious as- 
sault on that work, on the 21)th of November. It marched 
with other troops in pursuit of Longstreet, when that gen- 
eral withdrew from Knoxville, and was afterwards encamped 
successively at llutledge, Blain's Cro.ss-Roads, and Mossy 
Creek, at which latter place it was joined by the company 
(I) from Clinton and Shiawassee, another company (K) 
and a number of recruits, numbering in all three hundred 
and sixty-two men. 

Immediately after this accession to its numbers orders 
were received for the Twenty-seventh, with its corps, to pro- 
ceed east to reinforce the Army of the Potomac. Under 
these orders the regiment left Mossy Creek on the 17th of 
March, and moved by way of Knoxville and Hall's Gap to 
Nicholasville, Ky., making the march over horrible roads 
and through the ice and snow of the mountains in fourteen 
days. From Nicholasville it moved by railroad to Annapo- 
lis, Md., arriving there on the 5th of April. At that place 
it was joined by the company of Sharpshooters, which con- 
tained a considerable number of men from Clinton and 
Shiawassee Counties, under Capt. P. K. Perrin. 

From Annapolis the regiment moved, on the 23d of 
April, to Washington and thence to Warrenton Junction, 
Va., where it took its place in the Army of the Potomac 
as part of the First Brigade, Third Division of the Ninth 
Army Corps. On the 5th of May it crossed the Rapidan 
!tnd moved into the Wilderness, where it fought in the 
battle of the following day, and sustained a loss of eighty- 
nine killed and wounded. 

At the battle of Spottsylvania, May 12th, the regiment 
was again engaged, and fought most gallantly, charging up 
a hill to the assault of a strong earthwork. The attack 
failed, but the regiment unflinchingly hold its ground, 
though almost entirely unsupported on the left, and exposed 
to a raking fire of musketry from this direction, as well as 
to the storm of shell and canister from the fort. While in 
this terrible situation the regiment joining it on the right 
was withdrawn, thus leaving both flanks exposed to the fire 
of the enemy. But the orders given to its commanding 
officer were not to lall back an inch, and the.se orders were 
obeyed, even after the last round of ammunition had been 
expended, and until the friendly shadows of night ended 
the work of death. In this battle the loss of the Twenty- 
seventh was one hundred and seventy-five killed and 
wounded and only twelve missing. 



In the movement from Spottsylvania to the North Anna 
River the regiment was engaged (though not heavily) on 
the 24th and 25th of May. On the 3d of June it took 
part in the battle at Bethesda Church, losing seventy-six in 
killed and wounded, among the hitter being the heroic Maj. 
Sloody, whose wound proved fatal. The regiment was 
present at the battle of Cold Harbor, but sustained no 
considerable loss. From this place it moved rapidly to the 
James River, which it crossed at Wilcox's Landing. It 
arrived in front of Petersburg on the 16th of Juno, and 
charged with its brigade on the enemy's works on the fol- 
lowing day, sustaining heavy loss. The loss of the regi- 
ment during the month of June, exclusive of the loss at 
Bethesda Church on the 3d, was ninety-four killed and 
wounded. 

From this time the Twenty-seventh was on duty in the 
investing lines round Petersburg until its final evacuation 
by the forces of Lee, but its changes of position were too 
numerous to mention in detail. It took part in the opera- 
tions at the springing of the mine on the 30th of July, 
and lost severely, among its wounded being the command- 
ing officer, — Col. Wright. During the month of July the 
rejrimcnt lost one hundred and twelve in killed and wounded. 
It fought in the engagements at the Weldun Railroad, on 
the 19th and 20th of August, but witii a loss of only seven 
teen killed and wounded. Again, on the 30th of Septera- 
tember, it took part in the fight at Poplar Grove Church, 
with a loss of one killed and nine wounded. 

The regiment remained near this place for two months, 
but returned to the trenches in front of Petersburg on the 
29lh of November, and remained there engaged in severe 
and constant duty until the 2d of April, ISOS. Before 
daybreak on that day it advanced to the attack of Fort 
Mahon, which was one of the strongest of the defenses of 
Petersburg. The assault was successful ; the men of the 
Twenty-seventh charged on the double-quick, passed the 
ditch, mounted the parapet, and planted the regimental 
colors upon it. The fortification thus taken was not the 
entire work which was known as Fort Mahon, but its east- 
ern wing. The number of men of the Twenty-seventh who 
made this assault was only one hundred and twenty-three, 
but they took one hundred and fifty-nine prisoners and six 
pieces of artillery. The regiment held the captured work 
during the day against repeated attempts of the enemy to 
retake it. Petersburg was evacuated by the forces of Lee 
during the succeeding night, and the Twenty-seventh entered 
the city at three o'clock in the morning of the 3d. 

The assault and capture of Fort Mahon was perhaps the 
most brilliant exploit iu all the bright record of the Twenty- 
seventh, as it was also nearly the last of its experience in 
the field of war. It moved in pursuit of the retreating 
columns of Lee, but the surrender at Appomattox followed 
a few days later, and the Army of the Potomac had no 
longer an armed foe to oppose it. The Twenty-seventh 
was soon after moved to Washington, where it took part in 
the great review of the army on the 23d of May. It was 
encamped at Tenallytown, D. C, from that time until July 
26, 1805, when it was mustered out of service. Three 
days later the men had reached Detroit, on the way to their 
homes. 



T\YENTY SEVENTH INFANTRY. 



CLINTON COUNTY MEN IN TIIK TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

Coiiqiany A. 
James Brown, disch. for disnlnlity, Ulay 9, ISOri. 
Franklin Dnty, disch. for disability, Jan. 0, ISCf). 
Elias Myers, must, out June 2, 18C5. 

Layton Richmond, dit-d of diseah^e near Petcislmrp, Va., June 19, 1864. 
KJchard E. Snow, disch. for disability, Marih 7, 18G5. 
Jumcs II. Woodrnft", di-^ch. for disability. Pec. "29, 18li4. 
Georgp A. AVhitnmn. must, ont July 20, ISGj. 
William Whitman, died of wunnds at York, Pa., Nov. 7, 18f>4. 

Compamj B. 
James C. Howell, must, nut of Vet. Kes. Corps, Aug. 9, 18G5. 

Coinjuuiy C. 
Robeit Daniels, died of disease at Washington, D. 0., February, 1865. 

William C. Bloiigett, must, out June 9, ISCx 
Henry Copenhaver, must, out June 8, 1865. 
George W. Christopher, must, ont June 10, 1865. 
Jolin J. Christopher, niUBt. out July 17, 1865. 
Albert Loth, must, out July 7, 18(J5. 
James JIatteson, must, out May 29, 18G5. 
Rufna W. Partridge, must, out M;iy 27, 1SG5. 
Joseph Tabor, ditsch. by tirder, Jan. 12, 18G5. 
Frank Webb, must, out July ZG, 18G5. 
Benjamin F. Yeomans, must, out July 1, 18G5. 

Compau'j I. 
Capt. Abner B. Wood, Jr., St. John's; com. Dec. 20, 18611 ; resigned Nov. 12, "64. 
Ist Lieut. Porter K. Perrin, St. John's ; com. Dec. 20,1 86.t; pro. to capt., 1st Ind. 

Co. S. 8., Feb. 29, 18G4; pro. to nuij , 2d Michigan Inf., April I, 1864. 
2d Lieut. John Q. Patterson, Ovid; com. Dec 20,186.1; disch. for disability 
April 28, 1865; pro. to 1st lieut. Co. C, May 5, 1864; wounded in action 
June 18 and Dec. 7, 1864. 
Sergt. Nelson Fitcli, Ovid; enl. Nov. 30, 1863; disch. for wounds. 
Sergt. Joseph Berry, Victor; enl. Nov. ao, 18G.i; disch.; pro. to 2d Vet. Vol. 

Inf., July 1,1864. 
Sergt. Daniel R. Ditls, Ovid; enl. Dec. 1,1863 ; disch. for disability, Oct. 12, 18G4. 
Sergt. George Simpson, Ovid ; enl. Nov, 30, 1863 ; must, out July 2G, 1865. 
Sergt. William II. Hicks, Bingham; enl. Dec. 9, I8G:J; died of wounds received 

at Cold Harbor, June 3, 18G4 
Sergt. Orlando S. Perkins, St. John's; pro. to 2d lieut., Co. K, 27th Inf., April 

19, 18G4. 
Corp. Cyras Stout, Essex ; enl. Dec. 12, 1863; must, out July 26, 1865. 
Corp. William D. Hodge, Ovid; enl. Nov. 25, I8G3; disch. by order, May 3, 1865. 
Corp. Cornelius M. Letts, Ovid ; enl. Nov. 24, 1863; disch. by order. May 3, 1865. 
Corp. John S. King, Victor; enl. Nov. 30, 1863; disch. for disability, Oct. 10, '64. 
Curp. Jacob Parsage, Victor; enl. Dec. 1, 'G3; disch. for disability, April 20, '65. 
Corp. John W.Outcalt, Olive; enl Dec. 24, '63; disch. for disability, April 18, '65. 
Corp. Jacob Gibbard, Victor; enl. Dec. 1, '63; disch. for disability, March 5^'65. 
Mu8. George F. Besley, Bingham; enl. Dec. 19, 1863 ; died of disease at Wash- 
ington, Aug. 15, 1864. 
Abram Bacr, must, out July 26, 1866. 
John Briggs, must, out June 5, 1865. 
Joseph Bynns, must, out July 2G, 1865. 

Frederick U. Butler, St. John's ; must, out from Vet. Res. Corim, Aug. 3, 1805. 
Nelson Cadcon, must, out May 23, 1865. 
John Carpenter, must, out July 26, 18G5. 
Joliu Duncklee, must, out June 7, 1865. 

Jabez S. Dennisoii, must, out Feb. 7, 1865, for wuunds received June 3, 1864. 
William S. Decker, St. John's; must, out May 12, 1865. 
Nathaniel Doak, died of disease at Petcreburg, Jan. 7, 18G4. 
Joseph N. Ellicott, must, out July 20, 1865. 
Joseph Fields, must, out July 20, 1865. 
Arlington L. Fields, must, out July 26, 18G5. 
John Flynn, must, out July 20, 1365. 
Ebenezer B. Fuller, must, out July 2G, 1865. 
Milan Gleason, Duplain, must, out June 15, I8G5. 
John E. Gleason, Dupbtin, must, out May 23, 1805. 
Lewis Garland, died of wounds at Philadelphia, Pa., July 4, 1864. 
Clark Gray, died of wounds at Cold Harbor, Va., June 3, 1864. 
Merribew Green, died of disease at Alexandria, Va. 
Cleou Green, died of disease at 3d Div. Hosp., Aug. 10, 1804. 
Hivilla H. Hames, must, out July 20, 1865. 

John A. Hillaker, must, out from Vet. Res. Corps, Nov. 7, 1865. 
Charles F. Hathaway, must, out July 26, 1865. 
Hiram M. Hughes, must, out July 26, 1865. 
Henry H. labell, must, out July 26, 1805. 
John ti. Jackway, Duplain, must, out July 26, 18G5. 
Alonzo Le Baron, must, out from Vet. Kes. Corps, Aug. 2, 1865. 
George P. Mattoon, must, out July 26, 1805. 

W. L, Maasey, died of disoa^^e at Washington, D, C, Oct. 11, 1804. 
D. P. Miner, disch. for disability, Oct, 8, 1864. 
Henry S. Marshall, Greenbush, disch. for wounds, Dec. 15, 1804. 
James E. Owen, must, out July 26, 1865. 



John E. Pelton, must, out July 26, 1865. 

Joseph Y. Perkins, must, out July 26, 1865. 

Henry Putnam, Victor, di.-^ch. for wounds, Jan. 31, 1865. 

George W. Pruden, disch. Feb. 18,1805. 

George W. Steele, disch. Nov. 12, 1864. 

Silas B. Southworlh, disch for wounds, Jan. 28, 1865. 

Joseph Silvers, must, out July 26, 1865. 

Uriah Smith, must, out July 26, 1865. 

Sidney Smith, must, out Aug. 4, 1865. 

Adin C, Skinner, Bengal, died in action ftt Spottsylvania, May 12, 1864. 

S. B. St'ickland, died of wounds at AVashington, June 1, 1864. 

Henry G. Thompson, disch. lor disability, Feb. 4, 1865. 

James Tonse, must, out May 15, 1805. 

Hart L. Upton, must, out July 26, 18G5. 

Alvin B. Wanaey, must, out May 23, 1805. 

Luiher W. Wetherbee, must, out June 9, 1805. 

Palmer M. Wilbur, must, out July 20, 1805. 

Alvan E. Wells, disch. for disability, July 21, 1864. 

G. H. Whitney, died of disease at Philadelphia, Pa., July 17, 1864. 

D. F. Whitney, died of disease at Washington, Oct. 11, 1864. 

William R. Wing, died in action before Petersburg, Va., April 2, 1805. 

Robert Youngs, disch. for disability, Oct. 8, 1864. 



First Independ-'ut Conijuimj Sharpshooters, attached to the Twenty-seveiith Ivfautry. 
Capt. Porter K. Perrin, St. John's, com. Feb. 29, 1864; pro. to maj.2d Inf., April 

1, 1864. 
Arctus H. Allen, must, out July 26, 1865. 

Charies Bigelow, Ovid, died in action at Spottsylvania, May 12, 1804. 
Enos Carey, died in action near Petersburg, Va , June 18, 1864. 
James H. Hathaway, must, out July 26. 1805. 
Richard M. Johnsun, must, out Aug. 5, 1865. 
Henry Leonard, must, out July 2li, 1865. 
George M. Lyon, must, out May 5, 1805. 
George A. Lanin, must, out July 26, 1865. 
William S. Lo Clerc, died near Petersburg, Jan. 25, 1865. 
George McDowell, died of wounds at Waj^hington. 
John M. Myer, must, ont July 20, 1805. 
John A. Matthews, must, out July 26. 1865. 
Ambrose Murtaugli, must, out July 20, 1865. 
James H. Worden, must, out July 20, 1865. 
Horace B. Whetstone, must, out May 23, 18G5. 
William H. Whetstone, must, out May 23, 1865. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEN IN THE TWENTY-SEVENTH. 

Company C. 
Walter E. Norton, must, out Aug. 4, 1805, from Vet. Res. Corps. 

Company E. 
Henry Van Vleit, disch. for disability, Dec. 23, 1804. 

Company H. 
Charles D. Beach, must, out June 17, 1805. 

Company I. 
Corp. Charles Van Deusen, Fairfield; enl. Dec. 1, 1803; must, out July 20, '65. 
E. Andrews, disch. for disability, Oct. 13, 1804. 
William Brown, must, out July 2ti, 1865. 
Charles Cole, must, out May 1!*, 1805. 
Reuben Davis, must, out July 29, 1865. 

Samuel Davis, died of wounds at Washington, D. C, June 1, 1864. 
Thadeus Graves, died of disease at City Point, Va., July 11, 1804. 
Samuel E. Isbell, must, out July 26, 1865. 

Jackson N. Vooihees, died of wounds at Alexandria, Va , June 28, 1864. 
Trnman A. Van Deusen, died in action at Wilderness, May 6, 1864. 

First Independent Company of Shm-pshooters, attacked to Ticenty-seventh Infantry. 
Herman Ford, must, out May 23, 1805. 
Charies H. Hammond, died of disease, July 16, 18G4. 
J. J. Kenney, died of wounds at Washington, D. C. 
Aaron Mnnsel, must, out Aug. 5, 1865. 
John W. Parker, must, out July 26, 1805. 
Horace Tibbetts, must, out Aug. 8, 1865. 



88 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

TWENTY-NINTH AND THIKTIETH INFANTRY, 
AND FIRST ENGINEERS AND MECHANICS. 

Orgnnization of the Twenty ninlli iil Saginaw — Campaign in Tennessee 
— Fights at Decatur, Murfrcosburo', and Winstcd Church — Railroad 
Duty — Muster Out— The Thirtieth Infantry — Service in Michigan 
— Engineers and Mechanics — Kcndczvous at Marshall — Its varied 
Services in Kentucky, Tennessee, .Mississippi, and Alabama — Fight 
nt Lavergne — Services in Georgia— March to the Sea and through 
the Carolinas— Garrison Duty at Nashville in 1865— Muster Out and 
Disbandment. 

TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 
More than one hundred uien of Shiawassee and Clinton 
Counties — officers and private soldiers — .served with the 
Twenty-ninth Infantry in the war of the Rebellion, one 
of its companies (E) being raised ajinost entirely in Shia- 
wassee County, under Capt. A. J. Patterson and First 
Lieut. Sidney G. Main, of Owos.so, and Second Lieut. 
William P. Close, of Ryron. This regiment was organized 
at Saginaw in the autumn of 18G4, its muster into the 
United States service under Col. Thomas M. Taylor being 
completed on the ;-id of October in that year. Three days 
later it left the rendezvous for Nashville, Tenn., where it 
arrived October 12th, and soon after moved to Decatur, 
Ala., reaching there on the 2Gth. On the day of its ar- 
rival at Decatur that place was attacked by the army of the 
Confederate Gen. Hood, and the Twenty-ninth was ordered 
to move to the front and occupy a line of rifle-pits and a 
small defensive work. In obedience to the order the regi- 
ment moved forward bravely and steadily, though under a 
severe fire of artillery and musketry, and held the position 
until dark, notwithstanding that the enemy made several de- 
termined efforts to carry it. The Confederate force during 
this day's fight had outnumbered the Union troops nearly 
ton to one, but during the night the latter received rein- 
forcements, and on the following day a little advantage was 
gained in the driving in of the enemy's skirmishers, and a 
slight advance of the right of the Union line. Before 
daylight in the morning of the 28lh the Confederates 
made an attack, driving in our pickets and advancing their 
line considerably. This line they held against a strong at- 
tempt to dislodge them in the early morning, but they 
were afterwards driven back by a part of the Eighteenth 
Michigan, who took over one hundred prisoners in the 
affair. Later in the day a general engagement was brought 
on, the enemy assaulting with great determination, but the 
Union forces had by this time been increased to about five 
thousand men, and they were able to hold their ground 
and inflict severe loss on the assaulters. In the morninn'of 
the 29th it was found that the main force of the enemy 
had been withdrawn, and only a rear-guard was left in the 
rifle-pits. Tiiis rear-guard was driven out from the pits 
during the afternoon, and thus the defense of the place was 
made entirely successful. Tiie part taken by the Twenty- 
ninth in the fight at Decatur was higiily creditable to the 
regiment, and more particularly so because its men were 
then fresh from the camp of instruction, and had never 
before smelled the smoke of battle. The adjutant-general 
of Micliigan in his report of this affair says : " The ex- 
emplary conduct, the vigorous and splendid fighting of Col. 



Taylor's regiment and his officers, although less than a 
month in the field, could scarcely have been excelled by 
long-tried veterans.'' 

The Twenty-ninth, after this battle, garrisoned Decatur 
until the 24th of November, when it marched to Murfrees- 
boro', and reaching there on the 26th composed a part of 
the defending force at that point during the siege of Nash- 
ville and Murfreesboro' by Hood, being engaged with a part 
of the enemy's forces at Overall Creek, December 7th. 
Having been sent out to escort a railway-train on the 13th, 
it was attacked at Winsted Church by a superior force of 
the enemy, — infantry and artillery, — and in the severe 
action which ensued it sustained a loss of seventeen in 
killed, wounded, and missing. The track was relaid under 
a brisk fire, and the regiment brought the train safely back 
to Murfreesboro' by hand, the locomotive having been dis- 
abled by a shell. On the loth and 16th it was attacked 
by two brigades of the enemy's cavalry on the Shelbyville 
turnpike, south of Murfreesboro', while guarding a forage- 
train, and was again slightly engaged' at Nolansville on the 
17th. On the 27th it moved by rail to Anderson, and was 
as.signed to the duty of guarding the Nashville and Chat- 
tanooga Railroad. It remained on this duty till July, 1865, 
when it moved to Decherd, Tenn., and thence to Murfrees- 
boro', arriving there on the 19th. It was employed there 
on garrison duty till September 6th, when it was mustered 
out of the service, and on the 8th left Tennessee for Michi- 
gan, and was disbanded at Detroit about the 13th of Sep- 
tember. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEN IN TUB TWENTY-NINTH. 
Comptiui/ A. 
David 51 . Black, must, out Sept. C, 1865. 
Charles A. Fiinda, must, out Sept. ti, 1865. 
Thomas Graliaui, must, out 51uy 22, 1865. 
Jasper Johnson, must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 
James C. Luce, must, out Sept. 0, 1865. 
Jacob Layer, must out Sept. 6, 18G5. 
Wilfiam U. Ormslieo, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
David Stiuble, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Company C. 
Robert McFarhuid, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Ebenezer Tbusgood, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Company E. 
Capt. .Viid. J. Patterson, Owosso ; com. July 29, 1864 ; must, out Sfpt. 16, 1S65. 
Ist Lieut. Sidney G. Main, Owobsu ; cum. July 29, 1864; must, out Sept. 16, 

1865. 
2d Lieut. \Vm. F. Close, Byron ; com. July 29, 1864 ; pro. to 1st lieut. Co. K. 
2d Lieut. John Q. Adams, Owosso; mu>t. out as sergt., Sept. 6, 1865. 
Sergt. A. M. Parmeuter, Vernon; eul. Sept. 2, 1864; must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Sergt. J. C. Woodman, Shiawassee; enl. Aug. 25, 1864 ; must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 
Sergt. Chas. C. Rowell, Betinington, enl. Aug. 26, 1864 ; must, out May 16, 1865. 
Sergt. CyrenuB Thomas, Owosso ; enl. Aug. 16, 1S64 ; must, out Sept. 16, 1865. 
Ser^t. Orriu Drown, Owubsu; enl. Aug. 16, 1864; died in action at Shelbyville 

Pike, Tenn,, Dec. 1,5, 1864. 
Sergt. Philet us Waldron, Bennington ; enl. Aug. 22, 1864; must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Sergt. Geo. F. Browuell, Bennington ; e[il. Aug. 2U, 1864; uiust. out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Sergt. Wm. G. Merrill, Burns; enl. Aug. 27, 1864; disch. for disability, April 

19, 1865. 
Sergt. Theo. Creque, Shiawassee, enl. Aug. 22, 1864; must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Sergt. Wm. J. Wiswell, Benniugton ; enl. Aug. 19, 1864; discb. for disability, 

June 7, 1865. 
Sergt. Edward U. Jones, Antrim; enl. Sept. 4, 1864; must out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Corp. James M. Freeman, WoudhuU ; enl. Aug. 29, 1864 ; must, out Sept. 6, 

1865. 
Corp. Jobn lluffmnn, Woodhull ; enl. Aug. 29, 18C4; must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Corp. Richard Clienell, Woodhull; enl. Aug. 12, 1864; must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
John M. Arthur, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 13, 1864. 
William M. Balcbelor, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Natban Borem, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
David Brown, must, out May 30, 1865. 
William W. Bennett, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 



THIRTIETH INFANTKY. 



89 



Willinin Budfls, must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 

Thoniaa Cyrenu«, must. untSi-pt. 6, 18G5. 

Jeremiah Cui-eon, must, out S<>pt. 6, I8G5. 

BenJHniin Codwell, must, uut Sept. fi, 18G5. 

Leonard Grouse, must, out Sept. G, ISilS. 

Christopher Cook, must, out Sept. 6, 1S65. 

George E. Cole, died of disease at Cowan, Tenn., April 17, 1865. 

David W. Dunu, must, out June 7, 18Gj, 

John A. Drew, must, out June 27, 1865. 

David Dwight, uiust. out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Ladock Gillett, must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 

Richard German, must, out Sfpt. 6, 18G5. 

William P. Harer, imst. out Sept. 6, 1865. 

John W. Hagerman, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Charles E. Harris, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

George Hoag, must, out Sept, 6, 18C5. 

William B. Ilendee, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Newell Kellogg, must, out Sept. 6. 1865. 

Charles N. Kilridge, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

John Klingensmith, must, out June 7, 18G5. 

William 11. Lavery, must, out July 18, 1865. 

Weston W. Lamunyon, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Henry L. Lamunyon, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Geoigo Lindner, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Oscar M. Morse, must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 

Jacob Mason, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Enos Osgood, died of disease at Louisville, Ky., April 9, 1865. 

Charles E. Perkins, must, out June 20, 18C5. 

Austine Phillips, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Hiram Plutncr, must, out Sept. G, 1865. 

Leroy Kegua, must, out May 22, 1865. 

Willi;im Sanderson, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Sherman Stevenson, disch. for disability, May 31, 1865. 

Andrew Vandusen, must, out Sept. 6, 1&G5. 

John E. Watson, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Seth N. Walter, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Stephen L. Woliver, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Edward D. Woolcot, died of disease at Nashville. Tenn., Dec. 1, 1864. 

Dennis Watkins, disch. for disability, March 7, 1865. 

Company F. 
Godfrey Armaugher, must, out Sept. 6, lb65. 
George Aldrich, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Noah G. Berg, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Thomas Graham, must, out May 5, 1865. • 

Jacob Mnffly, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
David Martindale, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Duvid Muffly, disch. for disahility, June 3, 186.5. 

Company IT. 
Isaac Cassada, must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 
Charles Hempeted, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Alonzo Hunt, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Ctiarles Long, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Leonard Robinson, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
William K. Vanpatten, must, out May 30, 1865. 
Eli Woodward, must, out Sept. fi, 1865. 

Compavy K. 
Ist Lieut. William F. Close, Byron; com. July 7, 18C5. 2d lieut., Co. E; must. 

out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Vorden H. Worden, muet. out Sept. G, 1865. 



SOLDIERS OF THE TWENTY-NINTH FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Company C. 
William Cilraan, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Company E. 
Salem S. Puffer, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
SilenuB A. Simons, mu<;t. out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Company F. 
Ellis Buckingham, must, out Sept. 6, 18G5. 
James L. Covel, died of disease at Na-fhville, Tenn., Feb. 26, 1865. 

Compavy G. 
Sergt. R. A. Burch, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Sergt. Joseph Lathrop, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Henry C. Atwell, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Charles Hooker, must, out Sept 6, 1866. 
Francis M. Hayne-s, must, out Sept. 6,1865. 
Alexander Movey, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 
Albert Martin, must, out May 23, 1865. 
Edward N. Ph-rco, must, out Sept. 2G, 1865. 
Clinton W. Rose, disch. for disability, March 22, 1865. 

12 



Albert C. Vredonburgh, must, out Sept. 26, 1865. 
John S. Wright, must, out Sept. 26, 18G5. 

Company K. 
rhilo Chiippell, must, out Aug. 0, 1865. 

THIRTIETH INFANTRY. 

On account of the numerous attempts made by the Con- 
federates to organize in Canada plundering raids against 
our Northern border, autliority was given by the War De- 
partment to the Governor of Michigan, in the autumn of 
1SG4, to raise a regiment of infantry for one year's service, 
and especially designed to guard the Michigan frontier. 
Its formation, under the name of the Thirtieth Michigan 
Infantry, was begun at Jackson in November, 1864, and 
completed at Detroit on the 'Jth of January, 1865. To 
this regiment Shiawassee and Clinton Counties furnished a 
total number of men equal to about three-fourths of a com- 
pany, the greater part of whom served in the ranks of 
Company K. 

When the organization was completed the regiment was 
stationed in companies at various points, one company being 
placed at Fort Gratiot, one at St. Clair, one at Wyandotte, 
one at Jackson, one at Fenton, three at Detroit Barracks, 
and one on duty in the city. But the speedy collapse of 
the Rebellion put an end to Canadian raids, and the regi- 
ment had no active service to perform. It remained on 
duty until the 30th of June, 1865, and was then mustered 
out. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEN IN THE THIRTIETH. 

Field imd Slnff. 
let Lieut, and Adj. Jerome W. Turner, Owosso; com. Nov. 28, 1864; resigned 
April 7, 1865. 

Company C. 

Corp. James A. Hoyt, Kush ; enl. Nov. 18, 1864; must, out June 30, 1865. 

Compamj F. 
Jerome R. Fairbanks, must, out June 30, 1865. 
James Rummer, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Johnson Taylor, must, out June 30, 1SG5. 
Charles W. Williams, must, out .Tune 30, 1865. 
Alfred B. Williams, must, out June 30, 1865. 

Company I. 
John F. Cartwright, must, out June 30, 18G5. 

Company K. 
Corp. Ora 0. Waugh, Owosso; enl. Pec. 16, 1864; must, out June 30, 1865. 
Corp. Robert Upton, Owosso; enl. Dec. 7, 1804; must, out June 30, 1865. 
Corp. Oscar Bailey, Owosso; enl. Dec. 2, 1864; must, out June 30, 1865. 
Corp. Elnathan Beebe, Caledonia; enl. Dec. 29, 1861 ; must, out June 30, 1863. 
Leonard Alger, died of dieeaae at Jackson, Mich., March 28, 1865. 
Leander A. Bush, died of disease at Jackson, Mich., Feb. 14, 1865. 
Robert F. Buck, nuist. out June 30, 1805. 
Henry Boslaw, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Edward Bright, unist. otit June 30, 1805. 
Ebenezer Chilils, must, out June 30, 1865. 
John Crane, must, out Juin* 30, 1865. 
Andrew Case. must, out June 30, 1865. 
T. Fanclieon, must, out June 30, 1805. 
John Gannon, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Lyman E. Hill, must, out June 30, 1865. 
George Jolinson, must, out June 30, 18tJ5. 
Robert Smith, must, out Juno 30, 1865. 
Charles N. Wetmoro, must, out June 30, 1865. 

CLINTON COUNTY MEN IN THE THIRTIETH. 
Company F. 
Elijah E. B.ildwin, must, out June 30, 1865. 
George E. BlisH, nuist. out Juno :io, 1865. 
Henry P. Cutter, must, out Juno 30, 1865. 
John W. Day, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Andrew Jones, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Albert Jones, must, out .lutie 30, 1865. 
Wm. B. Owen, must, out June 30, 1865. 



90 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLIiNTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



Comp<tnii K. 
SiTgt. Sil IS E. Losey, Bingham ; mu>t. out Juno 30, 18G5. 
Sergt, AU.irt H. B. Fiteli, Bingliain ; uiust. out Juno ;iO, 18G5. 
Corp. Charles K. lllnkesloo, must, out Jnnn 30, 18G5. 
Cor|i. J"lin G. Hathuway, Bingham; died of disease at Jackson, Mich., May 29, 

18G5. 
Horace Avery, must, out Juno 30, 18G5. 
Henry II. Burdiclt, must, out June 30, 18G5. 
John (liandler, must, out Jan. 9, 18G.i. 
John Kdwards, must, out June 30,1865. 
Herbert Estes, must, out June 30, 1805. 
John Iletlierington, must, otit June 30, 1865. 
Fniuklin Ilickox, mu»t. out June :in, 18G5. 
Nelson Lorerilierg, must, out June 30, ISG.'). 
Williutn Lorenberg, must, out Juno 30, 18G5. 
Porter Pratt, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Scott Starkweather, inu-^t. out Jjino 30, 18fi5. 
John W. Spauldiiig, must, out Juno 30, 18G5. 
George W. Shuttes, must, out Juno 30, 1865. 
Clark Scliram, must, out June 30, 18G5. 
(.'liiuies Sherwood, must, out June 3(f, 18G5. 
Charles Travis, must, out June CO, 1865. 
M. Vaufliot, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Wm. R. Wilson, must, out June 30, 1865. 

FIRST ENGINEERS AND MECHANICS. 

The Miclilgan regiment of Engineers and Mechanics 
was recruited and organized by Col. William P. Iiines (its 
commanding oflBcer) in the summer and autumn of 1861. 
It was the intention, in raising this regiment, that it should 
be largely composed of men skilled in mechanical trades, 
and that upon entering the field they should be principally 
employed in the work with whioli they were acquainted, 
a great amount of which is always required in the opera- 
tions and movements of large armies. This implied prom- 
ise, made to the men at the time of the enlistment, was 
measurably carried out, though they were always expected 
to enact the part of fighting-men upon occa.sion ; and for 
this purpose they were regularly armed and accoutred as 
infantry. It can be said of them with truth that they 
always proved themselves as brave and steadfast in battle 
as they were skillful and efficient in their own peculiar field 
of labor, though it was in the latter that their services 
were by far the more valuable to the government. 

The P]ugineers and Mechanics organization was composed 
of men from almost every county in the central and southern 
part of the peninsula, the counties of Clinton and Shiawassee 
being represented in nearly all its companies, but most 
numerously in Company E. The regiment was rendezvoused * 
at Marshall, and was there mustered into the service of thg 
United States, by Capt. H. R. Mizner, U.S.A., October 
28 to December 6, 1861, and on the 21st of the latter 
month left Marshall, one thousand and thirty stron", for 
Louisville, Ky. On account of the peculiar nature of the 
service required of them, they were employed in detach- 
ments, and thus it would be impracticable to trace them 
through all their numerous marchings and labors. One of 
the detachments was under Gen. 0. M. Mitchell in his ad- 
vance on Bowling Green, and among the first Union troops 
to enter the town after it's evacuation by the enemy. After 
the capture of Fort Donelson opened Tennessee to the 
Union forces, the Engineers and Mechanics were speedily 
at work in that State repairing bridges and railroads and 
opening lines of communication. For eight weeks imme- 
diately following the battle of Shiloh they were engaged 
in constructing steamboat landings, wharves, and ware- 
houses, and during the spring and summer of 18G2 they 



were chiefly employed in the repair or reopening of the 
railroads between Nashville and Chattanooga, Nashville and 
Columbia, Corinth and Decatur, Huntsville and Stevenson, 
and Memphis and Corinth, and twice assisted in reopening 
the road between Louisville and Nashville. In the month 
of June, 1862, alone, they built seven bridges on the Mem- 
pliis and Charleston Railroad, each from eighty-four to 
three hundred and forty feet in length — in the aggregate 
nearly three thousand feet — and from twelve to sixty feet 
in height. 

Serious difficulties existed in the regiment during the 
first months of its service, owing to a misunderstanding as 
to the pay the men were to receive, it having been found 
after their organization that there was no law by which 
they could receive the pay expected. This trouble was 
finally remedied by an act of Congress, which act also pro- 
posed to increase the regiment's strength from ten to twelve 
companies of one hundred and fifty men each, forming 
three battalions, each commanded by a major. Half the 
men, as artificers, drew seventeen dollars per month, and 
the others thirteen dollars per month. 

On the 1st of November, 1862, the regiment was en- 
camped at Edgefield, Tenn., when the alterations and cas- 
ualties to that date aggregated as follows : Died of disease, 
seventy-five ; died of wounds received in action, two ; killed 
in action, one ; wounded in action, seventeen ; discharged, 
one hundred and twenty-four ; taken prisoners, fifteen ; de- 
serted, twenty ; recruits received, sixty-seven. Until June, 
1863, the regiment was stationed at Edgefield and Mill 
Creek, near Nashville, at Lavergne, Murfree.sboro', and 
Smyrna, and at a point near Nashville on the Tennessee 
and Alabama Railroad. During this time the regiment 
built nine bridges, besides a number of magazines and build- 
ings for commissary, quartermaster, and ordnance stores, 
and also repaired and lelaid a large amount of railroad track. 
While at Lavergne, on the 1st of January, 1863, a part 
of the regiment was attacked by two brigades of the enemy's 
cavalry, under Gens. Wheeler and Wharton, with two pieces 
of artillery, but succeeded in defeating them with serious 
loss. 

On the 29th of June the regiment moved south from 
Jlurfreesboro', and during the two succeeding months was 
engaged repairing and opening the railroad from Mur- 
freesboro', Tenn., to Bridgeport, Ala. Of five bridges 
completed in July, the one over Elk River was four hun- 
dred and sixty feet in length ; that over Duck River, three 
hundred and fifty feet long. During September and Oc- 
tober detached companies were employed in building an 
immense bridge over the Tennessee River at Bridgeport, 
Ala., constructing commi.«sary buildings at Stevenson, Ala., 
and building and repairing bridges, etc., on the lines of the 
Nashville and Chattanooga and the Nashville and North- 
western Railroads ; the headquarters of the regiment being 
at Elk River Bridge, Tenn. The alterations and casual- 
ties for the year, to Nov. 1, 1863, were: Died in action or 
of wounds, six ; died of disease, fifty-eight ; discharged for 
disability, one hundred and eighty-nine ; discharged for 
other causes, fourteen ; deserted, twenty-seven ; officers 
resigned, ten ; joined as recruits, three hundred and sev- 
enty-two ; aggregate strength, nine hundred and sixty-five. 



FIRST ENGINEP]11S AND MECHANICS. 



91 



In the months of November and December, 1863, and 
January and February, 1864, tlie regiment was engasied in 
buildiiii; trestle-work and bridges on the line of tiie Nash- 
ville and Northwestern Ilailroad, and in the construction of 
store-houses and other buildings at Ciiattanooga, Tenn., 
and Bridgeport, Ala., for the quartermaster, ordnance, and 
other departments of the army. At the same time one 
battalion was engaged at Chattanooga in refitting saw-mills, 
where it continued during the months of March, April, and 
May, employed in runidng saw-mills, getting out railroad- 
ties, building hospital accommodations, and working on the 
defenses. 

Detachments from the other battalions were engaged 
erecting block houses on the lines of the Tennes.see and Ala- 
bama, the Nashville and Chattanooga, and tlie Memphis and 
Charleston Railroads. Two companies were at Bridgeport, 
Ala., building artillery block-houses. Two companies were 
at Stevenson, Ala., completing its deluiises, while another 
battalion was stationed on the Mcmpliis and Charleston 
Railroad, building block-hou.ses at various points between 
Decatur and Stevenson. The major portion of the regi- 
ment was finally concentrated upon the line of the Atlantic 
and Western Railroad during the summer montlis of 186-1, 
where it built and repaired railroads, block-houses, etc. The 
task allotted to this regiment during the campaign of 
Sherman's army, in 1864, was one of 'great magnitude, 
and most nobly did its members fulfill their duty. But for 
such men as composed the Michigan Engineers and Me- 
chanics, and the rapidity with which they repaired the rail- 
road right up to the enemy's skirmish line,* the more than 
one hundred thousand Union soldiers in front would many 
times have been compelled to go without their rations. 

At the close of the Atlanta campaign, headquarters of 
the regiment were established in the latter city. The al- 
terations and casualties for the year were reported as fol- 
lows : Died of disease, one hundred and twelve; trans- 
ferred, thirty-six ; discharged for disability, etc., fifty ; 
re-etdisted as veterans, one hundred and forty-eight. 

On the 31st of October, 1864, the original term of the 
regiment expired, and such oflScers as desired to leave the 
service were mustered out, as were also the enlisted men 
whose terms had expired. The re-enlisted veterans, together 
with the recruits who had joined the regiment, enabled it 
to maintain its organization entire and nearly its full 
strength. 

From the 1st to the 15th of November, 1804, the regi- 
ment, with the exception of Companies L and M, was 
stationed at Atlanta, Ga., being employed in constructing 
defenses, destroying rebel works, depots, rolling-mills, foun- 



* As Johnston's arm; fell back from one chosen position to another 
before the fierce attaetis and flank movements of .Sherman's veterans, 
the railroad was invariably destroyed by the enemy, and in a man- 
ner, too, that would seem to require days to repair it. It must have 
been a matter of great surprise and chagrin to the Confederates when, 
as was often the case in the course of a very few hours after the de- 
struction of a road, a locomotive bearing the legend " United States 
Military Kailroad," driven by a greasy Northern mechanic, would 
dash up aliiiost in their very midst, saluting them with several short, 
sharp whistles, and then a prolonged scream of defiance. The salute, 
however, as well as the cheers from the " Yanks," usually, and very 
quickly too, received a response in the shape of shells from a rebel 
b.ittery. 



dries, gas-works, and other rebel property, and in tearing 
up and rendering useless the various railroad tracks in the 
vicinity. After the complete destruction of Atlanta, "j" the 
regiment set out on the morning of November 10th with 
the Fourteenth Army Corps, as part of the engineer force 
of Gen. Sherman's army, going to Sandcrsville, Ga., and 
thence with the Twentieth Army Corps to Horse Creek, 
where it received orders to join the Seventeenth Army Corps, 
with which it continued on to Savannah, Ga., reaching there 
Dec. 10, 18(i4. During this march the regiment was 
required to keep pace with the movements of the army, 
traveling over twenty miles a day, and meanwhile was en- 
gaged tearing up railroad tracks, twisting rails, destroying 
bridges, repairing and making roads, building and repairing 
wagon-bridges, etc. On the 10th and 11th of December 
the regiment built a dam across the Ogechee Canal under 
the fire of rebel batteries. 

From that time until after the evacuation of Savannah 
by the enemy, the regiment was constantly at work tearing 
up railroad track and destroying the rails of the several 
railroads leading out of the city, and in constructing long 
stretches of corduroy-road for the passage of army-trains. 
On the 23d of December it moved into the city, and five 
days later coiumenced work on the fortifications laid out by 
direction of Gen. Sherman. These works, constructed by 
and under the supervision of this regiment, were over two 
miles in length, and included several strong battery posi- 
tions and lunettes. The regiment was again put in motion 
on the 3d of January, 1865, marching to Pooler Station, 
converting the railroad into a wagon-road, and then return- 
ing to Savannah. 

It embarked on board transports for Beaufort, S. C, Jan- 
uary 26, 1805, and on the 31st started with the victorious 
army on its march to Golilsboro', N. C. It moved with 
the Fifteenth Army Corps to Banbury, S. C, thence with 
the Twentieth Army Corps to Columbia, S. C, thence with 
the Seventeenth Corps to Fayetteville, N. C, and thence 
with the Twentieth Army Corps to Goldsboro', N. C, where 
it arrived March 23, 1865. It is estimated that during 
this campaign, besides making and repairing a great distance 
of corduroy-road, the regiment destroyed and twisted the 
rails of thirty miles of railroad track and built eight or ten 
important bridges and crossings. At Edisto the bridge was 
constructed under fire from the enemy's sharpshooters. At 
Hughes' Creek and at Little and Big Lynch Creeks the 
bridges and approaches were built at night. At the last- 
named stream the men worked in water waist-deep. A 
foot-crossing was made there in one night nearly a mile in 
length, and the next day the space was corduroyed fur the 
heavy army-trains and artillery to pass over. Tiie regiment 
destroyed factories and rebel army-supplies at Columbia, 
rebel ordnance and stores at Cheraw, and the old United 
States arsenal at Fayetteville, N. C. 

Companies L and M, which had been detached from the 
regiment early in the summer of 1864 and placed upon the 
defenses at Stevenson, Ala., having completed those works, 
which consisted of a systein of eight block-houses, were 
retained in the Army of the Cumberland. They assisted to 



f Afternoon and night of Nov. 15, 1864. 



92 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



fortify and defend the line of the Nashville and Chatta- 
noo<;a Railroad for some weeks, and on the 28tli of Novem- 
ber, 18t)4, were moved to Elk River Bridge. For some 
time after that, when not interrupted by Hood's rebel army, 
they were engaged in building blockhouses between that 
bridge and Miirfreesboro', Tenn. During the most of the 
month of December a portion of the Engineers and Me- 
chanics was engaged in completing and repairing Fort 
Rosecrans, at Murfreesboro', Tenn., while the rebels, under 
Hood, were investing Nashville. 

A detachment, consisting of Company L of this regi- 
ment, with several companies of an Illinois regiment, which 
had been sent out to bring through from Stevenson, Ala., 
a railroad-train of supplies, was captured Dec. 15, 1861, 
after several hours' hard fighting. 

On the 1st of March, 18G5, Companies L and M left 
Murfreesboro', Tenn., to rejoin their regiment, and pro- 
ceeding by rail, via Louisville, Indianapolis, Crestline, Pitts- 
burgh, and Philadelphia, to New Yorlc ; they then took 
steamer to Beaufort, N. C, thence by rail to Newbern, and 
finally joined their comrades at Goldsboro', N. C., March 25, 
1865. 

Gen. Sherman's army began its last campaign April 10, 
1865. By breaking camp at Goldsboro' and moving 
rapidly to the northward, Johnston's fleeing forces were 
pursued to, through, and beyond Raleigh. The Engineers 
and Mechanics marched with the Twentieth Army Corps, 
but proceeded no farther than Raleigh, where they remained 
until after Johnston's surrender.* On the 30th of April the 
regiment moved out on its homeward march with the Sev- 
enteenth Army Corps. It crossed the Roanoke River at 
Monroe, and passing through the cities of Petersburg, 
Richmond and Alexandria, Va., arrived at Washington, 
D. C, during the latter part of May, 1865. It partici- 
pated in the grand review of two hundred thousand veteran 
soldiers held at the nation's capital. May 23 and 24, 1865, 
and then went into camp near Georgetown, D. C. Early 
in Juue the regiment was ordered to Louisville, Ky., 
thence to Nashville, Tenn., where it was employed upon 
the defenses until September 22d, when it was mustered out 
of the United States service. It arrived at the designated 
rendezvous, Jackson, Mich., September 25th, and on the 
1st day of October, 1365, was paid off and disbanded. 

The battles and skirmishes which by general ordei-s it 
was entitled to have inscribed upon its colors were those 
of Mill Springs, Ky., Jan. 19, 1862; Farmington, Miss., 
May 9, 1862; siege of Corinth, Miss., May 10 to 31, 
1862; Perryville, Ky., Oct. 8, 1862; Lavergne, Tenn., 
Jan. 1, 1863; Chattanooga, Tenn., Oct. 6, 1863; sie^e of 
Atlanta, Ga., July 22 to Sept. 2, 1864; Savannah, Ga., 
Dec. 11 to 23, 1864 ; Bentonville, N. C, March 19, 1865. 

CLINTON COUNTY MEN IN THE ENGINEERS. 
Company E, 
Stfbbins 0. Bliss, discli. at end of service, Oct. 31, 1864. 
Kmiicis A. Cotttit, trans, to Vet. Kes. Corps, Sept. 1, 180^. 
Marcus A. Case, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
Martin Fislier, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. ' 
John Grier, uiuat. out Sept. 22, 1865. 
S. C. Uutcliinsou, discb. at eud of service, Oct. 31, 1864. 

» April 26, 1865. 



James Kelly, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Jackson Kelly, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Sanil. S. Kentfield, died of disease at Bridgeport, Ala. 

Hervey Lyon, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Clias. P. Lyon, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Arnold L. Lake, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Nathan Penny, disch. at end of service, Oct. 31, 1864. 

Luther B, Pratt, disch. for disability, Nov. 29, 1862. 

Hull L. Prndden, disch. by order, Aug. 25, 1S65. 

Merritt Randolph, disch. by ordt-r, June 2, 18G2. 

Joel T. Smith, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. . 

Emanuel Sumner, died of disease at Bridgeport, A a., March 23, 1864. 

Hiram H. Starr, disch. at end of service, Oct. 3^ 1864. 

Frederick Tuttle, disch. for disability. May 18, 1863. 

Company G. 
David Scott, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 1, 18G5. 

Company L, 
Danl. Baughn, must, ont Sept. 22, 1S65. 

.Tohn Crawford, died of disease at Stevenson, Ala., Oct. 27, 1864. 
Wm. H. Hewitt, died of wounds at Muifreesboro', Jan. 13, 1865. 
Peter W. Prndden, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
John Vanoise, disch. by order, July 3, 1865. 

Company M, 
Oscar F. Bristol, disch. by order, July 21, 18G5. 
Saml. Crawford, must, out Sept. 2:.', 1865. 
Peter Duffs, must, out Sept. 22, 186j. 
Hiram Ililliker, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
Clias. Randol])h, disch. by order, M.ay 22, 1865. 
Martin Sutplien, disch. by order, Sept. 27, 1865. 
Oven Sebring, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
Sylvester Sebring, must, out Sept. 22, 1863. 
Saml T, Simpson, disch. for disability, April 23, 1865. 
Danl. J. Wilkinson, must, out Sept. 22, 1863. 



SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEN IN THE ENGINEERS. 
Company B, 
Nathan Colby, disch. by order, .Tune 6, 1865. 
Alexander Kellas, disch. by order, June 6, 1865. 

Company C. 
Newell E. Cady, disch. by order, July 11, 1865. 
Andrew Kinney, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Company D, 
2d Lieut. Herman Vi. Perkins, Curunna; com. Nov. 3, 1864 must, out Sept. 22, 

1863. 
Daniel F. Case, disch. for disability, June 1, 1862. 

Company E. 
Isaiah Slayler, disch. at end of service, Oct. 31, 1864. 
William B. Staner, disch. at end of service, Oct. 31, 1864. 

Company F. 
William E. Delbridgo, disch. by order, June 6, 1865. 

Company G. 
2d Lieut. Rodney Mann, Owoaso ; com. April 12 ,1862 ; pro. to 1st lieut. 
John Berkley, disch. by order, June 6, 1865. 
Joseph Gest, disch. by order, June 6, 1865. 
W^illiani Stone, disch. by order, June 6, 1865. 
Charles W. Smith, disch. by order, Juue 6, 1865. 

Company H. 
Harrison Hackett, disch. by order, June 6, 1865. 

Company J, 
Oliver Hopkins, disch. for disability, Jan. 14, 1864. 
James H. Maible, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., March 24, 1863. 

Company K. 
Charles E. Rowell, must, out Sept. 22, 1866. 

Company M. 
Lewis M. Dickinson, must, out Sept. 22, 1863. 



FIRST AND SECOND CAVALRY. 



93 



CHAPTER XIV. 

FIBST AND SECOND CAVALRY. 

The First Cavalry in Virginia in 1862— Campaigning in 1803— 
Raids and other Movements in 1864 and 1865 — Organization of the 
Second Cavalry at Grand Rapids— Campaigning in Missouri, Mis- 
sissippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee in 1S62 and 1863 — Re-enlist- 
ment— Campaigns of Atlanta and Nasliville — Raidings in 1865 — 
Muster Out. 

The First Michigan Cavalry Regiment was organized in 
the summer of 1861, at Camp Lyon, Detroit, which was 
designated as the regimental rendezvous. One company of 
the regiment was chiefly made up of volunteers from Clin- 
ton and Shiawassee Counties. This company, originally 
styled the " Constitutional Guard," was recruited by Capt. 
Josiah B. Park, of Ovid, and First Lieut. Thurlow W. 
Lusk, of Duphiin, under whom it was mustered and saw 
its first service. The recruiting headquarters were at Ovid, 
and the company was raised to a strength of sixty-four men 
in three days from the date of its first enlistment.* It left 
Ovid about the 1st of August, was reported at the regi- 
mental rendezvous, and designated in the organization as 
D Company of the First Cavalry. 

The regiment was mustered into the United States ser- 
vice September 13, 1861, eleven hundred and forty-four 
strong, under command of Col. T. F. Brodhead, and on 
the 29th of the same month Companies A, D, E, and M 
embarked on the steamer " May Queen," and Companies 
H, I, K, and L on the " Ocean," for Cleveland, on their 
way to Washington and the seat of war. Tiiey reached 
Washington on the 2d of October, and were soon after 
joined by C, F, and G Companies, which had been left be- 
hind in charge of the horses. About the 20th of November 
the regiment moved to Frederick, Md., where it remained 
in camp, two miles from the city, during the winter. 

Upon the opening of the spring campaign of 1862 the 
First became actively employed on the Upper Potomac and 
in the passes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. On the 28d 
of March it took part in the battle at Winchester, and won 
honorable mention for its bravery and efficiency in covering 
the retreat of Gen. Banks' forces from the Shenandoah 
Valley, being almost continuously under fire while engaged 
in that service. Afterwards it took part in the actions at 
Middletown (March 25thj, at Strasburg (March 27th), 
HarrLsonburg (April 2d), Winchester (second battle. May 
2-lth), Orange Court-House (July Kith), Cedar Mountain 
(August 9th), and at the second battle of Bull Run, 
August 30th, in which last-named engagement its com- 
manding officer. Col. Brodhead, was mortally wounded. 
The losses of the regiment in that battle were twenty killed 
and wounded, seven prisoners, and one hundred and six 
missing. From that time until November 1st ten more 
had died of wounds received in action, and sixty of disease. 

During the month of November, and through the follow- 
ing winter and spring, the regiment was employed in grand 
guard duty along the line of the Potomac River, in Vir- 
ginia, from Leesburg (the locality of the battle of Ball's 
Bins' in 18(Jl), on the northwest, to the mouth of Occo- 

* This statement is from the local newspapers of that time. 



quan Creek, below Mount Vernon. This duty, besides 
being of the most arduous and laborious kind, was one 
which required the exorci.se of constant and almost sleep- 
less vigilance in guarding against the inroads and attacks 
of the bold and enterpri.siug guerrilla bands of Mosby and 
Stuart ; but so well did the men of the First Michigan 
keep their guard against surprises, that though two cavalry 
regiments of other States lost each about two hundred men 
while engaged in the same duty, during the same time, this 
regiment lost only about thirty men. When the enemy's 
cavalry, under the famous J. E. B. Stuart, made a raid 
along the Union lines, in February, 1863, a detachment of 
the First was sent out to observe their movements, and 
finding them on the Occoquan, at once engaged them, and 
drove them back in confusion. They, however, rallied on 
learning the weakness of the attacking party, and in turn 
charged vigorously, and compelled the Union force to re- 
tire ; which they did, however, in good order, and con- 
stantly fighting, over a, distance of several miles, inflicting 
quite heavy loss on the raiders. 

When Gen. Lee invaded Maryland and Pennsylvania, in 
June, 1863, and the Army of the Potomac marched north- 
ward to meet him, the First Michigan moved with the 
other cavalry regiments (June 27th) on the campaign ot 
Gettysburg, and during fifteen days fought in sixteen bat- 
tles and skirmishes, being almcst constantly in the saddle. 
At Gettysburg, on the 3d of July, it met and charged three 
regiments of Confederate cavalry, composing the " Hampton 
Legion," and in six minutes put the rebel force to flight ; 
but in this engagement it lost eighty enlisted men and 
eleven officers out of the throe hundred who went into the 
fight. Gen. Custer, in his report of the operations of the 
cavalry at Gettysburg, said of this fight : " Arriving within 
a few yards of the enemy's column a charge was ordered, 
and with a yell that spread terror before them, the First 
Michigan Cavalry, led by Col. Town, rode upon the front 
rank of the enemy, .sabering all who came within reach. 
For a moment, but only a moment, that long heavy column 
stood its ground ; then, unable to withstand the impetu- 
osity of the attack, it gave way into a disorderly rout, 
leaving vast numbers of their dead and wounded in our 
possession, while the First, being masters of the field, had 
the proud satisfaction of seeing the much-vaunted chivalry, 
led by their favorite commander, seek safety in headlong 
flight. I cannot find language to express my high appre- 
ciation of the gallantry and daring displayed by the officers 
and men of the First Michigan Cavalry. They advanced 
to the charge of a vastly superior force with as much order 
and precision as if going upon parade; and I challenge the 
annals of warfare to produce a more brilliant or successful 
charge of cavalry than the one just recounted." 

On the following day the regiment was again engaged at 
Fairfield Gap. The following extract is from the report of 
that fight made by Col. C. H. Town, commanding the First: 
" We moved early on the morning of the 4th of July to 
Emmettsburg, thence to Monterey. Before readiing the 
latter place the enemy was discovered in force upon the 
hills to the right of the road. The regiment, being in ad- 
vance of the column, was sent on a road leading to Fair- 
field Gap. The enemy having possession of the gap, a 



94 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



cliarge was made by one squailron, which, with the re- 
mainder of tlic rofiinieiit deployed as skinuishers, was 
successful in driving; the enemy IVom the .<;ap. The regi- 
ment held the position until the entire column had passed, 
though the enemy made desperate efi'orts with superior 
numbers to drive us out.'' 

During the pursuit of the enemy from Gettysburg to 
the Potomac the men of the First were almost constantly 
in the saddle and frequently engaged. On the 6th of July 
it supported a battery under heavy fire, but fortunately 
sustaiued no loss. It took part in the actions at Boonsboro', 
Hagerstown, and Williamsport ; and at Falling Waters, Va., 
on the 14th of July, it was heavily engaged, capturing five 
hundred prisoners and the colors of the Fortieth and Forty- 
seventh Virginia Infantry. 

In September, 1803, the War Department authorized the 
consolidation of the twelve companies of the regiment into 
eight, and the raising of a new battalion of four companies. 
These were speedily raised, and were mustered into service 
at Mount Clemens, in December, 1863. This battalion went 
to Camp Stoneman, near Washington, in December, 1863, 
and remained there until the spring of 1864. Meanwhile, 
the two old battalions re-enlisted, came home on veteran 
furlough, and joined the new levies at Camp Stoneman. 

The three battalions went to the front together, and in 
the latter part of March, 1864, joined Gen. Sheridan's 
cavalry corps at Cnlpeper, Va., being still a part of the 
Michigan Cavalry Brigade. The regiment did excellent 
work in the arduous campaigns of May and June, 1864, 
one of its most brilliant engagements being that at Yellow 
Tavern, Va., on the 11th of May. The splendid charge 
of the First on that occasion is mentioned in Gen. Custer's 
report of the movement, as follows : " From a personal 
examination of the ground I discovered that a successful 
charge might be made upon the battery of the enemy by 
keeping well to the right. With this intention, I formed 
the First Michigan Cavalry in column of squadrons under 
cover of the woods. At the same time I directed Col. 
Alger and Maj. Kidd to move the Fifth and Sixth Michi- 
gan Cavalry I'orward and occupy the attention of the enemy 
on the left, Ileatou's battery to engage them in the front, 
while the First charged the battery on the flank. The bugle 
sounded the advance, and the three regiments moved forward. 
As soon as the First Michigan moved from the cover of the 
woods the enemy divined our intention, and opened a brisk 
fire from his artillery with shell and canister. Before the 
battery of the enemy could be reached there were five fences 
to be opened and a bridge to cross, over which it was im- 
possible to pass more than three at one time, the intervening 
ground being within close range of the enemy's battery. 
Yet, notwithstanding these obstacles, the First Michigan, 
Lieut.-Col. Stagg commanding, advanced boldly to the 
charge, and when within two hundred yards of the battery 
charged it with a yell which spread terror before them. 
Two pieces of cannon, two limbers filled with ammunition, 
and a large number of prisoners were among the results of 
this charge. . . . Licut.-Col. Stagg, who commanded the 
First Michigan in the charge, with the otficers and men of 
liis command, deserve great credit for the daring manner 
i(i which thp rebel battery was taken." 



The regiment was engaged at Hanovertown, on the 27th 
of May, and at Hawes' Shop on the 28th, where fifteen of 
its membens were killed and wounded, and at Old Church 
on the 30th, where fifteen were killed and wounded. On the 
31st of May and 1st of June ifwas engaged, together with 
other cavalry regiments, at Cold Harbor, where it fought, 
dismounted, in advance of the infantry, having eighteen 
men killed and wounded. It shared the fortunes of the 
brigade throughout the summer, having fifty-one men killed 
and wounded at Trevillia,i Station (where six commissioned 
ofiicers were killed), eleven killed and wounded at Front 
Royal, in the Shenandoah Valley, thirty-two at Manchester, 
and twenty-seven at Cedar Creek. During the six months 
closing on the 1st of November, 1864, the regiment had 
eighty-two men killed or mortally wounded in action, and 
one hundred and two less seriously wounded, while only 
thirty three died of disoa.se. 

After being in quarters with the brigade near Winchester 
through the winter, the First went with it in Sheridan's 
great raid in March, 1865, and was warmly engaged in the 
closing scenes of the Rebellion. A most gallant charge 
made by the regiment at the battle of Five Forks is men- 
tioned as follows : " The next morning we moved forward, 
passing over the ground from which we had been driven the 
daybefore. Our brigade being in advance, we soon came upon 
the enemy, strongly posted behind a large swamp, through 
which it was impossible to penetrate. Moving to the right, 
the enemy's cavalry appeared in our front, and was driven 
to his main line of works, occupied by Kershaw's division. 
In the afternoon the regiment participated in the final 
charge and capture of these works, taking many prisoners 
and pursuing the flying enemy until long after dark." 

This battle was immediately followed by the surrender of 
the Confederate army under Gen. Lee, and soon after this 
the regiment moved into the edge of North Carolina, then 
returned to Washington, and immediately after the review 
of the Army of the Potomac, on the 23d of May, 1865, was 
sent by rail and steamer to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., whence 
it was ordered across the Plains. There was much dissatis- 
faction, but most of the regiment .set out on the march, 
reaching Camp Collins, at the foot of the Rocky Jlountains, 
on the 26th of July. Its headquarters remained there 
until about the 1st of November, when it was reiuoved to 
Fort Bridger. There it was consolidated with those men 
of the Sixth and Seventh Michigan Cavalry who had the 
longest time to serve, forming an organization known as 
the First Michigan Veteran Cavalry. After the consolida- 
tion eight companies were sent to Camp Douglas, near Salt 
Lake City, while four remained at Fort Bridger. The 
regiment garrisoned those two stations until the 10th of 
March, 1866, when it was mustered out, paid ofi", and dis- 
banded. The men were given their choice,— to be dis- 
banded in Utah then, or to remain till June and then be 
marched to Fort Leavenworth, without horses or tents. All 
but about seventy made the former choice. The commuta- 
tion paid them in lieu of transportation, however, was not 
enough to carry them home, and on representation of the 
injustice to Congress, that body voted three hundred and 
twenty-five dollars to each member of the regiment, minus 
the amount already paid as commutation money. This 



FIRST AND SECOND CAVALRY. 



95 



gave each member about two liundred and ten dollars extra, 
which was duly paid them by the government. 

SOLDIEnS OF THE FIRST C.WAtRY FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Field and SUig. 

Miij. Thurlow W. I,usk, Dupliiin ; com. Oct. 25, 1804; must, out Nov. 28, ISC';. 

l^oH-Commiiwioned Stnjf. 
Q.M.-Sergt. Samuel L. Bra«, Ovid ; veteran, enl. Dec. 21 , 186T ; pro. to lat li eut . 

Co. G. 
QM.-Sergt. C. F. Carrier, Ovid ; vetei-an, enl. Dec. 21, 18G:l ; died of disease at 

Alexandria. 
Q.M.-Sergt. Edward 1>. Weed, Duplain; veteran, enl. Jan. 2, 1804; trans, to 
Co. H. 

Company C. 

Joseph Tucker, disch. for disability. 

Compiiiy D. 
Capt. Josiah B. Park, Ovid; com. Aug. 10, 1861 ; pro. to maj. of 4tli Mich. Cav., 

Aug. 14, 1802. 
Capt. Thurlow W. Lusk, Dnpliiin; com. Aug. 1, 1862; 2d lieut., Aug. 22, 1801; 

pro. to maj., Oct. 2.~>, 1804. 
2d Lieut. Harry Marvin, Ovid ; com. Nov. 12, 1802; must, out at end of service, 

Dec. 21, 1804. 
Sergt. Richard G. Finch, Ovid; enl. Aug. 12, 1862; died of disease at Frederick, 

Md. 
Seigt. Mark B. Wansor, Ovid; enl. Aug. 12, 1862; pro. to 2d lieut. 
Corp. Henry S. Chapman, Duplain; enl. Aug. 12, 1861; disch. for disability, 

June, 1862. 
Corp. George G. Winfield, Ovid ; enl. .\ng. 12, 1861 ; killed in skirmish in Vir- 
ginia, .\pril 1, 1802. 
Corp. James W. Howd, Dujilain ; enl. Aug. 12, 1862. 
Corp. John If. Faxon, Duplain; enl. Aug. 12, 18G2. 
Blud. E. V. Chase, Dniilain; enl. Aug. 11), 1802: sergeant; veteran, ro-enl. Jan. 

4, 1804; pro. to 2i\ lieul., Co. F, Oct. 2.i, 1801; pro. to let lieut., Co. F, and 

trans, to Co. JI ; must, out March 10, 1806. 
Mus. S. L. Bra«s. Ovid ; enl. Aug. 12, 1802 ; trans, to Co. B 
Sad. Henry L. HoUiiter, Duplain; cul. Aug. 12, 1862; veteran, re-enl. Jan. 2, 

1804; must, out April 25,1860. 
Far. Charles Chase, Ovi.i ; enl. Aug. 12, 1802. 

Far. Jerome Bitely, Ovid ; enl. Aug. 12, 1802 ; must, out March 10, 1S60. 
Wag. Almon Bennett, Duplain ; enl. Aug. 12, 1802. 

Byron .\hlrich, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1801; disch. by order, June 9, 1805. 
James Bennett, veteran, eld. Nov. 10, 186:1; must, out Jan. 16, 1806. 
Albert Bradley, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804. 
John Bromley, veteran, enl. Jan. 2, 1864. 
Oliver CrosH, disch. for disability, Dec. 5, 1862. 
Ehenezer Cowles, disch. for disability, January, 1862. 
Evan Davis, missing in action, Feb. 20, 180;J. 
8. R. Dewetoe, Duplain ; disch. for disability, Feb. 13, 1803. 
Daniel R Dilts, disch. for disability. June, 1802. 

John Dills, veteran, enl. Feb. 2t, 1804; must, out by order, July 15, 1805. 
Morris Dilts, veteran, enl. March 3, 1804 ; must, out Auk. "ty 1800. 
George W. Davis, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out March 10, ISOO. 
Francis M. Davis, Duplain; veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out March 10, 

1806. 
John Hibbard, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; must, out March 10, 1806. 
John W. Hawkins, disch. for disability, Oct. 14, 1802. 
George E. Hollister, disch. fur disability, Nov. 26, 1801. 
Jacob House, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; must, out May 12, 1866. 
George R. Jameson, Ovid ; died of disease in Virginia, April 29, 1802. 
Morgan L. Leach, disch. for disability, Oct. 14, 1S02, 

And. J. Linman, Duplain; died of disease at Washington, D. C, Nov. 9, 1801. 
And. J. Mead, died of disease at Washington, Dec. 23, 1862. 
Bernard Oberlc, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 18G4; must, out March 10, 1866. 
Silas S. Perry, Duplain ; veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1864; must, out Aug. 8, 1800. 
James F. Ross, disch. for disability, June 30, 1802. 

William A. Simmons, veteran, enl. Dec 21, 1803; must, out July 11, 1805. 
William Sweet, veteran, enl. Jan. 4, 1804; disch. by order, May 3, 1805. 
Willi.-im D. Scott, disch. for disability, Nov. 25, 1861. 
Charles Upton, must, out Dee. 7, 1805. 

Josiah D. Van lierger, veteran, enl Nov. 16, 1863; must, out Jan. 10, 1806. 
Albert Watson, disch. for disability, June .30, 1802. 
Allen D. Watkins, diseh. for disability, Oct. 9, 1862. 
Charles J. Young, disch. for disability, Nov. 26, 1861. 
Daniel C. Young, disch. by order, Juno d, 1865. 

Cbmpanii //. 
Edward Ilindman, must, out March 26, 1806. 
Charles 0. Hior, must, out June 30, 1800. 

SOLDIERS OF THE FIRST CAVALRY FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Oompnm/ C. 
Charles Bogue, veteran, enl. Blarch 3, 1804 ; must, out March 10, 1806. 
George L. Foster, disch. at end of service, Aug 22, 1664. 



William D. Jewell, veteran, enl. Dec. 21, 1863. 

Joseph Naracon, missing in action at Fairfield Gap, July 4, 1863. 

Company D. 
1st Sergt. Frank Shepherd, Owoeso; enl. Aug. 12, 1861; disch. June, 1862. 
Corp. George P. Guilford, Owosso; enl. Aug. 12, 1861; veteran, Jan. 4, 1864; 

disch. for disability, July 17, 1805. 
Corp. Joseph O. Hathaway, Middlebury; enl. Aug. 12, 1801. 
Lemuel W. Bogue, died of disease at Ciiuip Rucker, Nov. 6, 1801. 
John Brooks, disch. for disability, Aug. 7, 1802. 

Bradley B. Bennett, veteran, enl. March 3, 1804; disch. by order, July 11, 1865. 
Henry N. Curtis, veteran, enl. Jan. 2, 1864 ; must, out March 10, 1S06. 
Jacob Color, veteran, eul. Jan. 2, 1864 ; must, out March 10, 1800. 
William Uankinson, veteran, enl. Feb. 23,1864; must, out July 10, 1865. 
William Hyatt, veteran, enl. Jan. 2, 1804; must, out March 10, 1800. 
Egbert Maton, veteran, enl. Jan. 2, 1804. 
Henry C. McCarty, disch. for disability, Nov. 24. 1861. 
Charles W. Moslier, disch. for disability, Jan. 2, 1802. 
Willard Ryan, disch. for disability, June 30, 1862, 
Samuel R Smith, disch. for disability, June 30, 1802. 
Aaron L. Tubbs, died of disease at Camp Rucker, Nov. 9, 1801. 

Ootapamj F. 
Gustavus Brenner, must, out March 25, 1806. * 

Company G. 
William Everest, must, out March 10, 1800. 
Alvah C. Liiing, disch. by order, Juno 3, 1865. 
William Mabeen, must, out March 10, 1860. 
Alexander Mabeen, must, out March 10, 1860. 



SECOND CAVALRT. 

The Second Cavalry Regiment was organized in the 
summer and autumn of 1861, by Hon. F. W. Kellogg, 
and for this reason was generally known during the period 
of its recruitment as •'Kellogg's First Cavalry."* It con- 
tained between fifty and sixty men from Clinton and Shia- 
wassee Counties, these being scattered through all the 
companies. The regimental rendezvous and camp of in- 
struction was located at Grand Rapids. 

The regiment was mustered into the United States ser- 
vice on the 2d of October, 1861, and on the 14th of Novem- 
ber following it left Grand Rapids for St. Louis, JMo., where 
it remained till March, 1862. It then moved to New 
Madrid, Mo., where it took part in the military operations 
again.st that place, and afterwards at Island No. 10. In 
May, 1862, it moved to Corinth, Miss., and was occupied 
throughout the summer in cavalry duty in Northern Mis- 
sissippi and Western Tennessee. Its colonel was then 
Philip H. Sheridan, now lieutenant-general, who had re- 
cently been detailed from duty as a captain in the regular 
army to receive the colonelcy lately vacated by the promo- 
tion of Gen. Gordon Granger. Col. Sheridan commanded 
the brigade consisting of the Second Michigan, Second 
Iowa, and Seventh Kansas Cavalry, and at its head made 
numerous excursions through the country around Corinth, 
to keep down guerrillas and learn the movements of the 
enemy. 

Early in the autumn, however, Col. Sheridan was made a 
brigadier-general of volunteers and transferred to the Army 
of the Cumberland, and about the same time the Second 
Cavalry was sent to Kentucky. In December, 1862, and 
January, 1863, it was engaged in a movement into p]ast 
Tennessee, the men being in the saddle twenty-two days 
and taking part in several sharp skirmishes. Soon after- 
wards it moved into Middle Tennessee, and for several 



* Called the Fimt because Mr. Kellogg soon after commenced the 
organiwtiou of other cavalrj' regiments. 



96 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



months its headquarters were at or near Murfrecsboro', 
while it was almost constantly engaged in scoulings and 
raids tlirdugh that region. 

On the 25th of March, 1863, it had a sharp encounter 
with a large rebel force under Gen. N. B. Forrest, killing 
and wounding many and capturing fifty-two prisoners. 
The Second had seven men killoJ and wounded. On the 
4th of June it had another brisk skirmi.sh between Frank- 
lin and Triune, five of its men being killed and wounded. 

When the army advanced from Murfrecsboro' in June, 
18(j3, the Second accompanied it in the cavalry division, 
driving the enemy from Shclbyville, Middlctown, and other 
points. In the autumn it was engaged in scouting around 
Chattanooga, at one time being part of a force which chased 
Gen. Wheeler's cavalry one hundred and ninety-one miles 
in six days (October 3d to 8th inclusive). In November 
it marched into East Tennessee, and on the 24th of Decem- 
ber it participated in an attack on a largo force of the 
enemy at Dandridge, Tenn., having ten men killed and 
wounded. Ou the 2Gth of January, 18G4, the Second 
with other forces attacked a brigade of rebel cavalry on 
Pigeon Eiver, capturing three pieces of artillery and 
seventy-five prisoners, and having eleven of its own men 
wounded. 

Three hundred and twenty-eight of the men re enlisted 
as veterans, and in April went home on veteran furlough. 
The rest of the regiment accompanied Gen. Sherman in 
his Atlanta campaign, having several sharp skirmishes with 
the enemy, but ordered back from Lost Mountain to Frank- 
lin, Tenn., were rejoined by the veterans in July. During 
the summer and autumn it was busily engaged in marching 
through Middle Tennessee, fighting with the horsemen of 
Forrest and other rebel generals. 

On the 5th of November, 1864, the regiment was at- 
tacked at Shoal Creek, Ala., by a large Confederate force 
(a part of Hood's army, then advancing against Nashville), 
and was forced back with heavy loss. It steadily fell back, 
skirmishing almost constantly with the enemy, and at 
Franklin, on the 30th of November, it resisted his ad- 
vance all day, having eighteen oflScers and men killed and 
wounded. 

After Hood's defeat before Nashville, the Second pressed 
hard on his rear, and at lliehland Creek, ou the 24th of 
December, charged repeatedly, driving the foe sixteen 
miles, and having seven men killed and wounded. After 
Hood's final retreat from the State the regiment remained 
mostly in Middle Tennessee until March 11, 1865, when it 
set out on a long raid through Northern Alabama to Tusca- 
loosa, thence througli Talladega to Macon, Ga., where it 
arrived on the 1st day of May, 1865. 

After remaining in Georgia, on garrison duty, until the 
17th of August, the regiment was mustered out and sent 
home, arriving at Jacksou on the 25th of August, where 
it was disbanded. 

SIIUWASSEE COUNir SOLDIERS IN THE SECOND CAVALRY. 

David Barnnm, died in action at Dandridge, Tenn., Dec. 24, 1863. 

Henry lladdor, muBt. out Aug. 17, 1805. 

Abrl Cronaon, must, out May 'M\ 18C5. 

Holland llait, died in action at Dandi idge, Tenn., Dec. 24, 1863. 



Jolm Jacltfon, must, ont S< pt, 14, 1865. 

James 11. Lyman, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1864 ; disch. by order, Jiin. 6, 18C6 . 

Ctniqicmy C. 

Dean Cutler, mutit. out Aug. 14, 1805. 
Jumea A. Farr, must, ont Aug. 17, 1865. 

Company D. 

John Hicks, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, April 30, 1864. 
Warren L. Woolman, must, out June 20, 1865. 

Compauy E, 
John Ilownian, must, out June 21, 1865. 
Tlioums ('(innur, must, out Aug. 17, 1865. 
James I.Miiy, must, out Aug. 17, 1805. 
Joseph Musher, disch. by order, Aug. 19, 1865. 

Company F. 
Charles Bradford, died of dise-ise at Annapolis, Md., March 21, 1866. 
Andrew Cull, must, out Aug. 17, 1865. 
George Ililnia, must, ont July 18, 1805. 
Alonzo Maltisou, must, ont June 21, 1865. 
Sidney M. Shelley, must, out Aug. 17, 1865. 

Company G. 
John Codger, trans, to U. S. navy, April, 1804. 
William Jacobs, liisch. for disability, Feb. •>, 1862. 
George Juwctt, disch. for disability, .\pril 14, 1863. 

Dani»>l E. Lenioiiyon, died of disease un steamer " Woodford," April 19, 1862. 
George L;itlin, died of disease at Little Itock, Ark., June 22, 1805. 
Charles Lemouyon, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1864 ; must, out Feb. 12, 1866. 
Archibald McQenry, must, out Aug. 17, 1805. 

Covipany H, 
Andrew Kinney, died of disease at Benton Barracks, Mo., Dec. 26, 1862. 
Ennnett Mullett, must, ont Aug. 17, 1865. 
Silas Newnian, must, out Ang. 17, 1865. 
Owen otto, must, out Aug. 17, 1S65. 

Ctnnpany I. 
Sergt. Abram Jones, Byron. 
James C. Graham, must, out Ang. 17, 1865. 

Company K, 
Slartiii Spencer, must, ont Aug. 17, 1865. 
George Shultz, must, out Ang. 17, 1865. 

Contpany L. 
Azariah Slartin, must, ont Juno 3, 1865. 
Lyman S. Thrasher, must, out Aug, 17, 1865. 
Charles Vanalstin. 

Company M. 

lliirry U. Waidwell, mnst. ont June 3, 1865. 
Henry Wilson, disch. by older, Ang. 2fi, 1805. 



CLINTON COUNTY SOLDIERS IN THE SECOND CAVALRY. 
Company A, 
Johnson L. SutliflT, tiBns. to Vet. Res. Corps, Feb. 11, 1865. 

Company C. 
Henry P. Adams, St. John's; veteran, enl. Jan. 5, 1804; must, out Aug. 17, 1805. 
Wm. H. Buck, must, out Aug. 30, 1865. 
Christian llizer, died of disease at Nashville, Jnly 13, 1864. 
Almon Kelly, must, out Aug. 17, 1866. 
Robt. G. Mason, disch. at end of service, Oct. 22, 1864. 
Leroy B. Stowell, disch. for disal>ility, Sept. 20, 1862. 
Benj. F. Tilll, must, out July 20, 1865. 

Company D. 
Mus. Jas. A. Stevenson, veteran, enl. Jan. 5, 1864 ; must, oat Aug. 17, 1865. 
Levi S. Blakely, died of disease at Savannah, Tenn., Jnne 26, 1862. 

Cmnpany B. 
Saml. II. Barton, must, ont Ang. 17, 1865. 
Jacob Blakely, must, out June 30, ISfi.'i. 
John D. Moon, died of disease at Rienzi, Miss., Aug. 1, 1862. 

Company F. 
Jeremiah Blackman, must, ont Aug. 17, 1865. 

Company I. 
Jeremiah Mahoney, mnst. oat Jnne 30, 1865. 

Company M. 
Sergt. Henry II. Walker, pro. to 1st lieut. and q.-m. 
Charles M. Duke, discU. for disability, Juue 15, 1803. 



THIRD CAVALRY. 



97 



CHAPTER XV. 

THIRD CAVALRY. 

Rendezvous of the Third at Grand Rapid.^ — Winter Quarters in 
Missouri — Campaigns of 1862 — Marching and Fighting in Missis- 
sippi and Tennessee in 186.*J — Re-enlistmcnt — Campaign in Ar- 
kansas — At Mobile — Services in Texas till the Close of the War. 

The Third Cavalry Regiment of Micliigan was recruited 
and organized in the summer and fall of 1861, and was mus- 
tered into the United States service at its rendezvous, Grand 
Rapids, on the 1st of November of that year. Its total 
strength was eleven hundred and sixty-three oflficers and 
enlisted men, under command of Lieut.-Col. R. H. Gr. 
Minty. One of the companies of this regiment (Company 
B) was made up of Clinton and Shiawassee men, and a 
considerable number of soldiers from these counties served 
in eight of the other companies. 

The regiment left its rendezvous Nov. 28, 1861, and pro- 
ceeded to Benton Barracks, JIo., where Col. John K. Miz- 
ner soon after assumed command. It remained at St. Louis 
until early in the spring of 1862, when it joined Gen. John 
Pope's "Army of the Mississippi," and actively participated 
in the operations which resulted in the capture of the rebel 
strongholds Island No. 10 and New Madrid. With Gen. 
Pope's army it then proceeded by way of tiie Mississippi, 
Ohio, and Tennessee Rivers, to Pittsburg Landing, where 
it arrived soon after the battle of Shiloh, and took an active 
part in the advance of Gen. Halleck's army upon Corinth, 
Miss. Immediately after the evacuation of Corinth by 
Beauregard, the Third was ordered to Booneville, Miss., to 
ascertain the position and strength of the enemy. While 
in the performance of this duty a small detachment of the 
regiment was sent out in advance, under one of the captains. 
It ran upon a rebel force of all arms, drove them from their 
position, halted, and bivouacked for the night. The fol- 
lowing morning, while eating breakfast, a Union scout dis- 
covered tlie enemy in the vicinity. The men left their 
breakfast half eaten, mounted, and hurried forward. They 
soon found a small body of rebel cavalry, wlio fled before 
them. The Union horsemen advanced at a rapid pace, 
and soon came upon an entire regiment of rebel cavalry 
drawn up to dispute their further progress. There was no 
time for consideration. If the little command hud then 
retreated, it would have been attacked and crushed by the 
elated Confederates. The commanding officer knew it was 
essential for cavalry to get the advantage of its own mo- 
mentum in a combat, and accordingly sliouted the order to 
charge. The detachment dashed forward at the top of it.s 
speed, burst through the Confederate lines, and thenturned 
and charged back. The enemy were so demoralized by 
these movements that no attempt was made to follow. How 
many of the foe were killed and wounded was not known, 
but it was certain that at least eleven were dismounted, for 
that number of their horses accompanied the Union force 
on its returning charge. After retreating a short distance, 
the commander halted and scut a dispatch to camp. About 
ibur o'clock in the afternoon he was relieved by the Second 
Michigan Cavalry, under the command of Col. Philip H. 
Sheridan. The latter drove back the enemy four or five 
miles, and then rejoined the main army. 
13 



The regiment was actively engaged in the usual cavalry 
duty of picketing and scouting throughout the whole sea- 
son. Through the month of August it was at Tuscumbia 
and Russellville, Ala. On the approach of Price's rebel 
cavalry it returned to the vicinity of Corinth. At luka. 
Miss., on the 19th of September, 1862, while in command 
of Capt. L. G. Wilcox, — Col. Mizner being chief of cav- 
alry, — the regiment was actively engaged, and was specially 
mentioned in Gen. Rosecrans' report of that battle. When 
Price and his defeated rebel army retired from the field 
the Third hung on his flanks and rear for many miles, be- 
coming several times hotly engaged, and causing him re- 
peatedly to form line of battle to check the Union advance. 

At the close of the year ending Nov. 1, 1862, the regi- 
ment had lost one hundred and four men who died of dis- 
ease, seven killed in action, forty-five wounded in action, 
and fifty-nine taken prisoners. Its battles and skirmishes 
to that date were New Madrid, Mo., March 13, 18C2 ; siege 
of Island No. 10, Mo., March 14th to April 7th ; Farm- 
ington, Miss , Jlay 5th ; siege of Corinth, Miss., May 10th 
to 31st ; Spangler's Mills, Miss., July 26th ; Bay Springs, 
MLss., September 10th ; luka. Miss., September 19th ; 
Corinth, Miss., October 3d and 4th; and Hatchio, Miss., 
October 6th. It advanced with Gen. Grant's army into 
Mississippi in November and December, 1862, and engaged 
the enemy at Holly Springs, November 7th ; at Hudson- 
ville, November 14th, where it captured an entire rebel 
company ; at Lumkin's Mill, November 29th ; and at Ox- 
ford, December 2d ; and shared in the defeat of the Union 
cavalry at CoflFceville, December 5th. 

The Tliird passed the winter in Northern Mississippi, 
and in 1863 was again employed in that State and West- 
ern Tennessee in almost continuous marching, fighting, and 
raiding, in the arduous service of driving out the numer- 
ous bands of guerrillas which infested Western Tennessee 
and Northern Mississippi, and repelling the incursions of 
Confederate forces from other f|uarters, its camp being 
most of the time at Corinth, MLss. It fought at Clifton 
on the 20th of February; at Panola, Miss., on the 20th 
of July; at Byhalia, Miss., on the 12th of October; at 
Wyatt's Ford, Miss., on the 13th of October. At Gre- 
nada, Miss., also, on the 14th of August, the Third led 
the Union advance, and, after a vigorous fight, drove 
back the enemy, captured the town, and destroyed more 
than sixty locomotives and four hundred cars, gathered 
there by the Confederate authorities. By the 1st of No- 
vember in that year it had taken an additional number of 
prLsoiiers, sufficient to make the whole number captured by 
it since its commencement of service two thousand one 
hundred, of whom about fifty were officers. " During the 
year (from Jan. 1 to Nov. 1, 1863} the regiment marched 
a distance of ten thousand eight hundred miles, exclusive 
of marches by separate companies and detachments." Ac- 
companying the Third in its movements was a light bat- 
tery of twelve-pound howitzers. 

On the 1st of January, 1864, the regiment arrived at 
La Grange, Tenn., where it prepared winter quarters, and 
where, during January, nearly six hundred of its mem- 
bers re-enlisted as veterans, and received the usual furlough, 
— to rendezvous at Kalamazoo. From that place they 



98 



IlISTOUY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



moved, with tlicir numbers liirgoly augmented by recruits, 
to St. Louis, wlierc tliey rciiiaiiied about two months on 
provost duty in tiio tily, wliilo iiwiiiliri;^' tlio arrival of new 
liorses and (■(|ui|imonls. Still di.-ui(Juntod, tiic ref^imeiit 
moved May 18tii, and ])roceeded to Arkansas, there joining 
the army oi" Gen. Steele. It was mounted and armed with 
the Speneer repeating- earbine on tlio 1st of August, and 
from lliat lime until winter, was enf;a^ed in scouting and 
outpost duty in that State. Its winter quarters were at 
Brownsville Station, on the Memphis and Little Hock Hail- 
road. At this [ilaee the men built suili line appearing 
quarters and stables, that it was called JMichigari City, in- 
stead of Brownsville. 

The regiment was transferred (March 14, 1805) from 
Arkansas to the Military Division of West Mississippi, 
under Gen. Canby, to move with the forces designed to 
operate against Mobile. In this service — as a part of the 
First Brigade, First Division, Seventh Army Corps — it 
moved to New Orleans, and thence to its objective point. 
Mobile. Alter the fall of that city the regiment was em- 
ployed on outpost duty till after the surrender of Lee and 
Johnston, and was then detailed as the escort of Gen. 
Canby, on the occasion of his receiving the surrender of 
the Confederate Gen. Taylor and his army. It moved 
across the country from Mobile to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 
arriving there May 22, 1805. On Sheridan's assuming 
command of the Division of the Southwest, the Third was 
ordered to join lroo])s designed for Texas, and left Baton 
BougeJurie 10th, moving by way of Shreveport, and across 
Texas to San Antonio, where it remained, employed in gar- 
rison duty, scouting expeditions lor the protection of the 
frontier, and other similar duty till Feb. 15, 180t!, when it 
was dismounted and mustered out of service. The men 
returned, via Victoria, Indianola, New Orleans, and Cairo, 
Illinois, to Jackson, IMiehigaii, and there received their final 
j)ayment, March 15, 18CG. 

MEMUKllS or TllK TlUltn CAVALllV I'llOM CMNTON COUNTY. 

Conipuny It. 

l8t I.ii'iit. Williiuii T. Miif^uiVin, St. Juliiru; com. Si-pt. 7, ISGl ; resigned Miurh 

■1<J, 18C12. 
lilt I.li'Ut. Diiiik'l T, Welllni;lui>,SI.Juliji'ii; com. Oct. :i, 1«M, iia 2J liiut. ; pro. 

to capl. Co. II, Dec. 7, 1S04. 
y.M.-Scrgt. KmsiiiUB I). Tl ipp, St. Jolin'H; lilHcli. for dinuliililj', Jul}- 'H, 1802. 
tj.M.-Surgt llorucc S. CJrcuii, St. JoIiii'h; tllecl of (libcuso ut St. Luuiu, Miircli 3, 

l«li2. 
li.M.-Scrgl. KiioB li. liuilcy, SI. Jolin'» ; dlr.cli. for pro. iij lltli Cuv., Oct. 1, 1863. 
Corp, 1). T. Wellington, St. Jolin's; enl. Oct. 14, ISUl ; veteran, Jiin. IS), 18G4-, 

pro. to 2(1 Hunt. 
Corp. Jucob P. Sleight, Until ; dl.ch. for pro. in U. S. C. T. 
Corji, Hlriini Slelt.v, St. John's ; onl. Oct, lit, ISlil ; nmst. onl Feb. 12, 18G0. 
Corp. riiineuH It. Freenmii, St. Juhii'ii; onl. Aug. 31, 1801; dittcli. for disability, 

Feb, 7, 1803. 
Mualciiiii Jume« Gunner, St. John't); eiil. Sept. 4, 1861; trans, from N. C. S. 

(Horgt.); disdi. lor dlHiibllity, Jan. 2, 1803. 
Aluaiclan Charlea H. Faton, St. Julin'u; onl. Sept. 17, 1801; veteran, Jan. 19, 

1804; Corp.; muNt. out Feb. 12, 1SC6. 
Amos T. Ayers, dlsdi. for diiuibility, Jan. 27, 1862. 
Henry Alward, nniHt. out Feb. 12, 1800. 
Theo. Anhloy, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 
Joliu llfdion, niUHt. utit Feb. 12, 1800. 
Lysler K. Uond, liiust. out Feb. 12, 1800. 
John A. Drown, nin»t. out Feb. 12, 1800. 
tiulru-M Hrown, disch. for dipahility, Feb. 0, 1802. 
Samuel llrubuUer, diacb. for dituibility, July lU, 1802. 
Abiiiiii llinbuker, veleian, enl. Jan. HI, 1804; must, out Oct. 9, 1806. 
William 11. iJiiUer, dibcli. for disiibilily, Feb. f,, 1805. 
Knos Uacbeiiler, die<l <if din-use at Duvall's Hliill, Arli., July 10, 1804. 
Cluirlus F. Uotloin, died of dlsoaso iuTe.xiis, July 21, 180.^. 
William II. 11. CooU, died of disease ut New Madrid, Mo., March 24, 1802. 



Wnllaco J. Cronklllto, died of dl«on»e nt St. Louis, Mo., April 30, 1802. 

John I. Cable, died of disease at Shreveiiort, La., July 0, 1806. 

Luwrence Croy, diseh. lor dlsubilily, July 2, IKOl. 

Theo. W. Curtis, vetiriin, enl. Jan. 19, 1804 ; must, out Feb. 12, 1806. 

Leonard CoHnian, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804 ; must, out Oct. 9, 1865. 

Aaron Cuntre't, must, out Juno 2, 1806. 

I'erry Ciintrell, must, out May 18, 18(16. 

Tlieo, IJowd, discli, for disability, Juno 4, 1802, 

Anson R. Doyen, veteran, enl. Jati. 19, 1804 ; must, out Oct. 9, 1805, 

Ahnini Fugles, veteran, onl. Jan. 19, 1804; must, out Oct. 9, 1805. 

W illiam Kagles, veteran, enl Jan. 19, 1804 ; must, out Oct. 9, 1805. 

Charles 11. Faton, veterati, enl. Jan. 19, 1804 ; Corp.; must, out Fob. 12, 1866. 

Mieliiiel N. Freer, must, out Oct. 9, 180.6. 

Leoininl G. Fry, must, out March 17, 1800. 

Arlhur L. Gunn, Vielor; voteran, onl. .Ian. 19, 1804; must, out Oct. 9, 1805. 

Charles A. Gunn, disch. at end of service, Oct. 24, 1804. 

Oliver D. Gillson, disch. at end of service, Oct. 24, 1804. 

Stephen D. Gillson, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 

Horace S. Green, Olive ; died of disease nt St. Louis, Mo., March 2, 1802. 

Wm. Iliilae, Greenbush; died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., Fob. 7, 1862. 

MileH Hall, Viitor; died of liisenao at St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 31, 1802. 

Hiram A. Ilillakei', discli. for disability, June 21, 1802. 

John A. Ililhiker, Duplain ; disch. for disaldlily, Juno 21, 1802.. 

Geo. lIan■i^ley, veteran, cut. Jan. 19, 1804 ; must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 

.luhii It. Jeffreys, must, out Feb. 12, 1806. 

Henry U. Johns, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 

Myron A. KnilTen, died of disease at Jackson, Oct. 7, 1802. 

Thomas Lester, must. out.\ug. 11, 1805. 

ICliJali MildKo, ninst.out Sept. 19, 1805. 

James L. Miller, veteran, Jan. 19, 1804 ; must, out Fob. 12, 1866. 

Daniel Miller, disch. for disability, Sept. 20, 1802. 

Wm. II. IMiirtiii, died of disease in Tennessee, Juno 1, 1H02. 

Ezra Nelson, v<'teian, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; disch for disability, Nov. 18, 1864. 

Daniel G. Owen, veteran, enl, Jan, 19, 1804; must, out Sept, 4, 1865. 

Jackson Page, veteran, enl, Jan. 19, 1804; ninst. out Feb. 12,1860. 

Alborl F. Piiliner, veteran, enl. Jan. 10, 1804; died of disease in Arkansas, Aug. 

29, 1804. 
Charles II. liheinbolham, veleran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; must, out Feb. 12, 1860. 
William J. Kiidsdale, niiisl. out June 2, \xt:h. 

JamoH II. Udbinson, died of ilisease at Memphis, Tenn., July 26, 1804. 
Owen Stopiiens, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804. 
Samuel Shaw, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804. 
Jacob Smith, veteran, enl. .laii. 19, 1804 ; died of disease at Baton Rouge, Juno 

26, 1805. 
David I). Sowles, died of disease at San Antonio, Aug. 20, 1806. 
Jiimes Terry, must, out June 2, 1806. 
John 11. Tripp, must, onl Feb. 12, 1800. 
Daniel Vail, niiist. out Fell. 12, 1800. 

Wiliiani Vail, died of disease at Duvall's niiilT, Ark., July 12, 1804. 
Wm. L. Van Djke, disch. for disaldlity, July 10, 1802. 
James A. Woodruff, disch. for disabilily, July 23, 1802. 
Warren K. Wilton, veteran, onl. .Ian. 19, 1804; must, out Feb. 12, ISOO. 
Henry C. Young, Olive ; died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., March 2, 1802. 

Compani/ D. 
Abram Ilaiie, died of discaso at Grand llapidK, Dec. 1, 1801. 
David II. Payne, disch. for disability, Aug. 1, 1802. 

Comjnnnj E. 
Peter (^lark, must, out Feb. 12, 18(i0. 
Albert H. Gregory, must, out Feb, 1'2, 1800. 
Hdwiii Hewitt, must, out Feb. 12, 1860. 
Cliarles A. Sloan, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 
James M. Warren, must, out Feb. 12, 1806. 

Compmiy II. 
Capt. D. T. Wellington, St. John's; com. Dec. 7, 1864 ; must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 
Win. A. Foster, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 

Coitijxniy L. 
Charles W. Ilildreth, must, onl Fob. 12, 1800. 
llobt. G. 'remple, must, out Dec. 9, 1865. 

Companj/ M. 
Francis M. Gillette, must, nut Feb. 12, 1806. 
Francis M. Jones, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 
Lafayette Van Vliet, must, out Dec. 30, 1806. 

MEMBERS OF THE THIRD CAVALRY FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Conipontj It. 
Sorgt. James II. Lyman, Shiawassee; enl. Sept. 14, 1801; veteran, re-eiil. Jan. 

19, 1804 ; pro. to 2d lieut. Co. E. 
Corp. Wilson Wright, Vernon ; enl. Sept. 10, 1861 J died of disease at St. Louis, 

Jan. 22, 1802. 
Corp. John C. Woodman, Coriinna ; enl. Sept. 4, 1801 ; disch. for disability. 
John Balr, died of iliseiwe at lliivall's Hliill, Ark., Anj;. 21, 1804. 
William 11. Cole, died in action at Collecviile, Miss., Doc. 6, 1802. 



FOURTH CAVALRY. 



99 



Thomas B. Carey, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1801 ; dUch. f.ir ilifla^ilily, Nov. 18, 1864. 

lldswell B. Illckcy, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; mn»t. out Keb. 12, 1860. 

Loren Harrington, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1864; must, out June 19, 186.'>. 

Robert Lawrence, must, out Feb. 12, 1860. 

George C. McCoy, dieil of iliseaio at St. Loula, Mo., Jan. 28, 1862. 

Tver Roberts, diid in action at Coffeeville, Miss., Dec. 5, 1862. 

Cliarles I'. Tillson, discli. at end of service, Oet. 8, 1804. 

Hiram T. Youngs, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 180t; niuHt. out Fob. 12, 1800. 

Compaiiij D, 
William M. Case, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804 ; mu^t. out June 2, 186.5. 

2d Lieut. J. II. Lyman, Shiawassee; com. July 4, 1805; mint, out Feb. 12,1806. 
Frank Payne, must, out Feb. 12, 1806. 

Company F. 
Orange Storey, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1864; mast, out Nov. 28, 1863. 

Oompanjl G. 
Silas II. AUiton, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1864; must, out Feb. 12, 1866. 
J. G. Uentley, disch. for disability, Dec. 7, 1802. 

David K. Carrier, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; must, out Feb. 12, 1806. 
Harrison H. Carson, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; must, out Feb. 12, 1866. 
Silas W. Currier, veteran, enl. .Ian. 19, 1804 ; must, out Juno 2, 1805. 
Peter Diimond, disch. for disability, July 21, 1862. 
Frederick Delano, disch. at end of service, Aug. 13, 180.5. 
Oliver C. Gaylard, died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., May 11, 1862. 
John J. Gumee.disch. for disabilily, July 1, 1802. 
George \V. Hatiford, disch. for disability, June 11, 1802. 
Harvey J. Hopkins, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; must, out Nov. 3, 1805. 
Joseph B. Miller, died of disease at New JLadrid, Bio. ' 

Austin Miller, died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 7, 1862. 
Ellis Olt, must, out Aug. 17, 1805. 

Kussell Bynes", veteran, enl. Jan. 19, 1804; mu.st. out June 22, 1805. 
Thomas J. Sme^lley, veteran, enl. Jan. 19, IHOI; must, out Feb. 12, 1806. 
Valentine Shaeppala, veteran, enl. J.in. 19, 1804; must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 
Seymour Sliiptuau, disch. for promotion, 1802. 
Koswell Sliipinau, died of disease at St. Loui-f, Mo., Jan. 2.5, 1862. 
Asa D. Whitney, veteran, enl. Jan. 10, 1804 ; must, out Feb. 12, 1860. 

Company If. 
Adolphus Campbell, must, out Sept. 21, 1SC5. 

Omtpany I. 
Charles Campbell, must, out Feb. 12, 1800. 
John E. Herrick, died at La Grange, June 20, 1803. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FOURTH CAVALRY. 

Orgaoizattoo of tbe Regiment — Movement to the Front — Operations 
against Guerrillas in Kentucky — Fight at Franklin, Tenn. — Ad- 
vance with the Army of the Cumberland in 1S6.1 — The Georgia 
Campaign of 1.S64 — Fight at Lattimore's Mill — I'ur.«uit of Gen. 
Hood — Raid through Alabama in the Spring of 18Ci — Capture of 
Jefferson Davis by the Fourth Cavalry. 

The renowned Fourth Resiment of Michigan Cavalry 
was recruited and organized in the summer of 1862, the 
city of Detroit being its place of rendezvous. Clinton and 
Shiawassee Counties were represented in eleven of its twelve 
companies, but most numerously in Company B, which was 
principally composed of men from these counties. The 
regiment was mustered into the service of the United States 
on the 29th of August, 1862, with eleven hundred and 
eighty-six enlisted men, and the usual complement of offi- 
cers. The commanding officer of the regiment was Col. 
Robert H. G. Minty, previously lieutenant-colonel of the 
Third Cavalry. 

The regiment left Detroit for the seat of war, in Ken- 
tucky, on the 26th of September ; being hurried forward 
without preliminary drill, on account of Gen. Huiill's retro- 
grade movement towards the Ohio River, and the Coul'cd- 



erate Gen. Bragg's advance northward, with the supposed 
intention of crossing that stream. The Fourth proceeded 
from Detroit to Jeffcrsonville, Ind., whore it received arms, 
and made other preparations for crossing the Ohio into 
Kentucky. In the mean time, Bragg had abandoned his 
plan (if he ever entertained one) of invading Ohio, and had 
turned the head of his column southward, pursued in turn 
by Buell. The regiment crossed the Ohio on the 10th of 
October, and pressed on with all speed to join the army of 
Buell, leaving tents and baggage behind. It was soon en- 
gaged in the pursuit of the guerrilla, John H. Morgan, and 
overtaking him at Stanford, Ky., led the column which at- 
tacked his forces at that place, October 14th, defeating and 
pursuing them to Crab Orchard Springs. It also led in 
the attack on Lebanon, Ky., November 9th; five hundred 
and forty-three of its men pushing in Morgan's pickets at a 
gallop, entering the town two miles in advance of the in- 
fantry, and driving out the guerrilla leader and his force of 
seven hundred and sixty men. 

Arriving at Nashville, Tenn., it made a .short stay at 
that city, and on the 13th of December marched to Frank- 
lin, Tenn., attacked and drove out a rebel force thirteen 
hundred strong, capturing their colors and a considerable 
number of prisoners. On the 26th of December it moved 
with the Army of the Cumberland in its advance on 
Murfreesboro', fighting the cavalry of the enemy at La- 
vergne, and taking part in the great battle of Stone River, 
December 31st, when it charged the enemy three times, 
each time driving a brigade of Confederate cavalry from the 
field. The Fourth was the first regiment to enter Murfrees- 
boro', in the morning of Jan. 3, 1863; and from the 9th to 
the 19th of that month it took part in an important cavalry 
expedition, which drove Forrest's, Wheeler's, and Whar- 
ton's cavalry beyond the Harpeth River. During the 
month of February the regiment was constantly on the 
move, and captured one hundred and forty-five prisoners, 
including two colonels and a number of commissioned offi- 
cers of other grades. 

On the 22d of May following, this regiment with two 
companies of United States cavalry charged into the camp 
of the Eighth Confederate, First Alabama, and Second 
Georgia Cavalry, and after a sharp engagement routed them, 
taking fifty-five prisoners and destroying their camp. The 
colors of the Alabama regiment were also captured by the 
Fourth Michigan, and are now in the office of the Adjutant- 
General of the State. 

Again, at Shelbyville, Tenn., June 27, 1863, the Fourth, 
as a part of the brigade of Col. Minty, assaulted an in- 
trenched position held by a superior force of the enemy's 
cavalry, and how the regiment did its work on that occa- 
sion is told in the official report of Col. Minty, as follows: 
" At Shelbyville I found my.self, with a force of fifteen 
hundred men, in front of formidable brea.stworks, with an 
abatis of over one-fourth of a mile in width in front of 
them, behind which Gens. Wheeler and Martin had an 
opposing force of four thousand men and three pieces of 
artillery. I detached the Fourth Michigan, in command 
of Miij. Mix, well to the right, with orders to force their 
way througii the abatis and a.s.sault the works, and if suc- 
cessful to turn to the left and sweep up the intrenchments, 



100 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



promising that so soon as I heard their rifles speaking I 
would make the direct assault on the Murfieesboro' and 
Slielbjville pike. They did their work so well that as I 
entered the works on the main road they joined me from 
the right, having carried the works and taken prisoners 
from six different regiments. The fruits of that day's 
work were the whole of the enemy's artillery and six hun- 
dred prisoners, while over two liundred dead bodies were 
afterwards taken out of Duck lliver, into which I had 
driven Wheeler and his entire command." 

The fight at Shclbyville was delivered during the move- 
ment of the Army of the Cumberland irom Murfrecsboro' 
to the Tennessee River. Through all that movement the 
Fourth Cavalry was nearly always in the advance, and was 
repeatedly engaged with the enemy. In these fights and 
skirmishes it was always successful until it reached the 
vicinity of Chattanooga, where it was several times re- 
pulsed. On the ISth of September — the day before the 
opening of the great battle of Chickamauga — it took part 
in a severe fight with a greatly superior force of the enemy's 
cavalry near Lee and Gordon's Mills, Ga., in which the 
Union cavalry was compelled to retreat, but so stubborn was 
the fighting on that occasion that the brigade commander, 
Col. Minty, said in his report that "with less than one 
thousand men the old First Brigade disputed the advance 
of seven thousand from seven o'clock in the morning until 
five o'clock in the evening, and during that time fell back 
only five miles." 

The next day, September 19th, the regiment fired the 
first shots in the disastrous battle of Chickamauga, and 
subsequently protected the left and rear of Rosecrans' army 
and the trains moving to Chattanooga. On the 20th, while 
assisting to hold the enemy in check until the shattered 
Union forces could retire from the field, Minty's brigade 
attacked and defeated Scott's rebel brigade of cavalry and 
mounted infantry, driving it back across the creek. The 
regiment bivouacked on the ground it had held, but the 
next day was comptilled to share in the general retreat. 

On the 30th of September it was driven by Wheeler's 
rebel cavalry near Cotton's Ferry, on the Tennessee ; but 
from the 1st to the 3d of October the tables were turned, 
and the Fourth had the pleasure of following its late pur- 
suers with ardor and success. By the 1st of November, 

1863, the service of the regiment had been so severe that 
only three hundred of the men were mounted. This bat- 
talion was actively engaged on picket and scout duty in 
Southeastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia and Ala- 
bama throughout the winter ; the number of mounted men 
being reduced by the latter part of March, 1864, to one 
hundred and twenty-eight. Meanwhile, the dismounted 
men had been employed in various duties in the same lo- 
cality, and also in Middle Tennessee. 

The regiment, except the one hundred and twenty-eight 
mounted men, set out for Nashville on the 28th of March, 

1864, where the men received new horses and equipments, 
and were armed with Spencer carbines. On the 14th of 
April, under the command of Blaj. F. W. Mix, the regi- 
ment joined the Second Cavalry Division at Columbia, 
Tenn. Thence it advanced with eight hundred and .seventy- 
eight men into Georgia, where the cavalry began its arduous 



and dangerous service in co-operation with Gen. Sherman's 
army, which was then advancing on Atlanta. In this 
campaign its hardest conflict was at Lattiniore's Mill, on 
Noonday Creek, where it took part in one of the most bril- 
liant achievements of the war. A small detachment of the 
Seventh Pennsylvania Cavalry had crossed the creek, and, 
becoming hotly engaged with a superior force of the enemy, 
Capt. Pritehard, with two battalions of the Fourth Michi- 
gan, was ordered across to its support. This force had scarcely 
reached the position assigned it when a whole rebel division, 
eight times their own number, swept down upon the Penn- 
sylvania and Michigan men, with the evident purpose of 
driving them back across the creek. They did not, how- 
ever, propose to go immediately, so, dismounting and avail- 
ing themselves of the protection afforded by the inequali- 
ties of the ground, they met their assailants with terrific and 
continuous volleys from their Spencer carbines. Again and 
again did the rebels bear down upon them, making desper- 
ate efforts to destroy the little force of Unionists, but being 
as often repulsed. At length, after holding their ground 
against the repeated assaults of the enemy for more than 
two hours, they retired slowly and in good order at the 
command of Col. Minty. 

The following extract from a letter published in the 
3Iemph{s Appeal, at Atlanta, Ga.,* June 25, 1864, gives 
the rebel version of this fight, and shows very plainly the 
gallantry of Minty's brigade and the immense preponder- 
ance of the rebel force : 

" On the 20th instant two divisions, Kelly's and Martin's, 
and one brigade, Williams', of our cavalry, went round to 
the left flank and rear of Sherman's army, — it was said to 
capture a brigade of Yankee cavalry situated at McAfee's. 
We succeeded in getting to the right place, where the 
enemy, Minty's brigade, was vigorously attacked by Williams' 
and a portion of Anderson's brigade. Alter a sharp conflict 
the enemy were driven from the field, Hannon's brigade 
having come up and attacked them on the flank. The 
Yankees fought desperately and fell back slowly, with what 
loss we are unable to ascertain, as they carried off their 
wounded and most of their dead. To one who was an 
eye-witness, but not an adept in the 'art of war,' it seemed 
very strange that the whole Yankee force was not sur- 
rounded and captured. Dibrell's brigade was drawn up 
a few hundred yards from and in full view of the battle- 
ground, with Martin's whole division immediately in the 
rear. This is one of the best fighting brigades the Yan- 
kees have, and to have captured or routed it would have 
added a bright feather to the plume of the successful 
hero accomplishing the feat. After he (Minty) had been 
driven from his first position, Martin's whole division was 
brought up, and lost several men of Allen's brigade. Brig.- 
Gen. Allen had his horse shot. The Eighth Confederate 
and Fifth Georgia, of Anderson's brigade, lost several killed 
and wounded. Williams' Kentucky brigade also lost sev- 
eral good soldiers." 

Col. Minty, in his report, after quoting this statement, 
added : 



■*" The Mcmpln's Appeal was published at half a dozen difterent 
places, to which it was successively driven by the victorious Unionists. 



FOURTH CAVALRY. 



101 



"According to the above, there was the following rebel 
force in the field : Kelly's and Martin's divisions, consisting 
of the brigades of Anderson, six regiments-; Hannon's, five 
regiments ; Allen's, five regiments ; and Johnson's, five 
regiments; and the independent brigades of Williams ancf 
Dibreli, composed of five regiments each ; say in all, thirty- 
one regiments, of which the Fifth Georgia numbered over 
eight hundred. The entire force I had engaged was, of the 
Seventh Penn.sylvania one hundred and seventy men, and 
of the Fourth Michigan two hundred and eighty-three; in 
ail, four hundred and fifty-three. These few men held their 
ground against the repeated assaults of the enemy for over 
two hours, and when I ordered them to fall back, they re- 
tired slowly, in good order. I beg to call the attention of 
the general commanding to the heavy loss sustained by this 
small force. In a loss of over twelve per cent., the very 
small proportion reported missing shows how steadily and 
stubbornly they fought." 

In a note appended to this report Col. Minty said : 

" My loss in this engagement was two oflicers and sixty- 
five men. The Marietta (Ga.) papers acknowledge a loss 
of ninety-four killed and three hundred and fifty-one 
wounded. Two battalions of the Fourth Michigan repulsed 
three sabre charges made by the Eighth Confederate and 
Fifth Georgia, numbering over one thousand men, and one 
battalion led by Capt. Hathaway repulsed a charge made 
by Williams' Kentucky brigade by a counter-charge." 

Of the two hundred and eighty-three ofiicers and men 
of the Fourth engaged at Lattimore's Mill, thirty-seven were 
killed and wounded, and three were reported missing. 

After the capture of Atlanta, the mounted men of the 
regiment followed Hood's army northward nearly to the 
Tennessee River, harassing his rear and taking many prison- 
ers. By this time only about one hundred of their horses 
remained fit for service. These were turned over to another 
command, and the Fourth, dismounted, concentrated at 
Nashville in October. It was remounted at Louisville, 
Ky., and by the last of January, 1865, was back in Ala- 
bama, on duty near Gravelly Springs, where it remained till 
the 12th of March, when it joined with other regiments 
(all under command of Gen. W^ilson) in a long raid through 
Alabama, swimming rivers, building corduroy roads, fighting 
the rebel cavalry Gen. Forrest, and finally capturing the 
city of Selma, Ala., which was defended by at least seven 
thousand of Forrest's men, behind very strong fortifications. 
At one point fifteen hundred dismounted cavalrymen, of 
which those of the Fourth formed a part, charged strong 
intrenchments, and captured them in twenty minutes, hav- 
ing had three hundred and twenty-four men killed and 
wounded. This was on the 2d of April. On the 20th, 
alter numerous adventures, the command reached Macon, 
Ga., where the news of the surrender of Lee was the signal 
to cease fighting. 

The Fourth Regiment had won an enviable reputation 
for gallantry and steadfastness on the field of battle, but it 
was destined to gain still another title to renown by the cap- 
ture of Jefierson Davis, the '■ President" of the now dead 
Confederacy, — the figure-head of the " Lost Cause." While 
the regiment lay at Macon, Ga., it became known that 
the arch-rebel and his suite were fleeing through Central 



Georgia in the hope of escaping from the country ; and on 
the 7th of May the Fourth Michigan, four hundred and 
forty strong, under Licut.-Col. Pritchard, left Macon for the 
purpose of capturing the rebel chief and his party. Having 
struck the trail of the fugitives at Abbeville on the 9th of 
May, Col. Pritchard selected one hundred and fifty-three of 
his best-mounted oflicers and men, and moved rapidly by a 
circuitous route to intercept them. At Irwinsville, at one 
o'clock in the morning of the 10th of May, the colonel 
learned that a train, which probably belonged to Davis, was 
encamped a mile and a half distant. Moving out into the 
vicinity of the camp, he sent Lieut. Purinton, with twenty- 
five men, to wait on the other side of it. At daybreak Col. 
Pritchard and his men advanced silently, and without being 
observed, to within a few rods of the camp, then dashed 
forward and secured the whole camp before the astonished 
inmates could grasp their weapons, or even fairly arouse 
themselves from their slumbers. A chain of mounted 
guards was immediately placed around the camp, and dis- 
mounted sentries were stationed at the tents and wagons. 
The result was, that this detachment of the Fourth Michi- 
gan Cavalry captured Davis, dressed partially in female 
attire, and that Col. Pritchard, with twenty-five oSicers and 
men of the regiment detailed as a special escort, took their 
prisoner to Washington, whence he was transferred to the 
casemates of Fortress Monroe. 

Soon after this event the regiment marched to Nashville, 
Tenn., where it was mustered out of the service on the 1st 
of July, and nine days afterwards it was disbanded at De- 
troit. Ninety-four battles and skirmishes are inscribed on 
the record of the Fourth Cavalry of Michigan, and every 
one in the bright list is an addition to its fame. 

CLINTON COUNTY SOLDIERS IN THE FOURTH CAVALRT. 
Field and Staff. 
Licut.-Col. Josiah B. Park, Ovid ; com. Feb. 18, 1SG3 ; maj. Aug. U, 1862; re- 
sigued Nov, :iG, 1S64. 

Contjtany A. 

2d Lieut. Hiram D. Treat, St. John's; com. Nov. 24, 1864; sergt. ; must, out 

Jul.v 1, 1863. 
Luther W, Holmes, trans, to Vet. Re.^, Corps, 
Geo. W, Niles, discli, for disability, 

Compttnij B. 

1st Lieut, Julius M, Carter, Ovid; com, Dec, 24, 1862; '2d lieut, Aug. 13, 1862 ; 
wounded in action at King.ston. Ga,, May 18, 1804; pro, citpt, Co, M ; 
brevet nia.j. U, S, Vols,, March IJ, 1865, for gallant and meritorious ser- 
vices in action at Kingston, Ga. ; disch, for disability. May 17, 1865, 

Sergt, Ileury A, Potter, Ovid ; enl, July '28, 1862; pro. 2d lieut. Co. E, Feb. 
16, 180:i. 

Sergt, John N. Gilbert, Ovid; enl, July 28, 1862; disch, for disability, Aug, 9, 
180.!, 

Sergt. Edward Watson, Duplain ; enl, July 19, 1862 ; died of disease at Bow- 
ling Green, Ky,, Nov, 10, 1802, 

Sergt, Conrad Wrcsler, Duplaiu; enl, July 28, 1862; died of disease at Mur- 
freesLoro', Tejin,, March '23, 1863. 

Sergt. Lorenzo J. Southivorth, Ovid; onl. July 28, 1862; pro. 2d lieut, Co, H, 
Dec, 10, 1864. 

Corp. Jos. M, Harrison, Bingham; enl, July 28, 1802; died of disease at Nash- 
ville, Tenn,, Dec. 26. 1802. 

Corp. Theo. H. Gleason, Duplain ; enl. July 18, 1862 ; died of disease at Stan- 
ford, Ky., Oct. 28, 1802. 

Corp. W'm. W. Hammond, Ovid ; enl. July 28, 1862; died of disease at Louis- 
ville, Ky,, Nov, 20, 1863. 

Franklin Aldiich, disch. for disability, March 23, 1S63. 

John Adams, mu^t. out Ju'y 1, 180.5. 

\Vm. Biivi, died of disease at Nashviile, Tenn. 

Nelson II. Beelie, Duplain ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, July 1, 1863. 

Geo. II. Bennett, must, out July 1, lfr65. 

John W. Bradner, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Wm. \V. Crow, must, out July I, 1865. 

Lewis T. Coon, died of disease at Mui'lreesboro', Tenu., Blarch 2, 1863. 



102 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSKE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



R. F. Dayne, died of disease at Stanford, Ky. 

Wm. U. Eggleston, must, out July 1, 1805. 

Levi Fishlft'ck, disch. hy order, Juno 9, 18(i5. 

Andrew K. Feniun, disch. for disability, Nov. 5, 1803. 

Tlios. II. Goodrich, nuHt.uut July 1, 18(55. 

Philip H:ill, <licd of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Doc. 2, 1863. 

E. M. Hi-acox, disch. for ilisahiliiy, July '2."», 1864. 

Samni'l lUnnpstead, Duplinn ; disch. for disiibility, Doc. 15, 1863. 

Fnuikliu S. Jones, disch. hy order, Juno li, 1805. 

Hcrin;in D. Knowl.-s, died of diso^tse at Murfreesboro', May 10, 1863. 

Herman II. Lounsbory, died of disease at Murfreesboro'. 

Geo. McClintock, died of disease at Nashville, April 29, 1863. 

John MoiTisey, died of disease at Nashville, Feb. 15, 18Gi. 

Guy C. Mclntyre, trans, to Vet. R-s. Corps, April 10, 18G-1. 

Fninklin Ubhich, disch. fur disability, Jan. 18, 1864. 

A.-?:! round, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Sept. 1, 1SG3. 

Henry Ryan, died of disease at Na>hville, Tenn. 

Charles H. Smith, died of disejise at Nashville, Tenn. 

Norman Smith, died of dis-'ase at Murfreesboro', Tenn., April 3, 18G3. 

Samuel K. Simpson, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Jos. E. Seaver, Duplain ; must, out July 1, 1805. 

John F. Sherbnrn, must, out July 1, I8C5. 

Chas. A. Starkweather, must, out July 1, 1805. 

Lewis H. Wilcox, must, out July 1, 16G5. 

William H. Wood, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Company D. 
John S. llaivey, must, out Aug. 15, 1865. 

Company E. 
2d Lieut. Ileni-y A. Potter, Ovid; com. Feb. 10, 1863; pro. 1st lleut. Co. H.March 
31, 18G3. 

Company JI. 

Capt. H. A. Potter, Ovid; com. Aug. 1, 1SG4 ; Ist lieut. March 31, 18G3 ; must. 

out July 1, ISGo. 
2d Lieut. L. T. Southworth, Ovid ; com. Dec. 10, 1864 ; must, out July 1, 1865. 

Compmiy M. 
Cipt. J. M. Carter, Ovid; com. July 9, 1864; Ist lieut.; disch. for disability, 
May 17, 1865. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY SOLDIERS IN THE FOURTH CAVALRY. 
Company A. 
Timothy Hill, must, out Aug. 15, 1865. 
Edward Ilyno, must, out Aug. 15, 1865. 

Company B. 

Ut Lieut. Chauncey F. Shepherd, Owosso; com. Aug. 13,1SG2; res. Dec. 24. '62. 

Willinm Armidon, must, out July 1, 18G5. 

Erastus W. Blair, must, out July 1, 18G5. 

B;ixter li. Bennett, must, out July 1, 18G5. 

Abel A. Bradley, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Albert Babcock, must, out July 1, 1S65. 

Albert R. Bradley, must, out July 1, 186.5. 

Daniel F. Blair, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, April 10, 1S64. 

Henry J. Bearce, disch. for disability, Nov. 18, 18G2. 

George A. Chase, must, out July 1, 18G5. 

Charles Dean, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., March 10, 1863. 

Cyrus Dean, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Sept. 1, 1863. 

Benjamin Dutcher, disch. by order, July 25, 1865. 

Weltoi) D. Fox, disch. for disability, May U, 1863. 

C. S. Fox, died of disease at Mumfurdsville, Ky. 

L. W. Harrington, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn, 

Ira Johnson, disch. for disability, March 5, 1863. 

George Jacobs, must, out July 1, 1866. 

Charles F. Parker, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Jacob I. Powell, must, out July 1, 1865. 

William P. Stedman, must, out July 1, 18G5. 

Theodore Sanford, disch. for disability, July 30, 18G4. 

John D. Smith, disch. for disability, March 5, 1863. 

Darias Watkins, disch. for disability, July 14, 1862. 

Williiini Weswell, disch. for disability, Jan. 6, 1863. 

Company C. 
Ebenezor Brewer, must, out Sept. 2, 1805. 
Thomas Brewer, disch. by order, June 2G, 1865. 
Thaddeus M. Carr, disch. for disability, April 14, 1863. 
Edwin L. Howe, disch. for disability, March 19, 1?63. 
Patrick Sweeney, disch. for disability, Aug. IG, 186.1. 
H. H. Stewart, disch. for disability, April 14, 1863. 
Emery T. Warle, must, out Aug. 15, 1865. 

Company E. ■ 

l8t Lieut. Joshua W. Mann, Owosso ; com. Aug. 13, 1862 ; pro. capt. Co. M March 

31, 1803. 
Homer A. Bristol, died of disease at Louisville, Ky., April 15, 1863. 
Edgar P. Byerly, disch. by order. Dec. 22, 1863. 
George A. BuUard, must, out July 1, 1865. 



Sihis Bnllard, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Dewitt C. Carr, must, out July 1, 1865. 

Stephen G. Fuller, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 15, 1802. 

David B. Green, must, out July 1, 1865. 

L. R. McUmber, died of diseiise at Nashville, Tenn., July 14, 1803. 

John Nelson, disch. by order, June 14, 18G5. 

Georgo M. Rose, disch. by order, July 24, 1865. 

Anson L. Simons, disch. for disability, Jan. 19, 1863. 

Thomas L. Spafford, died of disease at Bardstown, Ky., Oct. 10, 1802. 

John G. Stovetis, must, out July 1, 1863. 

William C. SlifT, must, out July 1, 1863. 

George A. Underbill, must, out July 1, 1803. 

Company F. 
Gilbert M. Hemingway, must, out Aug. 15, 1805. 
James St. John, must, out Aug. 15, 1805. 

Company H. 
Albert Spinks, must, out July 1, 1805. 

Company I. 
William S. Howard, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, April 30. 1864. 
George W. Titus, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 10, 1SG4. 

Company K. 
George Sumner, disch. by order, Aug. 2, 1805. 
George W. Willets, died of disease at Gallatin, Tenn., Jan. 24, 1865. 

Company L. 
Stillman W. Green, must, out Aug. 15, 1805. 

Company M. 
Capt. J. W. Mann, Owo'sso; com. March 31, 1S63; res. Aug. 1,1864. 
Jacob Spotta, Owosso, must, out Aug. 15, 1865. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FIFTH CAVALRY. 

Rendezvous at Detroit — Winter Quarters near Wnshington — Cam- 
paign of Gettysburg, and in Virginia in ISfiS — Winter Quarters at 
Stevensburg — Campaigns of 1864 and Spring of lS6o — Service in 
North Carolina — Transfer to Fort Leavenworth and the Plains — 
Muster Out and Disbnndmcnt. 

Early in 1862 authority was given by the War De- 
partment to Joseph T. Copehind (then lieutenant-colonel of 
the First Cavalry), William D. Mann, and Richard Baylis 
to raise a regiment of cavalry in Michigan ; and in August 
of the same year this authority was confirmed by the Gov- 
ernor of the State. Upon receiving tlie Governor's sanc- 
tion, Col. Copeland established his rendezvous at Detroit, 
and in the exceedingly short period of two weeks from that 
time the ranks were filled sufficiently for muster. While 
being recruited and organized, and until it received its des- 
ignating number, the regiment was known as " Copeland's 
Mounted Rifles." 

The counties of Clinton and Shiawassee were represen- 
ted by men in nine companies of this regiment, but most 
numerously in Company G, of which the original com- 
missioned officers were Capt. William T. Magoffin, of St. 
John's, First Lieut. George W. Townsend, of Green- 
bush, and Second Lieut. John Gunderman, of Essex ; 
while its ranks were principally filled by volunteers from 
Clinton County. One of the original field-officers of the 
regiment — Maj. Ebenezer Gould — was of Owosso, Shia- 
wassee Co., and he was afterwards promoted through the 
intermediate grade to that of colonel. The adjutant of the 
Filth was Richard Baylis, of Ovid, Clinton Co. He had 
previously (immediately after the close of the Mexican 
war) been a non-coiumissioned officer in a cavalry company 
in the United States regulars, and with that command had 



FIFTH CAVALRY. 



103 



seen three years of Indian service in Texas and New 
Mexico, having been twice wounded, and discharged from 
the service on that account. 

The officers and men of " Copeland's Mounted Rifles" 
were mustered into tlie United States service on the 30th 
of August, 18G2, as tiie Fifth Cavah-y Regiment of Mich- 
igan, under command of Col. Copeland. 

For about three months after muster, tlie Fifth ]-eniained 
at the headquarters waiting for arms, and at the time of 
its departure — December 4th — the men had been but par- 
tially armed, though fully equip])ed. From Detroit the 
command moved to Washington, D. C, and remained at 
" Camp Copeland," on East Capitol II ill in that city, through 
the winter. In the spring of 1803, after being fully armed, 
it was attached to the Second Brigade of the Third Divi- 
sion of the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac. This 
brigade became known and widely famed as the Michigan 
Cavalry Brigade. It was commanded successively by Gens. 
Kilpatrick and Custer, and gained the highest reputation of 
any cavalry brigade in the service. 

Moving from Washington in February, 1863, the regi- 
ment crossed the Potomac, and was encamped for more 
than two months at Fairfax Court-House, where it was 
visited by the Governor of Michigan. Its duty while en- 
camped here was arduous, and it was several times en- 
gaged in skirmishing, but without much loss, until the 
opening of the campaign of Gettysburg. It moved north- 
ward on that campaign on the 27th of June, and on the 
2d of July was sharply engaged with the enemy at Hun- 
terstown. Pa. On the 3d it was moved, with the brigade, 
to the York turnpike road (leading to Gettysburg), where 
it was dismounted and placed in position in front of the 
centre and left of the brigade line. The enemy advanced 
soon after noon, and how he was met by the men of the 
Fifth Michigan Cavalry is told in Gen. Custer's official 
report of the engagement, as follows : " The enemy was 
soon after reported to be advancing on my front. The de- 
tachment sent to the Oxford road was driven in, and at the 
same time the enemy's line of skirmishers, consisting of 
dismounted cavalry, appeared on the crest of the ridge of 
hills on my front. The line extended beyond my left. To 
repel their advance I ordered the Fifth Michigan Cavalry 
to a more advanced position, with instructions to maintain 
their ground at all hazards. Col. Alger, commanding the 
Fifth, assisted by Majs. Trowbridge and Terry, of the same 
regiment, made such admirable disposition of their men be- 
hind fences and other defenses as enabled them to success- 
fully repel the repeated advance of a greatly superior force. 
I attributed their success in a great measure to the fact 
thut this regiment is armed with the Spencer repeating 
rifle, which iu the hands of brave, determined men, like 
those composing the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, is, in my 
estimation, the most eflfective firearm that our cavalry can 
adopt. Col. Alger held his ground until his men had ex- 
hausted their ammunition, when he was compelled to fall 
back on the main body. The beginning of this movement 
was the signal for the enemy to chaige, which they did 
with two regiments, mounted and dismounted." Then 
follows the account of a counter-charge made by the Seventh 
Michigan Cavalry, in which the latter was compelled to re- 



tire, pursued by twice their number of the enemy ; but 
"by this time Col. Alger, of the Fifth, having succeeded in 
remounting a considerable portion of his regiment, gallantly 
advanced to the assistance of the Seventh, whose further 
pursuit by the enemy he checked." This was the last 
fighting done by the Fifth during that day. The brigade 
held possession of the field until dark, and then returned to 
its camping-place of the previous night. On the following 
day it was engaged at Monterey, Jld., and in the pursuit 
of the enemy to the Potomac it fought at Cavetown, Md., 
July 5th ; Smithtown, Md., July Uth ; Boon.sboro', Md., 
July Gth ; Hagerstown, Md., July 7th ; Williamsport, 
Md., July 7th ; Boonsboro' (2d), July 8th ; Hagerstown 
(2d), July 10th; Williamsport, July 10th; and Falling 
Waters, July 14th. It is impracticable to give a detailed 
account of the almost innumerable marches and constantly 
changing movements and counter-movements which suc- 
ceeded during that eventful year. It is sufficient to men- 
tion that having crossed the Potomac soon after the fight 
at Falling Waters, the regiment took part in the following- 
named engagements, viz : Snicker's Gap, Va., July 19th ; 
Kelly's Ford, Va., September 13th; Culpeper Court-House, 
Va., September 14th ; Raccoon Ford, Va., September IGth ; 
White's Ford, September 21st; Jack's Shop, Va., Septem- 
ber 2Gth ; James City, Va., October 12th ; Brandy Station, 
Va., October 13th ; Buckland's Mills, Va., October 19th; 
Stevensburg, Va., November 19th; and Morton's Ford, 
Va., Nov. 2G, 18G3. Sixty-four men were killed and 
wounded during the year 18G3, besides one hundred and 
twenty-one reported missing in action, many of whom were 
killed. Other reports of alterations and casualties show 
that from the time the regiment was organized until the 
close of 1863 forty men died of disease, sixty-eight were 
discharged for disability, twenty-one by sentence of general 
court-martial, fifteen by order, two for promotion, twenty 
officers resigned ; one officer was dismissed, and the total 
number of recruits received was thirteen. During the 
winter of 1863-64 the Fifth had its quarters at Stevens- 
burg, Va., and was employed mostly on picket duty along 
the Rapidan. 

In the latter part of February, 1864, it took part in the 
raid made by the cavalry under Kilpatrick to the outer de- 
fenses of Richmond. The main body of the regiment 
crossed the Rapidan, marched thence by way of Spottsyl- 
vania and Beaver Dam Station to Hungary Station, and 
• moved down the Brook turnpike to within fiva miles of the 
city of Richmond. Being attacked on the 2d of March by 
a superior force of the enemy, the Union cavalry was com- 
pelled to fall back on Gen. Butler's forces, stationed at New 
Kent Court House. A detachment of the regiment had 
also accompanied the forces commanded by the gallant Col. 
Ulric Dahlgren. They moved down the James River to 
within five miles of the rebel capital. The detachment of 
the Fifth being in front, charged the enemy's works, and 
captured his first line of fortifications. Following up its 
advantage, Dahlgren's command pushed back the enemy 
from one line to another, until a point was reached within 
two miles of the city, when it was found impossible to ad- 
vance farther with so small a force. Meanwhile the rebels 
were gathering from all points, and in the endeavor to 



104 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



extricate itself from its perilous position the detaehraent of 
the Fifth became separated in tlie night (whicli was rainy 
and very darij) from the main portion of Dahlgreu's com- 
mand. On the following day this detachment cut its way 
through a strong rebel force posted at Old Church, and suc- 
ceeded in rejoining the regiment near White House Land- 
ing. At Yorktown, Va., on tlie 11th of March, the regi- 
ment embarked on board transports for Alexandria, whence 
it marched to Stevensburg, arriving there on the 18th of 
April, 1864. Here a reorganization of the cavalry forces, 
under Gen. Sheridan's command, took place, and the Mich- 
igan Cavalry Brigade was thenceforth known as the First 
Brigade of the First Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the 
Potomac. 

On the 5th of May the brigade, commanded by the fiery 
Custer, again crossed the Kapidan, and soon became engaged 
in the great battle of the Wilderness ; fighting mounted, the 
first three days, against the forces led by the renowned rebel 
cavalry leader. Gen. J. 11 B. Stuart. On the 9th of May 
the cavalry corps set out, under Gen. Sheridan, on his great 
raid towards Richmond. Three divisions, numbering full 
twelve thousand men, turned their horses' heads to the south- 
ward ; the blue-coated column, as it marched by fours, ex- 
tending eleven miles along the road, from front to rear. On 
the route they overtook a large body of Union soldiers, who 
had been taken prisoners at Spottsylvania, released them, and 
captured the rebel guard. Toward evening, the same day, 
the Michigan brigade, followed closely by the rest of the 
column, dashed into the rebel depot at Beaver Dam Station, 
scattering, almost in an instant, the force stationed for its 
defense. All night long the men were busy destroying the 
immense amount of rebel supplies accumulated at Beaver 
Dam, worth millions of dollars, consisting of three long 
railroad-trains, with locomotives, stores of goods of vari- 
ous kinds, and one hundred loaded army-wagons, the flames 
from which rose in lurid columns through the darkness amid 
the cheers of the exultant soldiers. 

At daybreak the next morning the command moved 
forward, and after tearing up the railroad-track at Negro 
Foot Station it reached " Yellow Tavern," ten miles from 
Richmond, on the 11th of May. There Gen. Stuart had 
assembled a large force of rebel cavalry, and a severe battle 
ensued. The Fifth Cavalry fought dismounted, and charged 
the enemy's position under a heavy fire ; routing him after 
a most stubborn resistance. The rebels lost heavily in this 
engagement, including their commanding oflficer. Gen. J. • 
E. B. Stuart, who was mortally wounded by a private of 
this regiment. Having defeated all the forces oppo.sed to 
it, the Union column pursued its way " on to Richmond' 
unmolested. 

The next day the command arrived within a mile and a 
half of Richmond, but found fortifications in front, on 
which cavalry could make no impression. Gen. Sheridan 
then turned his course towards the Chickahominy at Meadow 
Bridge. The rebels had destroyed the bridge, and a large 
ibrce of them disputed his further progress. The ap- 
proaches to the stream led through a swamp, along which 
not more than four men could ride abreast, and a well- 
posted battery on the opposite side cut down the head of 
the Union column, completely checking its advance. The 



leading brigade vainly endeavored to force a passage. The 
next one likewise failed. 

Gen. Slieridan then sent for Custer and his Michigan 
brigade, which at once hastened to the front. There the 
youthful general dismounted the Fifth and Sixth Michigan, 
and sent them forward into the swamp as flanklng-parties, 
wliiic with drawn sabres the First and Seventh Michigan 
breathlessly awaited the order to charge. The dismounted 
men drove the enemy from their first position, advanced 
through water waist-deep to the railroad-bridge, crossed it 
on the ties, and then plied their Spencer rifles on the rebel 
cannoniers with such cfl'ect that the latter were obliged to 
turn their guns on these a.ssailants to prevent being entirely 
enfiladed. The moment they did so Custer gave the order 
" Charge !" and the two mounted regiments, with brandished 
sabres and ringing cheers, dashed forward at the top of 
their horses' speed. The rebels had barely time to limber 
their guns and retreat ; leaving the road again open for the 
advance of the whole corps. The command then proceeded, 
via 31alvern Hill, Hanover Court-Housc, White House, 
Aylett's and Concord Church, to Chesterfield Station, 
where it joined the main Army of the Potomac. 

On the 28th of May the regiment was hotly engaged 
near Hawes' Shop, where it aided in driving the enemy 
from .their position after a desperate hand-to-hand fight. 
The lo.ss of the regiment'in this action was very severe. 
Moving to Old Church Tavern on the 30th, it was engaged 
with its brigade in the routing of Young's rebel cavalry. 
On the olst of May and 1st of June it was engaged, to- 
gether with other cavalry regiments, at Cold Harbor, where 
it fought dismounted in advance of the infantry, and, 
although losing heavily, succeeded in capturing many 
prisoners. 

The Michigan brigade soon after set out under Gen. 
Sheridan to join Gen. Hunter, who was moving from the 
Shenandoah Valley to Lynchburg. On the 11th of June 
the command mot at Trevillian Station a large force of the 
enemy, both infantry and cavalry. During that day and 
the next there ensued one of the severest cavalry fights of 
the war, the Union cavalry mostly fighting dismounted. 
The Michigan brigade did most of the fighting the first 
day, and lost heavily. The brigade battery was three times 
captured by the enemy, and as many times recaptured by 
the determined efforts of the Michigan men. The rebels 
were finally driven from the field and pursued several miles ; 
six hundred prisoners, fifteen hundred horses, one stand of 
colors, six caissons, forty ambulances, and fifty wagons 
being captured by the victorious Unionists. In this action 
Adjt. Richard Baylis was severely wounded. He had pre- 
viously been thanked in general orders by Gen. Custer, 
" for remarkable gallantry in transmitting and executing 
orders on the field" in the battle of Gettysburg, and also 
by the same general for similar gallant services in the series 
of engagements which occurred in the month of October, 
1863. And now, " for gallant services at Trevillian Sta- 
tion," he was brevetted captain. Afterwards he was 
brevetted major and lieutenant-colonel " for gallaut and 
meritorious services during the war." 

Moving from Trevillian Station in the direction of Louisa 
Court-House, the regiment encountered a column of the 



FIFTH CAVALRY. 



105 



enemy, but cut its way through with considerable loss in 
prisoners. Gen. Hunter had failed to make the passage of the 
mountains. Gen. Sheridan, in conse(|uence, then marched 
his troops to White House Landing, and soon after joined 
the Army of the Potomac, south of Petersburg. After 
serving on picket and scout duty in front of Richmond and 
Petersburg during the mouth of July, 1864, the Michigan 
brigade was taken on transports to Washington, D. C, early 
in August, and thence marched to the Shenandoah Valley. 
Here it followed Custer in many a desperate charge, fully 
sustaining its old renown. At Middletown the Fifth Cav- 
alry w.is attacked by a strong force of the enemy, but re- 
pulsed them, capturing sixty-five prisoners. Again, on the 
19th of August, while a squadron of the regiment were 
scouting to the front, they were attacked by a greatly supe- 
rior force of the enemy, under the guerrilla leader Mosby, 
and being overpowered were driven into camp with a loss 
of sixteen men killed. It was also engaged at Front Royal, 
August 16th; Leetown, August 25th; at Shepardstown, 
August 25th ; Smithfield, August 28th ; Berryville, Sep- 
tember 3d; Opequan Creek, September 19th, where the 
Michigan brigade utterly routed the enemy's cavalry and 
broke their infantry lines, capturing two battle-flags and 
four hundred prisoners; Winchester, September 19th; 
Luray, September 24th ; Woodstock, October 9th ; and 
Cedar Creek, Oct. 19, 1864, where Custer's command 
charged the enemy's main line, driving it back in confu- 
sion and capturing a large number of prisoners. During 
the year ending Nov. 1, 1864, the regiment had seventy- 
six men killed, one hundred and seventeen wounded in 
action, fourteen missing in action, one hundred and ninety- 
four taken prisoners ; two hundred and nine recruits joined 
the regiment, while but thirty-three men died of disease 
and but two desertions were reported. 

The Michigan brigade went into winter quarters near 
Winchester, Va., in December, 1864, and remained until 
the latter part of February, 18G5. On the 27th it broke 
camp, and with the cavalry corps commanded by Gen. Sher- 
idan started on a long and rapid march up the Shenan- 
doah Valley, past Staunton, over the mountains, and down 
the James River to the Army of the Potomac. The com- 
mand met with but little opposition, dispersed all forces op- 
posed to it, destroyed much property on the line of the 
Lynchburg and Gordonsville Railroad, locks, mills, and 
aqueducts on the James River Canal, and on the 19th of 
March joined the forces assembled to give the last blow to 
Lee's rebel army. 

On the 30th and 31st days of March and 1st of April, 
1865, the Michigan brigade was warmly engaged at Five 
Forks. During these three days of battle it was in the 
advance, and on the extreme left of the Union armies, — 
fighting dismounted, — and finally succeeded, with the rest 
of Sheridan's corps, in capturing the enemy's line of de- 
fense and several thousand prisoners. From this time until 
the surrender of Lee, at Appomattox, April 9, 1865, it 
was constantly engaged with the enemy, and being in the 
advance, the flag of truce to negotiate the surrender was 
sent through its lines. After the surrender of Lee the 
regiment moved with the cavalry corps to Petersburg, Va. 
Soon after it made an incursion, with other forces, into 
14 



North Carolina ; thence it marched to Washington, D. C, 
participated in the review of the Army of the Potomac, 
May 23, 1865, and immediately afterwards, with the Michi- 
gan Cavalry Brigade, was ordered to the Western frontier. 
The Fifth was sent by rail and steamboat to Fort Leaven- 
worth, Kansas, where the men having two years or more to 
serve were transferred to the First and Seventh Michigan 
Cavalry regiments. On the 22d of June, the regiment, as 
an organization, was mustered out of service, and returned 
to Detroit, where it arrived July 1, 1865. 

FIFTH CAVALRY SOLDIERS FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Field and Staff. 

1st Lieut, and Ailjt. Eicbarii BiijlU, Ovid; com. Sept. 25, 1862 : wounded inac- 
tion at Trevillian Station; pro. to brevet capt., for gallant services at 
Trevillian Station ; to lirevet in:ij. and lient.-col., March 13, 1865, for gal- 
lant and meritorious services during tlie war. 

Uliaplain Jolin Gunderunin, Essex; com. Oct. 9, 1863 ; pro. to 2a lieut., Co. B, 
Nov. 25, 1802 ; must, out Juno 22, 1805. 

Company A. 
Franli R. Simmons, trans, to 7tli Cav. and 1st Cav., Nov. 17, 1806. 

Company E. 
James G. Sicliles, trans, to Ist Micliigan Cav. 

Company F. 
Hansford Comstocli, discli. for disability, June 22, 1S63. 

CMtipany <?. 

Capt. William T. Magoffin, St. John's; com. Aug. !♦, 1862; res. Aug. 1, 1864; 

pro. to brevet maj. U. S. Vols. March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious 

service^ during the war. 
1st Lieut. George W. Townsend, Greenbush ; com. Nov. 26, 1862 ; pro. to 2d 

lieut. Aug. 16, 1802; pro. to capt. Co. I. 
2d Lieut. John Gunderman, Essex ; com. Nov. 25, 1802 ; pro. to chaplain. 
Q M.-Sergt. N. S. Hammond, Essex ; enl. Aug. 15, 1862; died in action at 

Brandy Station, Va., Oct. 12, 1863. 
Com.-Sergt. William W. Humiston, Bengal; enl. Aug. 15, 1862; must, out Juno 

22, 1805. 
Sergt. Charles I. Young, Essex ; enl. Aug. 15, 1862; must, out June 22, 1805. 
Sergt. Benj. Hawes, Essex ; enl. Aug, 17, 1802; died of disease at Annapolis, 

Md., Dec. 12, 1804. 
Sergt. John Cornwell, St. John's ; enl. Aug. 19, 1862; mast, out June 22, 1805. 
Sergt. George B. Wixom, Olive ; enl. Aug. 15, 1862 ; died at Washington, March 

20, 1804. 
Sergt. Cliauiicey Morton, Greenbush ; died in rebel prison at Richmond, Va., 

Dec. 13, 1803. 
Corp. Sylvester P. Bailey, Farrier; must. out June 22, 1805. 
Corp. Aaron D. Lyon, Essex ; died in Anderaooville prison-pen, July 21, 1804. 
Corp. Andrew J. Taylor, Essex; enl. Aug. 15,1802; disch. for disability, Oct. 13, 

1803. 
Corp. Martin Blackford, Greenbush ; enl. Aug. 18, 1802; must, out June 22, 

1SG5. 
Gabriel Auderaon, must, out June 22, 1805. 
Marcus Bentley, disch. by order. May 30, 1805. 

Samuel Coleman, died of disease at Washington, D. C, Aug. 5, 1863. 
James Cronk,died in Andersonville prison-pen, Aug. 3, 1864. 
John F. Connell, trans, to 1st Cav. 
James A. Chapman, must, out June 22, 1805. 
Loren D. Cliapman, must, out June 22, 1805. 
Daniel Ferguson, must, out Juno 22, 1805. 
George E, Godfrey, must, out June 22, 1805. 
James Griffith, must, out June 22, ISO.'i. 
Daniel Gunderman, disch. for disability, June 1, 18ti4. 
Edward A. Gunderman, disch. for disability, March .5, 1863. 
Levi Gibbs, died of wounds, .\ug, 8, 1863. 
Daniel Handy, disch. for disability, March 1, 1864. 
William H, Hewitt, disch. Oct. 24, 1862. 

John J. Henderson, died of disease at Fairfax Couit-House, May 29, 1863. 
John K. Hammond, died in rebel prison, Richmond, Va., March 15, 1864. 
Simon H, Hawes, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Sept. 1, 1803. 
William L. Havens, must, out June 22, 1865. 
B. H. Banes, must, out June 22, 1865. 
George C. Hooker, disch. by order, July 8, 1865. 
Oliver P. Ingersoll. must, out Juno 22, 1805. 
Alanson Mathews, must, out Juno 22, 1865. 
Samuel B, McPherson, must, out Juno 22, 1805. 
James P. Minard, must, out June 22, 1805. 
Joseph M. McPherson, died of disease at Washington, Aug. 5, 1863. 



106 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



AILort S. Norris, died in rebel priscin, RichmontI, Va., March 5, IS64. 

llii-nm NVsirl, disch.foriiis:il)iIit.v,Oit. 1, 18G2. 

Williiini S. Parker, must, out Juno 22, 18Go. 

Jacob RcihiiT, <UeU of diseiise ut Uiniiily Station, Va., Marcli 9, 1864. 

Naibimicl KiisscII, died of disease in Michigan, December, 1804. 

Adam Itnssfll, disch. )>y ord«*r, July 7, 1805. 

Walter F. Itecves, trans, to 1st Mich. Ciiv. 

Iluruce A. S"ule, diseh. for disability, Oct. 2, 18G2. 

Ki-win Bl. Siiiniier, died in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 3, 18G3. 

Hiram Sturgis, trans, to Vet. Ron. Corps, Feb. 15, 18(il. 

AVilliam SlierifF, died of disease at IMiilailelpbia, Pa,, Sept. 3, 1864. 

AVilliani T. Smith, disch. for disability, Aug. 18, 18G3. 

Godrge 11. Sdule, must, out Juno '^2, 1S65. 

Albert H. Vredi-nl'urgh, trans, to Vet. Ues. Corps, Fob. 15, 1864. 

Lyuiari Van Sickle, died in Andersonville prison-pen. Aug. ni, 1864. 

James II. W)i.'»birigton, died of disease in Michigan, March 20, 1865. 

Alonzo Wheeler, died of disease at Frederick, Md., Nov. 17, 18G4. 

Cailos A. Webster, trans, to 1st Michigan Cav. 

Mib-8 D. Webster, must, out June 22, 1865. 

Martin Weaver, must, out June 22, 1865. 

Henry F. Warren, must, out by prder, July 7, 1865. 

George Young, must, out by order, June 19, 1865. 

ComjMnij II. 
Hugh Jamison, died in action at Trevillian Station, June 11, 1864. 

Conqmiiy I. 
Capt. George W. Town5end,Gieenbu&h; com. Nov. 2, 1803 ; disch. for disability, 
July 15, 1864. 

FIFTH CAVALRY SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Field and SUiff. 
Col. Ebenezer Gould, Owosso; com. Sept. 21, 1864; lieut.-col. Dec. 31,1862; 
maj. Sept. 2, 1862 ; wouiid-d in action at Hagerstown, Md., July 13, 1863 ; 
disch. for disability, Nov. 10, 1SC4. 

Xon- Commissioned Staff. 
Sergt.-Maj. Charles Y. Osbum, Owosso ; pro. to 2d lieut., Co. H, Aug. 18, \863. 

Company D. 
Thomas G. IngersoU, died of disease at Washington, D. C, Dec. 2, 1862. 

Company F. 
John Bemis, di^ch. by order, May 17, 1865. 
Sanford BemJH, disch. by order, May 3, 18C5. 
William D. IngersoU, pro. to 2d lieut., Co. I. 

Company G. 
2d Lieut. Emery L. Brewer, Owosso; com. Feb. 27, 1864; wounded in action at 

Hawes' Sh<.p, Va., May 28, lSG-1 ; disch. for disability, Oct. 8, 1864. 
A. II. Clark, disch. for disability, Jan. G, 1864. 

Thomas Johnson, died of disease at Ander?onvilIe prison, Aug. 4, 18G4. 
Patrick Mitchell, must, out June 22, 1865. 

Company H. 

Capt. C. Y. Osburn, Owosso; com. Aug. 9, 18C4; Ist lient., Nov. 2,1863; 2d lieut., 
Aug. 18, 1863; sergt.-maj.; wounded in action at Hawes' Shop.Va., May 
28,1804; disch. for disaldiity, Sept. 28, 18G4; brevet capt. U. S. Vols., 
March 13, 1865, "for gallant and nioritorious services during the war." 

Oliver C. Hullister, died of disease at Philadelpliia, Pa., Sept. 4, 1864. 

Robert Purdy, died in action at Trevillian Station, Va., June 11. 1864. 

Compavy I. 
2d Lieut. William D. IngersoU, Owosso; com. Oct. 28, 1SC4; wounded in action 
at Five Forks, Va.; resigned, 1865. 

Company K. 
Sergt, Emory L. Brewer, Owosso; pro. to 2d lieut., Co. G. 
Emory L. Brewer, disch. for promotion, Nov. 25, 1863. 
Andrew 1. Beniis, missing in action at Annon Churcli, Va., May 28 18G4. 
Adam Dell, must, out June 23, 1865. 
Charles Edwards, must, out July 17, 1865. 
William Edwards, disch. by order, June 19, 1865. 
Anson Howe, disch. for disability, Dec. 31, 1864. 
Milton Hodge, died at Brandy Station, Va., Oct. 12, 1863. 
George B. Lynds, disch. for disability, Oct. 21, 1862. 
Jnliel W. Monroe, must, out June 23, 18G5. 
George W. Morse, must, out June 23, 1865. 
Orvillo Ogden, died of disease at Detroit, Mich., Feb. 25, 1865. 
Rowell P. Root, died of disease at Fitirfax Court-House, Va., June 17, 1863. 
Milan S. Warren, died at Newby's Roads, July 24, 1803. 
Orlando F. Wilkinson, must, out June 19, 1805. 
Allen I. Williams, disch. by order. May 10, 1865. 

Company M. 
Junrs H. Ml Gowiin, disch. for disability, Dec 4, 1862. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

SIXTH CAVALRY. 

Organization and Departure from Michigan — Assignment to Duty in 
llie Cavalry Corps, Array of tlie Potomac — Its Campaigning in 1863 
— "Winter Quarters at Stevensburg — The Richmond Raid — Continu- 
ous Campaigning in ISGJ — Campaign of 1865 — General Pickett's 
Opinion of a Charge made by the Sixth — Movement to North Car- 
olina — Return to Washington and Participation in the Grand Re- 
view — Transfer to Fort Leavenworth — Service on the Plains — 
Muster Out and Discharge. 

The Sixth Cavalry (one of the regiments composing the 
famed Michigan Cavah-y Brigade, which won imperishable 
laurels under the gallant Custer) contained Clinton and 
Shiawassee soldiers in sis of its companies, these being 
principally found in Companies D and G. The first-named 
of these companies entered the service under command of 
Capt. David G. Royce, of Burns, Shiawassee Co., and 
the other hud for its original first lieutenant, Harrison N. 
Throop, of Owosso. The regiment was recruited in the 
fall of 1862, under authority given by the War Depart- 
ment, and the Governor of Jlichigan, to the Hon. F. W. 
Kellogg. Its rendezvous was at Grand Rapids, where it 
was mustered into the United States service under com- 
mand of Col. George Gray, on the 13th of October in that 
year,"it having on its rolls twelve hundred and twenty-nine 
oflBcers and enlisted men. 

Mounted and equipped, but not armed, it left the regi- 
mental rendezvous on the 10th of December following, and 
proceeded to the seat of war in Virginia, where it was soon as- 
signed to the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, in the Third Divis- 
ion of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac. In the 
early part of 1863 it was encamped for a considerable time 
at Fairfax Court-House, and saw some service in February 
and March, but was not engaged in any notable actions 
with the enemy until the time when the rebel army of Gen. 
Lee moved northward after the battle of Chancellorsvillc. 
In that campaign it fought at Hanover, Pa., June 30, 
1863 ; at Hunterstown and Gettysburg, Pa., and Monterey, 
Cavetown, Smithtown, Boonsboro', Hagerstown, Williams- 
port, and Falling Waters, Md., in July. At Gettysburg 
and Falling Waters it was particularly distingiiished. In 
reference to its part in the latter engagement the corre- 
spondent of the New York Times said in that journal : 
" The Sixth Michigan Cavalry was in the advance. They 
did not wait for orders, but a squadron composed of Com- 
panies D and G, under Captains Royce and Throop, were 
deployed as skirmishers, while Companies B and F, led by 
Major Weaver, made the charge. The line of skirmishers 
was forced back several times, but the men rallied promptly, 
and finally drove the enemy behind their works. A charge 
was then made, the squadron passing between the earth- 
works. So sudden and spirited was the dash, and so de- 
moralized were the enemy, that the first brigade surren- 
dered without firing a shot. The charging column moved 
directly on and engaged the second brigade, when the bri- 
gade that had surrendered seized their arms, and then com- 
menced a fearful struggle. Of the one hundred who made 
this charge, only thiity escaped uninjured. Seven of their 
horses lay dead within the enemy's works. Twelve hun- 
dred prisoners were here captured, and tlie ground was 



SIXTH CAVALRY. 



107 



strewn with dead and wounded rebels. Among the killed 
was Maj.-Gen. Pettigrew, of South Carolina." The two 
companies particularly menlioned in this account were 
those whose ranks were principally filled with Shiawassee 
County men, and Capt. Royce, commanding Company D, 
died there, as a brave .soldier would wish to die, in the 
thunder and smoke of the charge. 

Crossing the Potomac into Virginia after the battle of 
Falling Waters, the regiment was engaged with the enemy 
at Snicker's Gap, July IDth; Kelly's Ford, September 
13th; Culpeper Court-Hou.se, September 14th; Raccoon 
Ford, September 16th; White's Ford, September 21st; 
Jack's Shop, September 2Bth ; James City, October 12th ; 
Brandy Station, October 13th ; Buckland's Mills, October 
19th; Stevensburg, November 19th; and Morton's Ford, 
November 26th. From the latter date it remained in 
winter (|uarters at Stevensburg until the 2Sth of February, 
186 1, when it joined the cavalry column of Kilpatrick, on 
his great raid to the vicinity of Richmond. Returning 
from that expedition to camp at Stevensburg, it was trans- 
ferred to ihe First Cavalry Division, and soon after moved 
camp to Culpeper. 

Companies I and M, which had been operating in the 
Shenandoah Valley during the year 1SG3, rejoined the 
regiment on the 3d of May, 1864, and two days later the 
command moved acro.ss the Rapidan and into the Wilder- 
ness. It was engaged, and fought bravely, near Chancel- 
lorsville. May 6tli, and skirmished on tlie 7th and 8th. 
On the morning of the 9th it moved with Gen. Sheridan's 
command on the raid to the rear of the Conlisderate army, 
holding the advance. From this time its history is one of 
almost continuous movement, which may be summed up 
by the enumeration of the fights and skirmishes in whicii 
it took part, as follows: Beaver Dam, Va., May 9th; 
Yellow Tavern, May 10th and 11th; Meadow Bridge, 
May 12tii; Hanover Court-House, Va., May 27th; Ilawes' 
Shop, May 28th ; Baltimore Cross- Roads, May 29th ; Cold 
Harbor, May 30th and June 1st; Trevillian Station, June 
11th and 12th; and Cold Harbor, July 21st. 

Early in August the Michigan brigade, with others of 
Sheridan's command, was transferred to the Shenandoah 
Valley, where the Sixth took active part in all the skir- 
mishes, battles, marches, and counter-marches that occurred 
during this part of the operations in the Valley, — a cam- 
paign which had made the names of Sheridan, Winchester, 
and Cedar Creek famous for all time. The principal actions 
in which the Sixth participated in the valley were those 
of Front Royal, Leetown, Sniithfield, Opequan Creek, Win- 
chester, Luray, Port Republic, Mount Crawford, Fisher's 
Hill, Woodstock, and Cedar Creek. In December, 1864, 
it went into winter quarters near Winchester. Its total 
list of killed to November 1st amounted to fifty-five, while 
forty-four of its members had died of disease. 

During the last days of February, 1865, the regiment 
began its final Virginia campaign. After a long and event- 
ful march under Sheriilan, during which it helped to defeat 
the rebel Gen. Rosser at Louisa Court-House, to break up 
the Lynchburg and Gordonsville Railroad, and to destroy 
the locks, aqueducts, and mills on the James River Canal, 
it reached White Hou.se Landing on the 19th of March, 



moved thence to and across the James River, and joined 
the Army of the Potomac in time to take part in the final 
battles of the war, being engaged at Five Forks, Va., March 
30th, 31st, and April 1st; at Southside Railroad, April 
2d; Duck Pond Mills, April 4th; Sailor's Creek, April 
6th ; and Appomattox, April 9th. In one of these en- 
gagements the rebel general Pickett was captured, and he 
afterwards spoke of the charge of the Sixth on that occa- 
sion as " the bravest charge he had ever seen." 

After Lee's surrender the regiment moved to Petersburg, 
thence to North Carolina, and then north to Washington, 
D. C, where it marched in the great review of May 23d. 
Immediately after it was ordered West, and moved with 
the Michigan Cavalry Brigade, vid Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad, and the Ohio, Mississippi, and Missouri Rivers, 
to Fort Leavenworth. There it received orders to move 
over the Plains, westward, on duty in the Indian country. 
The ofiicers and men were greatly disgusted at this, but 
they would not soil their noble record by disobedience, and 
so they moved unhesitatingly to the performance of the dis- 
agreeable duty, on which they remained till the 17th of 
September, 1865, when the men of the regiment whose 
term did not expire before Feb. 1, 1866, were consolidated 
with the First Michigan Cavalry, and the remainder of the 
command was ordered back to Fort Leavenworth, where it 
was mustered out of service, Nov. 24, 1865. Returning to 
Michigan, it arrived at Jackson, November 30th, and was 
there disbanded. 

SIXTH CAVALRY SOLDIEKS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
Field mid Staff. 
Asst. Surg. Jas. Sleetli, Byron; com. March 1, 1863 ; must, out Nov. 7, 18G5. 

Comptiitif A. 
Freeling Potter, must, out July 11, 1865. 

Company D. 
Capt. Diiviil G. Royce, Burns; com. Oct. 13, 1802; died in action at Falling 

Waters, Va., July U, I8C3. 
Com. Sergt. Henry M. Billiugs, Burns; enl. Sept. 4, I8C3; trans, to Idv. Corps, 

Jan. 1, 18C4. 
Sergt. Sainl. C. Smith, Caledonia; enl. Sept. 1, 1862; disch. by order, June 9, 

18G.5. 
Sergt. Alonzo Ferguson, New Haven ; enl. Sept. 9, 18G2; mu-^t. out from Inv. 

Coris, Sept. 4, 1865. 
Corp. Clias. Simpson, Burns, enl. Sept. 5, 1862; disch. for pro. in 11th Cav.. Oct. 

22, ISO. 
Corp. Wm. H. Dailey, Burns; enl. Sept. 9, 1862; died in action in Virginia, 

May 28, 186*. 
Mus. Wm. II. Rust, Burns; enl. Sept. 3, 1SC2; must. out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Mus. And. J. Williams, Burns; enl. Sept. 26, 1862; must, out from luv.Corps, 

July 19, 186,^. 
Wagoner. Jjis. W. Rathbone, Caledonia; enl. Sept. 8, 1862 ; must, out June 12, 

I860. 
Grin B. Arnold, disch. for disabdily, May 24, 1863. 
George W. .\lclricli, disch. for disability, July 28, 1863. 
Jacob II. Alliton, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Pavid C. Austin, must, out June 26, 1865. 
Peter Boughton, must, out March 25, 1866. 
Ezra D. Barnes, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
George W. Botsford, must, out Aug. 8, 1865. 

Augustus M. Barnes, supposed lost on steamer "Sultana," April 28, 1865. 
Alexander Crawford, must, out March 25, 1866. 
Uejiry Cole, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Dayid Oimpbell, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Henry W. Cramer, must, out Dec. 12, 1865. 

Gilbert Dutcher, died of disease at Klchmond prison, Va., Feb. 12, 1864. 
Edwin J. Emery, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Ferdinand Euler, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Alva F. Ewiiig, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
John II. Green, must, out July lu, 1865. 
Philaiuler Gleason, must, out March 27, 1866. 
George R. Il.irris, must, out March 25, 1866. 
Hartford Harding, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 



108 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



George Hopkins, must, out Nov. 24, 18C5. 

Jucoli IlHiel, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Iloruce Hart, died of wounds at Hanover, Va., July 3, 18G3. 

Ira C. Harding, died in action at SiimniervillL- Ford, Ya., Sept. 16, 1863. 

James M. Ilatli, disth. for disability, July 12, 1865. 

John Judd, trans, to Vt-t. Kes. Corps, July, 1864. 

L. F. James, died of wounds at Hawes' Shop, Va., May 28, 1864. 

Kdwin Judd, must, out Nuv. 24, 1865. 

W. K. Kendall, died of disease at Andersonville, Ga., Aug. 4, 18G4. 

Alhei t Lyon, trans, to Vet. Kes. Corps, July, 1864. 

D. S. MungcT, disch. for pro., Feb. 17, 1804. 

Thomas Murray, must, out Nov, 24, 1865. 

Albert Otis, died in action at Falling Waters, Md., July 14, 1863. 

Truman Osgood, died of disease at Washington, D.C., July 22, 1863. 

Samuel E. I'ilts, disch. for disability, June 1, 1863. 

Abraham Polly, disch. for disability, Dec. 5, 1864. 

William E. Parker, must, out May 31, 1865. 

Allen W. Rhodes, died of disease at Uichinond prison, Va., Nov. 20, 1863, 

Samuel Sherbourne, died of disease at Kichmond prison, Va., April 12, 1864. 

Ananias Stafford, died in action at Hawes' Shop, Va., May 28, 18G4. 

Jacob St.iler, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

fili^rtin Simpson, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Edward Sinipson, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

William H. Shaft, nuist. out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Joseph Shaffer, missing in action. 

John Van Dyke, died of disease at Andersonville, Ga., June 20, 18G4. 

Tiffany S. Wright, must, out May 24, 1865. 

Dennis C. Welch, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Jan. 1, 1864. 

Company E. 
George Bennett, disch. for disability. 

Company F. 
George Butcher, died of wounds at Annapolis, Md., Oct. 2, 18G.'I. 

Company G. 

Ist Lieut. Harrison N. Tiiroop, Owosso ; com. Oct. 1 1, 1SG2 ; pro. to capt., Co. K, 
March 13,1863. 

Q.M.-Sergt. Norton Gregory, Owosso ; enl. Aug. 30,1862; must, out Nov. 24, 
1805. 

Com. Sergt. Geo. B. W. IngersoH, Owosso ; enl. Aug. 30, 18G2; killed in action 
in Virginia, Aug. 28, 1864. 

Sergt. Isaac F. Paikhurst, New Haven ; enl. Aug. 30, 18G2 ; trans, to luv. Corps, 
Nov. 15, 1863. 

Sergt. Danl. I. Wyker, Owosso ; enl. Aug. 30, 1862; died of disease at Annapo- 
lis, Dec. 9, 1864. 

Sergt. John B. Kay, WoodhuU; enl. Sept. 9, 1862; taken pria. at Brandy Sta- 
tion, Va., Oct. 11, 1S63. 

Corp. Wm. M. Linsley, New Haven ; euL Aug. 30,1802 ; disch. from Inv. Corps, 
July 19, 1865. 

Corp. Jas. N. Smith, Owosso; cnl. Sept. 3, 18G2; mustered out. 

Corp. George H. Wyman, Owosso; eul. Aug. 30, 18G2 ; died- in hospital, March 
28, 1803. 

Teamster Jacob Petlit, Owosso; enl. Aug. 30, 1802 ; must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Farrier Andrew 1*. Culp, Scioto ; eul Aug. 30, 1862 ; died of disease, Nov. 4, 1863. 

Farrier L. I. Eckler, Bennington; enl. Sept. 2, 1862; taken prisoner; must, out 
by order, June 12, l«6o. 

Joshua Austin, died of disease at Washington, D. C, March 10, 1863. 

John Allen, died of disease at Richmond, Va., Sept. 24, 1864. 

Artemus W. Angel, must, out Nov. 24, 18G5. 

Jami'B l!uil, must, out June 5, 1865. 

Johti Covel, died of disease at Andevsonville prison, Ga,, April 17, 1864. 

Arthur Colyer, died of disejise at Washington, D. C, Feb. 21, 18G3. 

George Dutcher, died of disease at Sumnierville Ford, Va., September, 1863. 

Si-th Dutcher, dieil of disease at Owosso, Mich., Nov. 12, 1864. 

Isajic DeniJBton, died of disease at Washington, D. C, June 20, 1864. 

John Deniiston, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

George Kdwards, must, out March 10, 186C. 

Avery I). French, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Sept. 1, 1863. 

Henry H. Tiain, trans, to 1st Cav. 

Albert N. Train, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Samuel Graham, must, out Aug, 17, 1805. 

Lewis E. Galusha, died in action at Falling Waters, Md., July 14, 18G3. 

John E. Graham, disch. by order, Jan. 28, 1865. 

Henry Herat, must, out July 5, lb65. 

George W. Judd, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, July 1, 1863. 

John H. Moon, dieil of disease at Andersonville prison, Nov. 12, 1861. 

Jesse Monroe, disch. July 10, IS65. 

Abraham Otf, must, oiit Nov. 24, 1865. 

Peter I. I'utuam, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Feb. 15, 1864. 

John E. Potter, died of disease at Fairfax Court-House, Va., April 1, 1863. 

John P. Ream, died of disease at Fairfax Couit-House, Va., April 3, 1863. 

Oliver H. llathbone, died of disease at Washington, D. C, March 15, 1863. 

John P. Uay, missing in action. 

Almond N. Stephens, must, out Nov, 24, 1865. 

George Stickler, mnst. out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Samuel J. Suuthworth, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 



James Vanderhoof, died of disease at Andereonville prison, Ga., April 23, 1865. 

Christian Widenbuigh, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
William F. Williams, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Orange Williams, disch. for disability, June 11, 1864. 

Cov)pa«n 11. 
Capt. Henry L. Wise, Caledonia; com. Oct. 13, 1802; pro. to nuij. in lUli Cav,, 
Aug. 31, 1863. 

Company K. 

Capt. H. N. Throop, Owosso ; com. March IG, 1863 ; resigned July 10, 1S64. 

SIXTH CAVALRY SOLDIERS FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Compatty D. 
Chas. Ferrir, trans, to Ist Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, 1865. 
Chas. E. Havilaud, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Company E. 
Com. Sergt. Amos T. Ayers, Bingham ; enl. Oct. 13, 1862; disch. for pro., Oct. 

13, 1863. 
Sergt. Marvin D. Avery, Bingham ; enl. Sept. 9, 1862; killed in action at Tr&- 

villian Station, June 11, 1804. 
Corp. Beiij. B. Tucker, Duplain ; enl. Sept. 9, 1862 ; disch. for disability, Feb. 28, 

1863. 
Mns. John A.Gates, Bingham; enl. Oct. 8, 18G2; disch. by order, March 6,1805. 
Marion Case, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Geo. I. Goodale, died in rebel prison, Richmond, Va., Jan. 12, 1804. 
Henry M. Harrison, died in action at High Ridge, Va., April 6, 1865. 
Samuel Hoyle, dietl of disease at St. Louis, Mo., July 14, 1805. 
Cha.s. 0. Haire, trans, to 1st Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, 1865. 
Edwin C. Hinman, trans, to 1st Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, ISGo. 
Martin Lerg, must, out Nov. 24, 1805. 
Gershom W. Mattoon, must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 

Wm. T. Martin, died of disease at Washington, D. C, July 25, 1864. 
And. J. Miller, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Feb. 15, 1864. 
Moses-C. Nestel, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Feb. 15, 1864. 
Hiram J. Saterlee, died in Andersonville prison-pen, Sept. 3, 1S64. 
Lewis H. Yeomand, died in action at Brandy Station, Va., Oct. 13, 1863. 

Compavy G. 
Mns. John C. Taylor, Bingham; enl. Sept. 17, 1862; must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
David Camp, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Nov. 19, 1864. 
Allen Dryer, mnst. out Nov. 24, 1805. 
"Wm. Finley, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, Nov. 10, 1864. 
Jas. McDaniels, must, out Nov. 24, 1805. 
Henry Sprague, must, out Nov. 24, 1K65. 
Geo. W. Taylor, trans, to Vet. Res. Corp.s, Sept. 1, 1863. 

Company H. 
James Reynolds, must, out June 13, 1865. 
Winchester K. Rice, must, out July 10, 1862. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



TENTH CAVALRT. 



Organization of the Tenth — Its Advance into Kentucky — Movement 
thence to Knoxvllle, Tenn. — Arduous Service in East Tennessee, 
Virginia, nnd North Carolina — Unsuccessful Pursuit of Jefferson 
Davis — Disbaudment of the Tenth. 

Company F of the Tenth Cavalry was largely made up 
of Shiawassee County men, recruited in that county by 
Capt. Chauncey F. Sliepherd, of Owosso, who had pre- 
viously served in both the First and Fourth Cavalry Regi- 
ments. - 

Company H was raised in Shiawassee County by Capt. 
Peter N. Cook, of Antrim, who was its original command- 
ing officer. Prior to Sept. 1, 1863, he had recruited sixty 
men for this company, and had reported with them at the 
rendezvous. The remainder were recruited soon after, — 
nearly all of them being from Shiawassee County. 

Company I was almost entirely composed of Clinton 
County men, largely recruited by First Lieut. Enos B. 
Bailey and Second Lieut. George M. Farnham, who were 
original officers of the company. 



TENTH CAVALKY. 



109 



The rendezvous of the Tenth was at Grand Rapids, 
where it was oriranized and niustored into the United 
States service witli nine hundred and twelve ofEeers and 
men, and with Col. Thaddous Foote as its commanding 
officer. On the 1st of December, 1863, it left its rendez- 
vous and was transported to Lexington, Ky., whence, on 
the 13th, it moved to Camp Nelson. From that camp it was 
moved, on the 25th of January, 1864, to Burnside Point, 
from which place it marched, on the 29th of February, for 
Knoxvillc, East Teiin. It was engaged, though with but 
little loss, at Bean's Gap, March 26th, and at Rhcatown, 
April 24th ; but a more severe fight was had on the 25th 
at Carter's Station, near Jonesboro', Tenn., when the Tenth, 
with the Third Indiana Cavalry, were sent to destroy a 
railroad-bridge across the Watauga River. At Carter's 
the Tenth and Third attacked the enemy within his earth- 
works. The Tenth fought dismounted, charging at a 
" double-quick" over the outer rampart through a galling 
fire into the main bastion, driving the enemy out com- 
pletely, to seek protection in a rocky gorge. The fight 
lasted from two P.M. until dark, and resulted in a loss to 
the Tenth Regiment of seventeen, killed and wounded. 

The operations of the regiment during the months of 
May and June embraced little that was out of the usual 
monotonous round of cavalry ducy, excepting that a detach- 
ment, one hundred and sixty strong, while engaged on a 
reconuoissance to Bull's Gap and Greenville, encountered a 
superior force of the enemy, attacked and routed them with 
severe loss, capturing twenty-six prisoners and a number of 
horses and mules. 

On the 23d of July the Tenth took part in an attack 
made on a rebel brigade at Blue Springs, Tenn., driving 
the Confederates from their position in disorder. In this 
the lo.=s of the regiment was six wounded. It returned to 
Strawberry Plains on the 31st. On the 4th of September 
the regiment attacked the forces of Gen. John H. Morgan 
at Greenville, routed them, took a large number of prison- 
ers, and killed the guerrilla chief. During the remainder 
of that month the men of the Tenth were continually in 
the saddle, in pursuit of Wheeler's and other rebel cavalry, 
and frequently overtaking and fighting them, though not 
taking part in any general battle. In all the month of Oc- 
tober it was engaged in picket duty and scouting. 

At the end of October the regiment was posted at Straw- 
berry Plains, and remained there for more than a month 
engaged in camp duty, scouting, and erecting defensive 
works. While there it w;is attacked (November 14th) by 
a force of rebel cavalry, with artillery, under command of 
Gen. Breckinridge. This attack was commenced by the 
artillery from the opposite side of the Holston River, and 
the cavalry force at the same time threatened the position 
from the rear. The fight, which was a prolonged skirmish, 
with almost continual artillery firing from the opposite side 
of the river, was kept up for a number of days, but the 
enemy was decisively repulsed on the 24th, and withdrew 
from the field. On the 6th of December the regiment 
marched under orders to Knoxvillc, and thence soon after- 
wards to Sakville, Va., where it assisted in destroying the 
Confederate salt-works at that place, having been engaged 
at Kingsport, December 12th, at Bristol, December 14th, 



and at Saltville, December 20th. After the accomplish- 
ment of the purpose for which the force was sent out, it 
returned to Knoxvillc, having had a smart skirmish at 
Chucky Bend on the 10th of January, 1865. 

The Tenth remained at Knoxville until the latter part 
of March, when it marched with its brigade to the north- 
ern part of East Tennessee, and soon afterwards joined an 
expedition to North Carolina under Gen. Stoneman. In 
this incursion it fought the enemy at Brab.son's Mills, 
March 25th, and at Boonoville on the 27th. Turning 
thence northward b}' way of Wilkcsborough, it penetrated 
to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Christiansburgh, 
Montgomery Co., Va., reaching that place on the 5th of 
April, and then taking part in the destruction of nearly 
one hundred miles of that railway line. Then it moved 
to Henry Court-House, ninety-five miles away, and made 
that distance in a little le.ss than twenty-four hours. At 
that place, on the 8ih of April, it was attacked by a heavy 
rebel force of cavalry and infantry, but successfully held 
its ground with only a slight loss. On the 9th of April 
(the day of Lee's surrender) the Tenth with its companion 
regiments left Henry Court-House, moved south, destroy- 
ing the railroad line, fighting at Abbott's Creek and High 
Point on the 10th, capturing the town of Salisbury and 
with it an immense amount of stores, and then, passing 
down the Catawba River, engaged in the business of pick- 
ing up bands of rebel cavalry, who had heard of the sur- 
render of Lee and were endeavoring to make their escape 
to their homes. A few more skirmishes (among which 
was one at Statesville on the 14th and another at Newton 
on the 17th of April) finished the fighting of the Tenth 
Cavalry. News of the .surrender of Johnston's array was 
received soon after, and then the regiment was sent on an 
expedition having for its object the capture of Jefi'erson 
Davis ; but in this it was forestalled by the Fourth Cav- 
alry. When it was found that the pursuit of the rebel 
chief would be fruitless, the regiment was ordered west- 
ward, and passing by way of Stevenson, Ala., into Ten- 
nessee, it remained on duty in that State until the 11th of 
November, when it was mustered out of service at Mem- 
phis, and thence proceeded directly to Michigan, arriving 
iu Jackson on the 15th of the same month. A little later 
the men received their final payment and dispersed to 
their homes. 

TENTH CAV.^LKY SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTr. 
Field and Staff. 
M;ij. P. N. Cook, Antrim; pro. from citpt. Co. H; must, out Feb. 11, 1865. 
Cbiipluin Henry Cherry, Owosso ; cum. Dec. 3, 1863 ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Kon-Commmioned Staff. 
Sergt.-Maj. L. T. Tloun-swell, Caledonia; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Chief Mus. John L. Wild, Caledonia ; unl. Sept lU, 1S03 ; pro. to '2J lieut., Co. F. 

Company A. 
Capt. Myron A. Converse, Corunna; com. Jan. 5, 1865 ; lat lieut., April 1,1864 ; 

must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
1st Lieut. John 11. Bennett, Shiawiv^soe ; com. Sept. 2, 18G5 ; 2d lieut., Co. U. 

Compiiny D. 
A. F, Carlton, <li»cli. by order, Juno 17, 1865. 

Oimpatiij F. 
Capt. Ch:aiiiccy F. Shepherd, Owosso; com. June 6, 1863; resigned for disabil- 
ity, Feb. -Jo, 1SU4. 
1st Lieut. Wni. E. Cummins, Corunua ; com. July 25, 1863 ; pro. to capt., Co. I. 



110 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



l8t Lieut. John L. Wild, Conmn<i; com. Jan. 1, 18G5; 2d liout., April 1, 1864 ; 

must, out Nov. H, 1805. • 

2d Lieut. M. A. Converse, Coiunnit ; coin. July 25, 18(53; pro. to 1st lieut., Co. A. 
Q M.-Sergt. L. S. Rounswell, Caledonia; iipp. sorgt.-ruiij. Sept. 18, 1865. 
Coni.-Sergt. Wilson M. Burk, Owos^io; must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Sergt. Liicien A. Chase, Owosso; pro. to 2ii Ueut., Cu, G. 

Sergt. jHuies R. Conkliu, Owcisso; dicil of disease in Kentucky, Feb. 11, 1864. 
Sergt. Eber D. Jackson, Cttledonia; must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Sergt. Albert K. McBride, Caledonia; must, out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Sergt. Ptrry Swuin, Vernon ; ninst. out Nov. 24, 1865. 
Sergt. Christian Prine, Perry; must, out Nov. 20, 18G5. 
Sergt. Joel M. Jackson, Caledonia; must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Corp. John Parsons, P^rry; must, out Nov. 24, 18G5. 

Corp. Edward S. Treadway, Perry ; died of disease at Knoxville, Aug. 1, 1864. 
Corp. Lewis T. Putnam, A'ernon ; discli. for disability, Oct. 1, 18G5. 
Corp. Daniel Slorehouse, Middlebury ; trans, to Vot. Res. Corps. 
Farrier David W._ Palmer, Caledonia ; died of disease at Grand Rapids, Nov. 18, 

1863. 
Mns. Elisba P. Tew, Ciiledonia; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Saddler Abner Sears, Burns; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Wagoner Albert A. Barnes, Caledonia; disch. for disability, Aug. 25, 1864. 
Henry K. Angus, disch. for disability, Fell. 20, 1864. 
Alon Bciddry, missing at High Point, N. C, April 25, 1865. 
Iloi'cit II. Barton, must, out June KJ, 1865. 
Charles M. Calkins, must, out Nov. 11, ISGj. 
Daniel Conklin, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Oscar F. Card, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Kdwiird B. Clifford, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Feb. 13, 1864. 
Hiram Clark, died of disease at Camp Nelson, March, IS65. 
Charles Conklin, disch. for disability, Feb. 19, 1SG4. 
Levi Fhlridge, must, out June 8, 1865. 
Charles D. Footer, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Wm. E. Forney, died of disease at Grand Riipids, Mich., Nov. 18, 1863. 
EIi>ha C. Gleason, must, out Nov. U, 1865. 
William Gleason, must, out Nov, 11, 1865. 
George Howe, must, out May 27, 1865. 
George W. Harrie, must, out Nov. 22, 1865. 
Reuben J. Holmes, mu^t. out Nov. II, 1865. 
Andrew J. Hovey, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Willard S. Hawthorn, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Hiram Halleek, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Petei- Hamlin, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Andrew H-irt, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Feb. 3, 18G4. 
Albeit E. Huntley, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Feb. 1, 18G4. 
Samuel liukomb, died of disease at Ciimp Nelson, Ky,, Feb. 9, 1864. 
Henry Howe, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., March 1, 1865. 
Friend D. Jackson, died uf disease atCorunna, Mich., Nov. 12, 18G3. 

Company F. 

Carpenter Jacobs, died of disease at Somerset, Ky., Feb. 13, I86i. 

Lambert Johnson, must, out Nov, 11, 1«65. 

David Kinyon, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

D.uiiel L. Kiuy(tu, must, out Nov. 11, I860. 

Charles Kinney, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Daniel Kief, died of disease at Knoxville, Tcnn., March 9, 1864. 

Otis Lamnnyon, must. out Nov. 11, 1865. 

James Mole, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Henry C. McCarty, must, out Nov. II, 1865. 

Jerry M. Miillery, died of disease at Knoxville, Tenn., Feb. 2, 1865. 

Alviii Owen, must, out Nov. 11, 18ii5. 

Daniel Owen, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Edward Pu;nam, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 

Frank Putnam, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

John N. Pratt, must, out Nov. 27, 1865. 

George F. Prior, must, out May 11, 1865. 

George R. Stninie, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Dec. 28, 1863. 

John Snow, died of disease at Owosso, Mich., Nov. 24, 1863, 

William Thomas, died of disease at Knoxville, Teiin., April 23, 1864. 

Philip Thomas, must, out June 9, 1865. 

John D. Thomas, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Milliam K. Walcott, disch. for disability, Feb. 20, 1864. 

John Woodiuff, died of disease in Michigan, March I, 1865. 

Company G. 
2d Lient. Lucien A. Chiise, Owosso ; enl. Fob, 18, 1865 ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Levi Hall, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
James H. Qlorgan, died of disease at Lenoir, Tenn., June 5, 1865. 

Company H. 
Capt. Peter N. Cook, Antrim ; com. Aug. 26, 1863 ; pro. to major, Feb. 18, 18G5, 
Capt. Edgar P, Byerly, Owoseo; com. Feb. 18, 1865; Ist lieut., July 25, 18G3; 

must, out Nov. 11, 1865, 
2d Lieut. J. Q. A. Cook, Antrim ; com. July 25, 1863; resigned April 12, 1864. 
2d Liout. John B. Bennett, Sliiawassee; com, Feb. 18, 1865; aergt. ; pro. to 1st 

lieut., Co. A. 
Sergt. John L. Banks, Shiawassee ; disch. by order, Aug. 3, 18G5. 
Sergt. Lewis Decker, Antrim; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Sergt. Aaron Herrick, Shiawassee; trans, to luv. Corps, June 16, 1864. 



Sergt. David F. Tyler, Perry; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Sergt. Jacob N. Decker, Antrim; died of wounds at Knoxville, Tenn., May 24, 

18G4. 
Sergt. Samuel B. R'vonangh, Shiawassee ; disch. for disability, May 31, 1865, 
Sergt Robert D. .\dams, Antrim ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Corp. Saurtel H. Graham, Woodhull ; nui-it. out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Corp. Wm. H. Bachelder, Antrim ; died of disease in Kentucky, March 25, 1864, 
Corp. John N. Baker, Antrim ; must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Corp. Stephen D, Stedman, Porry ; died in Andersonville prison-pen, Oct. 31, 

1SG4. 
Corp. Piatt S. Pelton, Shiawassee ; must, out Nov, 11, 1865. 
Corp. And. Bliss, Burns ; must, out Nov. 11,1865. 
Corp. Chas. F. (AjIos, Shiawassee, disch. by ordt-r, Oct. 17, 1865. 
Mns. Gideon Whitman, corp,, Burns; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Mns. Samuel K. Bennett, Antrim; died of disease in Kentucky, Feb. 24, 18G4. 
Saddler Geo. Hart, Shiawassee ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
George Bentley, died of disesise at Camp Nelson, Feb. 27, 1864. 
Francis M. Baker, died of di-jease at Knoxville, Tenn., April 5, 1864. 
William Battisliill, died of disease at Knoxville, Tenn., June 10, 1864. 
William R. Bugbee, died of disease at Somerset, Ky., Feb. 27, 18G4. 
John R. Bennett, disch. for promotion, May 29, 1865. 
B. E. Barnes, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Walter Biowji, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Hector E. Bentley, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
John S. Babiock, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Edgar Cole, nuHt. out Nov. 11, 1SG5. 
George W. Coif, must, out Nov. 22, 1865. 
Andrew Crowell, must, out Nov, 11, 1865. 

Samuel W. Carr, died of disease at Detroit, Mich., Sept. 12, 1865. 
L. A. Decker, died of disease at Andersonville prison, Ga., April 24, 1864. 
Peter Dumoud, must, out Nov. 24, ISGo. 
Benjamin Dulreze, must, out Nov. 22, 1865. 
George P, Dean. must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Samuel H. Graham, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 

Hale P. Goodwin, died of diseiise at Knoxville, Tenn., March 27, 1865. 
Daniel 11. Herrington, must, out May 19, 1865. 
Truman W. Hemingway, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Reuben C. Hutchings. must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Hiram Johnson, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. . 
Sylvester Ketchuni, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, May 1, 1864. 
Alfred Lamunyan, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
John R. Lucas, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. * 

John C. Levy, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Robert Lyons, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. % 

Arthur Mead, must, out Nov, II, 1865. 
George F. Merrill, must, out Blay 19, 18C5. 
William F. McDivit, disch. by order, Feb, 4, 1865. 
Loreu D. Peck, died of disease at Grand R ipids, Mich., Nov, 18, 1863. 
Martin Pierce, died of disease at Andersonville, Ga. 
Thomas Ratigan, dii-d of disease at Andersonville, Ga. 
Samuel Robinson, died of disease at Andersonville, Ga. 
William .\. Richardson, must, out Nov. 14, 1865. 
John W. Simpson, died of wounds at Knoxville, Tenn., May 7, 1864. 
William II. Shaw, disch. for disability, June 23. 1864. 
Hiram W, Stevens, disch. by order. May 1, 1865. 
Almon M. Sandford, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
William 0. Sherburne, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Allen Scott, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Allen H, Terberry, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

William Vaughn, died of disease at Annapolis, Md., May 2, 1864. 
Frederick Wolf, d.sch. by order, June 30, 1865. 

Compauy I. 
Capt. Wm. E. Cunimings, Corunna; com. Jan. 7, 1865; must, out Nov. 11, 1S65. 
Melviu Hauglitland, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Company M. 
William M. Decker, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
George W. Hickox, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

William Roberts, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., July 24, 1S64. 
Charles Thomas, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

TENTH CAVALRY SOLDIERS FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Field and SU{ff'. 
Maj. Harvey E. Light, Eureka; com. Jan. 6, 1865; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Company B. 
1st Lient. Nelson Robinson, Jr., Eureka; com. Aug. 3, 1865; must, out Nov. 11, 

1S65. 
John Hodges, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Homer Parkes, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Tompkins Parkes, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Albert Van Alstine, diet! of disease at Somerset, Ky,, Feb. 12, 1864. 

Company D. 
Allen Hicks, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 



OTIIER SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON. 



Ill 



Company E. 
Oii't. Iliirvcy E. Light, Eureksi ; com. July 2^, 18G:J ; pro. to mnj.. Jan. 6, 18G5. 
2d Lieut. Nelson E. Robinson, Eureka; q.m.-soigt. ; pro. to let lieut. Co. B, 

Aug. :i, 18G5. 
Mua. John B. Lackey, Rih-y ; must, out Nuv. 11, 1SC3. 
Fun ier Alfred V. Roosii, Eureka ; mu.-.t. ouT Nov. 11, 18G5. 
■\Viigoner Levi Spauldhip, Eurtka; disch. fur disability, April 2G, 1804. 
J.ilm M. Benjamin, diseh. by order, St-pt. 5, ISGa. 
James 0. Chart, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Jan. 17, 18G4. 
John I'orter, must, out Nov. 11, 1805. 

Cowpniiij F. 
Sergt. Talman Beardslee, Ovid : must, out May 17, 18G5. 
Coe S. Swegles, disch. for disability, Sept. 20, 18G5. 
John Sinclair, must, out Nov. 11, 1SG5. 

Cowpntiy G. 
Sergt. Oscar E. Grover, Eagle; died of disease at Purdy, Trnn., Oct. 2:i, 1805. 
Corp. Azro M. Bates, Eagle; disch. for disability, Sept. 10, ISG-l. 
John Brown, must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 

Company H. 
Daniel Ackley, must, out Nov. 11,1565. 

Company I. 
Capt. Enos B.Bailey, St. John's ; com. Jan. 22, 1864; 1st lieut. July 25, 1803; 

must, out Jan. 7, 1SG5- 
1st Lieut. George M.Fnrnham, St. Juhn's; com. Jan. 22, 1804; 2d lieut. July 25, 

180;i; pro. to capt. Co. K. 
2d Lioiit. John Spears, Riley ; com. Oct. 19, 1865; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Q.M.-Sergt. Joseph S. Tucker, Riley ; disch. for disability, Tune 1, 1865. 
Com. -Sergt. Oscar Chase, Bingham; must, out Nov. 11, 18G5. 
Sergt. Daniel C. Tucker, Riley; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps. 
Sergt. Willard N. Daggett, Greenbush ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Sergt. Lyman J. Daniels, AVatertown ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Sergt. Charles H. Rt)se, Watertown ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Sergt. Samuel S. Lee, De Witt; sick and absent, Nov. 11, 1865. 
Sergt. James M. Shnllcrs, Ringhani ; must, out Nov. U, 1865. 
Q.M.-Sergt. William Adams, Greenbnsh ; must, out Nov. 18, 1865. 
Corp. Eug-ne B. Ketchnm, Bingham ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Corp. William J. Esler, Ea;;le ; nnist. out Oct. 23, 1865. 
Corp. Enimett Kirby, Greenbusb ; nuut. out May 26, 1865. 
Corp. Charles 0. Cohen, Lebanon ; mnst. out Nov. 11, 1805. 
Sergt. John Spoars, Riley; pro. to 2d lieut. Co. I. 
Sergt. Frank H. Rossnian, Watertown ; must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 
Mus. Orlo W. Berniingbam, Duplain; disch. by order, Sept. 11, 1865. 
Mu8. Fred. Brown, Westidialia ; died uf disease at Grand Rapids, Mich., Nov. 

13, 1863. 
Saddler Paul J. Averill, Olive ; must, out Nov. 11, 180.5. 
Farrier Abram Bennett, Weslplialia; disch. for dis^ibility, May 23, 1864. 
Farrier Geo. W. Baker, Greenbnsh ; died of dise.-ise in Kentucky, Feb. 11, 1864. 
Teamster Richard Cook, Olive ; must, out Nov. 10. 18G5. 

Oliver Brtbcock, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., ULircb 31, 186t. 

Edwin Burrows, died of disense at Knoxviile, Tenn., March 24, 1864. 

Josepli L. Brink, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Jan. 7, 1864. 

Charles Bacon, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Feb. 21, 1804. 

Stephen H. Baker, missing in action. 

William T. Blizzard, died of disease at Knoxviile, Tenn., May 20, 1804. 

Andrew Bailey, trans, to Vet. Res. Coips. 

Juhn Brown, must, out Nov, 11, 1805. 

James Brown, didch. by older, Oct. 3, 1863. 

Edwin Buahnell, must, out Nov. 11, 1805. 

Abram ','ook, must, out Nov. II, 18G5. 

William Coveratone, must, out Nov. 11, 1805. 

Linus Densmore, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Jan. 20, 1864. 

Chauncey Ferris, must, out Nov. II, 18G5. 

Alunzo Force, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Jidin W. Force, must, out Nov. 11, 1SG5. 

Isaac Grant, niu^t. out Nov. 11, 1S05. 

Isaac II. Harrington, must, out Oct. 20, 1SG5. 

Cliarlcs J. Iloople, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

George J. Hiiggt-tt, drowned at Knoxviile, Tenn., Sept. 12, 1805. 

Daniel S. Hathaway, died of disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Feb. 1, 18G4. 

Godfrey Kline, died of disease at Km-xville, Tenn., July 13, 1864. 

L>man W. Kimball, died of disease at Grand Rapids, Mich., Oct. 2, 1863. 

Myron J. L:iltimore, died of dlsiase at Detroit, Mich., Feb. 26, 1864. 

James A. Laughlin, discb. for disability, Oct. 5, 1863. 

Gould E. Mathews, disch. by order, June 19, 1805. 

B. B. Owen, must, out May 12, 1SG5. 

Alexander Parks, muit. out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Lorenzo D. Philips, died of disease at Knoxviile, Tenn., Sept. 1, 1864. 

W. W. Stiles, died of disease at Somerset. Ky., Feb. 28, 1864. 

Alvin Sears, died of disease at Canip Nelson, Ky., May 4, 18G4. 

Warren Stiies, died of disease at Nashville, Nov. 6, 1H64. 

Kdniimd H. Sitis, mnst. out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Jackson A. Sanborn, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

B. Frank. Sanborn, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 



John W. Stanswell. must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Em^ry B. Smith, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

Jesse E. Stone, sergt., Duplain ; must, out Nov. 11, 1805. 

Lafayette A. Townson, died of disease at Knoxviile, Tenn., Oct. 4, 1864. 

Zenas J. Thnma-'*, died of disease at Knoxviile, Tenn., Nov. 6, 1864. 

Denison Van Vliet. disch. by order, Sept. 25, 1865. 

Samuel Wliitlock, die<iof disease at Camp Nelson, Ky., Feb. 11, 1864. 

Elliott Wright, died of disease in Tennessee, Juno 11, 1864. 

Anthony Winaus, must, out Nov. 11, 1805. 

Cbarles Williams, must, out Nov. 11, 1865. 

William Wells, must, out Nov. 11, 1805. 



CHAPTER XX. 

OTHER SOLDIERS FROM SHIAMTASSEE AND 
CLINTON COUNTIES. 

Representation of the Two Counties in Twenty-five Infantry and 
Cavalry Regiments, and Eleven Michigan Batteries. 

Besides the regiments of wliicli historical sketches have 
ah'eady been given, there were many others containing Clin- 
ton and Shiawassee County soldiers, whose record is equally 
honorable, though they served in regiments in which these 
counties were less numerously represented. Of the oflBcers 
and enlisted men who served in these regiments lists (made 
from the official records in the adjutant-general's office) 
are given in this chapter. 

SOLDIERS OF THE FIRST INFANTRY. 

CLINTON COUNTT. 

Company F, 
Alpheus Bixby, disch. for disability. May 12, 1864. 

Company H. 
Andrew J. Briggs, veteran, Dec. 25, 1863. 
Alvalma L. Dickinson, disch. by onler, June 10, 1865. 
James B. Marsh, disch. at end of service, Aug. 3U, 1864. 

Comjyany I. 
David W. Zacharias, must, out July 9, 1865. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
Company //. 
George W. I-aliJng, disch. for disability. 

FOURTH INFANTRY. 

SOLDIERS FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Company K. 
James G. Abbott, died of disease in New York, June, 1862. 
Sf-rgt. Ezra Brown, Duplain, disch. at end of service, June28, 1864. 
Alonzo Force, disch. for disability, Jan. 16, 1802 
Colwell Martin, diach. for disability, Nov. I, 1862. 
Orrin E. Perry, disch. at end of service, June 28, 1864. 

Company I {New Fourth). 
Iliram A. Barber, disch. at end of service, March 8, 1866. 
Zoar H. Bates, disch. at end of service, March 8, 1866. 
Harvey Cook, died of disease in Texas, Oct. 22, 1865. 
William A. Dietz, disch. at end of service, March 8, 1866. 
Giles Hill, died of disease in Texa?, Nov. 6, 1865. 
Charles V. Lewis, died of dist-asc in Texas, Nov. 4, 1865. 
Washington Lewis, disch. at end of service, March 8, 1866. 
Albert H. Miller, disch. at end of service, March 8, 1866. 
John D. Sherman, diecb. at end of service, Marcli 8, 1866. 

SOLDIEKS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
Company K. 
Thomas Sherry, disch. at end of service, June 28, 1864. 

Company E [New Fourth). 
George Bradison, must, out May 26, 1866. 

Company C. 
James Davis, nuist. out Feb. 26, 1866, 



112 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 

> 



SIXTH INFANTllY. 

MEN KKOM SHIAWASSEE COUNTV. 
Compaity A. 
Solomon Henry, distil, fol disability, Aug. 2, 1865. 
Seymour Lyon, muBt. out Aug. 20, 1865. 

SEVENTH INFANTRY. 

MEN FROM SFIIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
Company B. 

Gilbert A. Frn/.icr, disch. Jan. 20, 1862. 

Osciir S. Jewett, tinns. to Vt-t. Res. Corps, March 15, 18G4. 

Aneul James, died of disease ut Camp Benton, Md,, Nov. 16, 18f.l. 

Cad. S. I'elton, missing in retreat from Fair Oaks. 

Caleb B. Peltou, disch. at end of sei-vice, Sept. 9, 1SG4. 

Omipmnj F. 
Benj. F. Green, discb. for disability, Jnne 6, 1862. 
Henry S. McCarty, diach. for disability, May :J, 1862. 
Jacob D. Snyder, diseh. fordisabiliiy,0ct. in, 18G2. 
Wellington Stark, disch. for disability, June 2.3, 1862. 
William Stone, died of disease at Point Lookout, Md., Jan. 1, 1803, 
Jolin D. Walker, discli. for promotion, Aug. 4, 1862. 
William White, disch. fur disability, Nov. 5, 1861. 

MEN FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Company G. 
Thomas Stevens, must, out July 5, 1865. 

Compiiny II. 
Charles llale, discli. for disability, Oct. 17, 1862. 

ELEVENTH INFANTRY (NEW). 

MEN FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Company B. 
George W. White, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., June 3, 1865. 

Company H. 
John invndel, must, out Sept. IG, 18G5. 

TWELFTH INFANTRY. 
MEN FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Company B. 
Birdsley Morse, must, out Feb. 15, 1866. 

Company C 
Goo. Oliver, disch. by order, June 17, 1865. 
Valororous Oliver, must, out Feb. 15, 1866. 

Company D. 
Wilson M. Holmes, discb. by order, May 28, 1865. 

Company F. 
David Whalin, died cf disease in Arkansas, Aug. 17, 18G3. 

Company G. 
Edward C. Ilinman, diach. Aug. 18, 1862. 
Albert A. Sherman, disch. for disability, Aug. 26, 18G2. 

Company K. 
A. J. Austin, disch. at end of service, Nov. 20, 1863. 
J. R. Moss, disch. at end of service, Nov. 20, 1SG3. 

THIRTEENTH INFANTRY. 

CLINTON COUNTY VOLUNTEERS. 
Company B. 
James Anderson, disch. by order, June 8, 1865. 
Lewis C. Gardner, disch. by order, June 16, 1865. 
Alson P. Kinney, disch. by order, June 8, 1865. 

Company C. 
George C. Baker, must, out July 25, 18G5. 

Company D. 
Sergt. Michael Miller, Westphalia; enl. Nov. 12, 1861; disch. at end of service 

Jan. IG, 18G5. 
Michael Bechtold, disch. for disability, July 21, 1863. 
Gerritt S. Finn, veteran, enl. Jan. 18, 1864 ; died of diaease id Georgia, Feb. 28, 

1865. 
lioreii/.o Hance, discb. for disability. May 1, 1862. 
Hiram S. Miller, discb. at end of service, Feb. 17, 1865. 
AuHon J. Rummer, disch. for disability, Feb. 23, 1863. 
Frank Wiler, disch. for disability, Sept. 15, 1862. 
Mathlas Webber, disch. on order, June 20, 1865, 



Company F. 
Sergt. Walter Delong, Lebanon; enl. Oct. 5,1861 ; died in action at Stone River, 

Tenn., Dec. 29, 1862. 
William G. Annis, veteran, enl. Jan. 18, 18G4; must, out July 25, 18G5. 
Silas H. Catliii, veteran, enl. Feb. 10, 1864; disch. at end of service, July 18, '65. 
David R. Corey, disch. for disability, March 8, 1863. 
Nathan Evans, disch. for disability, Dec. 10, 1862. 
Frederick Fifield, died at home. 

George W. Hewitt, died of disease .at Nashville, Tenn. 
Webster Lawrence, must, out July 25, 1865. 
William Mcltoborts, must, out July 25, 18G5. 
Horace McRoberls, died of disease at Kalamazoo, Feb. 9, 1862. 
Laureston B. Myers, disch, fur disability. 
Phinney B. Millard, disch. for disability. 
William M. Payne, disch. by order, June 8, 1865. 
Reuben Place, mu<t. out July 25, 1865. 
Joseph Randolph, disch. for disability, Dec. 10, 1862. 
Sylvester Stoddard, disch. by order, June 8, 1865. 
Orrin A. Smith, died of disease at Nashville, Dec. 20, 1862. 
James D. Sowle, missing in action. 
Silas Tripp, died of disease, July 21, 1862. 
David Tripp, discli. by order, Jan. 19, 1863. 

Company G. 
John Hoover, must, out July 25, 1865. 

Company I. 
Walter Weaver, died in action at Stone River, Tenn., Dec. 31, 1862. 

Company K, 
Edward Everett, must, out July 18, 1865. 
Tobias Egner, discharged July 20, 1864. 
Clark S. Green, discharged Sept. 5, 18G2. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
Lewis Whitman, veteran, enl. Feb. 15, 1864. 

FIFTEENTH INFANTRY. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEN. 

C'ompany A. 
James Delaney, disch. by order, May 30, 1865. 

Company B. 
Richard Haines, must, out Aug. 13, 1865. 

CAtmpany C. 
Nelson Bengart, mu<=t. out Aug. 13, 1865. 
William S. Corwiii, disch. for disability, July 28, 1863. 

Company F. 
Corp. Richard Ralph, Corunna; enl. Jan, 5, 1862; disch. at end of service, Jan. 

28, 1865. 
Reuben Cuilney, disch. for disability, July 24, 1862. 
Benjamin F. Dunlap, must, out Aug. 13, 1865. 
John S. Skelton, must, out Aug. 13, 1865. 

Company I. 
1st Lieut, Henry K. Wallace, Corunna; com. Jan. 1, 1862; wounded at battle of 

Shiluh, April 6,1862; thanked by Gen. Rosecrans in special orders for 

gallantry and efficiency at the siege of Corinth; disch. for disability, 

Sept. 1, 18G2. 
2d Lieut. John Edwards, Corunna; com. Jan. 1, 1862; res. April 17,1863. 
Sergt. James Brown, Corunna; enl. Dec. 29, 1861 ; disch. for disability, Nov. 12, 

18G2. 
Coip. John A. Wallace, Cornnna; enl. Dec. 20, 1861; veteran, Feb. 14, 1864; 

absent on furlough at muster out. 
Henry H. Barnes, veteran, enl. Feb. 14, 1864 ; must, out Aug. 13, 1865. 
John Crow, died of disease at Big Black River, Miss., Aug. 14, 18G3. 
Wallace Dibble, died in action at Shiloh, Tenn., April 6, 18G2. 
Thomas Donahue, disch. for disability, March 31, 1863. 
Alonzo Johnson, diach. at end of service, Nov. 10, 1863. 
Henry Punches, discli. fur disability, Nov. 6, 1862. 
James Penfold, died of disease at Pittsburg Landing. 
Samuel B. Revenaugb, disch. for disability, Aug. 29, 1862. 
Warren J. Woolmnn, disch. at end of service, Nov. 10, 1863. 
Thomas Yerton, died of disease in Tennessee, June 1, 18G2, 

CLINTON COUNTY MEN. 

Company C 
Joseph Humeston, died of disease at Detroit, Mich., March 3, 1865, 

Compatiy G. 
Ezra B. Dietz, disch. by order, May 30, 1865. 

Company I. 
Charles Minke, disch. by order. May 30, 1865. 



Robert Wyman, must, out Aug. 13, 1865. 



OTHER SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON. 



113 



Company K. 
AVilliam II, Roe, iHbcIi. at end of service, Nov. 17, 1865. 
Sniniiet A. Smith, died of disease ift Mississippi, Ait-;. G, ISGIi. 
Cliristian T.ijlur, disch. by ordi-r, May 30, 1SG5. 

SIXTEENTH INFANTRY. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEN. 
Comjian;/ B. 
■William II. C. Hull. must, out July 8, 18G5. 
Henry F. Monroe, must, out Jiily 8, 1865. 

Company D. 
Daniel Rosa, died of wounds at .\loxaiidria, Va., Oct. 27, 1801. 

Cumpanif F. 
Thomas Catlin, disch. hy order, May 3, 18G5. 

Compavij H. 
George Broom, veteran, onl. Dec. 24, 1863. 
Mathew Crowter, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1SG3; died of wounds, near Petersburg, 

Va., June 21, 18G4. 
George W. Erray, died in action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 18G3. 
Nicholas Fitzpatrick, died of disease at Hall's Hill, Va., Nov. 14, 1862. 
AHred R. Frazier, disch. by order, Dec. 15, 1861. 
David Gordon, disch. by order, July 13, 1865. 
Warren Hatlien, died of wounds, 1862. 
Hiram Johnson, disch. lor disability, Aug. 27, 18G4. 
Sanford G. Morton, disch. at end of service, Sept. 7, 1864. 
Nathaniel H. Overton, died in action at Gaines' Hill, June 27, 1862. 
Adoniram J. Payne, died of disease at Washington, D. C, Oct. 2, 1861. 
Charles J. Perry, disch, for disability, Oct. 13, 1863. 
Jesse Parmenter, wagoner, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; disch. for disabilily, Feb. 

20, 1865. 
Leand^T A. Vanduson, disch. at end of service, Sept. 7, 1864. 
AVilliam H. Wilkinson, disch. for disability, Sept. 25, 1862. 

Company E. 
Joseph G. Scott, died of disease at Washington, D. C. 
Isaac H. Scott, died iu action at Gettysburg, Pa., July 2, 1863. 
Bradley S. Wliitney, must, out July 8, 1865. 

First Independent Company. 
Jacob F. Wagner, must, out July 8, 1865. 

CLINTON COUNTY MEN. 

Company B. 
Lloyd G. Stever, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; must, out July 18, 1865. 

Company F. 
John G. Daker, died of disea-se in Virginia, Oct. 21, 1861. 
Jeremiah Walker, died of disease at Baltimore, Md., Nov. 20, 1862. 

Company G. 
David Clark, disch. by order. May 20, 1865. 

Company H. 
Ist Lieut. Daniel Lyon, St. .John's; com. Sept. 27, 1864; aergt. Aug. 15, 1801; 

veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 1863; wounded at Hatcher's Run, Va., Feb. G, 1865; 

disch. for disability, May 15, 18G5. 
Sergt. Lafayette L. Traak, St. John's; enl. Aug. 13, 1861 ; diach. for disability, 

Jan. 3, 1863. 
Corp. John T. Newell, St. John's ; enl. Sept. 1, 18G1 ; died in action at Gaines' 

Mill, Juno 27, 1862. 
Corp. Theodore L. Everest, St. John's ; enl. Aug. 16, 1861 ; disch. for disability, 

Sept. 17, 1862. 
Abram Bigelow, disch. for disability, Feb. 21, 1862. 
Carlos BeIli»W8, veteran, enl. Dec. 24, 18G3 ; must, out July 8, 1865. 
John J. Partello, disch. at end of service, Sept. 7, 1864. 
Joseph Van Vechten, died in action at Bull Run, Aug. 30, 18G2. 
David Wainwriglit, dischaiged. 

SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY. 

FROM CLINTON. 
Company H. 
Delos W. Yanderlierg, died in action at South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14, 18C2. 
Noah Wilkes, must, out June 3, 18C6. 

Company K. 
Walter Love, died of disease at Oiimp Chase, Ohio. 
William Blerrilt, disch. for diaabilil.v, Jan, 4, 1864. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE. 
Company F. 
Sylvester EvcrU, died of disease at WaBliington, D. C, Feb. M, 1863. 
William Jordan, died in action at .\ntielani, Md , Sept 17 ISC 

15 



EIGHTEENTH INFANTRY. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE. 
Company D. 
Smith Buttcrfleld, died of disease at Nashville, Tenn., April 20, 18CI. 
Orlando 11. Sheldon, must, out Sept. 15, 1805. 
Williams L. Walters, must, out May 10, 1865. 

FROM CLINTON. 
Company F. 
Capt. Sheridan F. Hill, Eagle; com. cnpt., Co. 0, March 27, 1865; Ist lieut., 
Co. F, July 27, 18C2; must, out June 20, 1865. 

NINETEENTH INFANTRY. 

FROM CLINTON. 

C<ympany D. 
Leonard Caswell, must, out June 10, 1S65. 

TWENTIETH INFANTRY. 

FROM CLINTON. 

Company B. 
John J. Beadle, tians. to 2d Mich. Inf. ; must, out July 6, 1865. 
Wilbur G. Ilibbanl, trans, to 2d Mich. Inf. ; must, out July 28, 1865. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE. 
Aaron Dlaiichard, niusf. out July 28, 1865. « 

TWENTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 

FROM CLINTON. 

Company A. 
Sergt. James J. Msiy, Riley; enl. Aug. 1, 1862; disch. for disability, Dec. 24, '62. 

Company D. 
Amos M. Deits, must, out June 8, 18C5. 

Company G. 

Mu3. Henry M. Lewis, De Witt; enl. Aug. 16, 1862; must, out of Inv. Corps, 
June 26, 1865. 

Company I. 

James C. Van Liew, trans, to 14th Mich. Inf.; must, out July 18, 1865, 
Myron J. Stewart, trana. to 14th Mich. Inf. ; must, out July 18, 1865. 

Company K. 
George D. Barker, died of disease at Murfreesboro'. 
Jonathan Catlin, disch. for dissibility, Feb. 9, 1863. 
Geo. W. Glassbrook, died of disease at Camp Bradley, Jan. 31, 1863. 
Calvin Merwin, died of disease at sea. 
Charles Rosencrans, disch. for disiibility, Feb. 12, 1863. 
Malcolm Sherwood, disch. for disability, Jan. 24, 1863. 
Calvin Terwilliger, disch. for disability. 

TWENTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 

FROM CLINTON. 
Company D. 
Milton A. Farmer, died in Andersonville prison-pen, Aug. 1, 1864. 
Richard F. Masters, trans, to 2d Mich. Inf.; must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE. 

Company A. 
Andrew Fillinger, must, out June 26, 1865. 
Henry Fillinger, must, out June 26, 1865. 

TWENTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Company A. 
Charles Willard, died in rebel prison. 

Company F. 
Joseph Coryell, died in action at Fitzhugh Crossing, Va., April 29, 1863. 
James Hubbard, died in action at Gettysbnrg, Pa., July 1, 1863. 

Company H. 
Dewitt C. Butterfield, disch. for disability, Feb. 21, 1863. 
Almon S. Cook, must, out June 30, 1865. 

Myron Di'inary, died at Wiishlngton, D. C, of wounds, Dec. 9, 1863. 
Morris Iloople, initsming in action. 

Leander It. Hooplc, disch. for disability, Marcii 30, 1865. 
V. It. W. Lenim, tnms. to Vet. Res. Corps, April 28, 1864. 
William Morgan, died of disease at Belle Plain, Fob. 24, 1863. 
Nathaniel Moon, died of wounds at Alexandria, Va., Aug. 4, 18G4. 
Ira F. Peai-sall, diseh. for disability, April 11, 18G3. 



114 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON COUNTIES, MICHIGAN. 



William r. Heed, discli. for diBabilUy, Feb. 25, 1803. 

Nichnlitii Kiiby, niio^iiig in action. 

Josopti Sliank, must, out May 24, 1SC5. 

Andrew J. Stevens, must, unt June 30, 18G5. 

John Steele, must, out Juno 30, 1865. 

ChiirK'H SlIckleB, discli. for disftbility, Nov. 15, 18G2. 

Siiniuol Stenio, di^cb. for dJBitbility, Sept. '2G, 1802. 

Churlea W. Tbomaa, diiicb. for disability, April 30, 1863. 

Compani/ I. 
Miithow IJIark, must, out Juno 30, 18G5. 
Tbeodore Ililler, must, out June 30, 1665. 
Job Sexton, must, out June 30, 18G5. 
Uomcr Wiittjon, must, out June 30, 1865. 

Companij K. 
William Morse, must, out June 30, 18G5. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Oompany D. 
Orrin Dodge, mu3t. out Juno 30, 1865. 

GimjHiny E. 
Mnnley M. IJoington, must, out June 30, 18G5. 
Jerome H. Frasier, must, out Juno 30,1865. 
Lewis Metciilf, must, out Juue 30, 1865. 

Campany G. 
Jnmos W. Goodfellow, disch. for disability, June 3, 18C5. 
Orville 0. Sinionson, died of wounds, June 18, 1804. 
William II. Van Otter, disch. for disability, Sept. 20, 1862. 

Company K. 
Henry L. McCartby, must, out June 30, 1805. 
Dexter B. IMoper, must, out June 30, 18G5. 

Hecniiis. 
Janioa Ackley, must, out Juno 28, 18G5. 
Samuel A. Hubbard, must, out June 30, 1865. 
Edward Leeland, must, out June 30, 18G5. 
David B. Shannon, must, out June 30, 1865. 

TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Non-Comnms lotted Staff. 
Princ. MuB. Georgo G. Harris, Antrim ; eul. Aug. 6, 1862 ; must, ovit Juno 4, 'Go. 

Company B, 
James M. Clemonts, must, out June 4, 18G5. 

Coittpnny E. 
Willis E. Brown, n^ist. out Sept. 10, 18(;5, from Vet. Rea. Corps. 
John L. Bennett, must, out Jutie 4, 1SG5. 
Charles Bennett, must, out June 4, 18G5. 
Ashley C. Elder, must, out June 4, 1865. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY, 

Nou-Commissionid Sluff. 
Hoap.-Stow. Zadock B. Freeman, Bath ; pro. to asst. Burg. 

Company D. 
George Hawkins, must, out Juno 27, 18C5. 
Andrew Silvornail, trans, to Vet. Ues. Corps, Sept. 20, 18G3. 
Sergt. William D. Towner, died of disease at Jackson, Mich., Sept. 27, 18G2. 

Company II. 
Kapoleon Dtdong, died of disease at Alexandria, Va., Feb. 15, 1863. 

TWENTY'-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 
Company B. 
1st Lieut. Eli F. Evans, Vernon ; com. Nov. 26, 1864 ; must, out June 5, 18C6. 

Company E. 
Samuel A. Luther, disch. at end of service, Feb. 13 1866. 

FIRST REGIMENT LIGHT AKTILLERY. 

MEN FKOM SHIAWASSEE COUNTr. 
BaUcru A. 
l8t Lieut. Hoiekiah E. Burchard, Ovid; com. March C, ISCi; 2d lieut. Sept. 6 
18G4 (seigt.) ; must, out July 28, 1805. ' 

Alexander Kobcrtaun, must, out July 28, 1805. 

DtiUtrij 11, 
Ciileb G. Powell, must, out Aug. 30, 1805. 
Juniea H. lledson, must, out Aug. 30, 1805. 



BaUery H. 
Henry C. Grant, trans, to Vet. Ues. Corps, March 15, 1804. 
Isaac P. Place, must, out July 22, 1805. , 

TlUrleeiilh BMeii, . 
George D. Ensign, must, out July 1, 1805. 
lleman Frisk, must. o!it July 1, 1865. 
Julius Frisk, must, out July I, 1805. 
Ik'iijiiiiiin F. Fri-ehtTid, disch. liy order. May G, 1SG5. 
Edward Judd, must, out July 1, 1805. 
Robert Lapwortli, must, out July 1, 1805. 
William J, Ottoway, must, out July 1, 1865. 
Asa B. Sheldon, must, out July 1, 1865. 

MEN FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Bailer n A. 
Geo. Butterfleld, must, out July 28, 1805. 
Chas. W. Eaton, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, April 10, 1804. 
August Rochol, trans, to Vet. Res. Corps, April 10, 1864. 
Danl. C. Warren, must, out July 28, 1805. 

BaUery D. 
Wagoner Saml. Fowler, Bath ; enl. Oct. 26, 1861 ; died of wounds at Hoover's 
Gap, Tonn., June 20, 1803. 

BaUery E. 
Marvin Albright, disch. for disability, July "27, 1802. 
Chas. M. Chadwick, disch. to enl. in regular army, Nov. 27, 1802. 
Oliver Curiuinghani, must, out Aug. 30, 1805. 
G. H. Gi-oom, must, out Aug. 30, 1805. 
Ralph W. Uolloy, must, out Aug. 30, 1865. 
Wm. R, Newman, must, out Aug. 30, 1865. 
Wni. 11. Rheinbothum, must, out Aug. 30, 1805. 

BaUery G. 
HiranuMillcr. 
Geo. H. Van Tyne. 

BaUery I. 
Win. A. Ingraham, died of disease in Indiana, Oct. 12, 1864. 
Jaiiatiian Miller, must, out by order, June 23, 1865. 

BaUery L. 
Joseph Miller, disch. by order. May 15, 1865. 

BaUery M. 
Silas H. Jones, must, out Aug. 1, 1865. 
Silas Watson, must, out Aug. 1, 1865. 

THIRTEENTH MICHIGAN BATTERY. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
John C. Clark, must, out July 1, 1865. 
Wm. E. Clark, must, out July 1, 1865. 
Oliver P. Morgan, must, out July 1, 1865. 

FOURTEENTH MICHIGAN BATTERY. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Gotlieb Carche, must, out July 1, 1865. 
Henry Geer, must, out July 1, 1865. 

SEVENTH CAVALRY. 

SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Field ami Staff. 
Maj. Georgo K. Newcombe, Owosso; com. Dec. 10, 1862; wounded in action at 
Gettysburg, July 3, 1863; resigned Oct. 13, 1863. 

Company C 
Capt. Joseph I. Newman, Owosso; com. July 31, 1804 ; disch. for disability, Feb. 

27, 1805. 
Jacob Russell, must, out Dec. 15, 1865. 

Company E. 
William H. Palmer, trans, to 1st Cav., Nov. 17, 1805. 

Company G. 
1st Lieut. Joseph I. Newman, Owosso ; com. Oct. 15, 1802 ; pro. to capt. Co. C. 
Sergt. John S. Gates, Owosso ; must, out Dec. 15, 1805. 
Corp. Alanson J. McCann, Perry; disch. by order, June 2, 1865. 
Corp. Irwin Bennett, Perry ; missing in action, Oct. 19, 1863. 
Teamster Norman Van Alstino, Sciota; trans, to Inv, Corps, Jan. 15, 1804. 
Farrier Wni. Bartliobimew, Owosso; must, out at end of service, Dec. 28, 1865. 
Wagoner Leonard L. Howe, Owosso; mtist. out at end of service, Dec. 28, 1865. 
Jeremiah Ackley, trans, to Vet. Res. Coips, May 15, 1864. 
Amos Finch, must, out Dec. 28, 1805. 
William Gillson, must, out Dec. 28, 1805. 
Jerman H. Johnson, died of disease at AndersonviUe prison, Ga., Aug. 4, 1804. 



OTHER SOLDIERS FROM SHIAWASSEE AND CLINTON. 



115 



Howard A. Tibbetts, died of disenae at Fairfnx, Ya., June 25, 1863. 
Henry M'eatlierbee, tnins. to Vet. Res. Corps. 

Company H. 
Oliver D. Decker, disch. for disability, Sejjt. 30, 18G3. 

SOLDIERS FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Comptiny A. 
Charles E. Dusson, must, out Sept. 6, 1865. 

Company D. 
Sergt. James Anderson, Eureka; disch. Aug. 20, 1863. 

Company E. 
Elisha J. Higbee, died of disease at Winchester, Viv., Dec. 10, 1864. 
Almou H. I»ham, must, out July 17, IS65. 
Amos Towman, must, out Sept. II, 1805. 

C'»mpa»y J. 
Henry Cook, trans, to Ist Midi. Cav., Nov. 17, 18G5. 
Rodney W. Clioat, must, out July 17, 18G5. 
Calvin E. Green, must, out Dec. 15, 1865. 
Chester C. Ilildreth, must, out July 17, 1865. 
John Kiikland, trans, to 1st Mich. Ciiv., Nor. 17, 1865. 
James Monroe, tnins. to 1st Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, 1865. 
Sidney Staunton, trans, to let Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, 1865. 
Perry Shepherd, must, out July 17, 1865. 

Company M. 
Emery Bowen, trans, to Ist Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, 1865. 
Josiah Cobb, disch. for disability, Oct. 3, 1803. 
Benjamin R. Tinkle, must, out Dec. 8, 1865. 
W. H. Hammond, disch. for disability, Nov. 6, 1863. 
John C. Meyer, missing in action at Buckland Mills, Va.,Oct. 19, 1863. 
Joseph R. Slickles, trans, to 1st Mich. Cav., Nov. 17, 1865. 

EIGHTH CAVALRY. 

MEN FROM SHIAWASSEE. 

Company A. 
James H. Williard, must, out June 13, 1865. 

Company F. 
Charles L. Young, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Company L. 

Simon Hause, disch. for disability, Sept. 15, 1863. 

Charles Williams, died of disease on board transport " Baltic," Dec. 30, 1864. 

NINTH CAVALRY. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Asst. Surg. Morgan L. Leach, Dnplain ; com. Nov. 3,1862; resigned for disability, 
July 15, 1864. 

ELEVENTH CAVALRY. 

FROM SHIAWASSEE. 
Field and Staff. 
Maj. Henry L. Wise, Corunna; com. Aug. 31, 1863; must, out Aug. 10, 1865. 

Non-Commi»»ioned Sta^. 
Hosp. Stew. Owen Blanchard, Sciota; trans, to N. C. S., 8th Mich. Cav., July 
20, 1865. 

Cimipatiy B. 

Capt. Charles Simpson, Owosso; com, Feb. 1, I8G4 ; Ist licut. Aug. 1, 1863; 

must, out Aug. 10, 1865. 
Sergt. Waller C. Dewitt, Middlebnry; trans, to 8th Cav. 
Sergt. Earl S. Hall, Owosso ; trans, to 8th Cav. 
Sergt. Theo. T. Dewilt, Middlebury ; trans, to 8th Cav. 
Sergt. Walter Belgan, Sciota; disch. by order, June 12, 1865. 
Far. Elisha Reed, Bennington ; must, out July 16, 1865. 
Far. Charles D.Stimson, Middlebury; must, out Juno 12, 1865. 
Charles H. Culver, must, out Oct. 2, 180.'). 
Charles D. Hunt, must, out June 30, 1865. 

George N. Hathaway, died of disease at Lexington, Ky., Jan. 23, 1864. 
Harvey C. Sumner, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
Oliver Sisco, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Company C. 
Edgar Bruno, died of disease at Lexington, Ky., Feb. 7, 1804. 
M. C. Doty, died of disease at Lexington, Ky., Feb. 7, 1864. 
Levi B, Smedley, disch. by order, July 13, 1805. 

Company D. 
Henry C. Woodward, died of disease at Lexington, Ky., July, 1864. 

Company F. 
Sidney S. Morse, died of disease at Lexington, Ky. 



Company JIf. 
A. Furgeson, disch. by older, Feb. 2, 1865. 
William Grant, must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Company B. 
Sergt. Ralph H. HolliBter, Victor; trans, to 8th Mich. Oav. ; must, out Sept. 22, 

1865. 
Sergt. Charles Valentino, Victor ; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav.; must, out Sept. 22, 

1865. 
MuB. John F. Stortz, DeWitt; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav.; must out June 16, 1865. 
John C. Aldrich, trans, to 8th Mich. Cav.; must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
George S. Bartlett, trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. ; must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 
John T. Craig, trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. 

James P. Cross, trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. ; must, out Oct. 7, 1865. 
Elijah Carman, trHus. to 8th Mich. Cav. ; must, out Sept. 22, 186.5. 
Charles M. Doty, trans, to 8th Mich. Cav.; must, out Sept.-22, 1865. 
James Price, disch. by order, July 10, 1S65. 
John Parker, disch. for disability, Juno 24, 1865. 

Edward Strickland, trans, to 8tli Mich. Cav.; must, out Sept 22, 1865. 
Oliver M. Munzey, trans, to 8th Mich. Cav. ; must, out Sept. 22, 1865. 

Company K. 
Sergt. Henry P. Clark. Do Wilt; trans, to 8th Mich. Cav.; disch. for promotion. 
Charles H. Reynolds, died of disease at Lexington, Ky., Sept. 15, 1864. 

Company L. 
Newberry Eddy, died of disease at Lexington, Ky., July 19, 1864. 
Moses F. Hamliu, disch. for disability, June 5, 1865. 

FIRST MICHIGAN SHARPSHOOTERS. 

MEN FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 

Company E. 
Aeher Le Baron, died of disease at Chicago, HI., Jan. 20, 1863. 

Company I. 
Wm. Delleubaugh, missing in action near Petersburg, Va , July 30, 1864. 
Henry A. Howe, died of disease at Chicago, HI., Nov. 24, 1863, 
Horace Martin, died in action near Petersburg, Va.,June 17,1864:. 
Ira Martin, died of disease at Annapolis, Md., Jan. 13, 1865. 
Daniel H. Spicer, died of disease at Alexandria, Va., Oct. 4, 1804. 
Cliarles Sutherland, missing in action near Petersburg, June 17, 1864. 

FIRST MICHIGAN (ONE HUNDRED AND SECOND 
UNITED STATES) COLORED INFANTRY. 

FKOM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Omipinnj C. 
l8t Lieut. Edward Caliill, St. .lohn's ; cum. Jan. m, 1864 ; pro. capt. Co. D. 
2d Lieut. Jacoh P. Sleight, Batli; com. Dec. 23, 18154; must, out Sept. 30, 1865. 
Jasper HolTutt, must, out Sept. 30, 1865. 

Comj^any 2>. 
Capt. Edward Cahill, St. J. hu's ; com. Jan. 16, 1865 ; must, out Sept. 30, 1S65. 
iBt Lieut. Wm. E. Sleiglit, Bath ; com. May 6, 1864; 2d lieut. Jan. 20, 1864; 
must, out Sept. 30, 1865. 

FKOM SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 

Field and SUiff. 
Lieut.-Cul. Wm. K. Scllon, Owosso ; com. Aug. 17, 18C3 ; 1st lieut. 9tli Infantry. 

Company G. 
John Tbompson, must, out Sept. 30, 1865. 

FIRST REGIMENT UNITED STATES SHARP- 
SHOOTERS. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Company C. 
David H. Kellogg, died of disease at Wasliington, April 10, 1862. 
Henry E. Slwars, died of disease at Yorktown, Va., Oct. 10, 1862. 

SECOND REGIMENT UNITED STATES SHARP- 
SHOOTERS. 

FROM CLINTON COUNTY. 
Company B. 
Ellis W. Ilagerty, died in action at Wilderness, May 6, 1864. 
John II. Tli'inipHon, died in action near Petershurg, Sept. 9, 1864. 
Richard WurBe, died in action at Spottsylvania, May 11, 1864. 

TWENTIETH INDIANA BATTERY. 

John Burgoyiie, Woodhull, Shiawassee Co.; veteran. 



SHIAWASSEE COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

LOCATION, yOPOGEAPHY, AND MINEKAL RE- 
SOURCES. 

Boundaries, Surface, Soil, and Streams— Geological Formation— Ke- 
sults of Explorations for Coal and Salt— The State Geologist's 
Opinion relative to Coal-Mining in Michigan. 

Shiawassee, which is one of tlie counties in the fourth 
tier, — counting northward from tlie southern line of the 
State, — has for its western boundary the principal meridian 
(which is the division-line between this and Clinton County), 
and is bounded on the north by Saginaw, east by Genesee, 
and south by Livingston and Ingham, the last-named three 
counties having been formed in part from its original terri- 
tory. It is now one of the smallest counties in the State, 
for although it contains the same number of townships 
(sixteen) which are embraced in each one of several other 
counties, the western range of townships in tliis has only 
about two-thirds the usual width ; this being the result 
of a mistake or miscalculation in the making of the original 
surveys. 

This county is properly regarded as among the best in 
Miciiigan in regard to the productive quality of its soil 
and its adaptation to the purposes of agriculture. The 
surface, which can nowhere be termed hilly, is generally 
rolling, though in many parts of tiie county there are found 
quite extensive tracts of comparatively level country, which 
in the original field-notes of the government surveyors are 
frequently mentioned and described as •'prairie-lands." 

The principal waters of the county arc the Shiawassee, 
Maple, and Looking-Glass Rivers, and their tributary 
streams. The Shiawassee is formed of an eastern and a 
southern branch, which, taking their rise in the lakes of 
Oakland, Livingston, and Genesee Counties, join their 
waters in the southeast corner of Shiawassee ; from which 
point the main stream flows in a general nortliwesterly 
and northerly course through nearly the entire length of 
the county, crosses its northern boundary nearly at the cen- 
tre of it, and thence flows northward through Saginaw 
County into the Saginaw River. The Shiawassee River, 
in traversing this county, passes the cities of Owosso and 
Corunna and the villages of Veruou, Shiawassee, and 
Byron. 

The Maple River, taking its rise in the central and 
southern parts of the county, flows thence in a northwest- 
erly direction into Clinton. The sources of the Looking- 
Glass River are in the northwest part of Livingston County 
and the extreme southern part of Shiawassee. Its course 
through this county is first nearly north, and afterwards 
generally west, to the point where it crosses the west 
boundary-line into Clinton County. Neither the Looking- 
116 



Glass nor the Maple become streams of much size or im- 
portance until after they pass out of Shiawassee County. 

The northeast part of the county is watered by the head 
streams of the Misteauguay River, which flows northward 
into Saginaw County and enters the Flint River five miles 
above its mouth. 

Of the geology of Shiawassee County there is little to 
be said, more than to mention the efforts which have been 
made here from time to time for the discovery of coal 
veins and salt springs, and to notice the results of those 
explorations. 

The second Legislature of Michigan, at its regular ses- 
sion in 1837, passed an act (approved February 23d in that 
year) .which provided " that the Governor is hereby au- 
thorized and directed to nominate, and by and with the ad- 
vice and consent of the Senate to appoint, a competent 
person, whose duty it shall be to make an accurate and 
complete geological survey of this State, which shall be 
accompanied with proper maps and diagrams, and furnish a 
full and scientific description of its rocks, soils, and minerals, 
and of its botanical and geological productions, together 
with specimens of the same." Under this act the Governor 
appointed as State geologist, to take charge of the survey. 
Dr. Douglass Houghton, who in the fall of the same year 
set out with three assistants and made a cursory explora- 
tion of Shiawassee County and the contiguous country, the 
object of the visit being to examine the outcroppings of 
bituminous coal and the salt springs which were reported 
to exist in this region. The party left Detroit by wagon 
conveyance, and proceeded to Byron and thence to Co- 
runna and other points below on the river. One of the 
assistants of Dr. Houghton in that expedition was Bela 
Hubbard, Esq., of Wayne County, who writes in reference 
to the examination then made in Shiawassee County as fol- 
lows : " In the early part of the season, during the progress 
of the geological survey, beds of bituminous coal had been 
discovered in the bank of Grand River, in Ingham and 
Eaton Counties ; and the rocks met with through the cen- 
tral part of Shiawassee (belonging to the coal-measures) 
gave hope of finding an outcrop here. Prospecting was ac- 
cordingly commenced by us at Corunna, but, with the 
slender means at command, did not prove successful. Yet 
sufficient was determined from the character and dip of the 
rocks and other indications to warrant a recommendation 
to the settlers to continue the investigation." This recom- 
mendation of Dr. Houghton caused considerable search and 
several excavations to be made, resulting, in 1839, in the 
discovery of a thin vein of coal, from which small amounts 
continued to bo taken annually until the formation, many 
years later, of a company to work the vein. An account of 




COURT HOUSE, CORUNNA SH lAWASSEE Co. M/CH. 



LOCATION, TOPOGRAPHY, AND MINERAL RESOURCES. 



117 



the working of the mines in the vicinity of Corunna is 
given in the separate history of the township of Caledonia. 

Of the geological formation in the Corunna region Prof. 
Roniinger,* State geologist, says : 

" The hottoui of the Shiawassee Valley near Corunna is 
all formed of rock-beds of the coal-measures where the 
erosions of the drift period have not destroyed them and 
filled their places with debris. The upper sand-rock of the 
formation is in many places entirely swept away, and the 
shale-beJs below lie denuded to the surface. The two 
mines opened at Corunna, a mile or two east of the village 
[city], have begun their shafts in the shale-beds ; one of 
tliem, the more northerly situated, was abandoned at the 
time of my visit. The other, located within a short, semi- 
circular bend of the river, was worked. In the oblique 
drift leading to the bottom of the mine the following 
section is offered : 

■ Drift ; 9 feet. 

Shale, dark, partly bliiok 30 " 

Sand.-^tone 4 " 

Black, slaty shales, containing lingula and 

disL'ina, besides compressed lamelli branches 6 " 

Coal 1 foot. 

Fire-clay 4 feet. 

Black, slaty shales, as above 8 " 

Coal, from .ItO't " 

Fire-clay 4 '* 

Black shales , 4 " 

Arenaceous shales continue to the bottom, which is eighty 
feet below the surface. The. tire-clay seams are usually 
arenaceous, and contain stems of stigmaria. Tiie shale- 
beds contain centicular concretions of kidney-ore in the 
non-decomposed condition of gray amorphous carbonate of 
protoxide of iron ; seams and nodules of iron pyrites are 
also found dispersed throughout the whole formation. In 
the coal-seam the pyrites are concentrated into a band of a 
few inche.s in thickness. The coal is of bituminous qual- 
ity, of the same character as the Jackson coal. Not far 
off, west from the mine, the shale formation is found cov- 
ered by the upper coarse-grained sand-rock, inclosing stems 
of calamites. The visible thickness of the rock is about 
fifteen feet, but it is probably thicker if it could be seen 
better exposed. Other outcrops of the sandstone are to be 
found in the river-bed four miles above Corunna." 

Coal was found outcropping in the bank of the Shia- 
wassee River at Owosso, and in 1857 or 1858 a shaft was 
sunk for the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad Company at 
this place on land of Judge Comstock. Prof Rominger 
notices this operation, and mentions the coal formation in 
that vicinity as follows : " The next disclosures of the coal- 
mea.-.ures [he having previously mentioned those of Ingham 
County] we find on Shiawassee River, near Owosso and 
Corunna, in both of which places coal-mines are opened. 
The shaft of the Owo.sso mine is close to the river, within 
the village limits. It begins in a blue shale with coaly 
vegetable remains, under which a coal-bed of fifteen inches 
is found resting on fire-clay six feet in thickness ; then 
another coal-seam, likewise of fifteen inches, succeeds. The 
bottom part of the shaft, which is forty feet deep, is formed 
by sliales and fire-clay ; the fire-clay is partly of a hard, 
sandy nature, and contains numerous stems and leaves of 

* Geological Survey of the State of Michigan, 1S76. 



Stigmaria ficoides. The coal is of a rich bituminous qual- 
ity and tolerably free from sulphur, but the seams are too 
thin to be profitably mined. . . . Several companies have 
tried to work it, but gave it up after a short time as not 
returning enough to cover the expense." He then gives 
the record of a boring three hundred and seven feet in 
depth, put down near the railroad at Owosso, and in which 
a vein of coal was found at a depth of about one hundred 
and eighty feet, but this was so thin as to be worthless. 

" The coal-measures," says Professor Rominger, " are fre- 
quently noticed in the bed of the Shiawassee below Owosso, 
as far down as St. Charles. A locality of particular interest 
is near the mouth of Six-Mile Creek, six miles north of 
Owosso. In the bluffs of the Shiawassee River we observe 
the lower part formed of blue shales, with scams of sand- 
rock and abundant concretions of kidney ore ; the top is 
drift, with a considerable intermixture of angular debris 
from the underlying strata. Under the shale, emerging a 
few feet above the water and partly submerged, are layers 
of a black, shaly lime-rock, visible in a thickness of four or 
five feet, containing numerous fossils, partly in calcified 
partly in pyritous condition. . . . The same limestone is 
seen a quarter of a mile off in the bed of Six-Mile Creek ; its 
ledges are there more even, — bedded flagstones, — less shaly 
than those seen in the Shiawassee River. Close under the 
lime-rock is a fifteen-inch bed of coal, quantities of which 
have been taken from the river-bed when the water is very 
low. The coal reposes on a soft, plastic clay of greenish- 
white color, which incloses stems of stigmaria and large, 
calcareous, nodular masses of cone-io-cone structure. Stems 
of stigmaria are also found in the upper shales of the bluffs 
and in the geodes ; when split open, fronds of ferns are some- 
times found, but their occurrence is rare. A few .steps from 
the mouth of Six-Mile Creek some parties made an experi- 
mental shaft about thirty feet deep, and from that point 
drilled to one hundred feet below the surface. From the 
material thrown out of the shaft, I see that shales of 
various colors, with seams of sand rock and conglomerate, 
besides an abundance of kiduey-ore, compose the surface- 
layers as far as the shaft went. Mr. Ott, thj owner of the 
land, informed me that four beds of .coal, amounting in all 
to eleven feet, were found in the boring. . . . The record 
in itself is somewhat doubtful, and the hesitation to take it 
as a true representation of facts is increased by the subse- 
quent act of the discoverers of so rich coal deposits (eleven 
feet within a vertical thickness of twenty feet of strata). 
Mr. Ott ends his story by saying that the men, after they had 
reached the depth of one hundred feet, left the place not to 
return again." 

Borings have been made from time to time in various 
parts of the county, some having for their object the ob- 
taining of brine for the manufacture of salt, some for the 
discovery of coal veins, and some having both these ends . 
in view ; but none of these have, so far as ascertained, re- 
paid the outlay. One of the most notable of these was a 
hole sunk to the depth of one thousand and one feet on 
section 5 of the towtuship of Owosso (several miles north- 
west of the city), by Mr. George Collier for the proprietor. 
The record of this boring gives the following as the strata 
passed through : 



118 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Drift 121 feet. 

Shale 20 " 

Coal 4 " 

Shale 54 " 

Hard rock 15 " 

Shale 33 " 

Saml-rock 220 " 

Limestone 3 ** 

Soft shiilo 20 " 

Sandstone (with brine) 77 " 

Blue and red shales 434 " 

In 1S59 a boring was made by a company of Pennsyl- 
vania men on section 23 of tbe township of Caledonia, 
one and a rjuarter miles northeast of Corunna. A depth 
of eight hundred and seventy-four feet was reached, and 
the following is the record of the strata passed : 

Diift 30 feet. 

Shales and slato-rock 60 " 

Coal 1 foot. 

Sand-rock and shales 285 feet. 

Thin alternate strata of rock and iron ore 28 ** 

Shales and sand-rock 330 " 

Weak brine struck at this depth. 

Porous sand rock 140 " 

A great number of other borings in various parts of the 
county might be mentioned and statements given of the 
strata through which they passed ; but these would be 
neither valuable nor interesting. They are but records of 
failure, so for as their disclosure of any valuahk mineral 
deposits is concerned. This is unquestionably true in re- 
gard to all borings and excavations yet made in Shiawassee 
County, unless the mining operations at Corunna are to be 
regarded as an exception, which is, to .say the least, ex- 
tremely doubtful. That a similar opinion is entertained by 
so eminent a geologist as Professor Rominger, in regard to 
explorations and experimental excavations, not only in this 
county, but in the entire lower peninsula, is made clear by 
his summing up ou this subject, as follows : 

" The benefit to the commonwealth of a geological in- 
vestigation consists not only in adding discoveries of new 
stores of minerals to those already known, but to a much 
greater extent, I think, in causing to bo fairly understood 
the uselessness of explorations for certain minerals in places 
where they do not exist. Thousands and thousands of 
dollars have been spent in this way, which could have been 
saved to their owners if they had had a clear comprehen- 
sion of the structure of the earth's crust which they ex- 
plored, or had asked advice of some one better informed 
than themselves. . . . 

"The coalfields of Michigan, supposed to cover a space 
of eight thousand Sfjuare miles, arc up to the present day 
of very inferior importance in the economy of the State. 
Only four mines are in actual operation, and these are 
worked with but a small force of men. Searching for the 
causes of this neglect of apparently so great stores of 
wealth buried beneath our feet, we find one of them in the 
imperfect exposure of the rock-beds, which, with the ex- 
ception of those in a few limited districts, are all deeply 
covered by drift deposits. This would be no serious im- 
pediment if the coal scams were spread in a continuous 
sheet over the surface of a certain horizon ; We could then 
without much risk go down and uncover them; but all 
coal deposits are confined originally to certain limited basins, 
and if we consider that the coal series, as the youngest of 
the stratified rock-beds on the peninsula, has been without 



protection, by later deposits exposed to the vicissitudes of 
untold ages, we must expect to find a large proportion of 
the deposits destroyed and swept off; in particular, during 
the drill epoch the coal formation must have suffered im- 
mense destruction from the moving glacier masses. The 
direct proof of this is furnished by the large quantity of 
debris of the coal-measures mixed with the drift material ; 
but the drift action has not only destroyed a large propor- 
tion of tl)e coal formation, but has at the same time filled 
up the eroded gaps with loose drift material, hiding the ex- 
tent of destruction from observation, and thus rendering 
our mining operations always hazardous in a deeply drift- 
covered region, because we have no means whereby to know 
how much of the supposed underlying rock-strata has es- 
caped destruction. . . . This loose, porous mass of (/cirj's, in 
proper comminution to make a soil, and being composed of 
every variety of mineral substance necessary for the suste- 
nance of vegetable life, formed the destiny of this strip of 
land ; it makes it an agricultural country. No great min- 
eral wealth is hidden here under our feet which we could 
have reached through the gaps, so it were better they were 
closed and leveled, to enable us to harvest golden ears of 
wheat and corn from their surftice, than that we should 
enter shadowy subterranean passages in search of wealth, 
endangering our lives, and without any certainty of success 
in the end." 



CHAPTER XXII. 

CIVIL CHANGES-EAELT SETTLEMENTS. 

The several Counties which ho ve included the Territory of .Shiawassee 
— Erection of Shiawassee Count}' — Reduction of its Territory — 
Settlements in the County from 1831 to 1836. 

TllE first of the counties of Michigan, as also the first 
which was laid out to contain any part of the territory 
afterwards included in Shiawassee, was the county of 
Wayne. This county was first laid out, or rather pro- 
claimed, by the executive of the Northwest Territory, 
Aug. 18, 179C, to embrace all of lower Michigan and por- 
tions of Indiana and Ohio. But although Wayne, as thus 
laid out, contained a considerable number of inhabitants and 
sent its representative to the General Assembly of the 
Territory at Chillicothe, its white population was nearly all 
clustered at its county-seat, Detroit, and along or near the 
waters of its southeastern border, and its jurisdiction — 
scarcely extending a half-dozen miles back from the lakes 
and navigable streams — had no existence in all the vast 
wilderness of the interior. The county was again " laid 
out," this time with a greatly reduced area and with more 
definite limits, by proclamation of Governor Cass, dated 
Nov. 21, 1815. It was then made to include all "that 
part of the Territory of Michigan to which the Indian 
title has been extinguished," thus embracing all of the 
lower peninsula lying east of the principal meridian as far 
north as a point due west from the outlet of Lake Huron, 
and thence northeasterly in a right line to White Rock, in 
the present county of Sanilac. Within the boundaries of 
this great tract was included all the present territory of 



CIVIL CHANGES. 



119 



Shiawassee County, except a small portion (about one-sixth 
of its area) in the northwest corner. 

An executive proclamation, dated Jan. 15, 1818, erected 
the new county of Macomb, with boundaries described as 
follows: "Beginning at the southwest corner of township 
No. 1, north of the ba.se-line (so-cailod) ; thence along 
the Indian boundary-line, north, to the angle formed by 
the intersection of the line running to White Rock, upon 
Lake Huron ; thence with the last-mentioned line to the 
boundary-line between the United States and the British 
Province of Upper Canada ; thence on said line south- 
wardly to a point in Lake St. Clair due east from the place 
of beginning ; thence due west to the eastern extremity of 
the said base-line, and with the same to the place of begin- 
ning." This embraced all the lands north of the base-line 
which had previously been included in the county of 
Wayne. But in the Governor's subsequent definition and 
establishment of the boundaries of the new county, it was 
made to extend westward only as far as the line between the 
eleventh and twelfth ranges east of the meridian, so that 
the territory between that line and the meridian was not 
included in Macomb County proper, but was attached to it 
in the same manner that Shiawassee County was afterwards 
attached successively to Oakland and Genesee. 

One year after the erection of Macomb a large part of 
tlie territory which had been attached to that county was 
set ofiF to form the new county of Oakland, which was 
erected by proclamation of Governor Cass, Jan. 12, 1819, 
its boundaries being described as follows: "Beginning at 
the southeast corner of township No. 1, in range No. 11, 
north of the base-line ; thence north to the northeastern 
corner of township No. 6 in the same range ; thence west 
to tlie Indian boundary-line [the principal meridian] ; 
thence south to the base-line ; thence east to the place of 
beginning," thus including the south half of the present 
county of Shiawassee. It is shown in the preamble to the 
Governor's proclamation that this erection of Oakland 
County was considered to be in advance of the require- 
ments of its people, but in view of a probable increase of 
population sufiicient to demand it in the near future. The 
proclamation was not, therefore, made immediately oper- 
ative, but was to take effect and be in force from and after 
Dec. 31, 1822. Nearly three years before that time, how- 
ever, the people of Oakland petitioned the Governor, re- 
questing that their county .should be organized, and this 
was accordingly done by executive proclamation dated 
March 28, 1820. At that time, and for some two years 
afterwards, the lands which now form the south half of 
Shiawassee County were included as a part of Oakland ; 
about two-thirds of the north half still remained attached 
to Macomb, and a fraction in the northwest corner — being 
included in the lands then recently ceded by the Indians 
in the treaty of Saginaw — were not within the limits of 
any county. 

Shiawassee was erected a separate county by proclamation 
of Governor Cass, dated Sept. 10, 1822, its boundaries, 
as defined in that document, being as follows : " Beginning 
on the principal meridian, where the line between the 
eighth and ninth townships north of the base-line inter- 
sects the same, and running thence .south to the line 



between the second and third townships north of the base- 
line ; thence east to the line between the sixth and seventh 
ranges east of the principal meridian ; thence north to the 
line between townships numbered eight and nine north of 
the base-line ; thence west to the place of beginning." The 
same proclamation which thus erected the county of Shia- 
wassee provided also for the erection of Saginaw, Sanilac, 
and Lapeer, and attached all these four counties to Oak- 
land, from which a large proportion of their territory had 
been taken. This attachment of Shiawassee to Oakland 
continued in force for nearly fourteen years. 

At its erection, in 1822, Shiawassee County embraced, in 
addition to its present area, the northeast quarter (four 
townships) of Ingham County, the north half (eight town- 
ships) of Livingston County, and eight townships (the 
same which are now Argentine, Fenton, Mundy; Gaines, 
Clayton, Flint, Mount Morris, and Flushing) in the county 
of Genesee. The erection of Ingham County (Oct. 29, 
1829), of Livingston County (March 21, 1833), and of 
Genesee County (March 28, 1835), cut off those portions of 
the original territory of Siiiawassee (in all, a strip of two 
townships in width from its entire eastern and southern bor- 
ders), and reduced the county to its present limits. The 
organization of the county of Genesee was effected by act 
of the Legislature, approved March 8, 1836; and it was 
by the same act provided " that the county of Shiawassee 
be and the same is hereby attached to the county of Gene- 
see, for judicial purposes, until otherwise directed by the 
Legislature." The act took effect on the first Monday in 
April of the same year, and from that time until Shiawassee 
was organized as a county — in 1837 — it remained so attached 
to Genesee. It had also been made a part of the town- 
ship of Grand Blanc, Genesee Co., by the operation of an 
act approved March 26, 1835, which provided " that the 
county of Shiawassee shall be attached to and comprise a 
part of the township of Grand Blanc, for the purposes of 
township government." This township jurisdiction con- 
tinued until March 23, 1836, when the Governor approved 
an act which provided " that the county of Shiawassee be 
and the same is hereby set off and organized into a separate 
township by the name of Shiawassee. . . ." This town- 
ship continued to embrace all the territory of the county 
until March 11, 1837, when an act was approved providing 
that " all that portion of the county of Shiawassee known 
as townships 7 and 8 north, of ranges 1, 2, 3, and 4 
east, be and the same is hereby set off and organized 
into a separate township by the name of Owosso." And 
by other sections of the same act, township No. 5 north 
in range 4 east, was erected as the township of Burns ; 
and township No. 6 north, in the same range, was .set off, to 
be organized as the township of Vernon. These were the 
only townships erected in the county prior to its organiza- 
tion, so that at that time its territory was subdivided as 
follows : Owosso township comprehended within its limits 
the entire north half of the county ; the townships of 
Burns and Vernon embraced, respectively, the same terri- 
tory as at present ; and the remainder of the county — that 
part which is now included in the townships of Antrim, 
Shiawas.see, Bennington, Sciota, WoodhuU, and Perry — 
formed the township of Shiawassee, which had been re- 



120 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



duced to three-eiglitlis of its oiii^inal dimensions by the 
laying out of Owosso, Burns, and Vcinon. 

Tlie above account exhibits the cliangcs of jurisdiction 
through wliich the territory of Shiawassee' County liad 
passed prior to its separate organization, in 1837, as also the 
several township subdivisions wliich existed within it at 
that time. 

EAKLY SETTLEMENTS. 

The settlements which had been made in the county 
prior to its organization were numerous, but liad been made 
chiefly during the last year of the period under considera- 
tion. The first white settlers within the county were the 
brothers Alfred L.jind Benjamin 0. Williams; for although 
Whitmore Knaggs had located here about 1820, Mr. Grant 
a few years later, and Richard Godfroy in 1828, yet these 
were in no sense settlers, but merely transient traders, who 
came to deal with the Indians so long — and only so long — 
as the trafiBc continued to prosper. But the case was dif- 
ferent with the brothers Williams, who came from their 
home in Oakland County in April, 1829, to prospect in 
Shiawassee, with the full intention of becoming settlers 
here. " We concluded," says Mr. B. 0. Williams,* " when 
we became of age we would settle in this new and beautiful 
virgin forest;" and they carried out this intention in August, 
1831, when they came to the county, and located on lands 
entered by Alfred L. Williams (BeTijamin 0. being then 
still a minor) on the Shiawassee, adjoining the north line of 
the Kechewondaugoning reservation. And although they 
were at first traders, they soon began to cultivate land, and 
becoming in every sense settlers, remained for nearly a half 
century the seniors among the residents of Shiawassee 
County, as Mr. B. 0. Williams is at the present time.f 

About two years after the Williams brothers came, the 
second settlement in Shiawassee was made by John 1. Tin- 
kelpaugh, who brought his family and located on section 
24, of township 6 north, of range 3 east, in May, 1833. 
He had previously cleared a small part of his land on the 
river-bottom and planted it, this being the first land plowed 
in the county. Mr. Tinkelpaugh afterwards becaifie a resi- 
dent of Greenbush township, Clinton Co., and died there 
in the fall of 1879. He was a brother of Captain Edward 
Tinkelpaugh, of New York, the commander at different 
times of the " North Star," " South America," and other 
ocean steamers running from that port. 

Other settlers who came in the same year were Hosea 
Baker, his son, Ambrose Baker, and his son-in-law, Aaron 
Swain, all of whom settled in the same township, and 
Henry Leach and Jacob Wilkinson, in township 6, of 
range 4. 

The settlements made in the county in 1834 were but 
few, though entries of land and preparations for permanent 
occupancy were numerous. In 1835, however, the number 
of actual settlers was considerably increased, and their set- 
tlements were extended northward and westward into the 
township which is now Caledonia, and to the Big Rapids of 
the Shiawassee, now Owosso. Among those who came in 
and made permanent location in the two years named were 

» Michigan Pioneer Collections, vol. ii. p. 477. 
t Mr. A. L. Williams, after a residence of many years in Owosso, 
reniovod to Virginia, wliere lie is now living. 



Isaac M. Banks (in town 6, range 3), John Swain (in 
Caledonia), Samuel N. Whitcomb, Josiah Pierce, and James 
Rutan (in Vernon), Zachariah R. Webb (in the township 
now Venice), and Louis Findley, Kilburn Bedell, David 
Van Wormer, John D. Overton, and Henry S. Smith, at 
the Rapids. Overton and Van Wormer came as tenants of 
Judge Elias Comstock, who had purchased land at the 
Rapids, and had made some improvements in 1835, in 
preparation for permanent settlement there. In the same 
manner, Henry S. Smith (who had previously made a 
temporary halt near Shiawasseetown) moved to the new 
settlement at the Rapids, and occupied a log house erected 
for A. L. and B. 0. Williams. 

In this year (1835) the first settlement in the southeast 
corner township (now Burns) was made by Dyer Rathburn, 
from New York State. Naturally it would seem that this 
part of the county should have been the first settled, for 
not only was it nearest to the older settlements in the 
counties south and east, and was traversed by the old 
thoroughfiire from Pontiac to the Grand River, but it con- 
tained the county-site (as then established), and the region 
contiguous to the confluence of the east and south branches 
of the Shiawassee was one of great natural advantages. 
The reason why these causes did not induce the first set- 
tlers, in the county to locate in this township was undoubt- 
edly because the lands in the most favored localities had 
been secured many years before by Judge Dexter, and were 
held by him for purposes of speculation. 

The year 1836 saw the greatest influx of immigrants 
into Shiawassee, as was also the case in most other counties 
of the lower peninsula. In that year settlements spread 
through the county with great rapidity, particularly along 
the line of the Grand River road (or trail) and contiguous 
country. The list of those who came in as settlers during 
that season is too numerous to be given at length, but men- 
tion may be made of a few in several of the townships em- 
bracing different sections of the county. In the southeast 
corner township there came among the settlers of that year 
Maj. Francis J. Prevost, Robert Crawford, John Burgess, 
Wallace Goodin, John B. Barnum, P. L. Smith, and S. S. 
Derby, several of whom were members of the Byron Com- 
pany. Passing westward in the townships of the same 
tier, there were among the settlers of 1836, Allen Beard, 
Lyman Melvin, Peter Cook, Alanson Ailing, and others (in 
Antrim) ; Josiah Purdy (in Perry) and Josephus and John 
Woodhull, in the township which was afterwards named for 
them. Peter Laing came in the same year, and founded 
the" village of Laingsburg, in what is now the township of 
Scioja, and Samuel Carpenter, Mason Phelps, and Milton 
Phelps also made settlements in the same township. Ben- 
nington received its first settlers in the persons of Samuel 
Nichols and his unmarried brother James, who had entered 
their lands in the previous year, and came to locate perma- 
nently in the spring of 1836. In the fall of that year 
Jordan Holcomb and Aaron Hutchins came to the same 
township, and Lemuel Castle and several others came there 
on prospecting tours, and made preparation for settlement 
in the following spring. In 1836, William Newberry, 
Ephraim Wright, William M. Warren, and many others 
located in what is now the township of Shiawassee. John 



ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



121 



Smedloy, Noah Bovier, William K. Reed, and Joseph Par- 
monter were among the immigrants of thi.s year in Vernon, 
Capt. John Davids in Caledonia (on the present site of 
the city of Corunria"), and Judge Comstock at Owosso. 
Settlements were also made in the same year in Middle- 
bury, on the west border of the county, by Obed Hatha- 
way, George W. Slocum, and some others, and in New 
Haven by Horace Hart and Richard Freeman. The other 
townships of the northern tier remained unsettled until 
a later date. 

The above brief mention of a very few of the pioneers 
of Shiawassee is made here merely for the purpose of 
showing the manner in which the settlements spread from 
the point where they commenced, on the Shiawassee River, 
to other points of the county. More extended and detailed 
accounts of the early settlements and settlers will be given 
in the separate histories of the several townships. 

The rapid immigration of 1836 brought with it a fever 
of speculation in wild lands. It was not long before hun- 
dreds of speculators from the East were swarming here, 
eager to select and purchase the best tracts of government 
land, and this, of course, resulted unfavorably for the prog- 
ress of the county. Numerous projects of "improvement" 
were conceived and villages were started, which apparently 
prospered for a time, but some of which afterwards decayed, 
and went down as rapidly as they had sprung into existence, 
and by the close of the year 1837 the prospect of material 
progress in Shiawassee County began to assume a less rose- 
ate hue than it had worn only a short time before. The 
situation of afi'airs at that time at some of the principal 
points in the county, was noticed by Bela Hubbard, Esq. 
(who made a tour through this section in the fall of 1837, 
as an assistant of Dr. Douglass Houghton in his geological 
explorations), as follows : 

" Byron, in the southeast corner of Shiawassee County, 
was the termination of our wagon journey. , The name 
had long occupied a prominent place on all the old maps of 
Michigan, — at that time a decade was antiquity, — and held 
ont to the new- comer the promise of a large and thriving 
village. The reality was disappointing. It possessed, all 
told, but a mill and two houses. At Byron we exchanged 
our wagon for a canoe, and commenced a descent of Shia- 
wassee River. 

" From Byron to Owosso, about twenty miles direct (but 
many more by the course of the stream), our way lay mostly 
through lands more heavily timbered, but varied with open- 
ings and occasional plains. Through this part of the coun- 
try roads had been opened and settlements had made rapid 
progress. . . . Shiawasseetown at this time contained a 
dozen log cabins and as many frames unfinished. One of 
these was of quite a superior construction, and indicative of 
the era of speculation through which the country had passed. 
It was three stories in height and designed for a hotel. The 
whole village was under mortgage and was advertised to be 
sold at public vendue. 

" Corunna, the county-scat, we found to consist of one 
log house, situated on the bank of the river, and occupied 
by a Mr. Davids, who a year before, and soon after the organ- 
ization of the county, had made an entry here. A steam- 
mill wxs in process of erection. About twentv acres of land 
16 



had been cleared and planted, and never did crystal stream 
lave a more fertile soil. 

" Three miles below was ' located' the village of Owosso, 
already a thriving settlement, containing a dozen log build- 
ings, one frame one, and a saw-mill. With the exception of 
a few scattered settlers upon the plains south of the line of 
the present Detroit and Milwaukee Railway, such consti- 
tuted the entire white population of Shiawassee County." 

The real and per.sonal valuation of the several townships 
of the county, at a period ten years later (1847), is given 
below, as showing the progress which had been made in Shi- 
awassee County during that time by settlement and improve- 
ment, viz. : 

Antrim township $31,739 

Burns township 39,234 

Bennington townshijj 33,911 

C.ilcJonia township 51,748 

Middlebury township 18,810 

New Haven township (two survey townships) 27,768.50 

Owosso township (two survey townships) 4fi,59S 

Perry township 32,003 

Sciota township 19,747 

Shiawassee township 4(5,304 

Venice townshiji 20,169 

Vernon township 31,322 

WoodhuU township 20,402 

Total of county $419,755.50 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

ORGANIZATION OP THE COUNTY— COURTS AND 
OTHER MATTERS. 

Shiawassee organized by Act of Legislature — First Election — Subdi- 
vision of the County into Townships— The Board of Supervisors — 
Wolf Record — Kstablishinent of Courts in Shiawassee County and 
their Early Proceedings. 

The organization of the county was effected under au- 
thority of an act of the Legislature, approved March 13, 
1837, which provided " That the county of Shiawassee be, 
and the same is, hereby organized for county purposes ; 
and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to all the rights 
and privileges to which, by law, the inhabitants of other 
counties of this State, organized since the adoption of the 
constitution, are entitled." Under this act a special election 
was held in May, 1837, resulting in the election of Levi 
Rowe as Sheriff, Andrew Parsons as County Clerk, Josiah 
Pierce as Treasurer, James Rutan and Alfred L. Wil- 
liams as Associate Judges, Elias Comstock as Judge of 
Probate, and Daniel Gould as County Surveyor. Sanford 
M. Green was made prosecuting attorney by appointment. 
By this election the organization of Shiawassee County 
was made complete. 

At that time the county embraced the townships of 
Shiawassee, Owosso, Burns, and Vernon, as has already 
been mentioned. The next subdivision was made by an act 
approved March 6, 1838, which erected survey-township 
No. 5 north, of range 3 east, into the township of Antrim 
(its territory being the same then as at present), and sur- 
vey-townships Nos. 5 and 6 north, of range No. 2 east, 
into the township of Bennington, which thus included, 
in addition to its own present territory, that of the town- 
ship of Perry. 



122 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



By act approved April 2, 1838, the township of AVood- 
huU was erected, to eoiiiprise " ail that portion of the 
county of Shiawassee designated by the United States sur- 
vey as townships Nos. 5 and (! north, of range No. 1 east," 
so including the present towns of Woodhull and Sciota. 
By the erection of Woodhull the territory of the old 
township of Shiawassee was diminished to its present size. 

The first reduction of the original area of Owosso town- 
ship was made hy an act (approved March 21, 1839) which 
erected survey-townships Nos. 7 and 8 north, of range 
No. 1 east, into the separate township of Middlebury. 
The same act also took from the territory of Owosso sur- 
vey-township 7 north, of range 4 east (the same which is 
now Venice), and attached it to the township of Vernon. 
On the following day (March 22, 1839) the Governor 
approved an act in which it was provided that " All that 
part of the county of Shiawassee designated by the United 
States survey as township No. 7 north, of range No. 3 
east, which lies east of the west line of sections Nos. 5, 8, 
17, 20, 29, and 31,* in said township, be, and the same 
is, hereby set off and organized into a township by the 
name of Caledonia ; and the first township-meeting shall 
be held at the hou.se of Alexander McArthur in said town- 
ship." 

The reduction of Bennington township to its present size 
was effected by the passage of an act (approved March 15, 
1841) which provided that " all that part of the county of 
Shiawassee designated by the United States survey as town- 
ship No. 5 north, of range No. 2 east, be, and the same is, 
hereby set off and organized as a separate township by the 
name of Perry." The size of this town has remained un- 
changed to the present time. 

New Haven township was erected by act of March 20, 
1841, to comprise survey-townships numbered 8, in ranges 3 
and 4 east. These were taken from Owosso township, and 
are the same which now form the towns of Now Haven 
and Hazelton. 

The township of Sciota was formed by act approved 
Feb. 16, 1842, to include survey-township 6 north, of 
range 1 east. This being taken from the original territory 
of Woodhull reduced the latter township to its present size. 

An act of the Legislature approved March 9, 1843, pro- 
vided that " All that part of the county of Shiawassee desig- 
nated by the United States survey as township No. 7 north, 
of range No. 4 east, formerly belonging to the township of 
Owosso, but now to the township of Vernon, be, and the 
same is, hereby set off and organized as a separate township 
by the name of Venice, and the first township-meeting 
thereof shall be held at the house of Neely Sawtell." This 
was the same territory which, by act of March 21, 1839, 
had been taken from Owosso and attached to Vernon, 
which latter township was consequently reduced to its orig- 
inal and present size by the erection of Vernon, as above 
mentioned. 



* It will be seen that in this erection of Caledonia upon the terri- 
tory of survey-township 7 north, of range 3 east, sections Nos. 6, 7, 18, 
19, and 30 were not included, but remained a part of the township of 
Owosso. By an act approved Feb. 16, 1842, however, these sections 
were taken from Owosso and annexed to Caledonia, thus making its 
limits coextensive with those of the survey-township. 



Hazelton township, embracing town No. 8 north, in 
range 4 east, of the United States survey, was erected by 
act of March 25, 1850. It was taken from New Haven, 
and its erection left the latter township with its present 
boundaries. 

The last township taken from the territory of Owosso 
was that of Rush, which was laid out and organized under 
the provisions of an act approved March 28, 1850. By 
the erection of Rush (comprising survey-township 8 north, 
of range 2 east) the area of Owosso was reduced to a single 
one of the eight survey-townships which it originally em- 
braced. 

The youngest township in the county is that of Fair- 
field, which was erected with its present territory by action 
of the Board of Supervisors on the 4th of January, 1854. 

BOAKD OF SUPERVISORS— COUNTY COMMIS- 
SIONERS. 

The township of Shiawassee, organized on the 23d of 
March, 1836, comprised the entire territory of Shiawas.see 
County, as before noticed. The first township-meeting was 
held at the house of Hosea Baker, who was elected super- 
visor for that year, and represented the township in the 
Board of Supervisors of Genesee County, to which this 
county was attached. The townships entitled to a repre- 
sentation at the time of the organization of the county, in 
1837, were Shiawassee, Owosso, Burns, and Vernon, and 
De Witt and Watertown, of Clinton County, which was 
then attached to, and composed a part of, Shiawassee. 

No record is preserved of a meeting of the board in the 
fall of 1837, but the fact that such meeting was held is 
proved by the action of the board at the session of 
October, 1838, when that body rescinded a resolution 
" passed in October last," in reference to wolf-bounties. At 
that session, which commenced on Tuesday, Oct. 2, 1838, 
at the place known as the Shiawassee Exchange, situated 
on the Shiawassee River, Lemuel Castle was chosen chair- 
man, and Francis J. Prevost clerk pro tern. At the close 
of that meeting the board adjourned to meet the next day 
at the hotel at Shiawasseetown, kept by Lucius W. Beach. 
The supervisors present were Lemuel Castle, of Benning- 
ton ; Elias Comstock, of Owosso ; H. B. Flint, of Antrim ; 
Francis J. Prevost, of Burns ; Thomas Beal, of Shiawas- 
see ; James Rutan, of Vernon; Jonathan Woodhull, of 
Woodhull, Shiawa.ssee Co. ; and Hiram Benedict, of Wan- 
daugou, Calvin Marvin, of Watertown, and Welcome J. 
Partelo, of De Witt, Clinton Co.f The first business was 
the examination of wolf-certificates, and twenty-five of these 
were audited, covering an amount of three hundred and 
seventy-five dollars, without names attached, but designated 
by numbers. 

The townships of Owosso, Burns, Shiawassee, Water- 
town, and the village of Mapleton (the last two in Clinton 
County) had made requests to the supervisors for money 
to build bridges. Afler considerable discussion it was de- 
cided to levy the tax for the erection of the bridges, upon 
the county instead of the several townships. The amount 

f The townships of Bennington and Antrim were organized in 
March, 183S, and Woodhull in April of the same year. Wandaugon 
(now Lebanon), Clinton Co., was organized also in March, 1838. 



ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



123 



to each and the location of the bridges are here given : 
Owosso (at tlie village), three hundred dollars; Burns 
(near John Knaggs), two hundred dollars ; Shiawassee, 
fifty dollars ; De Witt (Looking-Glass River, near Welcome 
J. Partelo), one hundred dollars ; Watertown (Looking- 
Glass River on town line between ranges 3 and 4), one 
hundred dollars; Wandaugon (lleywood Creek on State 
road), one hundred dollars ; Mapleton (on Maple River), 
one hundred dollars. 

The couimittee on equalization of assessment rolls re- 
ported that " the as.sessment appears to be equal." The 
aggregate amount of the several towns was as follows : 

1838. 

Owosso $297,681 Bennington $96,224 

Ue Wilt 297,087 Vernon 66,856 

Burns 66,643 Shiawassee 66,037 

Watertown 194,350 Antrim 64,095 

Woodhull 81,025 Wandaugon 186,028 

It was resolved that the sum of $2076 be levied upon the 
county as a State tax, and the sum of $4924 for county 
purposes. Elias Comstock and James Rutan were appointed 
a committee to apportion the amount upon the several 
towns, which was reported as follows : 





Assessment. 

$290,681.00 

297,087.00 

194,350.00 

66,643.00 

81,025.00 

96,224.00 

60,856.00 

66,037.00 

64,095.00 

186,028.00 


state and 
County Tax. 

§1430.00 
1470.00 
954.20 
323.20 
393.00 
471.90 
322.00 
299.10 
305.20 
915.50 


Town Tax. 

$283.50 
212.50 
217.80 
138.80 
160.00 
128.10 
210.00 
456.90 
142.80 
157.50 


Poor Tax. 


Total Tax. 
$1714.00 


De Witt 

Watertown.... 


$50.00 
30.00 
25.00 
50.00 


1733.00 

1202.00 

487.00 


Woodhull 


603.00 
600.00 






532.00 


.Shiawassee.... 


50.00 


926.00 
448.00 






1073.00 









$1,409,026.00 $6885.10 $2170.90 $205.00 $9318.00 

The board was in session several days, closing on the tyth 
of October. 

By the provisions of a law passed by the Legislature 
in 1838, the powers and duties of the Board of Supervisors 
were transferred to a Board of County Commissioners, to be 
composed of three members. The first election of County 
Commissioners was held early in November. Tlie Board of 
Canvassers met on the 13th of the samemonth, and was 
composed as follows : 

Antrim, Allen Beard. 

Bennington, Ira B. Howard. 

Burns, Francis J. Prevost. 

Owosso, Elias Comstock. 

Shiawassee, Peter Turner. 

Woodhull, Peter Laing. 

De Witt, Ephraim H. Utley. 

Watertown, Charles R. Spicer. 

The canvasser who represented Wandaugon was not 
present, and the canvass proceeded without him. 

The three county commissioners elected were Lemuel 
Castle, Ransom W. Holley, and Ephraim H. Utley. The 
board met and organized on the 20th of November, 1838, 
in Shiawasseetown, at the hotel of Lucius W. Beach. 
Lemuel Castle was cho.sen chairman. 

After organization wolf-cerlificates were audited to the 
amount of §100.84, but little other business was brought 
before them. The board convened at Corunnaon the 8th of 
July, 1839, and on September 23d of the same year at the 



Shiawas.see Exchange ; the latter meeting being held for the 
purpose of adjusting accounts between Clinton and Shia- 
wassee Counties, the former having been organized March 
12, 1839. An agreement giving a balance of $202.91 to 
Shiawassee County was signed by Lemuel Castle, R. W. 
Holley, L. Rowe, Commissioners of Shiawassee County ; 
E. H. Utley, Calvin Marvin, Commissioners of Clinton 
County ; and John Gould, Treasurer of Clinton County. 

On the 7th of October, in the same year, the commis- 
sioners convened at Corunna, and accepted a block of land 
three hundred feet square donated by the County-Seat 
Company, designated on the recorded plat of Corunna as 
the " public square." 

Dec. 31, 1839, a statement of the appropriations for 
1838 and 1839 was made, viz. : 

1838. 

For bridges $1000.00 

Bounties on wolf-scalps 117.50 

E.xpenses of county canvass 86.02 

Sheriff's fees 186.76 

Expenses of criminal prosecutions 52.55 

County clerk's fees 97.37 

Expenses of circuit court 7.75 

Contingent expenses of Clinton and Shiawas- 
see Counties 479.88 

Total $2009.81 

1839. 

For bounties on wolf-scalps $49.00 

Criminal prosecutions 49.91 

Expenses of circuit court 2.3.25 

SheritTs fees 58.13 

Prosecuting attorney's salary 150.00 

County clerk's fees , 127. 3:i 

Contingent expenses of county 212.70 

County building 345.00 

Total $1015.32 

The business of the county was transacted by the com- 
missioners until the oflice was abolished by act of Legisla- 
ture, approved Feb. 10, 1842. The powers which had been 
exercised by the commissioners were then resumed by the 
. supervisors of the county. 

The Board of Supervisors convened at the court-house in 
the village of Corunna on the 4th of July, 1842, when the 
following-named members were present : M. B. Martin, 
David Bush, Jr., Sanford M. Green, Lyman Bennett, Lem- 
uel Castle, R. W. Holley, Andrew Parsou.s, John Palmer, 
Allen Smith, John K. Tyler, John Woodhull, and Hum- 
phrey Wheeler. This was the first meeting held by the 
board under the law of 1842, and from that time to the 
present the supervisors have continued to exercise their 
functions as financial managers of the county. 

"WOLF KECORD. 

An act was passed by the Legislature of the State for the 
destruction of wolves Dec. 28, 1837, and Feb. 9, 1838, 
another act was adopted. The last section, repealing the 
act of the previous December, provided " That every per- 
son, being an inhabitant of this State, as well Indians as 
others, who shall kill a full-grown wolf, or wolf's whelp 
under the age of three months, in any organized township, 
shall be entitled to a bounty of $8 for each full-grown wolf, 
and $4 for each wolf's whelp ;" the person claiming sueh 
bounty to take either the wolf or the head thereof, with the 
ears and skin entire thereon, to a justice of the peace, and 
make oath before him as to the facts and circumstances of 



124 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICniGAN. 



the killing. It was thereupon the duty of the justice, if 
satisfied with the statement, to certify the same and burn 
the ears and scalp of such wolf The certificate, in turn, 
was to be presented, with the affidavit, to a supervisor or 
commissioner within fifteen days, and if by either of them 
found to be correct, it was to be presented to the next 
county board, and if then found all right by that body, the 
bounty was to be allowed and paid out of the county treas- 
ury, one-half of which was to be charged over to and 
paid out of the State treasury. By one provision of the 
act a Board of Supervisors, or of Commissioners, had " au- 
thority to award and allow, at the expense of their respec- 
tive counties, such other and further bounties for the de- 
struction of wolves and jninlhers as they might deem 
proper." This act, approved Feb. 9, 1838, was " to remain 
in force three years and no longer," although the law was 
afterwards extended to Feb. 10, 1844, and the records 
show bounties paid for that purpose several years after that 
time. 

The first business of the Board of Supervisors of the 
county at the session commencing Oct. 2, 1838, was the 
examination of wolf-certificates. An additional bounty of 
$1 appears to have been added to the State bounty, making 
the bounty for wolves $9 and whelps $5, as the first items, 
appended, show : 

" The board then voted to allow a bounty of $9 each on 
five wolves, killed as described in certificate No. 1, §45. 

" Also on three wolves, $9 each, as described in certifi- 
cate No. 2, $27. 

"Also on two wolves, $9 each, as described in certificate 
No. 3, $18. 

" Also on one wolf [whelp], $5, as described in certifi- 
cate No. 4, $5." 

Twenty-five certificates were examined and allowed in the 
same manner as above, embracing a total of twenty six 
wolves and eleven whelps. On the 4th of October, the 
third day of the session, the board rescinded a resolution 
" that was passed in October last," allowing a county 
bounty of $5 for the destruction of wolves. No attention 
seems to have been paid to the action of the Board of Su- 
pervisors of the year previous in the examination of the 
twenty-five certificates, but they evidently considered it of 
sufficient importance to rescind it. At the meeting of the 
county commissioners on the 18th of November (the month 
following). 1838, the State bounty only was allowed. They 
also recorded the names of those to whom bounties were 
granted. Below are given the names of persons, date of cer- 
tificate, and amount of bounty allowed from that time. 

Nov. 20, 1838.— Hiram Stowell,* $8 ; Silas W. Rose, $8. 

Jan. 7, 1839.— Rufus C. Rathbone, $16 ; Enoch Willis, 
$16; George Nichols, $8; Benjamin Morton, $4. The 
last is a further allowance on wolf-certificate No. 21 in the 
twenty-five certificates passed in October, 1838. " 

March 4, 1839. — Morris Cushman, $8 ; Lewis Hart, 
$4.50 (whelps). 

July 17, 1839.— Allen Baird, $5. 

Sept. 20, 1839.— George Campau, $32. 

* Mr. Stowell and several others in the list were residents of Clin- 
ton County, which wus then a part of Shiawassee. 



Nov. 20, 1839.— Rufus C. Rathbone, $44. 

Jan. 10, 1842.— Ezra L. Mason, $10 ; Albert B. Mason, 
$8; William Sladden, $8. 

Feb. 24, 1842.- John F. Swain, $10; Ezra L. Mason, 
$10. 

March 28, 1842.— A. McArthur, $10; Jesse Whitford, 
$8. 

Dec. 21, 1843.— Jacob Esty, $13 ; Ambrose Baker, $13 ; 
Wellman Castle, $26; George W. Slocum, $13; Robert 
G. McKee, $13 ; George Rowell, $13; Jesse Whitford, $13. 

Nov. 12, 1844.— Clark D. Castle, $13; Hiram Haight, 
$16 ; Amasa Rowell, $13 ; George Bibbins, $13 ; Nicholas 
Woolman, $13; Apollos Dewey, $26. 

Jan. 4, 1845.— Joel B. Goss, $6; William Plac'eway, 
$13; Marvin Secord, $13. 

Oct. 16, 1845.— Joel A. Hart, $30; Nathaniel Kimball, 
$15; Apollos Dewey, $15; E. P. Mason, $13; Ambrose 
Baker, $13; Hiram Haight, $13; Rial B. Chase, $15. 

Oct. 15, 1846.— Ezra L. Mason, $45 ; Daniel D. Slo- 
cum, $15. 

Wolf-certificates were granted for several years, the last 
account on the records being Jan. 5, 1869, when Mr. Rush 
presented a claim for a bounty for killing a wolf in favor of 
B. W. Steer, and moved that the same be allowed. The 
certificate, however, was referred back to claimant for fur- 
ther proof, and as it is not again brought up it is fair to 
presume it was not again presented. 

ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS IN SHIAWASSEE 
COUNTY. 

By the act under which Shiawa.ssee County was organ- 
ized it was provided that " The Circuit Court of the county 
of Shiawassee shall be held at the county-seat if practica- 
ble, and if not, at such other place as the sheriif of said 
county shall provide until county buildings shall be erected. 

" The county of Shiawassee shall belong to the second 
judicial circuit, and the terms of the Circuit Court shall 
commence on the first Monday of June and December in 
each year." 

The first term of the Circuit Court"!" of Shiawassee 
County was, in accordance with the provisions of the above 
act, held at the office of the county clerk on the 4th day of 
December, 1837. There were present the Hon. Alfred L. 
Williams and the Hon. James Rutan, associate judges. 
No circuit judge was present. Levi Rowe was appointed 
crier for the term. The sheriff was ordered to appoint 
four constables to attend during the term, and he appointed 
Noah Bovier and Ma.son Phelps (only two), and they and 
Aaron Swain, the under-sheriff, were ordered to attend. 

Application was then made by Saoford M. Green (now 
circuit judge of the eighteenth judicial circuit) to be ad- 
mitted as an attorney and counselor-at-law. After exam- 
ination he was admitted. There being no prosecuting 
attorney in the county, the court appointed Mr. Green to 
act in that capacity for the term. The following are the 
names of the grand jurors in attendance at that term : 
Daniel Ball, Daniel Gould, Horace Hart, Robert Crawford, 

f This sketch of the Circuit Court of Shiawassee County is fur- 
nished by the Hon. Josiah Turner, judge of the seventh judicial 
circuit. 



FIRST COURTS. 



125 



Tliouias P. Green, Elisha Brewster, Stephen Post, Samuel 
Brown, M. Bradley Martin, Ira B. Howard, Ephraim 
Wright, Cornelius W. Miller, James Van Aukin, Joseph 
Parmeter, Josiah Pierce, John Smedley, Samuel W. Hard- 
ing, and S. N. Whitcomb. Daniel Ball was appointed 
foreman. A few of these gentlemen are still living in the 
county, honored and respected by all, but the large majority 
of them are believed to be dead. The grand jury found 
one indictment, charging a man with perjury, and they were 
then discharged. 

The records show the following entry : " John Knaggs 
vs. Phillis, his wife. On motion of Sanford M. Green, 
counsel for said Knaggs, the court ordered that said Knaggs 
have leave to present a petition for a divorce from Phillis, 
his said wife, at the next term of the court ; and that said 
Knaggs shall cause a written notice to be served upon his 
said wife at least thirty days before the said term of the 
court of his intention to present such petition and of the 
hearing thereof." 

This was the first proceeding in the county to obtain a 
divorce, and it would be a novel way to get a party into 
court at this day. 

The court adjourned on the second day of its session. 

The next term of the court was held on the 4th day of 
June, 1838, by Hon. James Rutan, one of the associate 
judges. The grand jury were impannelled, but soon re- 
ported to the court that they had no business before them, 
and the court at once adjourned without day, no other 
business having been trainsacted. 

The next term commenced on the 25th day of Novem- 
ber, 1838, and was held by the associate judge, the circuit 
judge not being present. 

The first petit jury ever summoned in the county was 
present at this terra, and their names were as follows : 
Harvey Harmon, David T. Tyler, Stephen Post, Samuel 
W. Harding, Francis F. Mann, John Smedley, William P. 
Laing, George Harrington, John B. Clark, Icliabod Knee- 
land, Eli Sliattuck, Calvin Sweet, Rufus Collier, Nicholas 
P. Harder, Samuel N. Whitcomb, Samuel Millard, and 
Ephraim Wright, very few of whom are now living. The 
grand jury at thi.s term found five bills of indictment, but 
no further business was transacted. The next term of the 
court was held on the 7th day of May, 1839, when the 
Hon. Charles W. Whipple,* circuit judge, and Hon. James 
Rutan, as.sociate judge, presided. This was the first term 
in the county at which a circuit judge was present. At 
this term George W. Wisner and Alfred H. Hanscomb 
were admitted to the bar, and were for many years there- 
after distinguished lawyers at Pontiac. Both are now 
dead. The first trial ever had in this court was at this 
term. It was a criminal case, and the jury did not agree. 

At the May term, 1810, the case of Robert Crawford vs. 
Liberty Lyman was tried by a jury, and a verdict was ren- 

* Judge Whipple was born in New York, and removed with his 
father to Detroit when a boy. lie was educated at West Point. He 
was several times elected to the State Legislature, and in lS;iC and 
1837 was speaker of the House of Kopresentativos. In 1838 he was 
ai)pointed a justice of the Supreme Court, which office ho held for 
many years. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 
1860. He was a man of great dignity and an eminent jurist. Ue 
died Oct. 2i, 1836 



dered for the plaintiif for $17.55 damages, being the first 
civil case ever tried in this court. At this term the late Gov- 
ernor Moses Wisner made application for admission to the 
bar, and the court appointed as examining committee Wil- 
liam L. Mosely, Edward H. Thomson, and Artemas Thayer, 
and after examination Mr. Wisner was admitted. 

On the 3d day of Jlay, 1843, a term was held, at which 
the Hon. George Morrell, then chief justice of the Su- 
preme Court, presided. 

The next circuit judge of the county was the Hon. Ed- 
ward Mundy, who held his first term commencing on the 
2d day of August, 1848, and his last term was held in 
June, 1850. 

Judge IMundy was among the earlier emigrants to the 
Territory of Michigan. He was the first Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor of the State, under the first State constitution, in 
1835 and 1830, and again held the same office from 1837 
to 1840. In 1847 he was appointed attorney-general, 
which office he held until 1848, when he was appointed a 
justice of the Supreme Court, and from 1844 to 1848 he 
was a regent of the State University. He died in 1851. 

The next circuit judge of the county was the Hon. 
Sanford M. Green, who held his first term in the county in 
May, 1852, and continued to so preside until May, 1857, 
when he was succeeded by Judge Josiah Turner, the pres- 
ent incumbent. 

Judge Green was born May 30, 1807, in Grafton, N. Y., 
and was admitted to the bar in New York in 1832; re- 
moved to Michigan in 1837 and settled in Owosso ; elected 
to the State Senate in 1842 ; appointed commissioner to 
revise the statutes in 1844, and reported to the Legi.slature 
of 1846 ; elected to the Senate again in the fall of 1845, 
and served two years ; was appointed judge of the Supreme 
Court by Governor Ransom in 1848, and held that office 
until May, 1857, and was chief justice two years of that 
time. From Jan. 1, 1858, to April, 18G7, and from June, 
1872. to the present time he has held the office of circuit 
judge, — now of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit. 

PROBATE COURT. 

The first session of this court of which any record is ex- 
tant was held at the village of Owosso, Feb. 13, 183S, Eiias 
Comstock, probate judge, presiding. The first proceedings 
wore " in the matter of the estate of Samuel Carpenter, 
deceased." Application was made by Alvin S. McDowell 
for letters of administration upon the above estate, which 
were granted upon giving bond in the sum of two thousand 
five hundred dollars, the bond being signed by A. S. Mc- 
Dowell, William Phelps, and John lluuciman. John Hill, 
Jordan Holcomb, and Aaron Hutchins were appointed ap- 
praisers of the property, with orders to report on the lOlh 
of March, 1838. 

On the same day application was made by Isaac Thomp- 
son, of Ionia County, for letters of administration on the 
estate of Daniel Barker, of the county of Clinton. Bond 
was given in the sum of three thousand dollars, and signed 
by Isaac Thompson, Frederick Hall, and Joseph Letanker. 
The appraisers were Nathan Benjamin, Thaddeus O. War- 
ren, and Silas Cripj)en. The first will (that of Orrin Perry) 
was offered for probate on the 12th of June, 1838, bearing 



126 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



date April 30th of the same year. Elizabeth Perry was 
appointed executrix, and Washington Z. Blanchard and 
Horace B. Flint executors. Letters were issued April 25, 
1839, to Kalph Williams as guardian of Violetta Car- 
penter, a minor under the age of fourteen years and a 
daughter of Samuel Carpenter. Lewis Lindley was ap- 
pointed, April 1, 1839, guardian of Lucinda Phidelia Be- 
dell, a minor, daughter of Kilburn Bedell. The will of 
Moses Kimball, one of the proprietors of the Shiawa.ssee 
Company, was presented for probate. It was dated Nor- 
wich, Huron Co., Oiiio, Sept. 18, 1837, and recorded in 
the county of Shiawassee in 1838, as part of the property 
mentioned in the will was in this county. 

Judge Comstock served as probate judge until 1841, 
when he was succeeded by Ira B. Howard, whose first busi- 
ness was the division of the estate of Samuel Carpenter. 

COUNTY COURT. 

The county courts which had existed in Michigan prior 
to April, 1833, were abolished by law at that time, but 
were re established by an act of the Legislature in 1846. 
Lender the law last named the first session of the county 
court of Shiawassee was held at Corunna on the 5th of 
April, 1847, Judge Ilobert R: Thompson presiding. 
During the continuance of the county court Judge Thomp- 
son presided until June 3, 1851, from which time A. B. 
Cliipman, the Second Judge, presided till the end of the 
year, when, by a limitation embodied in the con.stitution of 
1850, the county courts ceased to exist, and their business 
was transferred to the circuit courts. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

COUNTY-SITES AND COUNTY PBOPEKTY. 

Establishment and Yacatiou of the County -Site at Byron — Location 
of the Seat of Justice at Corunna — Erection of Court-House and 
Jail — Fire-Proof Offices — Poor-House and Poor-Farm. 

On the 4th of August, 1824, the Governor of Michigan 
Territory approved an act providing for the appointment 
of commissioners to locate the seat of justice of Shiawassee 
County. Under this act James McCioskey, Frederick A. 
Sprague, and William Meldrum were appointed such com- 
missioners, and were instructed to report their action to the 
Legislative Council at its next session. They proceeded to 
perform the duty assigned them, and duly made report to 
the council, in accordance with their instructions, that they 
had selected the village of Byron, and had there established 
the county site. Shiawassee County then embraced, in ad- 
dition to its pro.sont territory, eight townships that now 
belong to Genesee County, eight townships that are now 
included in Livingston, and four townships of the present 
territory of Ingham County, — in all twenty townships, 
forming a belt two townships wide, along and outside of 
the entire south and cast border of this county as it now 
stands. So the county-site determined on by the commis- 
sioners was then near the territorial centre of the county ; 
but, in addition to the fact of its geographical position, it 
was said that the influence of Judge Samuel W. Dexter, of 



Washtenaw County, was potent in securing the selection of 
that site, which was probably the fact ; for it is certain that 
he was then the proprietor of a largo amount of land at 
that place, that the site was established on a part of his 
tract, and that the expenses of location were paid by him 
from his private means. It is proper to mention, however, 
that this payment by him was in conformity with the pro- 
visions of the law directing the appointment of the com- 
missioners, which required that they should receive their 
compensation (two dollars per day for time necessarily 
employed) from the proprietor of the land on which they 
should decide to locate the county-site. 

But the erection of Ingham County in 1829, of Living- 
ston in 1833, and of Genesee in 1835, reduced Shiawassee 
to its present limits, leaving Byron, the county-site, within 
one mile of its eastern, and within two and a half miles of 
its southern boundary, making apparent the necessity for 
the selection of a new seat of justice nearer the centre 
of the reduced territory of the county. This caused the 
passage by the Legislature of " An act to vacate the seat 
of justice of Shiawassee County" (approved February 26, 
1836), embodying the following preamble and provisions, 
viz. : 

" Whereas, the county of Shiawassee has been so divided 
since the seat of justice was established therein as to leave 
the same in the southeast corner of said county and within 
one mile of the east line thereof; and whereas no public 
buildings or improvements have as yet been erected or made 
at said seat of justice; therefore, 

" Section 1 . Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of 
Representatives of the State of Michigan, that the seat of 
justice for the county of Shiawassee as now established be 
and the same is hereby vacated, any law to the contrary 
notwitlistanding." 

The county-site being thus vacated, the Governor (under 
a law then in force authorizing him to appoint commissioners 
to establish county-sites in counties having none) appointed 
John Greenfield and Col. Garry Spencer, of Detroit, and 
Samuel Axford. of Macomb County, as commissioners to 
locate a county-site for Shiawassee. This appointment was 
made on the 12th of March. 1836, and on the 1st of April 
of the same year the commissioners' report was filed locating 
the county-site on the west half of the northeast quarter 
of section 28, in township 7 north, of range 3 east, — the 
present site of Corunna. Proclamation was issued by the 
Governor confirming the location on the 1st of July, 1836. 

The commissioners while examining the different loca- 
tions made their headquarters at the Exchange (the Williams 
trading-post). They were accompanied by the Hon. Jacob 
M. Howard, B. 0. Williams, and others. Three days were 
spent in examining the difierent locations, visiting the Big 
Rapids (Owosso) and other points, and after consultation, 
decided upon the present site. The organizing act provided 
that the courts should be held in such place as the sheriflf 
of the county should select, and the first court was held at 
the place known as the Shiawassee Exchange, in the school- 
house, on the 4th day of December, 1837. The October 
term of 1838 was held at the house of Lucius W. Beach, 
at Shiawa.sseetown, and adjournment was made to November 
of the same year, at the " Exchange." For some reason not 



COUNTY-SITES AND COUNTY PROrERTY. 



127 



given in the records, this court was hold at Owosso on the 
date mentioned, at rooms over the store of GouUl, Fish & 
Co , on the southwest corner of Washington and Exchange 
Streets. 

Section G of act No. 62, approved March 25, 1840, pro- 
vides that " the Circuit Court shall be held at Shiawassee- 
town in said county." An act supplementary to this (ap- 
proved April 1st, five days later), provides that the act passed 
March 25, 1840, " shall in no wise affect or alter tlie loca- 
tion of the county-site of said county, nor shall the same 
bo construed as vacating or changing the same, but shall 
be considered only as authorizing the courts for said county 
to be held in the village of Shiawasseetown, until the pro- 
prietors of the present county-site, or the county commis- 
sioners of said county, shall furnish a suitable building at 
said county-site for the accommodation of said courts, to 
be approved by the county commissioners or a majority of 
them." 

On the 7th of October, 1839, the Board of Commis.sion- 
crs unanimously agreed to accept of a block of land three 
hundred feet square in the village of Corunna, designated 
on the recorded plat of that village as the " Public Square," 
which was offered by the County-Seat Company as a dona- 
tion to the county of Shiawassee. A contract was made 
by Stephen Hawkins with the Board of Commissioners for 
the erection and completion of a building on the public 
square for county offices. The sum to be paid for buildings 
was ^382.50. The office building was about twenty by 
thirty feet in size, situated near the northwest corner of the 
square, and built of wood. It was moved across the street 
in 1846, and is now used as a market. In the latter part 
of 1839 a building belonging to the County-Seat Company 
was rented by the county commissioners for their sessions, 
and for purposes of holding court. In April of the next 
year the following letter was sent to the commissioners : 

" CouiNXA, April 17, ISiO. 

" To THE Hon. County Commissioners : 

" Gentlemen, — The proprietors of the county-seat of Shia- 
wassee County do hereby tender to the said commissioners, 
ibr the use of the county, the building heretofore used by 
the county commissioners for county purposes, and which 
was engaged by them for the purpose of holding the Cir- 
cuit Court for said county. 

"The said building is thirty-six feet in length and twenty 
feet in width, and will be furnished by the said proprietors, 
fitted up with convenient and comfortable seats and a 
proper desk for the judges. It is now lathed and plastered, 
and fires will be kept up in said building during the session 
of the court. 

" The house now occupied by Alexander McArthur will 
be occupied during the season of the ensuing term of the 
Circuit Court as a tavern, and extensive accommodations and 
supplies will be provided, sufiicicnt for all the persons who 
may be in attendance on said court. Stables accommodat- 
ing upward of fifty horses will be prepared, and an abund- 
ance of provender is already provided. All of which is 
respectfully submitted. 

(Signed) " A. McArtuur, 

"Agent for the proprietors of the present county- 
seat of Shiawassee County." 



The building spoken of in the above letter was situated 
on the corner of Frascr Street and Shiawassee Avenue, 
where Preston & Wheeler's store now stands. The sura 
paid by the commissioners for the use of the room for the 
courts was 830 per annum. The house was a wooden 
building, situated on the east side of Shiawassee Avenue, 
and occupied the site where now stands the drug-store of Kil- 
burn & Shattuck. It was destroyed by fire several years later. 

At a meeting of the county commissioners on the 24th 
of February, 1842, the subject of raising money for the 
erection of a court-hou.se and jail was brought up and dis- 
cussed. It was decided to present the question to the peo- 
ple at the next annual town-meeting, which was done, and 
the proposition to loan the sum of $4000 for that purpose 
was defeated. 

On the 4th of July, 1842, the Board of Supervisors met 
and resumed the functions which had for three years previ- 
ously been vested in the county commissioners. After organ- 
ization a committee was appointed to examine the title of 
the county to the parcel of land donated to the county, and 
known and designated as the " Public Square." 

Mr. Castle, one of the committee, reported an abstract of 
title, and stated that he saw no evidence of fraud and con- 
sidered the title good, but did not concur with the opinions 
expressed by Sanford M. Green, Esq. Mr. Green pr^ented 
the following report as containing his individual opinions 
and views in relation to such title, though drawn up in 
form as the report of the committee : 

" To THE Board of Supervisors of tue County 
OP Shiawassee : 

" The committee appointed by this Board at its last ses- 
sion to examine the title of this county to a tract or parcel 
of land described as the ' Public Square,' in the village of 
Corunna, respectfully submit the following report : That we 
have performed the duty imposed upon us by a careful 
examination of the records in the office of the register of 
deeds of said county relating to said parcel of land, assisted 
by the register of deeds and by A. McArthur, Esq., who 
was present with us at the examination of the records, and 
gave us all the explanation and information in relation to 
said title which the nature of the case seemed to require or 
admit of, and we herewith submit a brief abstract of said 
title as it appears of record. 

" In tracing the title by the description contained in the 
deed presented by the board at its July session, the first in- 
quiry that seemed to arise was, Where is the village of Co- 
runna, in which the ' Public Square' in question is located ? 
For the purpose of ascertaining this part we very naturally 
applied ourselves to the recorded map or plat of said village, 
from which we had a right to suppose we should be able to 
learn the precise location. On an examination of the map, 
however, wc find no description of the section, township, or 
range in which it is located, nor any description of the 
' Public Square' by its boundaries, cours&s, and extent, 
nor any designation of the uses or purposes to which it is 
devoted, excepting what appears from the indorsement on 
the face of the square itself; and this designation being gen- 
eral, without limitation, if it amounts to anything, sets apart 
and devotes said square to the general use of the public, 



128 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



and we find that the public, as defined by Mr. Walker and 
othcr.s, moans ' the general body of a nation ;' and this defi- 
nition we believe to be in accordance with the common and 
correct use and application of the term when used without 
limitation, as in this case. Hence it would seem to follow as a 
necessary consequence that, if this map amounts to anything 
in legal contemplation, it vests in the County of Shiawassee 
the fee of this parcel of land in trust to and for the general 
and common uses and purposes of the great body of the 
people of this great nation, and for no other use or purpose 
whatever. This map appears to have been indorsed upon 
the face of it with the names of three individuals as trus- 
tees, but of whom, or of what, does not appear by that map, 
nor are their names either placed at the bottom of the 
map, after the manner of a signature, or attached to or 
connected with any statement in relation to the said map. 
In order to pursue the e.^aminatioii of the title, it became ' 
necessary that we should seek information of the where- 
abouts of the town of Corunna out of the records. Accord- 
ingly, we inquired of Mr. McArthur, and were verbally in- 
formed by him that Corunna was located upon the west 
half of the northeast quarter of section 28, town 7 north, 
range 3 east, and that Col. Andrew Mack was the original 
purchaser of said lot from the United States ; and upon the 
examijiation of a schedule in the register's office, it appears 
that said lot was purchased by him, but we find no patent 
to him from the United States for this land, of record. The 
first deed of the lot upon the record is a deed from Col. 
Mack and wife to A. McArthur of an individual fourth 
part of it. 

" The rest is a trust-deed executed by Messrs, Mack and 
McArthur and their wives to Chauncey Hurlbut, A. D. 
Eraser, and John Norton, Jr., purporting to vest in them 
the legal estate, but no interest in the fee of the land, in 
trust for the benefit of a company or copartnership firm 
styled the Shiawassee County-Seat Company, under certain 
articles of association which are recorded with said trust- 
deed. These trustees were vested with power to make con- 
veyances upon the requisition of the directors of the com- 
pany, which requisitions are not required to be recorded; 
and in ease either or all of said trustees should resign, or ne- 
glect or refuse to act conformably to the requirements of 
the directors of this private company, their trusteeship and 
all powers vested in them by the deed of trust was ab.so- 
lutely to cease and be at an end, without any record 
thereof, or any declaration to that effect by the directors. 
They were also to exercise their powers subject to and in 
conformity with the original articles of association, and such 
alterations or amendments as might at any time be made 
thereto in the manner therein specified ; none of which al- 
terations or amendments are required to be made a matter 
of record. The directors of said company are also subject to 
change by election, resignation, etc., so that there is not re- 
quired to be any record evidence of any change that may 
hereafter take place in the trusteeship, directory, or funda- 
mental organization and constitution of the company itself. 

"It appears, also, that while trustees are thus appointed 
for the benefit of the individuals composing this company, 
and a legal title is vested in the trustees to their use, yet by 
the articles of a.ssoeiation the individuals of said company 



are expressly declared to have'no interest in the lands so 
conveyed in trust, but the scrip, by the ownership of which 
they became members of the association, is declared to be 
personal property, and is transferable from hand to hand, 
like negotiable paper. The trust-deed covers other lands 
than these upon which the village is said to be located, and 
provision is made for the purchase of more to be contracted 
in the same manner, and the trustees are authorized to lay 
out a town upon the lands referred to in the deed without 
specifying on what part or parcel of the same. 

" From the foregoing statement it appears perfectly obvi- 
ous that within a few days or weeks after the execution of 
the trust-deed the powers of the trustees may have ceased. 
The directors of the company may have resigned, and the 
character of the association may have been entirely changed, 
while the records cannot afford us any light or evidence in 
regard to it. Subsequent to the recording of the map, wc 
find a quit-claim deed to the county, executed by an indi- 
vidual as trustee, purporting to convey the interest of such 
individual as trustee to the county commissioners for the 
uses of the county, covering the ' Public Square.' But 
whether the grantor was the trustee of the proprietors or of 
the company, or had any power to make such deed at the 
time it was executed, we have no means of knowing. The 
deed' now tendered to the Board of Supervisors purports to 
be executed by the trustees of the Shiawassee County-Seat 
Company, but the same difficulties are found in this deed 
that attached to the former deed, — the warrants, being made 
in behalf of men who have no interest in the land, and who 
have no title of record, and are constantly changing, can be 
of no value. Moreover, we cannot see what right any indi- 
vidual can have to convey this ' Public Square,' as trustees 
or otherwise, after it has once been devoted by the record- 
ing of the map to the whole body of the people at large 
without any designation of its particular uses. It is proper 
to observe that there are papers placed upon the records 
purporting to detail some of the proceedings of this com- 
pany and its directors, etc., but they are not placed there 
pursuant to any provisions of the articles of association, 
nor in virtue of any legal or judicial sanction, and cannot, 
therefore, be any evidence to us of the facts they purport to 
detail. Some of them are neither fully acknowledged nor 
properly witnessed, and we are unable to understand by 
what authority they are made an incumbrance upon the 
records of this county, especially of our records of deeds. 

"No one, we think, can fail to have perceived in the de- 
tails of these transactions that a wide door has been opened 
for the practice of stupendous frauds without leaving any 
trace of them upon the records. That such frauds have 
been practiced by this company we do not undertake to say 
nor to intimate ; but that an association could be got up in 
a manner more peculiarly calculated to admit of the com- 
mission of ruinous frauds upon the community, were they 
inclined to do so, with a strong probability of escaping the 
just consequences, we cannot well imagine. When the 
title to land is involved, and such land may bear but a very 
small value compared with the improvements that may be 
made on it, wo think the record ought to show the title 
perfect, and that the honesty and integrity of no man or 
set of men, whatever their reputation may be, ought ever to 



COUNTY-SITES AND COUNTY PROPERTY. 



129 



be trusted, nor do we think that any honest man ought 
ever to exact it." 

It does not appear, however, that any action was taiccn, 
either then or afterwards, as a result of this opinion of 
Mr. Greeu. 

On the -Ith of January, 18-17, rooms were rented of E. 
J. Van Buren for three years, at thirty dollars per year, 
for county ofEces. These were in a building north of the 
Bacon block. In April of the same year the board ordered 
the Judge of Probate to hold his courts in the oflBce of the 
Register of Deeds. In the month of April, 1850, the 
Board of Supervisors resolved " that it is expedient at this 
time to take the necessary steps for the erection of a court- 
house at the present county-site of our county." A com- 
mittee was appointed, consisting of Supervisors Parsons, 
HoUey, Harder, and Cummins. A report was submitted 
the next day, substantially as follows : A building was to 
be erected, forty by sixty feet in dimensions, two stories 
high ; the upper part to be a court-room and two jury- 
rooms ; the lower part to be divided in the centre length- 
wise by a hall eight feet wide ; the sides to be divided into 
six rooms, two of which are to be fitted up for a jail, the 
others for accommodation, of county oflficers and a grand- 
jury room. The walls to be brick, the lower story sixteen 
inches thick, upper wall twelve inches thick. The com- 
mittee expressed the opinion that the building could be 
erected for four thousand five hundred dollars. Resolutions 
were offered and adopted arranging for raising the amount 
necessary and for the erection of a court-house. 11. W. 
Holley, L. H. Parsons, and Z. Bunce were appointed a 
building committee and authorized to receive plans, adver- 
tise for proposals, make contracts, and superintend the erec- 
tion of the court-house. The contract was let to George 
O. Bachman, to be completed on the 1st of November, 
1851. The Board of Supervisors, at the January session 
in 1852, adopted a resolution " that the chairman of the 
Board notify the present owners of the court-house here- 
tofore occupied by the county that they have no further 
use for the same." Tiiis building was purchased soon after 
by the Baptist Church, and occupied by them as a house of 
worship. It is now removed a little south of its former 
location, on the corner of Fraser and Woodworth Streets, 
and is used as a parsonage by the society. The present 
court-house was placed in charge of the sheriff' on the 6th 
of January, 1851, and the next day the building com- 
mittee was discharged. 

The first official action taken in reference to the erection 
of a fire-proof office building for the county was the intro- 
duction in the Board of Supervisors of the following pre- 
amble and resolution, July 9, 18G5, viz. : 

" Whereas, The county ofiices now occupied by the 
County Register and Treasurer are too small and inconve- 
nient for said offices, and also unsafe fur the records of said 
offices, it is desirable and proper that suitable offices be 
erected, detached from the court-house ; therefore 

" liesoloed, That the building committee be and is hereby 
instructed to cause the erection of two fire-proof offices for 
said offices in the court-house yard, south of the court- 
17 



house, at such point as the committee may designate. And 
it shall be the duty of said committee to procure a suitable 
design for said offices, and let the contract for the building 
of the same as they may deem for the best interests of the 
county. That, for the purpose of accomplishing the above 
object, said committee are hereby authorized and empow- 
ered to borrow, not to exceed three thousand dollars, pay- 
able in not less than two or over five years from date, and 
to issue bonds of the county for the same, said bonds to be 
countersigned by the clerk and sealed with the seal of the 
office." 

The resolution was adopted on the next day. The build- 
ing was erected in the court-house yard, south of the court- 
house, and is the same which is now occupied by the 
Register of Deeds and the Treasurer. The office of the 
county clerk is in the second story of the court-house. 
The Judge of Probate occupies an office in the lower story. 

POOR-HOUSE AND POOR-FARM. 

The first action of the Board of Commissioners in refer- 
ence to the county poor was taken on January 9th, 1839, 
when Sanford M. Green, Isaac Castle, and Hiram Stowell 
were appointed to take charge of the poor of the county, 
their terms of office commencing January 7th of that year. 
Nothing further appears of record until Dec. 24, 1811, 
when the distinction between town and county poor was 
abolished, and the poor became a county charge. The sum 
of two hundred dollars was appropriated from the incidental 
fund for their support. On the 21th of February, 1812, 
the superintendents of the poor were authorized and directed 
by the Board of Commissioners to purchase a farm, not to 
exceed one hundred and sixty acres of land, to be used as a 
poor-farm, " and to make such improvements, by the erection 
of buildings upon the farm, as the necessity of the case may 
warrant." No action having been taken by the superintend- 
ents during the spring, the board, at a meeting July 6th 
of that year, suspended the resolution relating to the pur-^ 
chase of a poor-farm until further action. On the 21st of 
December, 1843, a committee previously appointed to con- 
fer as to the best methods of supporting the poor of the 
county submitted the following report, which was adopted : 

" The committee to whom was referred the matter of sup- 
porting the poor in this county report that it appears, by 
the superintendents of the poor, the amount expended for 
their support for the last year is three hundred and fifteen 
dollars. Your committee are of the opinion that at present 
no means can be provided which will enable the county to 
support the paupers therein with less expense than they 
have been supported for the last j'ear. Considering the num- 
ber of paupers who have had assistance from the county, 
it shall be divided into districts so as to accommodate the 
paupers in procuring physicians employed in each district 
by the year or otherwise, as the superintendents shall think 
proper. The plan of dividing tlie county into districts 
your committee recommend, as follows : Burns, Vernon, 
Antrim, and Shiawassee, 1st District; Caledonia, Venice, 
and New Haven, 2d District ; Owosso, Bennington, Sciota, 
and Middlebury, 3d District ; Perry and Woodhull, 4th 
District." At this meeting three hundred dollars was ap- 
propriated for the use of the poor. There is no further 



130 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



record of importance until Jan. 21, 1846, when seven hun- 
dred and seventy dollars was appropriated for the same 
purpose. 

On the 7th of January, 1847, the superintendents of the 
poor were directed hy the supervisors to purchase a farm, 
not to exceed one hundred and sixty acres of land, and to 
erect suitable buildings thereon, for which purpose the sum 
of two thousand dollars was to be raised by tax, one-quarter 
of the amount in 1848, one-quarter in 1849, and the bal- 
ance in 1850. On the 13th of October, 1847, eighty acres 
of land (the south half of the southwest quarter of section 
32, Caledonia) was purchased for a county farm. 

At the October session of the next year it was resolved 
to raise a county tax of two thousand seven hundred and 
eighty-seven dollars and seventy cents (including five hun- 
dred dollars appropriatedj for the purchasing and fitting up 
of the poor-farm. 

At the June ses.sion of the supervisors, in 1858, the 
committee on public buildings reported the dwelling on 
the poor-farm as being in a very unsuitable condition for 
the accommodation of the poor. After careful examina- 
tion, fifteen hundred dollars was appropriated for the erec- 
tion of buildings convenient for the purpose. These build- 
ings — completed iu January, 1859 — are the same which are 
Still in use. 

By the last report of the superintendents of the poor 
(for the year ending Sept. 1, 1879) it is shown that the 
expenses on the farm for that year were $2060.39 ; that 
there was expended for support of insane persons at Detroit, 
Pontiac, and Kalamazoo, $1854.62 ; that the value of pro- 
ducts raised on the farm was $1059.97 (estimated) ; that 
the number of persons receiving support at the county- 
house was 32. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE PBESS-THE PKOFESSIOMS— CIVIL LIST. 

Newspapers in the County — The Lcgul Profession — Early Lawyers — 
The Vresent Bar of Shiawassee — The Medical Profession — Early 
Physicians — Shiawassee County Meilical Association — Homoeo- 
pathy — Shiawassee Civil List. 

The result of much patient inijuiry and research is 
the disclosure of the fact that there is probably no person 
now living in Shiawassee County who is able to give with 
anything like certainty the date of the establishment of 
the j)ioneer new.spaper of the county, or its early changes 
of proprietorship. It has, however, been ascertained be- 
yond reasonable doubt that the first public journal in Shia- 
wassee was published at Owosso by I<]dward L. Ament ; 
that this journal was in existence iu the early part of the 
year 1839, and that its name was the Shiawassee Express 
and Clinton Advocate, having a circulation in both Shia- 
wassee and Clinton, — the latter county being at that time 
still attached to and a part of the former. 

The Owosso Arffus was also established by E. L. Ament, 
in 1841. Dr. C. P. Parkill, of Owosso, who was in early 
life a printer by trade, recollects that in that year he 
worked on the Aiyns in Owosso, and that Mr. Ament 



was then its proprietor. A proof of the existence at 
that time of both the papers above mentioned is found 
in the record of the Board of Supervisors, under date of 
June 22, 1841, at which time it was by the board "Re- 
solved that the foregoing preamble be published in the 
Owosso Argus, and Shiawassee Express and Clinton Advo- 
cate." But on the other hand, a copy of the Otvosso Argus, 
dated Sept. 20, 1848, and which has been examined by the 
writer, bears the number 47, of Volume V., which would 
place the first issue of the paper at about Nov. 1, 1843. 
Yet it is proved to have been in existence at least two years 
before that time, both by the testimony of Dr. Parkill and 
by the record of the supervisors. This being the case, 
the facts only are given as above, without any attempt to 
account for the apparent contradiction. Nor can anything 
further be stated as to the continuance of the Shiatvassce 
Express and Clinton Avocate after the date at which it is 
found mentioned in the record above referred to. 

The Argus, however, continued to be published at Owosso 
by Mr. Ament until his death in December, 1847, when it 
was published by Ephraim H. Gould, who was a son of 
Daniel Gould, of Owosso, and who had previously been a 
compositor on the paper under the proprietorship of Mr. 
Ament. In the summer of 1S4S, Mr. Gould was suc- 
ceed'ed as publisher of the Argus by M. H. Clark, who 
changed the name of the paper to that of Owosso Argus 
and Shiawassee Democrat. In the latter part of the year 
1849, he removed the paper to Corunna, and continued to 
publish it there as the Shiawassee Democrat, until 1856, 
when he removed to Omaha, Neb. 

The Owosso American was commenced in the summer of 
1854 by C. C. & 0. R. Goodell, the office of publication 
being in the south part of the National Hotel at Owosso. 
In the following year the paper was sold to Charles E. Shat- 
tuck, who remained its proprietor until the winter of 1856- 
57, when it passed into the possession of Ephraim H. 
Gould, from whom in 1858 it was purchased by John N. 
Ingersoll, who changed its name to that of Owosso Amer- 
ican and Peninsular State Times, and continued its pub- 
lication under that title at Owosso till May, 1862, when 
Mr. Ingersoll removed it to Corunna, and having merged 
in it the Corunna Democrat, which he had purchased a 
short time before, changed its name to that of the Shia- 
wassee American, under which name it is still published. 
Afler its removal to Corunna it was increased in size from 
a seven-column to a nine-column folio. Mr. Ingersoll con- 
tinued to be its sole proprietor until May 26, 1880, when 
Mr. George W. Owen, the publisher of the Shiawassee 
Republican, merged his paper iu the American, and became 
a partner with Mr. Ingersoll in the publication of the latter. 
The American is Republican in its politics. 

The Owosso Press (a six-column folio) was commenced 
in 1862 by Hanchett & Lyon, its first number being issued 
on the 20th of September of that year. It was purchased 
on the 9th of September, 1863, by Green & Lee, who in- 
creased its size to an eight-column folio, and published it 
until Jan. 1, 1867, when it was purchased by J. H. Cham- 
pion & Co., who are still its proprietors and i)ublishers. 
The paper is Democratic in politics. Since January, 1871, 
its office of publication has been in a brick block owned 



THE PROFESSIONS. 



131 



by Champion & Co., and situated on Wasliin^ton Street, 
Owosso. 

The Owosso Crusader, an eight-column folio, was started 
by Abner B. Wood at Owosso in 1870. It was published 
by Mr. Wood till 1873, when it was sold to Charles L. 
Fuller, who in 1875 removed it to Gaylord, Otsego Co., 
Mich., where it is still in existence as the Otsego County 
lleruhl. 

The N'eio Era was established at Owosso, May 5, 1873, 
by a company consisting of A. B. Wood, J. Stodman, and 
A. M. Bannister. The paper was for a time the organ of 
the Slate Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and reached a 
circulation of nearly throe thousand. In 1875, A. B. Wood 
became sole proprietor, and two years later removed it to 
the county-seat, where in June, 1877, its name was changed 
to that of Shiawassee Cuuiili/ Alias, as it is at present. It 
is a five-column quarto, " National" in politics, edited by 
Abncr B. Wood, and published by the " Atlas Publishing 
Company." 

The Shiaicassee RepuLlican was started at Owosso, Feb. 
21, 1878, under the fanciful name of Odd Change, by 
Perkins & Gregory. Some changes of proprietorship suc- 
ceeded, and in April, 1879, the paper was purchased by 
George W. Owen, was enlarged, and its name changed to 
the one first mentioned. On the 26th of May, 1880, it 
was consolidated with the Shiawassee American, under the 
name of the latter. 

At Corunna the first newpaper was the Shiawassee 
Democrat, which was started in the fall of 1841 by Wil- 
liam B. Sherwood, and was continued by him until the 
spring of 18-13, when the paper was discontinued, and the 
press and material were removed to Flint, Genesee Co., and 
there used by Mr. Sherwood in the publication of the 
Genesee Count!/ Democrat* 

The Corunna Democrat was a later paper published at 
the county-seat, but the date of its first issue cannot be 
given. It was purchased by John N. IngersoU, and merged 
with the Shiawassee American, as before mentioned. 

The Corunna Weekly Courier was established Oct. 1, 
1859, by William B. Pulis, editor and proprietor. It was 
not long-lived. 

The Corunna Journal was first issued by 0. A. Gould 
& Co., in February, 18G0. It expired Aug. 29, 1861, 
under the proprietorship of Jones & Ford. The other 
papers which have existed at Corunna are those which 
are now published there, the American and the Atlas, 
and both these, having been commenced at Owosso, have 
already been noticed with the papers of that city. 

In the towns along the western borders of the county the 
first newspaper published was the Laingshurg Recorder, 
started by E. L. W. Baker, in August, 1870. It continued 
for about one year, and then ceased to exist. 

The Laingsburg Herald was commenced soon after the 
paper last mentioned. Its editor and proprietor was Mr. 

* About fire years later, the name was revived by M. H. Clark, and 
wa.s by him added to the title of his jiajier, the Otnmito Arijm. After- 
wards Mr. Clarli {as before mentioued) removed iiis pajierto Corunna, 
dropped the first part of its name, and published it as the Shiawasuce 
American till 1S56. 



Judevine, who sold to Charles Wilcox. At the end of 
about two years from its commencement the paper was 
discontinued. 

The Laingsburg News was first issued on the 2d of No- 
vember, 1877, by J. C. Stone, by whom it is still published. 

The Laingsburg Leader, a seven-column folio, was es- 
tablished at Lairig.sburg village, in June, 1880, by W. C. 
Walters, who has continued as its proprietor to the present 
time. 

T/ie Vernon Herald, a seven-column folio, was first is- 
sued at Vernon village. May 7, 1878, by a stock company, 
with A. L. Chandler as editor and manager. It is now 
owned and published by Lucius E. Gould. 

The Bancroft Bulletin, a six-column paper, published at 
Bancroft village, and the Morrice Times, published in Perry 
township, are both edited by William Sccord. The former 
was first issued in August, 1879, and the latter in Sep- 
tember of the same year. 

TUE LEGAL PROFESSION. 
EARLY LAWYERS OF THE COUNTY. 

The first attorney who practiced his profession in Shia- 
wassee County was Sanford M. Green, who came from Jef- 
ferson Co., N. Y., and settled at Owosso in 1837, being 
connected with the water-power and improvement company, 
of which Daniel Ball was the head. He had previously 
been admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of New 
York, and was admitted in this county soon after his arrival. 
In 1841 he became associated in business at Owosso with Mr. 
Smith, a lawyer who had come here from Ann Arbor, and 
who returned to that place not long afterwards. Mr. Green 
was appointed prosecuting attorney of Shiawassee County 
in 1837, and held the office till 1842, when he was elected 
to the State Senate. In 1843 he removed to Pontiac, and 
did not again return to this county as a place of residence. 
He was afterwards twice re-elected to the Senate. In 1844 
he was appointed commissioner to revise the statutes of 
Michigan, and reported to the Legislature of 1846. He 
served on the Supreme Bench of Michigan from 1848 to 
1857 ; as circuit judge from Jan. 1, 1858, to April, 1867 ; 
and again from June, 1872, to the present time. He is 
now judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, residing at 
Bay City. He is the author of " Green's Practice," which 
is in general use by the profession in the State. 

Andrew Parsons, a native of Rensselaer Co., N. Y., and 
afterwards a resident of Mexico, Oswego Co., in that State, 
emigrated from the latter place to Washtenaw Co., Mich., in 
1835, and removed in the following year to Shiawassee. He 
was active in his efforts to procure the establishment of the 
county-site at Corunna, and after it was so established, and 
the business of the county was removed to that place, he, with 
his brother Luke H. Parsons (who had previously resided 
in Washtenaw County), located in Corunna and commenced 
business under the firm-name of " L. H. & A. Parsons, 
Attorneysat-Law." From that time Andrew Parsons con- 
tinued to be a resident of Corunna until his death. He 
was the first clerk of Shiawassee County, was subsequently 
register of deeds for eight years, and also held the office of 
prosecuting attorney. He was elected to the State Senate 
in 1846, was regent of the University in 1852-54, and was 



132 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1852. On the resignation of 
Governor Robert IMcClclland, to accept a place in the cabinet 
of President Pierce in 1852, Mr. Parsons became Governor, 
was inaugurated March 8, 1853, and served during the re- 
mainder of Governor McClelland's term. In November, 
1854, he was elected a member of the House of Representa- 
tives, and having served during the winter session of 1855, 
returned to Corunna, and died there in June of the same 
year. Mr. Parsons showed himself to be a man of decided 
ability in the office of acting-Governor, as well as in the 
numerous other positions which he filled ; but he was not 
regarded as among the most conspicuous members of the 
bar of the county. 

Luke H. Parsons, brother of Andrew Parsons, and also 
a native of the State of New York, emigrated to Ann Ar- 
bor, Mich., in or about 1835, and was there admitted to the 
bar. He removed to Corunna, Shiawassee Co., about 1839, 
and entered on the practice of the law in that village with 
his brother Andrew, as above mentioned. He was elected 
register of deeds in November, 1840, judge of probate 
in 1848, prosecuting attorney in 1852, and regent of the 
University in 1857. He continued in practice at Corunna, 
and was one of the loading lawyers of the county until his 
death at that place in 1862. 

Amos Gould, a native of Aurelius, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and 
a law-student with the Hon. William II. Seward and Theo- 
dore Spencer, at Auburn, N. Y., practiced law in that place 
until 1843, when he removed to Michigan, and located at 
Owosso in the following year. He purcha.sed the mill prop- 
erty of Daniel Ball, and carried on the business until the 
property was destroyed by fire in 1848. Meanwhile (in 
1845) he had commenced the practice of law in Owosso, 
and he continued it most successfully for twenty years ; re- 
tiring from its active prosecution in 18l)5, to attend to his 
extensive property interests. He was elected judge of pro- 
bate in 1844, and held the office during the full term ; he 
was supervisor of Owo.sso continuously from 1845 to 1850 ; 
was prosecuting attorney of Shiawassee County for two 
years, and elected to the State Senate in 1852. Judge 
Gould occupies a high place among the early lawyers of 
the county, and has been distingui.sbed and successful 
through all the years of his practice. 

William F. Mosely was a native of the State of Ohio, 
and in 1825 emigrated from that State to Oakland Co., 
Mich., where he practiced his profession, and filled the 
offices of prosecuting attorney and probate judge. From 
Pontiac he removed to Fentonville, and in 1840 became 
prosecuting attorney of Genesee County. About 1842 he 
came to Shiawassee County, and settled on a farm, doinc 
something, however, as a lawyer. Subsequently he located 
in the village of Newburg, and gave his attention to the 
business of his profession. He was a master in chancery, 
and several times filled the office of prosecuting attorney of 
Shiawassee County, both by appointment and election. He 
enjoyed quite an extensive practice in this county. He was 
a man of good ability, witty and quick at repartee, but not 
remarkably strong in argument, and somewhat lacking in 
confidence. He died in 1860. 

David Bush, Jr., settled at Shiawasseetown as a mer- 
chant prior to 1840. He afterwards studied law, and was 



admitted to the bar, but never took high rank as a lawyer. 
He was elected county commissioner in 1840, and held 
some township offices, among which were those of justice 
of the peace and supervisor. 

George 0. Bachman practiced law in Corunna for a few 
years, but afterwards became an Episcopalian clergyman, 
and having filled the sacred office at Adiian and other 
places returned to Corunna, and was rector of the church 
of his denomination there at the time of his death. 

John P. Richardson (a brother of Lieutenant-Governor 
0. D. Richardson, of Pontiac) came to Corunna as a law- 
yer about 1850. He was a good counselor, well read in 
the law, but lacked confidence in his own powers, though 
he enjoyed a fair amount of business, and performed it to 
the satisfaction of his clients. After a residence of a few 
years here he removed to Omalia, Neb. 

P]benezer Gould, a brother of Judge Amos Gould, settled 
in Owosso in 1837, and soon afterwards engaged in mer- 
chandising, milling, and other pursuits. He commenced 
reading law in 1846, and was admitted to the bar in 1851, 
when he became associated in business with his brother, 
Hon. Amos Gould. He continued in active practice in 
Owosso until 1875, with the exception of his term of ser- 
vice in the war of the Rebellion, in which he served hon- 
orably with the Fifth Michigan Cavalry Regiment, and 
became its colonel. In 1866 he was elected prosecuting 
attorney of the county. He died at Owos,so, Sept. 7, 1877. 
" As a lawyer he was dignified, deliberate, and painstaking, 
acting with the greatest fidelity to his clients, and to every 
interest in his charge. In social life he was a kind, sym- 
pathizing neighbor, and a genial friend." Although he 
had but a common education, he had a strong legal mind, 
and became one of the leading members of the bar of the 
county. 

S. Titus Parsons, a brother of Andrew and Luke H. 
Parsons, studied law in their office and was admitted to the 
Shiawassee County bar in May, 1854 (having previously 
been admitted in Mexico, Oswego Co., N. Y.). He located 
in Corunna, and remained in practice there for more than 
twenty years. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1856, 
re-elected in 1858, and again elected in 1872. He was a 
representative in the Legislature for the terms of 1863-64 
and 1867-68, and was elected a member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1867. In 1877 he removed to De- 
troit, where he is still in practice. 

Hugh McCurdy, who had reached a prominent position 
among the members of theOakland County bar prior to 1855, 
removed in that year to Corunna, where ho at once entered 
upon the practice of his profession. He was appointed 
prosecuting attorney in the first year of his residence in 
Corunna; was elected judge of probate in 1860, State 
senator in 1864, and has since that time again filled the 
office of prosecuting attorney. He has continued in the 
practice of his profession in Corunna until the present time, 
and is now the leading member of the bar of Shiawassee 
County. 

Spencer B. Raynale,a son of the veteran physician. Dr. 
Ebcnezer Raynale, of Birmingham, Oakland Co., entered 
the law-office of Hugh McCurdy as a student, and, on his 
admission to the bar, became associated with Mr. JlcCurdy 



THE PROFESSIONS. 



133 



in business. He was elected prosecutinj; attorney in No- 
vember, 1860. In 1865 he became cashier of the First 
National Bank of Corunna, and continued in that position 
until Jan. 1, 1871, when he resigned, to take the oiBce of 
prosecuting attorney, to which lie had been elected in the 
previous November. From that time he continued to prac- 
tice at the Shiawassee County bar until prostrated by the 
sickness which ended in his death, Sept. 2G, 1874. 

J. T. Miller was admitted to the bar of Shiawassee 
County in October, 1856, but never practiced extensively. 
He afterwards removed to Detroit. 

O. T. B. Williams was admitted in 1852. He filled 
some public offices, but is not to be mentioned or regarded 
as among the prominent members of the bar of Shiawassee. 

The foregoing mention of early lawyers is intended to 
include those who commenced practice in this county dur- 
ing the first twenty years of its organization. Most of 
those of later date will be found named in the following 
list, which is taken from the attorneys' roll of the county. 
The roll, however (and consequently this list), is known to 
be incomplete. 

Amos Gould, admitted Nov. 9, 1843. 

II. D. Johnston, admitted May 20, 1857. 

Jay L. Quackenbush, admitted May 20, 1857. 

George K. Newcombe, admitted April 13, 1858. 

Gilbert R. Lyon, admitted April 13, 1858. 

Ebenezer Gould, admitted Sept. 12, 1851. 

S. Titus Parsons, admitted May, 1854. 

O. T. B. Williams, admitted December, 1852. 

J. T. Miller, admitted Oct. 2, 1856. 

H. M. Newcombe, admitted Aug. 25, 1858. 

James Heath, admitted Feb. 8, 1859. 

Albert S. Wheadon, admitted Feb. 7, 1860. 

Amos M. Kellogg, admitted Feb. 11, 1860. 

Edward R. Davis, admitted May 1, 1860. 

John Garland, admitted Feb. 5, 1861. 

Curtis J. Gale, admitted Feb. 5, 1861. 

Frank Allen, admitted Feb. 8, 1861. 

David A. Elliot, admitted Feb. 4, 1862. 

Benjamin F. Bush, admitted Aug. 7, 1862. 

James M. Goodcll, admitted Sept. 8, 1863. 

Alphonso J. Southard, admitted April 5, 1865. 

Hiram L. Chipman, admitted Oct. 4, 1865. 

G. H. Weeden, admitted April 19, 1867. 

A. Judson Loomis, admitted Aug. 5, 1868. 

H. H. Pulver, admitted Feb. 5, 1869. 

Lucius E. Gould, admitted May 4, 1871. 

J. E. Graham, admitted Sept. 12, 1871. 

Theron B. Pray, admitted Feb. 6, 1872. 

H. C. Hoyt, admitted May 8, 1872. 

Wm. E. Cummin, admitted Sept. 10, 1872. 

Alex. McKercher, admitted Sept. 10, 1872. 

Almon C. Brown, admitted Sept. 10, 1873. 

Peter N. Cook, admitted May 6, 1874. 

Friend Davis, admitted Feb. 9, 1875. 

Samuel W. Baker, admitted Feb. 1, 1876. 

Joseph B. Wilkins, admitted Feb. 3, 1876. 

William M. Kilpatrick, admitted May, 1867. 

John D. Bennett, admitted Dee. 14, 1869. 

James M. Pulver, admitted May 5, 1870. 



Selden S. Miner, admitted Jan. 17, 1878. 
T. P. Hackleman, admitted May 7, 1878. 
Stearns F. Smith, admitted May 10, 1878. 
Charles C. Houpt, admitted April 16, 1877. 
Glen D. Young, admitted Jan. 3, 1880. 
Frank A. Rogers, admitted May 11,1880. 
Following is a list of the members of the Shiawassee 
County bar at the present time — 1880 : 



CORUNNA. 

Hugh JMcCurdy. 
James M. Goodell. 
Curtis J. Gale. 
J. D. Bennett. 
Wm. E. Cummin. 
Almon C. Brown. 
Peter N. Cook. 
Albert R. McBride. 
Levi J. Hamilton. 
Wm. A. Fraser. 
Glen D. Young. 

VERNON. 

Alex. McKercher. 
Mathew Bush. 

BYRON. 
James Sleeth. 



OWOSSO. 

Amos Gould. 
Gilbert R. Lyon. 
Wm. M. Kilpatrick. 
Jerome W. Turner. 
Lucius E. Gould. 
E. R. Hutchins. 
Stearns F. Smith. 

LAINGSBURG. 

J. M. Pulver. 
J. B. Wilkins. 
H. H. Pulver. 

MIDDLEBURY. 

Samuel W. Baker. 

BANCROFT. 
M. V. B. Wisom. 



THE MEDICAL PROFESSION IN SHIAWASSEE • 
COUNTY. 

EARLY PHYSICIANS. 

The earliest settlers of Shiawassee County who needed 
medical attendance before any physician had settled in the 
county were dependent upon Dr. Cyrus Baldwin, of Grand 
Blanc, and Dr. Samuel W. Pattison, of Dibbleville (now 
Fentonville). The former came from Onondaga Co., N. Y., 
in the spring of 1833, and located at Grand Blanc, and 
soon obtained an extensive practice over a wide range of 
country, and four years later removed to Atlas, in the same 
county, where he practiced for a number of years. One of 
his earliest visits (if not the first) to Shiawassee County 
was in the spring of 1836, when he was called to Owosso 
to attend the sickness of David Wormer. 

Dr. S. W. Pattison came to this State on an exploring 
expedition in the summer of 1835, and traveled through 
parts of Shiawassee, Clinton, Ionia, and Barry Counties, 
and finally settled at Fentonville, Genesee Co., that place 
being a central point where several Indian trails came 
together. From this point his ride extended in all direc- 
tions, often following Indian trails or guided through tim- 
bered openings by blazed trees. He relates two instances 
of visits that extended ioto Shiawa.ssee County, which are 
here quoted : " Quite late in the afternoon a m&ssage came 
for mc to go to Esq. Crawford's, in Byron, Shiawassee Co., 
sixteen miles off, and that I would have to leave my horse 
two and a half miles short of Mr. Crawford's, as there 
was no bridge across the Shiawassee. I used all dili- 
gence, leaving my horse in good hands at the river, and 
crossed on trees fallen in and across the stream. It was 
in November, 1836, and my path was an Indian trail lead- 



134 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTi', MICHIGAN. 



ing through oak-openings and through what is now Byron 
village, but at this time not a house, only one, a Mr. Jen- 
nings', between the crossing and Mr. Crawford's. It soon 
began to snow, and darkness almo.st like Egypt hid every 
object, my only guide being the Indian trail, and the snow 
soon covering that, so that I had to find it by kicking 
away the snow, and to add to my perplexity there were two 
trails from the river, meeting in perhaps half or three- 
quarters of a mile, and when I came to the junction I was 
bewildered and took the upper trail back to the river. I 
now had to^retrace my weary steps, and finally reached Mr. 
Jennings', expecting he would guide me, but he was on the 
bed sick, and his wife with the sick family half a mile 
farther ; I undertook it, and soon found myself back, and 
Mr. Jennings, sick as he was, guided me till I could see 
the light of Mr. Crawford's house, where I was joyfully 
received, as I was needed. Had I lost the trail so well 
worn by Indian feet I had no guide many miles north, — not 
a house, — and I should probably have wandered in vain 
for a shelter. 

"In the month of October* I received a message from 
Judge A. L. Williams, of Owosso, to make him a profes- 
sional visit, — distance thirty miles, and twenty-five miles 
from Flint, where the board [supervisors of Genesee 
County] were to meet next day, at nine o'clock a.m. The 
twenty-five miles was through an unbroken wilderness, 
much of the distance heavy timber, and the traveler was 
guided only by blazed trees. I found Mr. Williams very 
sick with malarial fever, and assuming a somewhat typhoid 
type, and I felt it my duty to remain with him until two 
o'clock the next day, when I left, with that noble man John 
Swain for a guide, well supplied with fireworks and blank- 
ets in case we had to lie out overnight, as the nights had 
become cold and frosty." 

Soon after this Dr. Pattison removed from Fentonville to 
Owosso. Of the reasons which induced him to make this 
change he says, " The original plan of the Northern Rail- 
road from I'ort Huron through Flint, Owosso, etc., to the 
mouth of Grand River left Fentonville without a thorough- 
fare. This, with the unsettled state of society, and its 
being the outside of the county, led me to make the change, 
which, however, I did with great reluctance, having formed 
a wide acquaintance north, south, east, and west, through 
good roads for a new country. Again, in Owosso were 
several prominent business men, — A. L. and B. 0. Williams, 
that prince of pioneers, Dan Ball, who afterwards went to 
Grand Rapids, Judge Elias Comstock, Sanford M. Green, 
A. B. Chipman, John Swain, Mr. Martin, the Goulds, Par- 
kills, etc., men of whom any community might justly be 
proud. Also near by and in full sympathy at that time 
with Owosso were the brothers Andrew and Luke Parsons, 
promising young lawyers, the first of whom afterwards was 
elected Lieutenant-Governor. All seemed anxious that I 
should become a citizen among them, and made me quite a 
pecuniary consideration, not only in an eligible building site, 
but assisting in building a fair dwelling for that day. And 
so the change was made, leaving the place where I had 
buried my beloved mother and my invalid daughter, so that 



« The visit here mentioned was made in the year 1838. 



to this day I have an abiding sympathy not only for the 
place, but for the people who so kindly treated us in our 
affliction. Both of these places have become flourishing 
and prosperous villages, and have railroads leading through 
them ; both have sufi'ered depressions. Owosso failed to get 
the county-seat, and the Port Huron road was abandoned 
for years. To make the matter worse, that financier, Dan- 
iel Ball, became discouraged, and removed with his capital 
to Grand Rapids; Judge Sanford M. Green wont to Pon- 
tiac, and several others followed his example; and Owosso, 
with its beautiful location, splendid water-power, and enter- 
prising citizens, was shut in on every side but one by heavy- 
timbered lands and bad roads, making it absolutely neces- 
sary for a physician to ride on horseback, which I had done 
for several years, making long and painful rides, until it 
brought on a difficulty which unfitted me for doing business 
that way. I must either abandon my life's work or go 
where I could ride in a carriage. I did the latter, and came 
to Ypsilanti in the spring of 1845." 

The quotations given above are from an article furnished 
to the Washtenaw Pioneer Society in 1878 by Dr. S. 
W. Pattison, who still resides in Ypsilanti in His eighty- 
fifili year. He lived, when in Owosso, on the southeast 
corner of Washington and Blason Streets, and his ofiice was 
in a "part of the house. He was a careful, thoughtful 
practitioner, and met with a fair share of success. 

The first physician to reside in the county was Dr. Jo- 
seph P. Roberts, who came from New York (where he had 
practiced several years) to the township now known as 
Perry, in the fall of 1837, and settled near the present depot 
of the Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad. He located land, 
built a log house, and was called to attend a patient the 
first night of its occupancy by Deacon Austin, who is still 
living. Dr. Roberts died in the winter of 1844-45. His 
time was not wholly given to his profession, but he only 
practiced in cases of emergency near home, devoting his 
time principally to farming. 

In 1837, Dr. Washington Z. Blanchard was at Shiawas- 
seetown and kept the hotel at that place. Concerning him 
as a physician but little has been ascertained. He did not 
remain long, and is said to have removed to Lyons, Ionia 
Co., Mich. 

Dr. Peter Laing was a physician prior to his emigration 
to this State. He located the land on which Laingsburg 
stands, and built there a hotel late in 1836. He did not 
practice after coming to this county except in cases of 
emergency. 

Dr. Abner Sears came to Byron about 1838, and remained 
a few years. 

Dr. C. P. Parkin, a native of Niagara Co., N. Y., emi- 
grated to Michigan when nineteen years old, and in the 
fall of 1841 came to Owosso. He was a printer by trade, 
and worked for one year on the Owosso Argus, then pub- 
lished by E. L. Ament, on the northeast corner of Wash- 
ington and P]xchange Streets. He was employed as a 
teacher in Shiawassee and surrounding towns for a short 
time, and in the spring of 1843 commenced the study of 
medicine with Dr. S. W. Pattison, in Owosso. He re- 
mained with Dr. Pattison until the removal of the latter 
from the town, when he entered the oflicc of Dr. Barnes, 



CIVIL LIST. 



135 



completed his studies in two years, and graduated at Wil- 
loughby Medical College, in Ohio, in 1846. He returned 
to the county and practiced in Bennington twenty years. 
In 1868 he removed to Owosso, gave up practice, and opened 
a drug-store, where he is still engaged in business. He 
was a member of the Legislature in 18.57. 

Dr. Pierce left the city of Philadelphia and emi- 
grated to Michigan in 1842. He located at Corunna, 
where he was the first physician. Ho was very learned 
and methodical, but not a successful practitioner, and after 
about five years returned to Philadelphia, weary of the 
toil attendant upon country practice. 

Dr. William Weir was an early resident of Shiawassee- 
town, and was, from 1840 to 1850, the leading physican 
in the county. He was not a graduate of any college, but 
was a close student and had a thorough knowledge of 
medicine as known in those days. He removed to Albion 
later, and while on his way to this county on a visit, died 
at a hotel on the route. 

Dr. Nicholas P. Harder was a physician who located at 
Newburg, and lived at that place following liis profession. 
He practiced a few years at Corunna and returned to New- 
burg, where he remained until his death. He was elected 
county treasurer and supervisor of his township. 

Dr. John B. Barnes, a native of Lowell, JMass., graduated 
at Williamstown College, in that State, and practiced at Lock- 
port, N. Y. In 1842 he emigrated to Michigan, and com- 
menced practice at Owosso, where he .still lives. He was 
foremost in this section in the anti-slavery struggle, a 
director of the " underground railroad," and intimately 
acquainted with Garrison, Phillips, and others of the anti- 
slavery leaders of that day. 

Dr. E. M. Bacon, a former resident of Albion, N. Y., 
and a graduate of Geneva Medical College, emigrated to 
Michigan and located in Corunna in 1846. Dr. Bacon 
very early acquired a large practice, and experienced all 
the hardships of the pioneer physician, finding long rides 
on horseback a necessity of the undeveloped condition of 
the country. He removed temporarily to California in 
search of health, but returned and died in Corunna in 
18G9. His early death was doubtless hastened by ex- 
cessive application to the requirements of his profession. 

Dr. Freeman McClintock and Dr. L. D. Jones, from 
Ohio, came to Laingsburg, in this county, in the spring of 
1846, and commenced practice, but returned to Ohio in 
the autumn of that year. Dr. McClintock again visited 
Laingsburg in 1847 and resumed practice; he remained 
until 1851, when he removed to California, but in 1856 
returned. From that time he has been engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits. He was succeeded by Dr. J. D. North, 
of Washtenaw County, who practiced for three years, and 
returned to Ann Arbor. His practice was taken in 1862 
by Dr. E. B. Ward, who is still the leading physician of 
the township. 

" After the railroad was completed through tlie county, 
doctors swarmed in like the locusts of Egypt." This is 
the remark of one of the oldest physicians of the county, 
and it is the reason why it is thought impracticable to 
notice here in detail the physicians of later date than those 
who have already been mentioned. 



SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. 
In December, 1879, several physicians united in a call 
to the physicians of the county to convene at Owosso for 
the purpose of forming a county medical society. The 
meeting was held, and adjourned to meet at the same place 
in January, 1880, at which time Dr. Jabez Perkins was 
elected President ; Dr. A. J. Bruce, Vice-President ; Dr. 
L. M. Goodrich, Secretary ; and Dr. W. C. Hume, Treas- 
urer. Meetings are now held at Owosso every three months. 
The members of the society at present are Jabez Perkins, 
C. McCormick, and Charles A. Osborne, of Owosso ; A. G. 
Bruce, L. M. Goodrich, and C. F. Armstrong, of Corunna ; 
W. C. Hume, Bennington ; D. C. HoUey, Vernon ; G. 0. 
Austin, Perry ; E. B. Ward, Laingsburg ; W. B. Fox and 
Harvey, Bancroft ; • Tock, Lothrop. 

nOM(EOPATUY. 

The first physicians of this school who came to this 
county were Dr. John D. Kergan and Dr. P. B. Smith, 
who entered into partnership in Corunna, about 1868. In 
1871 the latter moved to Owosso. Dr. Kergan was a grad- 
uate of the Victoria College, in Canada, as an allopathist. 
In 1870 he was clerk of the State society, and is a member 
of the American Institute of Homoeopathy. He removed 
to Newburg, remained there about a year, and in 1878 to 
Detroit, where he is now in practice. 

Alexander McNeale, a native of Canada, came in 1870 
to Corunna, where he practiced about two and a half years, 
and removed to New Albany, Ind. 

Dr. B. F. Knapp came to Byron about 1874, and is still 
there. Dr. John Babbingtou, a native of Canada, came to 
Corunna in 1876, studied with Dr. Kergan, graduated at 
the Chicago Homoeopathic Medical College, and commenced 
practice in Corunna in 1876. Dr. Knapp, now of Ban- 
croft, came to that place in 1877, and is now in practice 
there. Dr. Alexander R. Ball came from Canada to Co- 
runna in 1878, and commenced practice. He graduated at 
the Western Homajopathic College, Ohio, in 1862, and 
practiced in Mason and Marshall in this State before coming 
to this county. Dr. A. H. Annis is a practicing phy.sician 
in Hazeltou. He commenced practice about 1878. 

SHIAWASSEE CIVIL LIST. 
This list embraces the names of residents of Shiawassee 
County who have held important civil offices in the State 
or national government, and also of principal officers of the 
county since its organization. 

LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN. 
Andrew Parsons, elected Nov. 2, 1852 ; term commenced 
January, 1853; inaugurated acting-Governor, March 8, 
1853; served to Jan. 1, 1855. 

STATE SENATORS. 

Sanford M. Green, elected November, 1842 ; re-elected iu 
1844. 

Andrew Pareons, elected in November, 1845 ; term com- 
menced on Jan. 1, 1846; re-elected in 1847. 

Amos Gould, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

John N. IngersoU, elected November, 1860. 

Hugh McCurdy, elected November, 1865. 



136 



mSTOllY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Jerome W. Turner, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 
James M. Goo Jell, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 
Lorison J. Taylor, elected November, 1876. 

REPRESENTATIVES IN THE LEGISLATURE. 

Robert G. McKee, elected November, 1838. 

Lemuel Castle, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 183D; re-elected 
November, 1840. 

Francis J. Prevost, elected Nov. 7 and 8, 1842. 

Robert R. Thompson, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 

Mortimer B. Martin, elected Nov. 2, 1847. 

Herman C. Noble, elected Nov. 7, 1848. 

Ebenczer C. Kimberly, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Nicholas Gulick, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Andrew Parsons, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

Dr. Charles P. Parkill, elected November, 1856. 

Sullivan R. Kelsey, elected Nov. 2, 1858 ; re-elected 
Nov. 6, 18G0. 

Paul C. Sprague, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

S. Titus Parsons, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

William P. Laing, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Nathan G. Phillips, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

S. Titus Pai-sons, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

Charles Locke, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

John N. IngersoU, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

Edgar B. Ward, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

William D. Garrison, elected Nov. 8, 1870. 

Charles Y. Osborne, elected Nov. 8, 1870. 

Frederick G. Bailey, elected Nov. 5, 1872 ; re-elected 
Nov. 3, 1874. 

Benjamin Walker, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 

Lorison J. Taylor, elected to fill vacancy caused by death 
of Benjamin Walker ; re-elected Nov. 3, 1874. 

Rasselas Reed, elected Nov. 7, 1876 ; reelected Nov. 5, 
1878. 

Derwin W. Sharts, elected Nov. 7, 1876 ; re-elected 
Nov. 5, 1878. 

MEMBERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. 

Francis J. Prevost, elected Nov. 6, 1849, convention of 
1850, convened at Lansing, June 3d. 

Josiah Turner, S. Titus Parsons, elected Nov. 6, 1866, 
convention of 1867, convened at Lansing, May 15th. 

SUPREME COURT JUDGES. 

Sanford M. Green, appointed in 1848, served until 
1857. 

Josiah Turner, appointed by Governor Bingham, May 9, 
1857, to fill vacancy caused by resignation of S. M. Green ; 
held till January, 1858. 

CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES. 

Sanford M. Green, elected April, 1852 ; term commenced 
May, 1852. 

Josiah Turner, elected April, 1857; term commenced 
May, 1857; re-elected three times and still holds the office. 

REGENTS OF TUE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN. 
Andrew Parsons, 1852 to 1854. 
Luke II. Parsons, elected April 16, 1857. 



ASSOCIATE JUDGES. 

A. L. Williams, elected November, 1837. 
James Rutan, elected November, 1837. 
Elias Comstock, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 
Joseph P. Roberts, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 
Isaac Castle, elected Nov. 6 and 7, 1844. 
Jonathan M. Ilartwell, elected Nov. 6 and 7, 1844. 
George W. Slocum, elected Nov. 14, 1848. 
James Cummin, elected Nov. 14, 1848. 

COUNTY JUDGE. 
Robert R. Thompson, elected Nov. 3, 1846 ; re-elected 
Nov. 5, 1850. 

SECOND JUDGES. 
Isaac Gale, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 
Anson B. Chipman, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS. 

Ebenezer Gould, elected Nov. 2, 1852 ; re-elected Nov. 
7, 1854. 

Samuel T. Parsons, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

George K. Newcombe, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

Gilbert R. Lyon, elected Nov. 6, 1860 ; re-elected Nov. 
4, 1862. 

Henry M. Newcombe, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

James M. Goodell, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

Hiram L. Chipman, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

R. Bonner Wyles, elected November, 1870. 

Lucius E. Gould, elected Nov. 5, 1872 ; re-elected Nov. 
10, 1874. 

Curtis J. Gale, elected Nov. 10, 1874. 

James G. Miller, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

Lucius E. Gould, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

Seldon S. Miner, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

JUDGES OF PROBATE. 
Elias Comstock, elected November, 1837. 
Ira B. Howard, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 
Amos Gould, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 
Luke H. Parsons, elected Nov. 14, 1848. 
Robert R. Thompson, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 
John B. Barnes, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 
Hugh McCurdy, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 
Sullivan R. Kelsey, elected Nov. 8, 1864 ; re-elected 
Nov. 3, 1868 ; Nov. 5, 1872, and Nov. 7, 1876. 

SHERIFFS. 

Levi Rowe, elected May, 1837. 

Elisha Brewster, elected November, 1838; re-elected 
Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 

David Bush, elected Nov. 7 and 8, 1842. 

Elisha Brewster, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1844; re-elected 
Nov. 3, 1846. 

Alonzo Howard, elected Nov. 14, 1848; reelected Nov. 
5,1850. 

John M. Pitch, elected Nov. 2, 1852 ; re-elected Nov. 7, 
1854. 

William P. Laing, elected Nov. 4, 1856 ; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1858. 

Jonah Fuller, elected Nov. 6, 1860 ; re-elected Nov. 4, 
1862. 



CIVIL LIST. 



137 



Seymour Shipman, elected Nov. 8, 1804. 
Diivid Parker, elected Nov. 6, 18G6 ; re-elected Nov. 3, 
18G8. 

George A. Winans, elected November, 1870. 
Benjamin B. Swain, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 
Andrew G. Kelso, elected Nov. 10, 1874. 
AVilliam J. Lewis, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 
Clark D. Smith, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

COUNTY CLERKS. 

Andrew Parsons, elected May, 1837. 

Ira B. Howard, elected November, 1838. 

John K. Smith, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 

Joseph Purdy, elected Nov. 7 and 8, 1842 ; re-elected 
Nov. 4 and 5, 1844, and Nov. 3, 1846. 

Ebenezer F. Wade, elected April 7, 1848, to fill vacancy 
caused by death of Joseph Purdy ; re-elected Nov. 4, 1848 ; 
Nov. 5, 1850. 

Elias Comstock, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Cortes Pond, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

Elias Comstock, elected Nov. 4, 1856 ; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1858. 

George C. Holmes, elected Nov. 6, 1860 ; re-elected Nov. 

4, 1862; Nov. 8, 1864. 

Philip W. Coleman, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

John E. Graham, elected Nov. 3, 1868 ; re-elected 
November, 1870; Nov. 5, 1872. 

Almon C. Brown, elected Nov. 10, 1874 ; re-elected 
Nov. 7, 1876. 

Newton Baldwin, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

COUNTY REGISTERS. 

No record of Register in 1837 or 1838. 
John M. Gilbert, elected November, 1838. 
Andrew Parsons, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840; re-elected 
Nov. 7 and 8, 1842, and Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 
Luke H. Parsons, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 
James E. Chaffee, elected Nov. 14, 1848 ; re-elected Nov. 

5, 1850. 

Owen Corcoran, elected Nov. 2, 1852 ; re-elected Nov. 
7, 1854. 

George W. Goodell, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

Chauncey S. Converse, elected Nov. 2, 1858 ; re-elected 
Nov. 6, 1860, and Nov. 4, 1862. 

William Oakes, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Charles Holman, elected Nov. 6, 1866 ; re-elected No- 
vember, 1868; November, 1870; November, 1872; No- 
vember, 1874 ; November, 1876 ; and November, 1878. 

COUNTY TREASURERS. 

Josiah Pierce, elected May, 1837 ; re-elected November, 
1838. 

Isaac Castle, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840 ; re-elected 
Nov. 7 and 8, 1842. 

Alfred L. Williams, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 

Nicholas P. Harder, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 

Archibald Purdy, elected Nov. 14, 1848. 

James Cummin, elected Nov. 5, 1850 ; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1852; Nov. 7, 1854. 

Hansom W. Ilolley, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 
18 



Pliny S. Lyman, elected Nov. 2, 1858; re-elected Nov. 
6, 1860 ; Nov. 4, 1862. 

James Cummin, elected Nov. 8, 1864 ; re-elected Nov. 

6, 1866 ; Nov. 3, 1868 ; November, 1870. 

jMatthias L. Stewart, elected Nov. 5, 1872 ; re-elected 
Nov. 10, 1874 ; Nov. 7, 1876 ; and Nov. 5, 1878. 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 

Lemuel Castle, Ransom W. HoUey, Ephraim H. Utley, 
elected November, 1838. 

Levi Rowe, elected April 29, 1839. 
David Bush, Jr., elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1839. 
Peter Cook, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 
Francis J. Prevost, elected April 5, 1841. 
Archibald Purdy, elected Nov. 1 and 2, 1841. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 

Ezekiel J. Cook, elected April, 1870 ; re-elected April 

7, 1873. 

COUNTY SURVEYORS. 

No record of Surveyor in 1837-38. 

Daniel Gould, elected November, 1838. 

Philander T. Maine, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 

Nelson Ferry, elected Nov. 7 and 8, 1842 ; re-elected 
Nov. 7 and 8, 1842 ; Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 

Andrew Huggins, elected Nov. 3, 1846; re-elected Nov. 
14, 1848; Nov. 5, 1850. 

Josiah B. Parker, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Andrew Huggins, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

Monroe Ilolley, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

Ezra L. Mason, elected Nov. 2, 1858 ; re-elected Nov. 6, 
1860 ; Nov. 4, 1862 ; Nov. 8, 1864, and Nov. 6, 1866. 

Horace C. Maine, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

Ezra L. Ma.son, elected November, 1870. 

Abner B. Wood, Jr., elected Nov. 5, 1872 ; re-elected 
Nov. 10, 1874. 

Lyman Mason, elected Nov. 7, 1876 ; re-elected Nov. 5, 
1878. 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.* 

Sanford M. Green, appointed 1837, 1838, 1839, 1840, 
and 1841. 

J. C. Smith, appointed 1842-43. 

William F. Mosely, appointed 1844. 

Andrew Parsons, appointed 1845-46. 

William F. Mosely, appointed 1847-48. 

Amos Gould, appointed 1849. 

Richard B. Hall, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Luke H. Parsons, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

William F. Mosely, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

S. Titus Parsons, elected Nov. 4, 1856 ; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1858. 

Spencer B. Raynole, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

Benton Hanchett, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

James M. Goodell, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Ebenezer Gould, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

James M. Goodell, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

Spencer B. Raynole, elected November, 1870. 

* Prosecuting Attorneys wore appointed by the Governor until tbo 
adoption of the constitution of 1850, when the office became 
elective. 



138 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



S. Titus Parsons, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 

Hugh McCurdy, elected Nov. 10, 1874. 

AVilliam M. Kilpatrick, elected Nov. 7, 187(3 ; re-elected 

Nov. 5, 1878. 

CORONERS. 

David H. Tyler, elected November, 1838. 

Epliraim H. Utley, elected November, 1838. 

John WoodhuU, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840 ; re-elected 
Nov. 7 and 8, 1842. 

Lyman Melvin, elected Nov. 2 and 3, 1840. 

Henry Leach, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 

George Harrington, elected Nov. 4 and 5, 1844. 

Horace B. Flint, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 

Eliphalet B. Tooker, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 

Aaron Swain, elected Nov. 14, 1848. 

Henry Leach, elected Nov. 14, 1848. 

George Harrington, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Levi Howe, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Humphrey Wheeler, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Joseph Howe, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Humphrey Wheeler, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

Palmer C. Card, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

William H. Eddy, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

David Ingersoll, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

Jonah Fuller, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

Eli D. Gregory, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

Enoch Eddy, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

James Garrison, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

George L. Hitchcock, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

James Garrison, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

Garry Tuttle, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Tolman Warren, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

S. M. Marshall, elected Nov. 6, 1866 ; re-elected Nov. 
3, 1868. 

Mills Tuttle, elected November, 1866; re-elected Nov. 
3, 1868. 

H. M. Marshall, elected November, 1870. 

George T. Swimm, elected November, 1870. 

Benjamin F. Taylor, elected Nov. 5, 1872; re-elected 
Nov. 10, 1874. 

Wells B. Fox, elected Nov. 5, 1872 ; re-elected Nov. 10, 
1874. 

John L. Miller, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

Ezra M. Harvey, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

John L. Miller, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 



CHAPTER XXV L 

COUNTY SOCIETIES— AGEIC0LTDKE— MANUFAC- 
TUKES— POPULATION. 

Old Settlers' Society of Shiawassee County — Shiawassee County Fire 
Insurance Company — Shiawassee County Agricultural Association — 
Agriculture of the County — Manufacturing Statistics — Population. 

OLD SETTLEKS' SOCIETY OF SHIAWASSEE 
COUNTY. 

Early in February, 1873, a call was issued through the 
county newspapers for the holding of a meeting to form a 
pioneer society in Shiawassee, similar in its objects to so- 



cieties of the kind existing in many other counties of the 
State. The tenor of this call was as follows ; 

" De.siring to perpetuate the history of Shiawassee County, 
and the personal reminiscences of its early days, as well as 
to foster a social feeling among the pioneers, we respectfully 
invite such of the present residents of the county as had 
settled in Michigan previous to Jan. 1, 1845, to meet with 
us at the court-house, in Corunna, on the 22d inst., at 
one o'clock p.m., to form an old settlers' society for the 
county. 

" Isaac Gale. Alex. McArthur. 

S. R. Kelsey. Wm. Frain. 

J. H. Hartwell. S. B. Bugbee. 

F. P. Guilford. Allen Beard. 

G. G. Doan. James Cummin. 
John 0. Henkley. John Spaulding. 
S. Hawkins. Roger Haviland." 
Jonah Fuller. 

Pursuant to this call a large number of old settlers con- 
vened at the court-house in Corunna, and organized by 
choice of the Hon. Isaac Gale, of Bennington, as chairman, 
and John N. Ingersoll as secretary. S. R. Kelsey, J. N. 
Ingersoll, and William Newberry were appointed to draft a 
constitution, which was prepared, presented, and adopted, 
naming the association the " Old Settlers' Society of Shia- 
wassee County," and setting forth that " the objects of the 
society are to cultivate social relations, and to collect and 
preserve biographical sketches, statistics, and historical facts 
and reminiscences which are fast fading from memory." 

The annual meetings of the society are held at the court- 
house in Corunna. Picnics have been held during the 
summer months at the following places : 

Caruthers' Grove, near North Newburg, June 13, 1873; 
Hawkins' Grove, Caledonia, June 20, 1874; Grove near 
Pitts Corners, Bennington, June 26, 1875 ; Hawkins' 
Grove, Aug. 19, 1876; Caruthers' Grove, Aug. 11, 1877; 
Gates' Grove, near Owosso, Aug. 17, 1878 ; Court-House, 
Corunna, June 14, 1880. At the.se meetings addresses 
are made by speakers from different parts of the county, 
essays are also read, all bearing on the early settlement and 
incidents connected with it. 

Tlie roll of the society shows the names of its members, 
their place of residence, and place and date of birth, as 
follows : 
Ebenezer F. Wade, Burns ; Massachusetts, 1810 ; settled 

in Michigan in August, 1843. 
John N. Ingersoll, Corunna ; Massachusetts, 1817; settled 

in Michigan in 1837. 
John 11. Barnes, Owo.sso ; Massachusetts, 1807 ; settled 

in Michigan Sept. 7, 1842. 
Samuel W. Cooper, Corunna; New York, 1812 ; settled in 

Michigan in May, 1842. 
James Renney, Middlebury; New York, 1800; settled in 

Michigan in April, 1845. 
Anson B. Chipman, Owosso; Vermont, 1812; settled in 

Michigan in January, 1837. 
Jonah Fuller, Corunna ; Massachusetts, 1820 ; settled in 

Michigan in 1835. 
Henry W.Becker, Caledonia; New York, 1818; settled 

in Michigan in 1836. 



COUNTY SOCIETIES. 



139 



William Newberry, Shiawassee ; New York, 1812 ; settled 

in Michigan July 2, 1836. 
Sullivan R. Kelsey, Byron; "Vermont, 1805; settled in 

Michigan in December, 1842. 
Isaac Gale, Bennington ; New York, 1808 ; settled in 

Michigan in April, 1840. 
John Innes, Bennington ; Scotland, 181.5 ; settled in Slicli- 

igan in August, 1836. 
Roger Haviland, Burns; Ireland, 1812 ; settled in Michi- 
gan in February, 1840. 
George W. Slocum, Middlebury ; New York, 1810 ; settled 

in IMichigan in January, 1838. 
C. S. Johnson, Corunna; Massachusetts, 1804; settled in 

Michigan in November, 1838. 
William G. Smith, Woodhull ; New York, 1804; settled 

in Michigan in April, 1842. 
A. H. Owens, Venice ; New York, 1823 ; settled in Michi- 
gan in July, 1835. 
.J. S. Simonson, Shiawassee; New York, 1820; settled in 

Michigan in October, 1845. 
James Cummin, Shiawassee; Ireland, 1814; settled in 

Michigan in December, 1840. 
N. G. Phillips, Shiawassee; Connecticut, 1825 ; settled in 

Michigan in April, 1838. 
William Morris, Perry ; Scotland, 1801 ; settled in Michi- 
gan in August, 1836. 
Joseph Parmenter, Shiawassee ; Vermont, 1810 ; settled in 

Michigan in September, 1835. 
H. J. Van Aukin. 
Henry Wiltsie, Corunna; New York, 1812; settled in 

Michigan in October, 1838. 
J. M. Van Aukin, Vernon ; New York, 1820 ; settled in 

Michigan in 1843. 
S. B. Bugbee, Bennington; New York, 1811 ; settled in 

Michigan in October, 1837. 
Archibald Purdy, Bennington; New York, 1811; settled 

in Michigan in November, 1836. 
George Kowoll, Bennington ; New York, 1828 ; settled in 

Michigan in March, 1841. 
I. M. Chipman, Owosso; New York, 1817; settled in 

Michigan in 1840. 
T. H. Lemon, Shiawassee ; New York, 1816; settled in 

Michigan in 1843. 
Cortes Pond, Corunna; New York, 1812 ; settled in Mich- 
igan in 1842. 
H. S. Allen, New York, 1818 ; settled in Michigan in 1832. 
Andrew Huggins, Corunna; Massachusetts, 1817; settled 

in Michigan in 1839. 
Benjamin Hulick, New York, 1825 ; settled in Michigan 

in 1845. 
E. Gould, Owosso; New York, 1818; settled in Michigan 

in 1837. 
John Spalding, Perry; New York, 1814; settled in Mich- 
igan in 1840. 
J. 11. Thompson, Caledonia; New York, 1809; settled in 

Michigan in May, 1833. 
Reuben Place, Shiawassee; New York, 1814 ; settled in 

Michigan in 1835. 
Allen Beard, Antrim ; Now York, 1810 ; settled in Michi- 
gan in 1836. 



C. C. Rowell, Owosso ; New York, 1835 ; settled in Mich- 
igan in 1841. 

J. M. Fitch, Corunna; 1832. 

E. W. Wallis, Perry; New York, 1818; settled in Michi- 
gan in 1844. 

A. Van Aukin, Shiawassee; New York, 1814; settled in 

Michigan in 1835. 

Hiram Davis, Sliiawa.ssee ; New York, 1813; settled in 
Michigan in 1837. 

J. W. Dewey, Owosso ; New York, 1818 ; settled in Mich- 
igan in 1827. 

L. H. Chappen, Bennington ; New Hampshire, 1797 ; 
settled in Michigan in 1844. 

C. S. Cronkhite, Venice; New York, 1818; settled in 
Michigan in 1844. 

I. W. Rush, Owosso; New Yprk, 1822; settled in Michi- 
gan in 1840. 

L. Hopkins, Owosso; New York, 1826; settled in Michi- 
gan in 1836. 

J. G. Marsh, Woodhull ; Maine, 1830 ; settled in Michi- 
gan in 1837. 

John A. Mason, Perry; Michigan, 1841. 

James H. Hartwell, Shiawassee; New York, 1824. 

B. 0. Williams, Owosso; Massachusetts, 1810; settled in 

Michigan in 1815. 

Freeman McClintock, Laingsburg; New Hampshire, 1811 ; 
settled in Michigan in 1846. 

Almon B. Clark, Bennington ; Michigan, 1837. 

Phineas Burch, New Haven; Canada, 1814. 

Thomas 11. Young, Caledonia; Connecticut, 1812; settled 
in Michigan in 1839. 

M. L. Stevens, Perry; New York, 1820; settled in Mich- 
igan in March, 1847. 

J. B. Wheeler, Corunna ; New York, 1829 ; settled in 
Michigan in March, 1838. 

Charles Wilkinson, Venice; New York, 1813; settled in 
Michigan in 1834. 

Schuyler Ferris, Caledonia; New York, 1818. 

G. M. Roberts, Caledonia; New York, 1813. 

S. A. Yerkes, Bennington ; Michigan, 1827. 

Mrs. Susan A. Burge.ss. 

Elnathan Brown, Venice ; New York; settled in Michigan 
in 1837. 

B. M. Waterman, Caledonia ; Vermont ; settled in Michi- 
gan in 1839. 

HONORARY MEMBERS. 

Mrs. Sarah Bacon. Mrs. B. Allen. 

Mrs. Lucius Beach. Mrs. Marietta Gale. 

Mrs. H. H. Johnson. Mrs. Julietta Howell. 

Mrs. Manning Hathaway. Mrs. Anna Olcott. 

Mrs. N. P. Harder. Mrs. Marie E. Cronkhite. 

Mrs. James Cummin. Mrs. Rosina Simonson. 

Mrs. E. F. Wade. Mrs. Loriuda Williams. 

Mrs. Catherine Haviland. Mrs. J. B. Wheeler. 

Mrs. Susan Spaulding. Mrs. Margaret Innes. 

Mrs. Caroline A. Parsons. Mrs. Ruth Phelps. 

Mrs. Emmcline 11. Wallis. Mrs. Eunice Cooper. 

The following is a list of the oflicers of the society from 
its formation to the present time : 



140 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1874.- 



1875.- 



1876.- 



1873. — President, Isaac Gale ; Vice-Presidents, A. B. Chip- 
man, Willium Newberry ; Secretary, E. F. Wade ; 
Treasurer, S. R. Kelscy. 
-President, John Spaulding ; Vice-Presidents, A. B. 
Chipnian, William Newberry; Secretary, E. F. 
Wade ; Treasurer, S. R. Kclsey. 
-President, A. B. Chipman ; Vice-Presidents, G. 
W. Slocum, Roger- Haviland ; Secretary, E. F. 
Wade ; Treasurer, S. R. Kclsey. 
-President, George W. Slocum ; Vice-Presidents, 
William Newberry, Ebenezcr Gould ; Secretary, 
Ebenezer F. Wade ; Treasurer, S. R. Kelsey. 

1877. — President, George W. Slocum; Vice-Presidents, 
William Newberry, Roger Haviland ; Secretary, 
James B. Wheeler ; Treasurer, E. F. Wade. 

1878. — President, Roger Haviland ; Vice-Presidents, B. 
0. Williams, A. B. Clark ; Secretary, James B. 
Wheeler ; Treasurer, E. F. Wade. 

1879. — President, AVilliam Newberry ; Vice-Presidents, 
Roger Haviland, B. O. Williams ; Secretary, 
Cortes Pond ; Treasurer, E. F. Wade. 
-President, William Newberry ; Vice-President, 
Roger Haviland ; Secretary, Cortes Pond ; Treas- 
urer, E. F. Wade. 



1880.- 



SIIIAWASSEE COUNTY MUTUAL FIRE INSU- 
RANCE COMPANY. 

In the month of May, 1861, Enoch Eddy, G. Sugden, 
Ezra D. Barnes, N. G. Philips, E. Cook, Isaac Gale, Nor- 
man Green, Enos Merrill, Benjamin Walker, and William 
Newberry, all residents of Shiawassee County, associated 
themselves together as an incorporated company for the 
transaction of insurance business under the above title. 
The articles of association limited the territory to Shia- 
wassee County, and restricted the insurance to dwellings,, 
barns, and out-buildings upon farms, " together with house- 
hold furniture, farm implements, stock, and grain which 
may be therein or on the premises," against loss by fire or 
lightning. 

The organization was not perfected until the spring of 
1862, when Enoch Eddy was elected President; Cortes 
Pond, Secretary ; and W. G. Smith, Treasurer. On tlie 
3d day of May of that year Cortes Pond commenced taking 
applications for policies. 

In 1867 the company had three hundred and forty -six 
outstanding policies, with an assessment that year of four- 
teen hundred and twenty-three dollars and forty-four cents 
and expenses of one hundred and fifty-three dollars and 
fifteen ccnt.s. 

The company has steadily incrca.scd in usefulness, and 
gained the confidence of the community, and on the 31st 
of December, 1879, it had fifteen hundred and fifty-five 
outstanding policies, covering a total risk of two million 
eight hundred and twelve thousand nine hundred and fifty- 
six dollars. 

The total resources are two thousand two hundred and 
five dollars and ninety-four cents, and total liabilities finir 
hundred and fifty-five dollars and fifty-nine cents. The 
amount paid for losses during the year (of which two thou- 
sand tiiree hundred dollars occurred in prior years) was five 



thousand one hundred and ten dollars and seventy-three 
cents. Amount of salaries and foes one thou.sand one hun- 
dred and twenty dollars and ninety-six cents. But two as- 
sessments have been made during the year. 

The present officers are Roger Haviland, President ; 
Fred. J. Bailey, Vice-President ; Ezra Mason, Secretary ; 
JeflFerson D. Leiaud, Treasurer ; R. Haviland, E. Mason, 
and E. S. Burnett, Directors. 

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY AGRICULTURAL ASSO- 
CIATION. 
No records have been found of the organization or pro- 
ceedings of the old Shiawassee County Agricultural Society, 
but a few facts have been gleaned from the papers of that 
day, and from the secretary's reports to the State Society. 
The Shiawassee Society was formed in 1850, and held its 
first fair in the fall of that year, at the village of Corunna, 
on grounds situated on the south side of the river, prepared 
by the citizens of that place. In 1854 the fifth annual 
fair was held on the Uth and 12th of October. The offi- 
cers were Robert R. Thompson, President ; P. S. Lyman, 
Secretary; James Cummin, Treasurer; Ezekiel Cook, M. 
B. Martin, Isaac Gale, M. H. Clark, Daniel Lyon, Execu- 
tive Committee. There were three hundred and twenty- 
two entries. The amount received for membership tickets 
and visitors was eighty-one dollars and twenty-five cents. 
The number of entries made at the fair of September, 1855, 
were five hundred and twenty ; receipts for membership 
and single tickets was one hundred and forty-six dollars and 
twenty-seven cents. The fair in 1858 was held at Corunna. 
The officers of that year were Isaac Gale, President ; P. S. 
Lyman, Secretary ; Charles I']. Kimberly, Treasurer. 

No further information can be gained of any meetings 
of the old society, and it appears to have become inop- 
erative, as on the 16th of March, 1860, a new society 
was formed, and articles of association were adopted and 
signed by the following-named persons, viz. : Isaac Gale, 
George Sugden, James Lawler, A. H. Byerly, B. 0. Wil- 
liams, George W. Slocum, Benjamin Walker, Benjamin W. 
Davis, Edward F. H. McKay, John W. Dewey, Enoch 
Eddy, and an organization under the name and style of the 
Shiawassee County Agricultural Association was perfected 
by the choice of the following persons as first officers: 
Isaac Gale, President ; B. W. Davis, Secretary ; Adam W. 
Byerly, Treasurer ; J. W. Dewey, George W. Slocum, E. 
F. H. McKay, Enoch Eddy, and Geo. B. Sugden, Direc- 
tors. A meeting of the board of directors was held at 
Gould's Hall, Owosso, on the 23d of March, 1860, at 
which time by-laws were adopted. At a later meeting, in 
June of the same year, it was resolved that the fair be 
held at Owosso for a term of five years, on condition that 
the citizens of Owosso provide not less than six acres for 
the u.se of the association (to be surrounded with a tight 
board fence), build necessary buildings and sheds, dig a 
well to be provided with a pump, and grade a carriage- 
drive and track, two rods' wide at least and eighty rods in 
circumference, the same to be provided without any expense 
to the association. Seven hundred dollars was subscribed 
for tli(! ]iuriiose, and the lease was afterwards extended to 
ten years, and a permanent building erected at an expense of 



AGRICULTURE. 



141 



one thousand dollars. The first fair of the association was 
held on the 17th, 18th, and 19th of September, 1860, on 
the ground prepared by the citizens of Owosso, situated 
on Hickory Street. 

The total receipts were 8303.50. The annual fairs con- 
tinued to be held at the same place until 1880. In 1866 
five hundred dollars was expended in extending the track, 
the citizens of Owosso contributing two hundred and fifty 
dollars and the association the balance. At a meeting held 
April 17, 1877, it was decided to purchase thirty acres of 
land, known as the Eggleston tract, at one hundred dollars 
per acre, and two small lots of land containing about one acre. 
In the spring of 1880 the buildings on the old grounds were 
removed to the new and repaired. One acre of ground, on 
which a dwelling-house is located, was purchased for five 
hundred dollars; this will be occupied by a tenant who 
will have charge of the ground.s. A floral hall will be 
erected in the summer of 1880, a half-mile track is now 
being graded, and the first fair of the association on the 
new grounds will be held in the fall of 1880. 

The following is a list of the officers since the organiza- 
tion of the association : 

Presidents.— 1861, Benjamin Walker; 1802, Isaac Cas- 
tle ; 1863, Geo. L. Hitchcock ; 1864, John W. Dewey ; 
1865, Ezra D. Barnes; no record for 1866; 1867-68, 
Isaac Gale; 1869, A. H. Byerly ; 1870, S. A. Yeikcs ; 
1871, Wm. Newberry; 1872-73, Wm. Rideout; 1874, 
John W. Dewey; 1875-76, C. Hibbard; 1877-80, John 
W. Dewey. 

Secretaries. — 1861-62, George L. Hitchcock; 1863, 
Henry B. Gregory; 1864, George L. Hitchcock; 1865, 
A. G. Young; no record for 186C; 1867, George P. 
Moses; 1868, N. McBain ; 1809, George P. Moses; 
1870-73, C. A. Osborne ; 1874, Emory L. Brewer ; 1875 
-78, Newton Baldwin ; 1879-80, J. A. Armstrong. 

Treasurers.— 1861-62, E. D. Gregory; 1863-65, New- 
ton n. Robinson; no record for 1866; 1807-69, A. G. 
Kelso; 1870-73, A. B..Chipman ; 1874, Amos G. Young; 
1875-76, A. B. Chipman ; 1877-80, C. A. Osborne. 

AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY. 
In the history of its agriculture Shiawassee differs very 
little from nearly all the counties of the Peninsula. The 
first care of the farmers who came to till the virgin soil 
was, of course, to provide subsistence for their families ; and 
so the first crops which they planted or sowed in the open- 
ings, or in their small clearings in the timber, were only 
such as were required for this purpose, and chief among 
these was wheat. Potatoes and other esculents were pro- 
vided for, but the article of prime necessity was wheat, and 
to it a great proportion of the tilled area was devoted. The 
abundant crops which they obtained soon relieved their ne- 
cessities, and placed them beyond the reach of possible 
want ; and then, from the surplus of their crops, they began 
to realize a revenue in money, though the very redundancy 
of the yield of wheat in this and adjoining sections of 
country brought the price so low at times that the remu- 
neration for the labor of raising, harvesting and lunid- 
thrashing, and transporting the grain to a distant market 
seemed discouragingly small. The experience of later years. 



however, has shown that the immigrant farmers of the early 
days were not far from right in their estimate of the im- 
portance of wheat culture upon such a soil as this, where 
its constantly increasing and almost uniformly successful 
cultivation has been the foundation of so large a proportion 
of the agricultural wealth and prosperity. After the first 
struggle with poverty was over, and particularly afler in- 
creased and improved means of transportation were secured, 
the wheat-fields gradually increased in size and in profita- 
ble returns per acre ; and though other grains are and have 
always been produced quite extensively, yet it is wheat 
more than any other product of the soil that has brought 
comfort and wealth to the farmers of the county. 

The raising of cattle and sheep has been carried on to a 
considerable extent, but it has never assumed as great im- 
portance here as in some other parts of the State, nor has 
as much been done here in the extensive and general intro- 
duction of improved breeds. In the report of the secretary 
of the Shiawassee Agricultural Society for 1854 it is stated 
that a full-blood Devon bull was introduced into the county 
as early as 1837, by L. Lyman, of Shiawassee township; 
that iu 1839, Ezckiel Cook, of Bennington, brought in a 
Devon and a Durham bull from Ohio; and that in 1841, 
Alexander McArthur, of Corunna, was the owner of a bull 
of imported stock, but that the animal had died in the se- 
vere winter of 1842-43. A Durham bull was also sent 
from Oakland County to Shiawassee by James B. Hunt. 
In 1851, Deacon Cook, of Bennington, brought in a fine 
young Durham bull from the herd of Mr. Brooks, of Oak- 
land County, and a Durham cow from the Wadsworth 
herd, of Geneseo, N. Y. (purchased from Mr. Uhle, of Ypsi- 
lanti) ; and J. H. Howe, now of Owosso, received a Durham 
bull from the .same famous herd. At about the same time 
several pure-blood bulls and cows were brought to the county 
by Isaac Castle of Shiawassee ; Thomas B. Green, of 
Burns ; Abner L. Gilbert, of Caledonia ; and Stimson and 
Dewey, of Owosso. Among these were Durhams, Ayr- 
shires, and one or two of the Holderness breed. From the 
animals above mentioned came much of the improved stock 
of the county. 

The same report from which the foregoing f;icts are gath- 
ered mentions that in 1854 a flock of one hundred and 
fifty Spanish 51erino .sheep was purchased in the county. 
At the fair of the agricultural society of the county in that 
year Durham cattle were exhibited by C. S. Johnson, of 
Caledonia, and H. John.son, of Venice; Devons, by Isaac 
Castle and C. S. Johnson ; Ayrshiros, by Isaac Castle and 
L. C. Eddy ; Merino .sheep, by Isaac Gale, J. M. Hart- 
well, and J. W. Brewer; Spanish and French Merinos, by 
Luke H. Parsons and J. W. Brewer, — the last-named gen- 
tleman exhibiting a very fine imported ewe from the flock 
of A. S. Patterson, of Newark, N. J. 

The introduction of pure-blood sheep into the county 
dates from about 1852 (though some grades had been 
brought here before 1840), and by reference to the pro- 
ceedings of the agricultural society it is found that the 
credit of being the pioneers in the introduction of Merino 
and Saxony sheep into the county is given to Isaac Gale 
and J. M. Hartwell, of Bennington; L. Lyman, of Shia- 
wassee; II. W. Holly, of Vernon; and R. Burdick, of By- 



142 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



ron. There is no doubt, however, that others besides these 

gentlemen mij;ht with propriety be added to the list. Since 
the introduction of pure-bloods was commenced, as above 

mentioned, the improvement in sheep-breeding has spread 
gradually, but so generally that it would be invidious as 
well as impracticable to attempt to follow its progress 

through the county. The same may also be said of the 

general increase of improved breeds of cattle, both pure- 
bloods and grades. 

The development of the agricultural interests of Shia- 
wassee County is shown (perhaps more clearly than could 
be done in any other way) by the statistics given below, 
having reference to this county. Tiiey are taken from the 
census returns of the years indicated, viz. : 

1S40. 

Number of neat cattle in the county 2,143 

" sheep in the county .375 

" swine " " 3,807 

Tons of hay cut in the preceding year 502 

Bushels of wheat produced (harvest of ls;iy) 19,584 

" Indian corn produced (harvest of 1839) 13,772 

" oats produced (harvest of 1839) 10,937 

" barky " " 206 

" potatoes" " 23,007 

Pounds of wool sheared (1839) 583 

Pounds of maplc-.sugar made (1810) 25,933 

Value of the products of the dairy (1839) $2,147 

1850. 

Whole number of occupied farms 746 

Cash value of occujiied farms $734,965 

Number of acres improved 31,203 

" ne.at cattle 5,148 

*' sheep kept in the county 7,087 

" swine " " 3,262 

Total value of live stock $133,739 

Bushels of wheat produced (harvest of 1849) 61,834 

" rye " " 650 

" Indian corn (harvest of 1849) 56,505 

" oats " " 32,705 

" barley " '■ 289 

" buckwheat " " 6,284 

" potatoes " " 26,475 

Value of orchard products (1849) $1,041 

Tons of hay produced " 7,136 

Pounds of wool sheared in 1851) 21,738 

" maple-sugar made (1850) 61.157 

" butter made (Juno, 1849, to Juno, 1850) 110,823 

" cheese " " " 10,400 

1854. 

Number of acres improved land 30,043 

Whole number neat cattle 6,735 

" " swine 4,750 

" " sheep... 8,472 

Pounds of wool sheared (preceding year) 21,364 

" pork marketed " " 81,495 

Acres of wheat harvested " " ■ 6,111 

Bushels " " " " 74,171 

Acres of corn " ** " 4,111 

Bushels of corn " " " 04,947 

" all other kinds of grain (preceding year).... 26, .381 

" potatoes raised (preceding year) 33,629 

Tons of hay cut " " 10,655 

Pounds of butter made ** " 132.612,' 

" cheese made " " 16,002 

" maple-sugar manufactured (1854) 43,787 

1860. 

Whole number of occupied farms in the county 892 

*' " acres improved 43,727 

T<>tal cash value of farms.. .$1,957,834 

Nutul>er of neat cattle kept in county 8,427 

" swine " " 6.156 

" sheep " " 19,379 

Total value of live stock $326,724 

Pounds of wool sheared in preceding year 46,770 

Busliels of wheat harvested preceding year 101,101 

" rye " " " 5,773 

" Indian corn harvested preceding year 93,467 

" oats " " " 43,071 

" barley " " " 3,829 



Bushels of buckwheat harvested preceding year 2,830 

" potatoes raised preceding year 54,190 

Value of orchard products $8,976 

Tons of hay cut in preceding year 12,579 

Pounds of butter made |)receding year 251.011 

" cheese " " " 18,582 

*' maple-sugar made preceding year 96,723 

1864. 

Number of acres improved in the county 64,913 

" neat cattle kept in the county 11,527 

** sheep over six months old 43,187 

Pounds of w<)ol sheared in preceding year 134,188 

pork marketed " " 332,172 

Acres of wlieat harvested " " 14,950 

Bushels of wheat " " " 109,301 

Acres of corn " " " 6,428 

Bushels of corn " " " 129,670 

" all other grains harvested in preceding year. 76,236 

" potatoes raised in preceding year 58,628 

Tons of hay cut in preceding year 21,847 

Pouiuls of butter made in preceding year 336,134 

" cheese " " " ' 27,329 

" maple-sugar made in preceding year 95,560 

1870. 

Number of acres improved in county 111,390 

Value of farms in county .$8,!23,{I00 

" all live stock $1,181,149 

Number of sheep kept 45,536 

Pounds of wool shorn 192,612 

Number of milch-cows 5,864 

Pounds of butter made in preceding year 491,696 

Bushels of wheat harvested in preceding year 484,587 

" Indian corn " " " 262,851 

". oats " " " 202,510 

" barley " " " 17,341 

" buckwheat " " " 9,947 

" potatoes raised in preceding year 240,162 

Tons of hay cut in jjreceding year 32,464 

Pounds of maple-sugar made (1870) 32,999 

1874. 

Total acres of improved land 118,781 

Number of farms 2,813 

Average area of farms (acres) ^^^a 

Number of neat cattle kept 18,920 

" swine over si.x months old 8,132 

Pounds of pork marketed in preceding year 793,646 

Whole number of sheep kept 43,403 

Number of sheep sheared in preceding year 41,580 

Pouuds of wool " " " 186.277 

Acres of wheat harvested " " 30,541 

Bushels " " " " 463,412 

Acres of corn " " " 10,750 

Bushels " " " " 391.745 

" of all other grains harvested in preceding year. 356,432 

" of potatoes raised in preceding year 110,286 

Tons of hay cut in preceding year 29,667 

Pounds of butter made in i>receding year 743.353 

" cheese " " " 34,380 

" maple-sugar made in 1874 57,356 

Bushels of apples raised in preceding year 114.811 

Value of fruit and garden vegetables $60,470 

Number of acres in all kinds of fruits 5,905 

WHEAT CROP OF 1877 BY TOWNSHIPS. 

Bushels. 

Antrim 60,667 

Bennington 77,351 

Burns 71,343 

Caledonia 42,416 

Fairfield 26,448 

Ilazelton 41.046 

Middlebury 52.344 

New Haven 36,595 

Owosso 47,614 

Owosso City 3,274 

Perry 60,420 

Rush 33,518 

Seiota (not returned) 

Shiawassee 77,172 

Venice 38,495 

Vernon 63,061 

WoodhuU 46,947 

Total of county 778,712 

In that year Shiawassee County stood at the head of all 
the counties in the southern four tiers (comprising the best 



MANUFACTURES— POPULATION. 



143 



agricultural portion of the State) in the average yield of 
wheat per acre of the area harvested. 

MANUFACTURING STATISTICS. 

Though Shiawassee cannot be termed a manufacturing 
county, yet it contains a considerable number of manufac- 
turing establishments, and these will be found fully noticed 
in the histories of tlie cities and townships in which they 
are situated. In this place, however, we give a series of 
manufacturing statistics relating in their aggregate to the 
whole county. They are compiled from the census reports 
for the years named, extending from 1840 to 187-4, the re- 
turns for the present year (1880) not having yet been 
made. 

The earliest report containing manufacturing statistics 
for the county of Shiawassee is that of 1840, which shows 
as follows : 

Number of saw-mills in the county 8 

" flouricg-mills in the county 1 

Barrels of 0our manufactured in 18li9 800 

Total amount of capital invested in manufactures $46,878 

Value of home-maiie manufactures (1839) $1,000 

By subsequent census returns the following statistics of 
manufactures in the county are shown for the years indi- 
cated, viz. : 

1850. 

Number of flouring-mills 5 

Capital invested in flouring-mills $31,000 

Barrels of Hour manufactured preceding year 1 1,700 

Value of product , $36,400 

Number of saw- mills (water, fi ; steam, 1) 7 

Capital invested in lumber manufacture $10,500 

Annual product of lumber (feet) 1,500,000 

Value of product $0,990 

Aggregate amount of capital invested in all kinds of 

miinufactures (flour-mills and saw-mills inclu<led) $71,075 

Number of hands employed in all manufactures 75 

Aggregate value of annual product of all kinds of man- 
ufactures in the county $110,474r 

1854. 

Number of flouring-mills reported 3 

Capital invested in flouring-mills $23,000 

Barrels of flour made in the preceding year 5.884 

Value of flour manufactured " " $29,681.75 

Number of hands employed in flour-mills 8 

** saw-mills operated in the county (steam, 1; 

water, 4) 3 

Number of feet of lumber sawed in preceding year 1,300,000 

Value of lumber product in preceding year $0,950 

Amount of capital invested in lumber manufacture $9,200 

Number of persons em])loyed " " 11 

Amount of capital employed in all other kinds of man- 
ufacturing $9,850 

Value of products of same in preceding year $4,500 

Number of persons employed in same 15 

1864. 

Number of flour-mills reported 5 

'* runs of stones 12 

Amount of capital invested in flouring-mills $48,000 

Barrels of flour made in the preceding year 19,926 

Value " " " '* $110,245 

Number of persons employed in flour-mills 12 

" saw-mills operated in the county (steam, 5; 

water, 7) 12 

Capital invested in lumber manufacture $20,200 

Feet of lumber sawed in preceding year 1,105,000 

Value of '* '* *' $11,480 

Number of hands employed in lumber manufacture 36 

Number of manufactories other than saw-mills and flour- 
mills (steam, 3; water, 8) 11 

Number of persons employed in same 120 

Amount of capital invested in same $49,850 

Value of products of same in preceding year $65,630 

Coal-mines operated in county 1 

Pounds of coal produced in preceding year 2,400,000 

Value of product at mine $3,000 

Amount of capital invested $1,000 

Number of persons employed 6 



1874. 

Number of flouring-mills in county (steam, 2 ; water, 6) 8 . 

" runs of stones in operation 22 

Barrels of flour made in the previous year 42,450 

Value " " *' $284,800 

Capital invested in flouring-mills $184,500 

Number of persons employed in flouring-mills 26 

" saw-mills in the county (steam, 7 ; water, 9) 16 

Feet of lumber sawed in jireceding year 11,550,000 

Value " " $120,500 

Capital invested in lumber-manufacture $71,600 

Persons employed in " 73 

Number of wood- working* manufactories (steam, 5; 

water, 1) 6 

Capital invested in same $33,200 

Value of product in preceding year $44,000 

Number of persons employed 24 

** iron-workingf manufactories 4 

Capital invested in same $25,70(1 

Value of product in preceding year $47,000 

Number of persons em()loyed 26 

** musical-instrument manufactories 1 

Capital employed in same $3,000 

Value of product in preceding year $3,000 

Number of persons employed 4 

" wagon-, carriage-, and sleigh- manufactories 2 

Capital invested in same $5,000 

Value of product in preceding year $13,000 

Number of persons employed 11 

" furniture- and chair-factories 4 

Capital invested in same $51,200 

Value of product in preceding year $121,000 

Number of persons employed 76 

" stave- and heading-factories 3 

Capital invested in same $12,800 

Value of product in preceding year $12,500 

Number of persons employed 29 

" barrel-, keg-, pail-, and tub-factories 1 

Capital invested in same $1,000 

Value of product in preceding year $3,000 

Number of persons employed 5 

'* tanneries reported 1 

Capital invested in same $20,000 

Value of product in preceding year $50,000 

Number of persons employed 12 

'* saddle-, harness-, and trunk-factories re- 
ported 1 

Capital invested in same $2,000 

Value of product in preceding year $4,000 

Number of persons employed .' 3 

'• breweries reported in county 2 

Capital invested in same $13,000 

Value of product in preceding year $16,000 

Number of persons employed 7 

" paper-mills I 

Capital invested in same , $20,000 

Value of product in preceding year $14,130 

Number of persons employed 14 

" boot- and slioe-factories 1 

Capital invested in same $4,000 

Value of product in preceding year $20,000 

Number of persons employed 15 

■' pot- and pearl-ash factories 1 

Capital invested in sjime $500 

Value of product in preceding year $3,000 

Number of persons employed 2 

" brick- and tile-manufactories 2 

Capital invested in same $(,500 

Value of product in preceding year $I2,0(tO 

Number of persons employed 24 

" stone- and maible-works 2 

Capital invested in same $2,500 

Value of product in preceding year $11,000 

Number of hands employed 8 

Total number of manufacturing establishments (includ- 
ing saw-mills and grist-mills) reported in the county 

fur the year 1S73 58 

Persons employed in same 364 

Capital invested $464,500 

Value of ])roduct for the year $805,930 

Coal-mines operated (1874) 2 

Capital invested $168,549 

Men employed 41 

Value of product at mines $39,000 

POPULATION OF THE COUNTY. 
The total population of Shiawassee County in the year 
1837, as shown by the census returns of that year, was 

* Including in this class planing- and turning-mills, and sash-, 
door-, bliud, and spoke-factories. 

f This class includes foundries, machine-shops, and boiler-works. 



lU 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1184; in 1840, 2103; aud in 1845 it was 3010. The 
population at several later periods, from 1850 to 1874, in- 
clusive, is given by townships in the following table : 

1851). 1854. 1801). lSfi4. 1870. 1874. 

Antrim 282 4IH 046 727 992 985 

lieiiningldn RO 600 895 1,0115 1,424 1,490 

Burns 717 949 1,065 1,173 1,557 1,498 

Caleilonia 500 905 1,203 1,BB4 891 1,008 

Coninna (\'illago and 

Citv) 864 1,408 1,345 

FairlU-Kl 74 346 352 632 043 

IlazeUi.n 26 72 350 389 822 1,134 

Wi.Ulleliury 132 229 016 fi05 1,018 969 

New Haven 150* 174 448 622 999 1,148 

Owosso 392 621 573 589 1,058 1,050 

Owosso (City) 1,169 1,346 2,005 2,448 

Perry 313 445 070 093 1,058 1,016 

Kush 126 346 397 683 774 

Scioto 191 297 499 538 1,270 1,312 

Shiawassee 810 917 1,146 1,168 1,422 1,336 

Vernon 674 790 1,1(10 1,144 1,797 1,785 

Venice 186 409 575 569 986 1,076 

Wooilhull 250 338 387 584 776 756 

Total of County 6233 7419 12,898 13,465 20,868 21,773 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
CITY OF OWOSSO.f 

The Location of the City and its Advantages — Early History, Settle- 
ment, etc. — City Incorporation and Organization — First City As- 
sessment — List of City Officers — Fire Department and Water Supply 
— Mills and Manufacturing — Educational — Secret Benevolent Asso- 
ciations — Other Associations —Religious. 

The city of Owosso, J the most important commercial 
and manufacturing point in Shiawassee County, is situated 
on the Shiawassee§ River, at the crossing of the Detroit 
and Milwaukee and the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw 
Railroads. From the junction of these roads it is seventy- 
nine miles to Detroit, seventy-eight to Grand Rapids, thirty- 
seven to Saginaw, twenty-seven to Lansing, and three miles 
to Corunna, the county-seat. 

Its beautiful and healthful location, great natural advan- 
tages, together with its superior railroad facilities, render it 
one of the most desirable dwelling-places in Central Michi- 
gan. Lying mainly within the township of Owosso, its 
corporate limits extend eastward into that of Caledonia, em- 
bracing a total area of four square miles. The Shiawassee 
enters the city from the east, thence flowing over its rocky 
bed rapidly to the northward, until the west line of section 
13 is crossed, it then turns sharply to the north and con- 
tinues in that direction beyond the northern limits. 

* Including Rush. 

f By John S. Schenck. 

J According to Mr. B. 0. Williams, this name w.as derived from tliat 
of " Wasso," the principal chief of the Shiawassee hand of Chippewas, 
who, prior to the first occupation of the county hy the whites, and for 
several years subsequently, lived near Shiawassoctown. Upon the 
organization of the township, in 1837, the letter was prefixed to 
the chief's name, and the same adopted as the name of the new town- 
ship. The hamlet in its midst, as yet without a cognomen other than 
that of "The Rapids," or the " vill.age of Shiawassee Rapids," also, 
very naturally, assumed the same name. Originally the word was 
spelled Ovvasso, but, by common — perhaps improper — usage, it has in 
recent years obtained its present orthographical style. 

^ Chij)pewa terra for ".straight running river." 



Owosso of to-day contains about three thou.sand inhabi- 
tants, and with its river and race, the substantial iron 
bridges spanning them, the mineral springs, the inequalities 
of the surface, adorned with elegant residences and well- 
kept lawns, the regularly laid out residence-streets, shaded 
with luxuriant native forest-trees, the streets of traffic, 
lined with imposing brick structures, the whirr of wheels 
in the manufactories, the whistling of locomotives and 
the rumble of freighted trains, the dome of a handsome 
school building, and the spires of numerous church edifices 
surmounting all, combine to form a picture at once satisfac- 
tory and pleasing, to make the little city appear — what it 
really is — busy and beautiful, the home of many citizens 
of thrift and culture. 

EARLY HISTORY, SETTLEMENTS, Etc. 

The reader will observe by referring to the history of 
Owosso township that during the year 1823 Deputy United 
States Surveyors Joseph Wampler and William Brookfield, 
working separately and accompanied by their respective as- 
sistants, ran out the township and .sectional lines prevailing at 
the present time, and that from their meagre field-notes we 
obtain the earliest authentic information concerning the oc- 
cupancy of this immediate vicinity by the English-speaking 
whites. Meanwhile, ten years had elapsed since the original 
survey. No settler's rude cabin or stumpy fields as yet de- 
faced nature's landscape, and, save occasional visits from the 
half-breed French and Indian coiireurs-de-hois (forest-run- 
ners), Wasso's band of Chippewas and the wild beasts of the 
forest were the only occupants of this portion of the Shia- 
wassee Valley. 

The time last mentioned brings us to the spring or early 
summer of 1833, — a time when Benjamin 0. Williams, in 
pursuing his journey to Saginaw, via the broad Indian trail 
which followed the course of the Shiawassee, passed this 
way in company with the Chippewa chief, Esh-toQ-e-quet,|| 
or " Little Bear." Mr. Williams and his guide journeyed 
on Indian ponies, and as they came out on the open plain 
which skirted the right bank of the river at the Che-boc-wa- 
ting, or " Big Rapids," the sight unfolded to them was most 
pleasing. A halt was made on the high ground near the 
present school-building, where a better and more extended 
view was obtained. They saw here magnificent water- 
power privileges, beautiful rose-willow plains extending 
to a considerable distance back from the east bank of the 
river, while on the opposite side was a wooded tract of dense, 
heavy timber, — the place, in fact, described by William 
Brookfield in 1823, in these words : " Plains or oak-openings. 
Land first-rate. Good soil. No large timber. It was long 
ago burnt off. Undergrowth white and prickly ash, poplar, 
thorns, and briars ; all in abundance." 

After surveying the beauties of nature for a few moments, 
Mr. Williams turned to his companion and remarked, 
" What a fine farm could be made here !" 

" Yes," replied the chief; and then, giving further ex- 
pression to his thoughts and the knowledge that the white 
men were steadily encroaching upon the hunting-grounds of 
his people, continued, " Not many more moons will pass 

II He was iilso known by the French as Moncousin, or " My Cousin." 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



145 



over ray white brother's head ere the pale-faces will have 
mills, a town, and cultivated fields here." 

Fully determined to possess himself of a portion, at least, 
of this fair domain, the journey was resumed towards Sagi- 
naw. Upon his return to their trading-post, " The Ex- 
change," Mr. Williams acquainted his brother, Alfred L. 
Williams, of his discovery, and urged that they purchase, 
with what available cash they had, lands at the " Big Rap- 
ids." Deferring to his elder brother's judgment, and accom- 
panied by him, B. 0. Williams again visited this region the 
same summer, when the brothers concluded to locate lands 
here, recognizing its value for mill-sites, and strongly sus- 
pecting that it would be a central point in a new county. 
Acting upon this determination, Alfred L. Williams pro- 
ceeded to Detroit, and on the 2d of August, 1833, the first 
land in the surveyed towu.ship transferred to individual own- 
ership was entered in the names of Alfred L. and Benjamin 
0. Williams, being a portion of section 24. Their means 
of obtaining ready cash at that time were very limited, and 
their purchase did not cover as much territory as they de- 
sired. Therefore, when more money was obtained, addi- 
tional lots were purchased on section 13, November 13th of 
the same year, in all about two hundred acres. 

From the date last mentioned until the summer of 1835 
no other purchases were made in this vicinity or township. 
The ^lessrs. Williams had made no improvements, and 
" laud-lookers'' had not penetrated the wilderness thus far. 
However, in June, 1835, Elias Comstock and Lewis Find- 
ley, from Oakland Co., Mich., entered lands situated upon 
section 13 (the former upon section 24 also). In July, 
1835, the Messrs. Williams entered additional land upon 
the same section, and in October of the same year Abel 
Millington, of Washtenaw Co., Mich., Trumbull Cary, of 
Genesee Co., N. Y., Peter A. Coudrey, of New York City, 
and Elias Comstock and Seth Beach, of Oakland Co., Mich., 
entered lands situated upon sections 13, 14, 23, and 24, all 
within or near the present corporate limits of the city of 
Owosso. 

Early in July, 1835, the first settlement in the northern 
half of Shiawas.see County was commenced at the " Big 
Ilapids of the Shiawassee," the locality now known as the 
city of Owosso, by people from Oakland County. The 
movement was inaugurated by Elias Comstock, Lewis Find- 
ley, and Kilburn Bedell (a son-in-law of Findley), who 
having purchased lands here in June of the same year, 
were desirous of beginning immediate improvements upon 
them. Therefore a party, consisting of Elias Comstock, 
Lewis Findley, Kilburn Bedell and wife, John D. Overton, 
his wife and one child, and David Van Wormer, with his 
wife and one child, left Pontiac in the first days of July, 
1835, and began their journey to this point. Their house- 
hold effects and their women and children were mounted 
upon two wagons, drawn by two ox-teams ; two or three 
cows were also brought along. July 4th was celebrated by 
cutting out roads. An Indian trail was followed mainly, 
but frequently it was diverged from and a route of their 
own cut out, in the endeavor to keep upon dry ground and 
the most direct course. 

Upon their arrival, Mr. Findley immediately built a log 
cabin and settled on the east part of the northwest fiac- 
lU 



tional quarter of section 13. His son-in-law, Mr. Bedell, 
located a .short distance north, on section 12, while the 
Messrs. Overton and Van Wormer, who were in the employ 
of Mr. Comstock, erected and occupied a double log house, 
which stood near the river (the lot now owned and occupied 
by Hon. Jerome W. Turner), the latter being the first build- 
ing erected within the limits of the city proper. After his 
tenants were comfortably housed and cared for, Mr. Com- 
stock returned to Pontiac, where he passed the succeeding 
winter. 

During the fall of 1835 another settler arrived at "The 
Rapids," in the person of Henry S. Smith. He was a 
blacksmith by trade, the second settler in the county 
(John I. Tinkelpaugh having been the first), and first lo- 
cated just below Shiawasseetown in the fall of 1832, 
where, associated with a Mr. Cooley, and possessing a few 
goods and a barrel of whisky, he endeavored to establish 
an Indian trading-post. His wife, a delicate, nervous 
woman, and five children joined him in 1833. The ven- 
ture at Shiawa.sseetown did not succeed very well, however, 
and in the fall of 1835 he was induced by Alfred L. Wil- 
liams to remove and take up his residence at the " Big 
Rapids of the Shiawassee." • A log cabin was erected on 
land now known as block 24, east side of the race, and 
when occupied by himself and family he became the fir.st 
settler on the site of the original village plat. The early 
settlers remember him as a genial, liberal, and good fellow, 
who had the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. 
He brought the first plow into the county. He was elected 
as the first collector, and also one of the highway commis- 
sioners in 1837; was re-elected to the same offices in 1838, 
and in 1839 or '40 removed with Daniel Ball to Chesaning, 
thence to Grand Rapids, where it is believed he still resides. 
Of the settlers before mentioned we will here add that 
Lewis Findley opened the first farm in the township. He 
became the first supervisor of Owosso in 1837, and again 
filled the same position in 1841. After continuing as a 
resident of this township for a number of years, he finally 
removed to Six-Mile Creek. His son-in-law, Kilburn Be- 
dell, was the first one in the settlement to depart from the 
cares and troubles of this life. Apparently in perfect 
health, early in March, 1836, he proceeded to visit the 
" Exchange" for the purpose of transacting some business. 
Returning, he arrived at a point near the Byerly farm, when 
he became seriously ill. People at the Van Wormer and 
Overton cabin were notified of his condition. They at once 
hastened to his assistance, placed him upon a hand-sled, 
and brought him to the cabin, where all the appliances and 
remedies at hand were used for his restoration. But they 
were of no avail. He died the same evening, and on the 
following day was buried on his own land, near the banks 
of the Shiawassee. Mr. Comstock, who was then present 
in the settlement, made the coffin from cherry lumber 
which Mr. Bedell had brought in to manufiicture into tables. 
Messrs. Van Wormer and Overton continued as residents 
here but two or three years. 

Hon. Elias Comstock, who has been prominently identi- 
fied with the history of this community since 1885, was 
born at New London, Conn., Dec. 18, 1799. His father, 
Rev. Elkanah Comstock, was a Baptist clergyman, and re- 



146 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



moving from Connecticut to Albany Co., N. Y., about 1802, 
was pastor of the Baptist Cliurch in the town of Berne 
until 1807. He then removed to Cayuga Co., N. Y., 
serving as pastor of churches in the towns of Scipio and 
Owosco, N. Y., until the fall of 1 824, when, with his 
family, he emigrated to Michigan. He settled at Pontiac, 
and became the first pastor of the first Baptist Church in 
the Territory. His son, Elias Comstock, received the ad- 
vantages afforded in the common schools of New York 
State, and finally completed his studies under the tuition 
of Mr. Ellis, at Skaueateles, N. Y. From his eighteenth 
year until his removal to Michigan, May, 1823, he was 
occupied as a teacher in Cayuga Co., N. Y. Soon after 
his arrival he engaged in teaching in Detroit as assistant to 
John Farmer, then principal of the Detroit Academy. He 
next taught school in I'ontiac, which then contained less 
than a dozen families. In 1824 he engaged in mercantile 
business at Stony Creek, Oakland Co. The following 
year he returned to Pontiac, where he became the suc- 
cessor of John J. Jermain, the first merchant of that 
place. He was appointed clerk of Oakland County by 
Governor Cass in 1827, and soon after, by the same 
authority, became justice of the peace, continuing to hold 
both ofiices for eight years. While filling the positions of 
clerk and justice he also found time to clear and cultivate 
a farm of eighty acres, which is now wholly within the limits 
of the city of Pontiac. 

Having sold his possessions in Pontiac in 1835, he then 
located land* on the Shiawassee River, now a part of the 
city of Owosso. Like others, he located his land with the 
idea that Owosso was to be the county-seat ; but the inter- 
ests of Detroit land-owners prevailed, and Corunna was 
established. By the settlement of Messrs. Overton and 
Van Wormer many improvements had been made upon 
his purchase. A dwelling-house liad been erected for him 
by Henry S. Smith, and in pursuance of his plans, on the 
15th of May, 1836, he settled his family at "The Rapids," 
completing the journey from the " Exchange" in a canoe. 
Holding an appointment as justice of the peace of Oakland 
County, and as this region was then attached to that county 
for all judicial purposes, he became the first resident justice, 
and the succeeding year (1837) was elected to the same 
position in the new township of Owosso. During the years 
1838, '39, and '40 he served as supervisor. In subsequent 
years he has served as judge of probate, county judge, asso- 
ciate judge of the Circuit Court, and in 1852, 1856, and 
1858 he was chosen county clerk on the Republican ticket. 
Although more than fourscore years of age, yet in apparent 
good health and honored by all who know him. Judge 
Comstock still resides in the beautiful little city he a.ssisted 
to found forty-five years ago. 

In the autumn of 1835 and the winter succeedina;, 
Messrs. A. L. and B. O. Williams became active in the pre- 
liminary work necessary fur the establishment of a village 
on their purchase. The veteran surveyor Hervey Parke, 
of Pontiac, came up and platted the village of Shiawassee 
Rapids,f on lands resting on the right bank of the river. 



* See list of land-entries, history of Owosso township, 
f Maps of this plat have not been preserved. 



A petition praying for the right to dam the Shiawassee 
River received favorable consideration at the hands of the 
Territorial legislative body then in session, and by an act 
approved March 28, 1836, Alfred L. and Benjamin 0. 
Williams, their heirs and assigns, were authorized to build 
a dam across the Shiawassee River four feet in height, at 
a place known and described as " The Rapids," on section 
24, in township No. 7 north, of range No. 2 east. The 
act further specified, " They .shall also build a good and 
sufficient lock, not less than seventy-five feet in length and 
sixteen feet in width, for the passage of boats, canoes, rafts, 
and other water-craft." 

Early in 1836 a bargain was completed between the 
Messrs. Williams and Daniel Ball & Co., whereby the 
latter became the owners of one-third of the village plat, 
besides the water-power and the land lying between the 
proposed mill-race and river. Silas and Daniel Ball also 
purchased of the general government in March, 1836, lands 
situated upon sections 24, 25, and 36. Daniel Ball was a 
practical millwright, an energetic business man, and, in pur- 
suance of his project to establish mills and to assist in 
building up a village, arrived here from Rochester, N. Y., 
early in the autumn of 1836, with a number of families, 
people frequently spoken of as " Ball's colonists." Among 
them were Rufus Collier, Simon Howell, John B. Griswold, 
William B. Hopkins, Henry Crooks, Daniel Fletcher, Mr. 
Sweet, John Lute, Mr. Hilton, Mr. Siegel,J who had 
served with the First Napoleon, and perhaps others whose 
names are not remembered. 

Machinery for Ball's saw-mill, and the greater portion of 
the goods belonging to this party of settlers, had been 
shipped to Saginaw, from whence it was proposed to bring 
them up the Shiawassee on canoes, rafts, etc. But on the 
6th of October a heavy and unseasonable snowstorm came 
on, which, falling upon trees yet clothed in their summer 
verdure, caused many of them to bend and fall into the 
stream, thus rendering navigation impossible until cleared 
away. In the long delay which ensued before getting 
their household articles considerable privation and hardship 
was experienced. Cabins were first erected, and after the 
various families were comfortably quartered therein, work 
was commenced on the mill-race. The latter, the dam, and 
a saw-mill were completed some time during the year 1837. 
Mr. Ball occupied the log cabin built by Henry S. Smith 
in 1835 for a store, and it is believed became the first 
postmaster at about the same time. 

During the spring of 1837, Alfred L. Williams moved 
from the " Exchange" to the village and established the 
store known at that time as " Williams' trading-post." 
His brother, B. 0. Williams, did not permanently settle 
here until the following year. The log dwelling-house first 
occupied by A. L. Williams stood just in front of Dr. 
Barnes' present residence. Mr. B. 0. Williams relates 
that the mosquitoes and gnats were terribly annoying dur- 
ing those days. Smudges of rotten wood were kindled each 
niglit, and pans of the same smoking material carried into 
the rooms. One nii^ht, when the Williams brothers and 



J His wife reeeived the credit of having given birth to the first 
ehild i^.Juhn .Sitgel) born in the township. 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



147 



two or three workmen were occupying the buiUling, the 
busy insects were more than usually on the alert ; the 
" smudge" seemed to have no effect on them whatever. In 
sheer desperation, Alfred L. Williams arose and threw a 
handful of red pepper in tjie fire. Nearly suffocated, the 
inmates ran to open air for their lives. The mosquitoes, 
however, were quieted for that night. 

The year 1837 throughout was an eventful one in the 
history of Owosso. It witnessed the formation of the town- 
ship ; the completion of the race; an increased number of 
settlers, in the persons of Daniel Gould, who became the 
first county surveyor, Austin Griffis, Kbenezer Gould, an 
early merchant and lawyer, and afterwards known to fame 
as colonel of the " Fighting Fifth" Michigan Cavalry, Anson 
B., William, and Isaac M. Chipman, Sanford M. Green, 
George Parkill, and others; and the survey and location of 
the Northern Railroad,* which, in passing from Port Hu- 
ron, through Lapeer, Flint, Corunna, Owo.sso, Lyons, Ionia, 
and Grand Rapids to Lake Michigan, was to become one of 
the most important internal improvements ever adopted by 
any State. 

At this time, too (1837), the citizens of Owosso began 
looking about them for some means of conveying goods to 
and from their settlement other than by the miserable, 
deep-rutted wagon-roads leading to Pontiac, Detroit, and 
Ann Arbor, and by an act of the State Legislature, ap- 
proved March 21, 1837, the Owosso and Saginaw Naviga- 
tion Companyf was incorporated, and Daniel Ball, Alfred 
L. Williams, Benjamin 0. Williams, Lewis Findley, Wil- 
liam Gage, Gardner D. Williams, Norman Little, Samuel 
G. Watson, Ephraim S. Williams, Elias Comstock, Alex- 
ander Hilton, and Perry G. Gardener were named as .cor- 
porators. Their purpose was to make navigable the waters 
of the Shiawassee River between the two points named in 
the title of the act. The capital stock was to be one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, divided into shares of twenty-five 
dollars each. Besides those mentioned, other inhabitants 
of Owosso aided in finding means for pushing tlie work, — ■ 
notably Ebenezer Gould and David D. Fish. 

This company went forward and expended several thou- 
sand dollars and worked for two years in removing ob- 
structions of drift-wood and fallen timber, principally be- 
tween Chesaning and Bad River. Tow-paths, stone dams, 
and the many other expedients necessary to render the river 
navigable to Saginaw were adopted. Messrs. Daniel Ball 
and Sanford M. Green worked in the water beside their 
men from daylight till dark, meanwhile tormented by mos- 
quitoes continuously. One of their foremen, John B. 



* la 1S38-.39 much of this proposed lino was cleared and grubbed 
out, and considerable grading was done at various points along the 
line. But the scheme was abandoned in the latter year, and except 
whore it has since been used as the *' Northern Wagon-Road'' the 
money thus expended by the State was thrown away. 

f Another company under the same name was empowered by an 
act of the Legislature, approved May 15, 1846, to continue the work 
in the endeavor to render navigable the Shiawassee. Those named in 
the act as commissioners were Amos (iould, Alfred L. Williams, Ben- 
jamin 0. Williams, Elias Comstock, Kbenezer C. Kimberly, Lemuel 
Castle, Isaac Gale, George W. Slocumb, Edward L. Ainent, Anson B. 
Chipman, and John B. Barnes. But after some further expenditure 
of time and material the project was abandoned. 



GriswoM, also greatly aided their efforts. At that time, to 
fail in this work was thought fatal to the success of set- 
tling the country, as the expense of hauling over the terri- 
ble wagon-roads was ruinous to business men. The com- 
pany finally succeeded in rendering the river navigable for 
flat-bottomed boats, and one Durham boat was built by 
Ebenezer Gould and others, which was capable of carrying 
and did carry over two hundred barrels of flour at one 
cargo from Owosso to Saginaw. Mr. B. 0. Williams, from 
whose published pioneer recollections we have gathered the 
information concerning the navigation of the Shiawassee, 
says that; several scows were first built, with foot- or run- 
ning-boards at each side for the boatmen to pole the boat 
up the river. From Chesaning a horse was used for tow- 
ing, occasionally jiimi)ing the horse upon the bow of the 
boat to cross him over the river when the opposite bank 
afforded better facilities. 

In 1838, Jlessrs. Ebenezer Gould and David D. Fish 
established themselves as merchants in the village. They 
were really the first, if we except the small stock kept by 
Daniel Ball for the accommodation mainly of his workmen, 
and the goods brought here by A. L. Williams from his 
trading-post, " The Exchange." 

On the 13th of October, 1838, the land now known as 
the original plat| of the village of Owosso was surveyed 
and mapped by Daniel Gould, surveyor, at the instance of 
Alfred L. and B. 0. Williams, proprietors. An explana- 
tory note of the surveyor says, " This plat includes the fol- 
lowing parcels of land : the northeast fraction of the 
northeast fractional quarter of fractional section 2-1: ; the 
southeast fractional quarter of fractional section No. 13, in 
township 7 north, range 2 east ; and the west part of the 
southwest fractional quarter of section No. 18, in township 
No. 7 north, of range No. 3 east." 

Grounds set aside for public uses were " Fayette Square" 
and the " burying-ground." The streets, as shown by the 
original map, ran north and south, east and west. Those 
running east and west are North, Oliver, Williams, Mason, 
Exchange, Main, and Comstock. Those running north and 
south. Mulberry, Pine, Adams, Water, Ball, Washington, 
Park, Saginaw, and Hickory. All are four rods wide ex- 
cept Washington and Main Streets, and Exchange Street 
as far west as Water, which are six rods in width. 

Dr. S. W. Pattison, the first practicing physician to re- 
side in the county, came from Fentonville, Genesee Co., 
and settled in Owosso in 1839. Dr. Joseph P. Roberts 
had previously settled in the territory now known as Perry 
township, but he devoted all his energies to farming. He 
was one of the earliest settlers there, and possessed a well- 
cultivated mind. Before Dr. Pattison came to Owosso, the 
early settlers, in cases of dire emergency, sent to Fenton- 
ville, to Grand Blanc, and to Flint for physicians. For the 
treatment of ordinary cases of fevers, fever and ague, etc., 



I Additions to the original plat have been made by Louisa A. Gould's 
subdifision of out. lots 1 and 4, Juno 30, 1856 j S. K. Barnes, July, 
1856 ; Alfred L. Williams, Oct. 22, 1S56; Lucy L. Comstock, Aug. 15, 
1857; Louisa Merell, Aug. 18, 1857; Williams * Lyon, October, 1857; 
Charles L. Goodhue, Jan. t», 1800; A. L. and B. 0. Williams' subdi- 
vision of out-lots 6 and 7, June .'SO, 1864; Jennett II. Kelly, Sept. 3, 
186(i; Erastus Barnes, Juno 4 and 5, 1868; Mary A. Chipman, May 
25, 1869; A. L. and B. 0. Williams, Sept. 13, 1872. 



148 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



many of tlie pioneers were proviJcd with lancets and common 
medicines, and in their use became quite expert. Particu- 
larly was this the case with Mr. ]J. 0. Williams, who during 
the early years preceding the settlement of physicians 
treated many patients successfully. 

In 1839 the township voted two hundred and fifty dollars 
for the purpose of building a bridge across the river at the 
Washington Street crossing, and during the same year 
Mes.srs. Ball, Green & Co. erected the first grist-mill. This 
was a great acquisition to this portion of the country, as 
previously no grist-mills were nearer tlian the " Thread 
Mill" in Flint. Other business enterprises, such as wool- 
carding and cloth-dressing mills, an iron-furnace, and various 
small mechanical shops, soon followed, and the village 
slowly yet steadily gained in importance and population. 

It would be a matter of impossibility at this time to follow 
in close clironological order the furtlier liistory of Owosso, 
so far as relates to the names of inhabitants, the precise 
date of their settlement, and the gradual development of 
business interests. It will not be attempted therefore, 
other than to give the names of resident tax-payers at two or 
three different intervals of time. 

In 1844 the tax-paying residents of the village of 
Owosso, alphabetically arranged, were 



Ament, Edward L., news- 
paper publisher. 

Ament, Winfield S., black- 
smith. 

Barnes, John B., physician. 

Barnes, Erastus. 

Becker, H. W. 

Comstock, Elias. 

Comstock & Pattison, mer- 
chants. 

Chipman, Anson B. 

Chipman, I. M. 

Comstock, Luther. 

Collier, Rufus. 

Collier, Orrin. 

Carr, William A., cabinet- 
shop. 

Chipman, William. 

Crooks, Henry. 

Casper, Felix, wool-carding, 
etc. 

Conrad, Justus. 

Fletcher, Daniel, wagon- 
maker. 

Foot, Philip. 

Goodhue, Charles L., mer- 
chant. 

Goodhue, J. M. 

Griffis, Austin, saw-mill. 

Griffis & Whitcomb. 

Grifiis, Alanson, cooper. 

Graham, J. N., physician. 

Gould, Daniel, surveyor. 



Gould, Daniel, & Co., fur- 
nace. 

Gould, Amos, attorney and 
owner of grist-mill. 

Gould, Amos, and others, 
water-power, and all the 
land between the mill- 
race and river, about fif- 
teen acres. 

George, Oscar. 

Hardy, Seth, clergyman. 

Howell, Simon. 

Moses, Charles M. 

McGilvra, Daniel. 

Morton, Benoni. 

Pattison, Samuel W., phy- 
sician. 

Perkins, Sprague, brick- 
maker. 

Parkill, George, carpenter. 

Phillips, John G. 

Parkill, Charles P., an early 
teacher. 

Roberts, J. P. 

Smith, L. v., carpenter. 

Simons, William. 

Tyler, David F., blacksmith. 

Tillotson, Matthew N., mer- 
chant. 

Williams, Alfred L. 

Williams, Benjamin 0. 

Whitcomb, Samuel H. 

Whitlock, Joseph. 



Additional residents mentioned in 1850 were James M. 
Williams, William H. Keytes, David IngersoU, Dr. Charles 
T. Disbrow, David W. Wheeler, Ebenezer Gould, Samuel 
Wallace, Ira Merell, Robert G. Martin, Arthur Keytes, 
Dwight Dimmick, Jesse H. Quackenbush, Lucius G. 
Hammond, George L. Hall, George Jones, Alexander 
Clagherty, William R. Chipman, Thomas D. Dewey, Ran- 
dolph L. Stewart, Joseph Hedges & Co. (woolen-mills), 
Merrill H. Clark, D. Stewart & Co., George W. Collier, 
William Smith, and Ezekiel W. Stickney. 

CITY INCORPORATION AND ORGANIZATION. 

By the completion of a portion of the lines of the Detroit 
and Milwaukee Railroad in 1856, and the Amboy, Lansing 
and Traverse Bay road in 18G2, and the activity created in 
consequence of Owosso becoming a railroad junction, the 
people concluded that for their better government a city 
charter was necess.iry. The village then contained about 
one thousand inhabitants, and in accordance with their 
wishes, by an act of the State Legislature approved Feb. 15, 
1859, the city of Owosso was created. 

Extracts from that act describe its original and present 
boundaries, etc., as follows : 

" That so much of the townships of Owosso and Cale- 
donia, in the county of Shiawa.ssee, as are included in the 
following territory, to wit: Sections 13 and 24, and the 
east half of sections 14 and 23 in township 7, north of 
range No. 2 east, and also the west half of sections 18 and 
19 in township No. 7 north, of range No. 3 east, being in 
the county of Shiawassee, be and the same is hereby set off 
from the said townships of Owosso and Caledonia and de- 
clared to be a city, by the name of ' the City of Owosso,' 
by which name it shall hereafter be known." 

The city was divided into four wards, whose boundaries 
were defined as follows : The First Ward to include that por- 
tion lying north of the centre of Main Street and west of 
Washington Street. The Second Ward all that portion 
lying north of the centre of Main Street and east of the 
centre of Washington Street. The Third Ward all that por- 
tion lying south of the centre of Main Street and east of 
the centre of Washington Street ; while the Fourth Ward 
embraced all that portion lying south of the centre of Main 
Street and west of the centre of Washington Street. 

After arranging for the election and appointment of 
officers, designating their duties, and the enactment of 
various laws for the government of the city, it was further 
ordered that the first election under the charter should be 
held on the first Monday of April, 1859. The polling- 
places designated were " In the First Ward, at the inn kept 
by Jacob Aberle ; in the Second Ward, at the inn kept by 
Alfred Stewart ; in the Third Ward, at the store now kept 
by William Goff ; in the Fourth Ward, at the inn kept by 
S. J. Harding." 

FIRST CHARTER ELECTION. 

Pursuant to the provisions of the foregoing act, the elec- 
tors assembled at their respective polling- places on Monday, 
April 4, 1859, for the purpose of electing city ofiicers, and 
as a result the following-named officers were declared elected : 
Amos Gould, Mayor ; John N. IngersoU, Clerk ; Daniel 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



149 



Lyon, Treasurer ; E. W. Barnes, Supervisor of the First 
District; Elislia Leach, Supervisor of the Second District ; 
Cluirles JI. Moses, Charles L. Goodlmo, Aldermen of the 
First Ward ; Daniel L. Thorpe, Thomas D. Dewey, Alder- 
men of the Second Ward ; John Gutekunst, George K. 
Black, Aldermen of the Third Ward; Stillman J. Harding, 
Eli D. Gregory, Aldermen of the Fourth Ward ; Ira Mer- 
ell. Justice of the Peace for the Second District ; George 
K. Newcombe, Amos M. Kellogg, School Inspectors; Daniel 
Wait, M. W. Quackenbush, Directors of the Poor; Robert 
Hodgkins, of the First District, and Ephraim Gould, of the 
Second District, Constables. 

FIRST CITY ASSESSMENT. 

In June, 1859, the first assessment was made on the 
people residing within the city's corporate limits, and their 
names,* arranged alphabetically, were : 



Amnet, W. S. 
Andrews, H. S. 
Andrus, W. H. 
Aberle, Jacob. 

Ayers, . 

Almandinger, J. D. 
Beckel & Co. 
Byerly, Adam II. 
Bradley, H. H. 
Bennett, J. S. 
Brooks, Daniel. 
Bush, Frank. 
Bush, G. & E. 
Burnliam, W. D. 
Burpee, M. W. 
Bagg, H. C. 
Bagg, C. C. 
Bagg, J. H. 
Barnes, Erastus. 
Brynell, II. D. 
Barnes, Mrs. S. K. 
Babcock, Wm. F. 
Baldwin, George. 
Black, Geo. R. 
Bellinger, A. D. 
Barnes, E. W. 
Beebe, A. M. 
Beebe, Charles M. 
Barnum, Mrs. J. A. 
Burgess, F. W. 
Comstock, Elias. 
Comstock, L. II. 
Case, William. 
Cobb, D. J. 
Chipman, A. B. 
Chipman, M. 
Collier, Geo. W. 
Collier, Mrs. R. 
Collier, C. II. 



Clark, Robert. 
Chamberlin, Levi. 
Chapel, G. W. 
Corbin, Mrs. W. 
Chipman, Wra. R. 
Caille, Joseph. 
Carr, W. A. 
Colar, Jacob. 
Colt, Mrs. M. 
Cornelius, J. W. 
Dewey & Stewart. 
Dewey, T. D. 
Davis, Lewis B. 
Dimmick, D. 
Decker, S. C. 
Fletcher, William. 
Gutekunst, John. 
Guile, J. W. 
Gilbert, Thomas. 
Gute, Fred. 
Goodburn, E. 
Gregory, E. D. 
Gould, L. A. 
Gould, Amos. 
Gould & Co. 
Gould, Mrs. I. H. 
Gould, D. 
Gould & Todd. 
Goodhue, C. L. 
Goodhue, S. H. 
Howell, Simon. 
Ilurgenhaus, 11. 
Hedges, Joseph. 
Hughes, Geo. 
Hodgkins, Robert. 
Hakes, S. W. 
Horton, J. 
Harding, Stillman J. 
Holman, Charles. 



* These names are copied from the roll. If any are misspelled the 
errors must be attributed to the assessor. 



Heartstuff,f John. Robinson, W. E. 

Hitchcock & Bro. Randall, A. M. 

Howard, Charles. Randall, E. P. 

Harmon & Retan. Russell, John. 

Howe, E. L. Retan, B. L. 

Ingersoll, D. Rice, John. 

IngersoU, Wm. Rushton, Mrs. J. 

Ingersoll, Jno. N. Reynus, Russell. 

Josenhauns, G. Stewart, John. 

Knill, Henry. Stewart, M. L. 

Kellogg, Amos M. Smith, E. 

Kingsland, Geo. Smith & Yates. 

Keytes, Wm. H. Shattuck, Charles. 

Kelly, John. Secord, M. 

Kitredge, Frank. Sly, Wm. 

Lyon, W. J. Struber, L. 

Loach, Elisha. Spencer, Laura. 

Lamunion, Abel. Stewart, A. 

Lyon, Daniel. Simmons, C. B. 

Lyon, Joel. Smith, Wra. 

Lewis, Hiram L. Stillwell, Mrs. M. 

Laubengayer, Jno. F. Stewart, R. L. . 

Laubengayer, J. B. Sherman, Mrs. Louisa. 

Mullen, D. J. Taylor, Benj. F. 

Moss, Morris. Todd, Edwin A. 

McBain, Newton. Thorpe, Daniel L. 

Murray, John. Van Doren, J. B. 

Miller, A. Van Doren, J. D. 

Miller, John F. Weeks, D. 

Mann, J. W. Whitman, E. A. 

Merell, Ira. Whalen, Mrs. Sarah. 

Mann & Gould. Williams, A. L. 

Moses, Charles M. Williams, B. D. 

Morris, W. M. Williams & Bro. 

Newcomb, Geo. K. Wait, Daniel. 

Osborn, L. E. Williams, A. L. (agent). 

Phillipson, C. Williams & Co. 

Pangburn, J. White, E. E. 

Post, A. White, E. E. & Bro. 

Perry, J. B. Young, James H. 

Parsons, H. Young, Russell. 

Palmer, J. C. Y'ates, Joseph. 
Quackenbush, M. W. 

The total amount of tax levied in that year was 
$3984.11, applied to the following purposes : 

State.. $257.99 

County 382.12 

Citv 9'JO.OO 

School district 2118.25 

" library 25.00 

Howard Street grading 95.00 

Highways 5.67 

Collectors' commissions 80.08 

S:i9S4.11 

Since its incorporation, and especially during the last 
decade, many and important improvements have been made. 
Streets have been filled and graded, miles of side-w;\lks laid, 
a fire department created, and the many other details neces- 
sary to the health and comfort of its citizens have been 
attended to by efficient municipal authorities. 

t Probably Hartsuff. 



150 



HISTORY OF SIIIAWASSKE COUNTY, MICHIOAN. 



Matters pertaining to its present maiiufactunnp; and 
banking interests, cliurches, secret assoeiations, etc., will be 
foutid upon other pages. 

LIST OF CITY OFFIUKRS. 

Tlie following lists show the names of mayors, clerks, 
treasurers, supervisors, justices of the peace, and aldermen 
elected during the years from ISOO to ISSO, inclusive: 



clerks. Trcnsurors. 

Jolin N. Iiigcrsoll. An.«on 13. Chii)iiinn. 
Aiui'iv J. Paltoison. " " 



U. L. Stowiirt.*' Stilliiiaa .T. Harding. 

Charles Y. Oslnirn. *• *' 

lleury B. (Jrogory. Andrew (_i. Ivolso. 



Mayora. 
ISGU. Amos (ioLiliI. 
1801. Adam H. liycrly. 
18G2. Benj. 0. Willinnis 

1863. Charles M. Moses. 

1864. Josiab Tumor. 

1865. " " 
1SG6. John li. Barnes. 
1S07. Anson I!. Chipuian. And'w J. Patterson. 

1868. Thomas 0. Dowoy. " " 

1869. Benj. F. Taylor. " " 

1870. Edwin A. Todd. " " 

1871. Eli D. (Jregory 

1872. David Gould. 

1873. " " 

1874. " 

1875. Wm. M. Kilpatriek. 

1876. And'w J. Patterson. Qcorgo Colt. 

1877. .lames Osburn. " " 

1878. " " Thomas V. Perkins. 

1879. Jerome W. Turner. " " George Colt. 

1880. Wni. A. Woodard. George W. Loring. " " 



Henry ^\^ Parker. 
Jones S. Davis. 

Newton Baldwin. 



II. B. Gates. 
Henry C. Knill. 
11. 13. Gates. 



Nowton Baldwin. 



ALDERMEN. 



18G0. 
18111. 
1S02. 
18(33. 
1804. 
ISC'). 
] «I!G. 
1S117. 
18C8. 
1809. 

1870. 
1871. 

1872. 
1873. 
1874. 

1876. 
1870. 

1877. 
1878. 
1879. 
1880. 



First Ward. 
K. L. Stt'wart. 
Chas. Bl. Moses. 
Gilbert It. Lyon. 
John Stowart. 
Eli D. Gregory. 
I. BL Cliipman. 
Kdwin K. Kmipp. 
1. M. Ohi|inian. 
Ccphiis W. (Jlaitp. 
James 0.-4buru. 

Gpo. B. lIiiKhes. 
Erastus E. White. 
John W. Thorn. 
James Osburn. 
George Fuuth. 
W. H. Andrus. 

Geo. Carpenter. 
Chas. A. Osburn. 

Nath. A. Finch. 
Edwin A. Todd. 
Fred. Osburn. 
Thomas Nelan. 



Second Ward. 
Thos. D. Dewey. 
Nowton Baldwin. 
Daniel l.yon. 
Joseph J. Austin. 
Kobt. W. Durkce. 
IJotij. F. Tiiylor. 
G. L. Ilitchcuck. 
M. A. Gregory.! 
George It. Black. 
Geo. W. Loring. 
Arthur McIIardy. 
Chiis, 1'. I'lirker. 
C. W. Hustings. 



Third Ward. 
n. C. Bcckwilh. 
Joliii Gutekunst. 
K. C. Beckwith. 
John Gutekunst. 
Wui. S. Booreiu. 
John Gutekunst. 
Darius Elwell. 
John Guto. 
Kdgar P. Byerly. 
H.H. Waters. 

Edgar P. Byerly. 
K. C. Beckwith. 



Benj. S. Rutan. L. 0. Brewer. 
Henry IJ Gregory. Jidiu Giite. 
Bouj. S. Kutau. " *' 



C. A. Baldwin. 
Goo. W. Loring. 

Arthur Mellardy 
Oscar Wells. 
Cluuj. Lawrence. 
Oscar Wells. 



Goo. W. Chapel. 
J. F. Wildor- 

nuith. 
Ceo. W. Cljapel. 
Edgar P. Byerly 
W, J. Wosthike. 
F. Wildernjuth. 



1860. 
1861. 
1862. 
186.-!. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1807. 
1SC8. 
1869. 
1870. 
1S71. 



SUPERVISORS. 
Finit District. Second District. 

Benjamin W. Davie. M. W. Quackenbush. 
Benj. 0. Williams. " " 



Fourth Ward. 
Eli D. Gregory. 
Daniel Wait. 
Jos. J. Newman. 
J. B. Van Doreu. 
Edwin L. Ilowo. 
Benj. F. Itubbins. 
Al. Hausinan. 
James V. Yeats. 
Ijconard L. Howe. 
N. H. Welcher. 

WiUiaiu Lewis. 
Leonard L. Howe. 

D. L. DensNU»ro. 
Ijeonaid L. Howe. 
A. J. Patterson. 
Eli D. Gregory. 
James F. Yeats. 
Wni. J. Miller. 

J. F. Wolverton. 
Eli D. Gregory. 
James F. Yeats. 
Elliott V. Smith. 



.\t Largo. 



Ebenezcr Gould. 
George P. Moses. 
Geo. L. Hitchcock. 

Ebenezor Gould. 
Ezekicl Salisbury. 
Isaac S. Bockoo. 

David Gould. 



Charles A. Baldwin. 



Charles E. Sbattnck. 
(( tt 

J. h. Quackenbush. 
Adam U. Byerly. 



Charles Y. Csbur 



* Henry B. Gregory appointed to 811 vacancy. May 16, 1864. 
t George AV. Loring cleetcd to fill vacancy, April 20, 1S08. 





First District. 


Second District. 


At Largo. 


1872. 


Ezckiol Salisbury. 


Adam II. Byerly. 


John II. Champion 


187:!. 


tt <• 


(( tt 


Wm. M. Kilimtrick 


1874. 


tt It 


tt tt 


.< 


1875. 


tt tt 


tt it 


Gilbert R. Lyon. 


1876. 


Titn. M. Templeton 


lUnry W. I'arkcr. 


Win. M. Kilpatriek 


1877. 


tt it 


Cims. A. ItiLlthvin. 


Adam U. B.vorly. 


1878. 


Leonard L. Howe. 


(( n 


11 u 


1879. 


Nathaniel A. Finch. 


tl tt 


Stearns F. Smith, 


1880. 


i> .1 


ti u 


a u 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



First District. 
1861. Elias Comstock. 
ISCO. John B. Van Dorcn. 
18(Ji). Hiram L. Chipman. 
187:i. John B. Van Doron. 
1877. Lawrence Van Dusen. 



Second District. 
186.1. Ira Meroll. 
1867. " " 
1871. Benjamin F. Taylor. 
1875. " " 

1879. " " 



FIRE DEPARTMENT AND WATER SUPPLY. 

Prior to the autumn of 1871 the city pos.sessed no fire 
apparatus of any description, although the Common Council 
had voted upon the matter frequently. During the time 
mentioned, however, fifty leather fire-buckets and some 
eight or ten ladders were procured. In the spring of 1870 
a hook-and-Iadder truck and eight Babcock fire-extinguish- 
ers were purchased. A fire company — of which Frederick 
Wildermuth was foreman — was organized at about the same 
time. But the real organization of Owosso's fire department 
did not take place until 1876. 

lu February of that year a Silsby steam fire-engine was 
purchased, and in April following city fire department 
officers were elected. Centennial Engine Company, Defi- 
ance Hose Company, No. 1, Reliance Hose Company, No. 2, 
and Phoenix Hook-and-Ladder Company were regularly 
organized during the same year. 

Following arc lists of city and company fire department 
ofiicers for llie years of 187G to 1880, inclusive: 

City, 187C. — Thomas D. Dewey, Chief Engineer ; James 
Osburn, First Assistant; Henry B. Gregory, Second Assist- 
ant; Moses Keytes, Treasurer ; Newton MeBain, Secretary. 

1877-79. — Thomas D. Dewey, Chief Engineer; James 
Calkins, First Assistant ; John D. Evens, Second Assist- 
ant. 

1880. — Nathaniel A. Finch, Chief Engineer ; Henry A. 
Woodard, First Assistant ; William Douglass, Second As- 
sistant ; Warren A. Woodard, Secretary ; Moses Keytes, 
Treasurer. 

Centennial Engine Company, No. . . . : 187G. — A. E. 
McCullom,! Foreman; George W. Collier, Assistant Fore- 
man ; L. A. Hamblin, Secretary ; H. B. Gates, Treasurer ; 
Walter A. Osborn, Engineer; George W. Collier, Assistant 
Engineer. 

1877. — George W. Collier, Foreman ; Moses Keytes, 
Assistant Foreman ; Walter A. Osborn, Engineer. 

1878-79. — Moses Keytes, Foreman ; Warren A. Wood- 
ard, Assistant Foreman ; Walter A. Osborn, Engineer. 

1880. — Mo.scs Keytes, Foreman ; Warren A. Woodard, 
Assistant Foreman ; George B. Hughes, Treasurer ; George 
W. Loring, Secretary ; Walter A. Osborn, Engineer ; Frank 



t McCullom resigned in May, 1876, when George W. Collier ifos 

elected foreman ami Charles A. Baldwin assistant foreman. 




I 

? . 

5 




8s 

^ "Co 
O Q > 

^-^ 

UJ 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



151 



Cherry, Assistant Engineer; Charles Owen and Frank 
Cherry, Firemen. 

Phoenix Uoolc-and- Ladder Company : 1876. — J. Fred. 
Wildcrmuth, Foreman ; Charles W. JIatthews, Assistant 
Foreman ; John F. Wolverton, Seerotary ; J. Fred. Wil- 
dermuth, Treasurer. These officers have served continu- 
ously to the present time. 

Defiance Hose Company, No. 1 : 1870-78. — Albert Chip- 
man, Foreman ; D. Dwight, Assistant Foreman ; George H. 
Bedford, Secretary and Treasurer. 

1879-80.— D. Dwight, Foreman ; D. A. Barnum, As- 
sistant Foreman ; George H. Bedford, Secretary and Treas- 
urer. 

Reliance Uose Company: 1876-79. — Nathaniel A. 
Finch, Foreman ; John S. Hoyt, Assistant Foreman ; Isaac 
S. Cooper, Secretary ; George Smith, Treasurer. 

1880. — Thomas J. Horsman, Foreman ; John S. Hoyt, 
Assistant Foreman ; Isaac S. Cooper, Secretary ; and Fred- 
erick Osburn, Treasurer. 

The city fire apparatus, including two thousand feet of 
hose, is in good condition, and its water-supply, in case of 
need, is derived from the river and mill-race, also from two 
capacious cisterns where a large quantity is stored. Water 
for drinking and culinary uses is obtained from wells. 

MILLS AND MANUFACTURING. 

Among the manuflicturing interests which once had an 
existence in Owosso, but have now pa.ssod away, was that 
carried on in the pioneer saw-mill erected by Daniel Ball 
& Co., in 1837 ; the grist-mill built by Ball, Green & Co., 
in 1839, which burned ten years later ; Felix Casper's 
vrool-carding and cloth-dressing works, established some 
time between 1840 and 1844, in a building now forming 
part of Woodard's furniture- manufactory and planing-mills ; 
the woolen-mill which burned in 1867 ; and the building 
owned and occupied by the " Owos.so Woolen 3Iaiiufac- 
turing Company," which was built in 1867, and burned 
in 1873. These mills all deserve a place in history, and 
some of them have been alluded to on previous pages. 

The manufacturing interests of to-day are represented as 
follows : The flouring-mill of Mes.srs. Dewey & Stewart 
was established by them in 1850. It stands near the foot 
of the mill-race, below and on the opposite side from the 
site of the old grist-mill. It began operations with two 
run of stones. Gi'adual additions have been made to its 
capacity until it now has six run of stones, and will flour 
sixty bushels of wheat per hour. Power is derived from 
both water and steam. They have in connection, also, a 
saw- and feed-mill, which is carried on in a building erected 
in 1863 as a saw- and plaster-mill. 

Messrs. Fletcher & Roberts' grist-mill was built in 1871, 
the present owners always having liad a controlling interest. 
Steam-power is used, and the work — chiefly custom — is per- 
formed by two run of stones. 

L. E. Woodard's sash-, blind-, and door-manufactory, in 
connection with his lumber-yard, has been operated by him 
since 1866. Previously it had been controlled by the 
Messrs. White Brothers, who first established the business. 
Thirty u»en are employed, and his annual sales are from 
fifty thousand dollars to seventy five thousand dollars. 



The Owosso Foundry and Maehine-Shop of Mes.srs. 
Yeats & Osborn came into their possession in 1876. This 
is the site of the original furnace or foundry established by 
Daniel Gould k Co. previous to 1844. Meanwhile it has 
been owned, enlarged, and occupied by many parties. The 
business of the present consists in general repairing and the 
manufacture of pumps, plows, and various agricultural im- 
plements. Seven men are steadily employed, and power is 
derived from the Shiawassee River. 

The Shiawassee Iron- Works were established by Ran- 
dolph L. Stewart about 1865. The present firm, Messrs. 
Howell, Cossitt & Bateman, came into possession in 1869. 
Their business is general repairing, the manufacture of en- 
gines and agricultural implements. From five to ten men 
are employed. The building occupied is the one formerly' 
used by Russell Young as a sash-, door-, and blind-manu- 
factory. 

George W. Oakes' sash-, door-, and blind-manufactory was 
established by himself, July 1, 1879. He employs six men. 

The Union Mattress Company, which manufactures ex- 
celsior, husk, hair, and mo.ss mattresses, was established in 
June, 1879. Seven men and women are given employment. 

The Owosso Handle-Factory, now controlled by JIason 
Wood & Co., was established by Mason Wood and Charles 
Osborn in 1872. They continued the business about six 
months, when finding that with their facilities they could 
not successfully compete with others, operations were dis- 
continued. Mr. Wood improved the lathes in use, and 
again successfully engaged in the manufacture of all kinds 
of handles of irregular forms. He has since had several 
partners. In the fall of 1879, David Gould assumed an 
interest, and under the present firm-name eight men are 
employed, and the most complete wood-turning lathes in 
operation in the United States are daily turning out scores 
of perfect hickory handles. Axe-handles are a specialty, 
and their goods find ready sale in the various States from 
Maine to Texa.s. 

The Estey Manufacturing Company, composed of Jacob 
Estcy, of Brattleboro', Vt., D. 31. Estey, and Cliarlcs E. 
Rigley, of Owosso, Mich., was incorporated as such Feb. 3, 
1879, and the actual stock paid in at that date was fifty- 
three thousand three hundred and fifty dollars. This busi- 
ness was first established in 1868 by D. M. Estey, who 
controlled it until the formation of the present company. 
A factory for the manufacture of common bedsteads, a 
saw-mill, store, and village-lots are owned at West Haven, 
in New Haven township, — a village which has sprung up 
since the projection of this enterprise. In Owosso City 
are situated the offices and warerooms of the company. 
Here also are manufactured ash and walnut chamber-suits, 
elegant in design and finish, under contract by the Messrs. 
White Bros. Eighty men receive direct employment by 
the operations of this firm, and their manufiicturcs, the sales 
of which amount to seventy-five thousand dollars yearly, are 
shipped to various points extending from Vermont to 
Missouri. 

The Woodward Brothers' furniture-manufactory has 
been controlled by them since Aug. 1, 1866. The first 
edifice on the site of their buildings was the woolen-mill, 
built as eaily as 1S44, and for a number of years carried 



152 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



on by Felix Casper and others. In 1855 it was changed 
into a manufactory of furniture, sasli, doors, and blinds, 
and operated principally, wo believe, by the Messrs. White 
Bros. 

The Messrs. Woodards have thirty men in their employ. 
Their manufactures consist of medium and fine grades of 
furniture, done in ash and walnut, and their sales aggre- 
gate twenty thousand to twenty-five thou.sand dollars yearly. 

John Gate established the first brewery in the county 
in Owosso in 1855, and at first made pre.sent-use ale. 
During the past fifteen years attention has been chiefly 
devoted to the brewing of lager beer. The Owosso City 
Breweiy has a capacity of two thousand barrels per annum, 
and is now owned and operated by Albert Gute. 

BANKING. 

TTndcr the name of D. Gould & Co. and the manage- 
ment of Amos Gould, banking business was first com- 
nienced in Owosso in 1854 on the corner now occupied 
by the First National Bank building. The present 
building was erected in 1857, and in 18G5 the busi- 
ness of exchange and brokerage was merged into that 
of the First National Bank. The latter bank organized 
with a capital of fifty thousand dollars. It was afterwards 
increased to one hundred thousand dollars ; but has .since 
been decreased to its present capital of sixty thousand dol- 
lars. Upon its organization, Amos Gould was elected 
President, Thomas D. Dewey Vice-President, and Adam 
II. Byorly Cashier. Messrs Gould and Dewey still occupy 
the same positions, but the cashier's desk has since been 
filled by Orville Goodhue, George P. Moses, and Charles 
E. Ilershey ; by the latter since the death of Mr. Moses in 
November, 1875. 

Mr. M. L. Stewart established his present bank of ex- 
change and brokerage in 18G9. He came to Owosso first 
in lSGO,and engaged in merchandising. His present busi- 
ness house was erected in 1869, when, in consequence of 
losing his hearing, he relincjuished trade and engaged in 
banking. From a small beginning he has, by the exercise 
of industry and economy and a strict attention to the minor 
details of his business affairs, attained his present financial 
success. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Samuel N. Warren, who oflSciated as clerk at the first 
township election in 1837, and was elected as one of the 
assessors at the same meeting, taught the first school in the 
village, in the winter of 1837-38. This was a private 
school, and its sessions were held in an unoccupied log 
house which stood on or near the site of the present brick 
planing -mill. 

Prior to this, however, some action had been taken by 
school inspectors and the school director, as will be shown 
by the following extracts from the records: "At a meeting 
(if the inspectors of primary schools of the township of 
Owo.sso, held at the office of the township clerk, Tuesday, 
Aug. 8, 1837, Alfred L. Williams and lilias Comstock were 
present. Elias Comstock was chosen chairman of the board, 
whereupon it was concluded to set off sections 11, 12, 13, 
14, 23, 24, 25, 2G, in township 7 north, of range No. 2 
east, and sections 7, 8, 17, IS, 19, and 30, in township 7 



north, of range No. 3 east, as school district No. 1, and the 
first school meeting therein .shall be held at the store of A. 
L. & B. 0. Williams, in the village of Owosso, on the 22d 
day of August, 1837, at four p.m." 

The meeting was held, and Benjamin 0. Williams elected 
director. On the 2d of October, 1837, he rendered his 
annual report, as follows : 

"To THE Township Board of School Inspectors: 
" Gentlemen, — I hereby transmit you a report of the 
condition of schools in district No. 1, of which I have the 
honor to be the director, to wit : The whole numljer of 
children in my district between the ages of five and seven- 
teen years is thirty. 

" There has been no school taught in the district, and no 
moneys have been received by me. The district has voted 
to raise the following sums for school purposes, viz. : five 
hundred dollars for building a school-house, seventy-five 
dollars for the purchase of a school library-case, and ten 
dollars for the purcha.se of books. I have the honor to be, 
gentlemen, 

" Your obd't serv't, 

"B. 0. Williams." 

Although the first school building was not erected until 
about the year 1840 or 1841, the leading citizens have 
always taken a lively interest in educational matters, and 
the excellence of Owosso's schools has ever been pro- 
verbial. 

The old school building, since repaired and enlarged, is 
now used as a house of worship by the German Lutherans. 

By an act of the State Legislature, approved March 11, 
184G, the Owosso Literary Institute was incorporated, 
Messrs. Elias Comstock, Alfred L. Williams, Benjamin 0. 
Williams, Amos Gould, Charles L. Goodhue, Anson B. 
Chipman, and John B. Barnes being named as corpora- 
tors. They were authorized to employ capital to the 
amount of ten thou.saud dollars, and " to have power to 
establish and continue in the township of Owosso an insti- 
tution of learning for the instruction of persons in the 
various branches of literature, and the arts and sciences." 

However, nothing further was heard of the institute, 
and the youth of Owosso continued to pore over the volumes 
issued by Brown, Kirkham, Morse, Adams, Olney, Web- 
ster, Sanders, and others in the old structure until 1858, 
when a portion of the present handsome edifice was com- 
pleted. This was an occasion of great rejoicing among 
parents and pupils, and the event was noticed by a local 
paper of date Oct. 23, 1858, in the following words : 

"OPENING OF THE OWOSSO UNION SCHOOL. 

" This institution was opened for the reception of pupils 
on Thursday last, in the presence of a large number of the 
friends of education, who have by their untiring efforts 
successfully carried forward the enterprise to its final com- 
pletion. 

" The building is of the most substantial character, being 
constructed of brick, and beautifully finished with the oak 
of the country. It is divided iuto three principal apart- 
ments, two recitation-rooms, besides large and commodious 



CITY OP OWOSSO. 



153 



reception halls, and will accommodate some two hundred 
scholars. 

" The school will consist of three <;rades, the primary, 
iuterniediate, and the upper departments, where the higher 
English branches will be taught, also the languages ; music, 
both vocal and instrumental, with its charming influence, 
will not be wanting, the board having seeuied the services 
of a competent teacher for that department. 

" The grounds located for school purposes are situated 
upon the right bank of the beautiful Shiawassee, a little 
north and west of the village, and embrace about four 
acres, covered with a fine growth of pristine oak, in the 
centre of which is located the school building. 

" At an early hour on Thursday morning the large upper 
room in the building was filled with parents and children 
of the district. The proper oflSeer of the district called 
the meeting to order, after which prayer was ofiered by the 
Rev. Mr. Goodale, of this place. At the request of the 
Board of Education, the parents and children were ad- 
dressed by Mr. Kellogg, late of the Albany Normal School, 
Rev. John M. Gregory, of Ann Arbor, Rev. Mr. Taylor, 
Hon. Amos Gould, and Hon. A. L. Williams, of this place. 
The district is greatly indebted to the latter gentleman for 
material aid and valuable services in urging to completion 
this praiseworthy enterprise. 

" The remarks of all the gentlemen were timely and 
fitting the occasion, calling up pleasant reminiscences of the 
past and opening up to the youthful mind bright prospects 
in the future. 

" Mr. Winchell, the principal of the school, in behalf of 
himself and associate teachers, expressed his sense of obli- 
gation to the board, and to the gentlemen who had addressed 
the meeting, for the kind greeting and warm and generous 
manner in which they had been received by the friends of 
education in Owosso, pledging himself that no effort should 
be wanting on their part to fully meet the hopes and ex- 
pectations of the friends of the school. 

" Our sliijht ae(|uaintanee with Mr. Winchell prompts us 
CO believe that the board made a wise choice in selecting 
him for principal of the institution. 

" We understand that the school is rapidly filling up, 
and that large numbers of applications for admissiun have 
been received from those residing out of the district; and 
we doubt not that before the close of the first term the 
teachers will be straitened for room, and that an extra 
primary department will have to be opened in some other 
section of the village." 

A few years subsequently the building just mentioned 
was enlarged to its present proportions, and in still later 
years other frame school-houses have followed, which are 
situated in the various wards. As showing the present 
condition of schools, we subjoin the following statistics, 
gathered from the annual report for the year ending Sept. 
1, 1879: 

Numberof chilli ren of school age residing in the 

city 805 

" *' attending school during the 

year 729 

" brick houses 2 

", frame hi)U.ses .1 

" .<ilting,s 8(111 

Value ul school |iro[jerly $511,01)0 

20 



Men teachers employed 4 

Women " " 12 

Paid men teachers $1,536 

" women teachers $;i,172 

Total resources for the year $12,258.59 

lionded indebtedness $24,0110 

The present Board of Education consists of Messrs. B. 
O. Williams, David I'arker, Gilbert R. Lyon, Eugene R. 
Hutchins, Joseph H. Howe, and O. Smith. 

SECRET BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATIONS. 
OWOSSO LODGE, No. 81, F. AND A. M. 

This lodge held its first communication May 2, 1855, 
under a dispensation granted by George C. Monroe, Grand 
Master of the State of Michigan. 

The officers first installed were Myndert W. Quacken- 
bush, W. M. ; Alfred L. Williams, S. W. ; Benjamin 0. 
Williams, J. W. ; Warren Ladd, S. D. ; and Horace Hart, 
J. D. 

A charter was granted Jan. 10, 1856, and on the same 
date the following officers were installed: Myndert W. 
Quackenbush, W. M. ; Alfred L. Williams, S. W. ; Ben- 
jamin 0. Williams, J. W. ; Randolph L. Stewart, Treas- 
urer; Charles C. Goodall, Secretary; Blisha Leach, S. D. ; 
John B. Barnes, J. D. ; and William J. Lyon, Tiler. 

Subsequent presiding officers have been Elisha Leach, 
from Dec. 27, 1856, to Dec. 27, 1859; M. W. Quacken- 
bu.sh, Dec. 27, 1859, to Dec. 27, 1861 ; Elisha Leach, 
Dec. 27, 1861, to Dec. 27, 1862; Eli D. Gregory, Dec. 
27, 1862, to Dec. 27, 1863 ; Henry C. Knill, Dec. 27, 
1863, to Dec. 27, 1867; Benjamin 0. Williams, Dec. 27, 
1867, to Dec. 27, 1868; Henry C. Knill, Dec. 27, 1868, 
to Dec. 27, 1869; Eli D. Gregory, Dec. 27, 1869, to Dec. 
27, 1871; Henry C. Knill, Dec. 27, 1871, to Dec. 27, 
1872 ; Eli D. Gregory, Dec. 27, 1872, to June 24, 1874; 
Jabez Perkins, June 24, 1874, to June 24, 1875; Wil- 
liam J. Lyon, June 24, 1875, to Dec. 27, 1877 ; Walter 
A. Osborn, Dec. 27, 1877, to Dec. 27, 1879. 

The present officers, who were installed Dec. 27, 1879, 
are Charles H. Cossitt, W. M. ; Thomas Nelan, S. W. ; 
GrenvilleS. Beardsley, J. W. ; Joseph Manning, Treasurer ; 
Benjamin F. Taylor, Secretary; Endress M. Shafer, S. D. ; 
George H. Bedford, J. D. ; John T. Wolverton, Tiler; 
Rev. Levi B. Stimson, Chaplain; Charles W. Parker, 
Jacob S. Lewis, Stewards ; James Calkins, William J. 
Westlake, and E. 11. Hutchins, Prudential Committee. 

The lodge includes one hundred members at the present 
time, and regular communications are held Wednesday 
evenings on or before the full moon. 

OWOSSO CHAPTER, No. 89, R. A. M., 
began work under a dispensation granted early in the year 
1873. The first officers, viz., Myndert W. Quackenbush, 
M. E. U. P.; Anson B. Chipman, King; Joseph Man- 
ning, Scribe ; George B. Hughes, C. H. ; Franklin B. 
Smith, P. S. ; Richard Chipman, R. A. C. ; Henry W. 
Parker, Treasurer; Newton Baldwin, Recorder; Newell H. 
Weleher, M. 3d V.; Martin Hausman, M. 2d V.; John 
Rogers, M. 1st V. ; and Ezekiel Salisbury, Guard, were 
installed April 22, 1873. 

A charter was granted Jan. 24, 1874, and on the 17th 
of February of the same year the following officers were in- 



154 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



stalled: M. W. Quackenbush, M. B. H. P. ; Anson B. Chip- 
man, King; Joseph Manning, Scribe; George B. Hughes, 
C. H. ; Franklin B. Smith, P. S. ; Richard Chipman, R. A. 
S. ; Ezekiel Salisbury, Treasurer; Newton Baldwin, Re- 
corder; Newell H. Weloher, M. 3d V.; John D. Evens, 
M. 2d V. ; John Rogers, M. 1st V. ; Justin H. Wells, 
Guard. 

Other pre.siding officers have been Anson B. Chipman, 
from December, 1874, to December, 1876 ; Charles A. Os- 
born, December, 1876, to December, 1878; Franklin B. 
Smith, December, 1878, to December, 1S79. 

The present officers are Martin C. Dawes, M. E. H. P. ; 
Samuel Lamfrom, King ; Moses Mix, Scribe ; George B. 
Hughes, C. H. ; Thomas Nelan, P. S. ; Charles H. Cossitt, 
R. A. C. ; Joseph Manning, Treasurer; Benjamin F. Tay- 
lor, Recorder ; Walter A. Osborn, M. od V. ; George H. 
Bedford, M. 2d V. ; Bernhard Rose, M. 1st V. ; John T. 
Wolverton, Guard ; Rev. Levi B. Stimson, Chaplain ; Wil- 
liam J. Westlake and George R. Black, Stewards. The 
chapter has a total of fifty-eight members. Regular convo- 
cations are held on the first Friday in each month. 

OWOSSO LODGE, No. 88, I. 0. 0. F. 

This lodge was instituted Jan. 23, 1865, by Special 
Deputy B. W. Davis. Among the charter members were 
Josiah Turner, William R. Chipman, Henry Barnum, 
Lewis Swartz, F. P. Guilford, E. Van Houten, Henry M. 
Newcombe, and P. M. Rowell. 

The first officers installed were Josiah Turner, N. G. ; 
William R. Chipman, V. G. ; Henry M. Newcombe, R. S. ; 
P. M. Rowell, P. S. ; and P. P. Guilford, Treasurer. 

Judge Turner was re-elected N. G. for the last half of 
1865. Subsequent presiding officers of the lodge have 
been Amos G. Young and Henry M. Newcombe, in 1866 ; 
Morris Osburn, Amos G. Young, 1867 ; Col. Gould, N. H. 
Robinson, 1868; H. H. Pulver, J. W. Zimmerman, 1869; 
N. H. Robinson, John H. Champion, 1870; D. H. Wil- 
son, E. R. Brown, 1871 ; Thomas Nelan, James F. Yeats, 
1872; Bert Wickiug, Hugh Douglass, 1873; George W. 
Loring, Jacob Aberlee, 1874; T. M. Templeton, W. Mat- 
lock, 1875; Archibald Robertson, Oscar Wells, 1876; 
George R. Black, H. W. Martin, 1877 ; C. A. Watkius, 
John W. Thorn, 1878 ; C. C. Gregory and William M. 
Kilpatrick, 1879. 

The present officers (June, 1880) are S. P. Smith, N. G. ; 
Mason Wood, V. G. ; Archibald Robertson, R. S. ; George 
W. Loring, P. S. ; and Moses Keytes, Treasurer. Number 
of present members in good standing, forty-three. The 
lodge held its meetings in the Williams Block until July 
1, 1873, when a removal was made to the elegant and com- 
modious rooms at present occupied. Regular meetings are 
held every Friday evening. 

ORIENTAL ENCAMPMENT, No. 59, I. 0. 0. F., 

was instituted Sept. 4, 1873, by A. Ferguson, M. W. G. P., 
the charter members being George W. Loring, Thomas Ne- 
lan, George R. Black, Archibald Robertson, Jacob Aber- 
lee, Morris Osburn, Hugh Douglass, A. Barkley, William 
R. Chipman, and Jacob Upwright. 

The officers first installed were George W. Loring, C. P. ; 



George R. Black, H. P. ; Archibald Robertson, S. W. ; 
William R. Chipman, J. W. ; Jacob Aberlee, Scribe ; A. 
Barkley, Treasurer. 

Subsequent C. P.'s have been George R. Blaclc and 
Archibald Robertson, in 1874; Timothy M. Templeton, 
Oscar Wells, 1875 ; Charles W. Mathews, John W. 
Thorn, 1876; Charles McCormick, Willoughby Matlock, 
1877 ; C. C. Gregory, C. A. Watkins, 1878 ; Benjamin S. 
Retan and H. W. Martin, 1879. 

The officers for the first term of 1880 are Charles Wil- 
liams, C. P. ; Charles McCormick, H. P. ; William M. 
Kilpatrick, S. W. ; Archibald Robertson, S. ; Oscar Wells, 
F. S. ; George W. Loring, Treasurer ; Charles Jackson, 
J. W. 

The encampment embraces a total of thirty members in 
good standing. Regular meetings are held in Odd-Fellows' 
Hall on the first and third Wednesday evenings of each 
month. 

EQUITY LODGE, No. 402, KNIGHTS OF HONOR, 

was organized in Good Templar Hall, city of Owosso, Nov. 
20, 1876. The officers first installed were John W. Thorn, 
Past Dictator ; Franklin B. Smith, Dictator ; Nathaniel A. 
Finph, Vice-Dictator ; William J. Westlake, A.sst. Dictator ; 
Oscar Wells, Chaplain ; William K. Tillot.son, Guide ; Geo. 
C. Walker, Reporter ; Newton McBain, Financial Re- 
porter ; John S. Hoyt, Treasurer ; Frank McCurdy, Guard- 
ian ; Chester J. Stewart, Sentinel ; Nathaniel A. Finch, 
William K. Tillotson, John S. Hoyt, Trustees. 

Subsecjuent presiding officers of the lodge have been 
John W. Thorn and Nathaniel A. Finch, in 1877 ; William 
J. Westlake, Oscar Wells, 1878 ; Chester J. Stewart, John 
S. Hoyt, 1879. 

The present officers (June, 1880) arc John S. Hoyt, 
Past Dictator; Walter A. Osborn, Dictator; E. B. Ed- 
monds, Vice-Dictator; Robert G. Marsh, Asst. Dictator; 
Hiram L. Lewis, Reporter ; Perrin S. Crawford, Financial 
Reporter ; William J. Westlake, Treasurer ; Chester J. 
Stewart, Guide ; Alvin Evans, Chaplain ; Oscar Wells, 
Guardian ; G. Josenhans, Sentinel ; John S. Hoyt, John 
W. Tiiorn, Walter A. Osburn, Trustees. 

The lodge has thirty members at the present time, viz. : 
Newton McBain, John S. Hoyt, John W. Thorn, Na- 
thaniel A. Finch, Willard F. Goodhue, William J. West- 
lake, Chester J. Stewart, Oscar Wells, George R. Black, 
John Rogers, Horace D. Lewis, Henry J. Merrill, Alvin 
Evans, Amos G. Young, Hiram L. Lewis, Walter A. Os- 
born, Albert Thayer, John Gute, C. E. Ilershey, G. Josen- 
hans, Perrin S. Crawford, E. B. Edmonds, Robert G. 
Marsh, Milton E. Fisher, Charles A. Norcross, John G. 
Saxe, Samuel Runyon, Joseph B. Davy, George C. Walker, 
and George R. Hoyt. Regular meetings are held in Good 
Templars' Hall, in the city of Owosso, on the second and 
fourth Tuesdays of each month. 

OWOSSO LODGE, No. 48, A. 0. U. W. 

This lodge was organized June 4, 1878, in Odd- Fellows' 
Hall, city of Owosso, where the first installation of officers 
took place the same date. 

The officers elected were Welcome L. Farnum, Past 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



155 



Master Workman ; William M. Kilpatrick, Master Work- 
man ; C. McCormick, General Foreman ; William N. Pool, 
Overseer; L. L. Baker, Recorder; (Jharles E. Hershey, 
Receiver; Benj. S. Retan, Financier; Oscar Wells, Guide; 
Thomas Nelan, Inside Watchman ; John D. Evans, Out- 
side Watchman. 

Those officers who have since presided over its meetings 
have been C. McCormick and Thomas Nelan, in 1879, aud 
Thomas M. Wiley, who is the present (June, 1880) Master 
Workman. Other officers of the present time are Thomas 
Nelan, P. M. W. ; Charles H. Cossitt, G. F. ; Hiram L. 
Lewis, 0. ; J. W. Zimmerman, R. ; Benjamin S. Retan, F. ; 
John C. Dingman, Receiver; Jacob S. Lewis, I. W. ; Wel- 
come L. Farnum, 0. W. 

Among its eighty-one members are Welcome L. Farnum, 
Benjamin S. Rutan, John W. Thorn, John H. MeCall, 
Charles E. Hershey, Frederick Schmczcr, Charles H. Cossitt, 
Joseph H. Gillett, L. L. Baker, John T. Wolverton, Wil- 
liam N. Pool, Nathan D. Ayres, C. McCormick, James F. 
Yeats, William E. Copas, Robert D. Crawford, Hiram L. 
Lewis, Charles H. Parker, Hugh Douglass, Newton Bald- 
win, John D. Evans, Harrison H. Frain, Nathaniel A. 
Finch, James A. Chapin, U. F. Clapp, J. W. Zimmerman, 
Thomas Nelan, Thomas M. Wiley, Geo. R. Black, Horace 
H. Rogers, William M. Kilpatrick, William S. Hodges, 
Benjamin F. Taylor, Geo. W. Ayres, R. Lamson, John L. 
Miller, H. M. Lindsay, John C. Dingman, L. B. Holman, 
J. W. Likens, Nathan W. Finley, Wellington Clark, C. S. 
Williams, Henry G. Titcomb, Jacob S. Lewis, Hiram E. 
Galusha, William Broad, George B. Hughes, C. Soderquist, 
George W. Owen, James A. French, W. F. Guile, Samuel 
A. Pierpont, Silas Bailey, Albert E. Hartshorn, Norman C. 
Payne, John W. Houck, A. Schuknesht, Michael Strahl, 
Charles L. Bradley, G. W. Dehn, Michael Punches, Frank 
E. Sheldon, William J. Lewis, Daniel Harter, David Dwight, 
Harmon N. Miller, Alfred Drown, William H. Andrus, A. 
Wicking, W. H. Osborn, Martin S. Post, John A. McKeu- 
sie, E. W. Sheldon, W. A. Hitchcock, Nathaniel Ball, W. 
W. Hart, Robert Thompson, A. McKensie, F. Newman, 
aud L. A. Hamlin. 

Their meetings are held in Odd-Fellows' Hall on the first 
and second Tuesdays of each month. 

OTHER ASSOCIATIONS. 
THE SHIAWASSEE MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, 

composed of Henry W. Parker, Horace D. Lewis, Isaac L. 
Peck, Amos G. Young, William L. Van Tuyl, Ezekiel 
Salisbury, Jerome W. Turner, John S. Hoyt, Tiiomas C. 
Garner, Ausou B. Chipman, Newton Baldwin, Moses Mix, 
and Timothy M. Templeton, was incorporated in January, 
1876. 

THE SHIAWASSEE COUNTY MUTUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIA- 
TION, 

of which Henry W. Parker, Horace D. Lewis, Isaac L. 
Peck, Amos G. Young, William L. Van Tuyl, Ezekiel 
Salisbury, John S. Hoyt, Anson B. Chipman, Newton Bald- 
win, Edwin Van Tuyl, Hiram L. Lewis, Jr., and Moses 
Mix were named as corporators, was duly incorporated, ac- 
cording to the laws of the State of Michigan, Jan. oO, 1878. 



THE OWOSSO DRIVING-PARK ASSOCIATION, 
incorporated Oct. 20, 1879, was organized by the election 
of Thomas D. Dewey, President ; Newton McBain, Secre- 
tary ; and John Stewart, Treasurer. Other members were 
Jabez Perkins, A. J. Patterson, E. P. Byerly, A. McHardy, 
J. F. Wildcrmuth, A. G. Kelso, J. D. Evens, George P. 
Jenkins, M. W. Willoughby, 0. Sharpstene, D. Wait, and 
William Samer. 

Owosso's Cornet Band and Wesener's Orches- 
tra are both prominent institutions of the city. The 
latter was organized by Hugo G. Wesener, in November, 
1878, and consisted of six members, namely, Hugo G. 
Wesener, piano and leader ; August Wesener, first violin ; 
Jasper Gregory, flute ; Gottlieb Hoppham, clarionet ; C. C. 
Gregory, cornet ; and William Sharpstene, trombone. 

The present members of the orchestra are Hugo G. 
Wesener, flute and director ; August Wesener, first violin ; 
Henry Moore, second violin ; John Wesener, viola ; Oscar 
Moore, bass; Gottlieb Hoppham, clarionet; C. C. Gregory, 
cornet ; and William Sharpstene, trombone. The members 
are in good practice and render most excellent music, play- 
ing only classical pieces. They have already given four 
grand concerts, appearing first and second with fifteen per- 
formers, third and last with twenty-five. 

Of the cornet band we have obtained no data, other than 
that J. H. Bobbins has been its leader for some fifteen 
years. It has had its ups and downs, but at the present 
time seems to be highly proficient and harmonious, and at 
the State -band tournament, held at Flint in June, 1880, 
one of its members won the prize offered for the best trom- 
bone solo. 

RELIGIOUS.* 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF OWOSSO (OLD ORGANIZA- 
TION). 

Among the early settlers of Owosso and its immediate 
vicinity were a number of Baptists. They commenced 
holding religious services in June, 1836,")" and continued 
them from Sabbath to Sabbath for a year more, the time 
of their meetings being occupied in singing and prayer and 
the reading of published sermons by some one of their 
number. As brethren of other denominations came in 
they temporarily united with these people, and greatly 
assisted in maintaining religious worship. 

On the 13th of January, 1838, a meeting was held at 
the hou.se of Elias Comstock for the purpose of organizing 
a Baptist Church. Elias Comstock was chosen moderator 
and Abraham T. Wilkinson clerk. Rev. Benjamin B. 
Brigham was also present to assist them. After consulta- 
tion it was resolved to form a church, to be known as the 
First Baptist Church of Owosso, whereupon the follow- 
ing brethren and sisters presented church letters, viz. : 



* This artiolo includes brief historical sketches of all the church 
organizntions in the city, e.'icejit that of the German Lutherans, who 
failed to respond, although earnestly requested to furnish data. 

f The first sermon was preached in the fall of 1836 by Rev. Samuel 
Wilkinson, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was an early 
resident of the county, a pioneer teacher also, and subsequently re- 
moved to Flint. Rev. John Booth, a Baptist pioneer minister, 
delivered the next sermon some time during the year 1837. 



156 



HISTORY 0¥ SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Elias Couistock, Lucy Comstock, Abraui T. Wilkinson, 
Lucinda Wilkinson, Reuben Grigf,'s, ami Betsey Griggs. 

Elder Brigham, Elias Comstock, and Reuben Griggs 
were appointed a committee to prepare and report a con- 
stitution, code of article.s, and covenant. On the 10th of 
February, 18.'58, Elizabeth Fletcher, Hannah Morton, and 
John F. Swain* were received as members, and in July of 
the same year Jacob Martin and Benjamin Morton. During 
this time Elder Brigham preached occa.sionally and admin- 
istered the Lord's Supper. 

Early in 1839, Rev. William Pattison, an aged minister, 
his son. Dr. Samuel W. Pattison, and family, came herefrom 
Fentouville, and uniting with the church, added much to 
its .strength. Father Pattison preached while sitting in his 
chair, and will long be remembered by the early settlers. 
Among the members received during that year were Rev. 
William Pattison, Samuel W. Pattison, Phoebe Pattison. 
Charles Pattison, Prudentia Pattison, Eliza A. Peck, Castle 
Peck, Rev. James R. Eldridge, and Mary Ann Eldridge. 

In 1840, Leonard Stimpson, Nancy Ball, lloby Ann 
Murray, Stephen Hawkins, Rawson White, Mary Ann 
White, John Kingsley, Marcina Perkins, Charles Stimp- 
son, John Vanderhoof, Daniel Fletcher, E. J. Van Buren, 
Barnard Morton, Cynthia Wheeler, Caroline Comstock, 
Ann Sumner, Mary Ann Smith, Harriet Young, Sprague 
Perkins, Abram Covert, Daniel D. Fish, Wealthy Swain, 
Benj. 0. Williams, Alvira Hawkins, Ira Murray, Rev. 
John Gilbert, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Samuel Whitcomb 
became members. 

Elias Comstock and Reuben Griggs were first elected 
deacons Feb. 10, 1838. John F. Swain was elected clerk 
at the same time. He was succeeded after some time by 
Dr. Pattison. The early meetings were held at the dwel- 
ling-houses of Deacon Comstock and John F. Swain. 

In June, 1839, Rev. James R. Eldridge became their 
pastor, and continued until the fall of 1840. Rev. John 
Gilbert, fnuu Mount Clemens, then became pastor for a 
short time; but early in life he was called to join the 
redeemed above. Rev. Silas Barnes succeeded him, by 
preaching at irregular intervals, until some time in 1843, 
when this organization was dissolved. Several of its mem- 
bers then united with the Maple River Church, where they 
continued until the formation of the present 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF OWO.-^SO. 

This church was organized at a meeting held in the 
house of worship of the Congregational Society, Nov. 15, 
1856, Rev. S. Chase, of Detroit, being present and as- 
sisting. 

The constituent members were Elias Comstock, Daniel 
Lyon, Mrs. Betsy Lyon, Homer P. Kimball, Mrs. Hannah 
O. Kimball, Mrs. Mary D. Pangburn, Philetus D. White, 
Wellington White, Erastus E. White, Mrs. Anna A. White, 
Jacob B. Perry, Mrs. Hannah Perry, Reuben M. Randall, 
Mrs. Sarah Randall, Mrs. Phebe Randall, William llurrell, 

* He was married to Wealthy Irons, by Rev. Benjamin B. Brig- 
ham, Deo. 22, 1837. Another early marriage was that of Walter R. 
Seymour to Nancy Ann Findley, by Samuel N. Warren, J. P., July 
2, 1837. These are tiio earliest marriages of which we have obtained 
any authentic data. 



Elisha Hurrell, Cyrus F. Jackson, Mr.s. Jessie Jackson, 
and Mrs. Polly Sawyer. 

Elias Comstock and Daniel Lyon were chosen deacons, 
and p]rastus E. White clerk; and in May, 1857, the church 
was received into the Shiawassee Baptist Association. On 
the 23d of August a meeting was held in the Congrega- 
tional church. Rev. A. E. Mather, of Pontiac, delivered 
a sermon, after which he baptized two candidates, and the 
church for the first time celebrated the Lord's Supper. 

In March, 1858, Gould's Hall was secured as a place lor 
holding religious meetings, and in April following Rev. 
Joel Lyon was called to the pastorate, a position which he 
accepted, commencing his labors May 1, 1858. In Jan- 
uary, 1859, the members voted to build a house of worship, 
not to cost over six hundred dollars. This building was 
built on lands leased from Deacon Daniel Lyon, and was 
twenty-four by fifty feet in dimensions. It was dedicated 
Oct. 9, 1860. Elders George W. Harris and John Booth 
were present and assisted in the dedicatory ceremonies. In 
April, 1861, Rev. Joel Lyon resigned, and in September fol- 
lowing Rev. A. M. Hunt assumed the pastorate. He re- 
signed Jan. 1, 1863. John H. Osborn, a lay preacher, then 
supplied until March, 1864, when Rev. John Booth settled 
as pastor. Aaron Hinckley was chosen deacon in December, 
1865. Mr. Booth resigned in February, 1866, and on the 
1st of June, 1866, Rev. William R. Northrup came, re- 
maining one year. The church was then supplied by Revs. 
J. Moxam and H. A. Rose until May, 1869, when Rev. 
B. J. Boynton settled as pastor. He remained until his 
death, which occurred in August, 1870. 

In November, 1869, the lot occupied by the present 
church edifice was purchased, and in September, 1870, the 
church building was removed upon it. Rev. C. E. Hul- 
burt began his labors in April, 1871, and remained until 
June, 1873. Rev. Joel Lyon then supplied until March 
1, 1874, when Rev. Welcome L. Farnum, the present 
pastor, settled. 

The present church edifice, a brick structure forty by 
seventy feet, was commenced in May, 1875, and dedicated 
May 17, 1877. It has sittings for four hundred people, 
and cost ten thousand dollars. Present membership of 
the church, two hundred and sixty-three. The Sabbath- 
school connected with it was organized in 1860. Welling- 
ton White and Gilbert L. Osborn were chosen deacons in 
December, 1877. They with Elias Comstock compose the 
present diacouate officers. The present clerk, Erastus E. 
White, has served in that capacity since the organization 
of the clmrch, in 1856. 

THE FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF OWOSSO 

was organized Jan. 18, 1853. The first meeting, and other 
subsequent ones until the building of their church edifice, 
was held in the school-house, the building now occupied by 
the German Lutherans. 

Among the early members were Amos Gould, Charles 
L. Goodhue, Anson B. Chipman, D. Lyon Thorpe, Erastus 
Barnes, John B. Barnes, B. W. Davis, and Alfred L. Wil- 
liams. The first board of trustees was composed of Amos 
Gould, Charles L. Goodhue, D. Lyon Thorpe, Anson B. 
Chipman, and Erastus Barnes. Rev. 0. M. Goodale was 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



157 



chosen chairman of the second meeting of the society, but 
whether he was the first pastor the records do not show. 

A church edifice was erected in 1854:-55. llev. A. H. 
Fletcher became pastor in 1858, and served during the 
succeeding year. Otlier pastors were James K. Griflis in 
1860; A. Sanderson, 1862; Henry Cherry, 1863; John 
Patchin, 1864 to 1S68 inckisive; Charles H. Bissell, 1869- 
70; D. W. Sharts, 1871 to 1874 inclusive; D. A. More- 
house, 1875; Rev. L. 0. Lee, July, 1875, to May, 1880. 

In the summer of 1871 the work of enlarging the 
church building was completed, and it was then reded- 
icated. The society now numbers two hundred and 
eighteen members. 

CHRIST CHURCH (PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL) OF OWOSSO. 

This parish was organized under the ministrations of the 
Rev. Thomas B. Dooley and the llev. Henry Banwell, May 
10, 1858. For some two years previously, however. Revs. 
Messrs. Dooley, Banwell, and Brown, representing the Pon- 
tiac, Lansing, and Flint Churches, had visited the people 
here, and held occasional services in the school-house and 
in a public hall. 

The corner-stone of the church edifice was laid Sept. 26, 
1859, and the building was consecrated by the bishop of 
the diocese Nov. 18, 1871. The structure is of brick, 
with tower, spire, nave, and chancel. Its dimensions are 
eighty by thirty-six feet, and its interior decorations are 
most beautiful. Complete, it cost ten thousand dollars. 
Not the least among the attractions of this handsome edifice 
is a sweet-toned bell of two thousand pounds from the 
foundry of Meneeley & Kimberly, Troy, N. Y., bearing 
the following inscription : 

" V. 0. M. 

1879. 

Christ Church Owosso. 

S S Harris Bishoj. 

L B Stimson Rector 

Et Spiritus Et S])ousa 

Dicunt Veni." 

Since its organization the following clergymen have of- 
ficiated as rectors of the parish : Revs. Henry Banwell, 
Thomas B. Dooley, Augustus Bush, George A. Whitney, 
and Levi B. Stinson. 

ST. PAUL'S (ROMAN CATHOLIC) CHURCH 

was organized in the fall of 1871, the original members 
being Peter Connelly, Michael Dwyer, John Connelly, 
John Murpliy, John Wade, Patrick Downey, William 
Dwyer, Michael Grady, Michael Howard, Phil Kavauagh, 
Frank Hurst, Charles Hagan, Martin Clary, Lawrence 
Doyle, Michael Rourkc, Thomas Grady, Jerry King, 
Michael Carmody, Joseph Constein, Patrick Rourke, Wil- 
liam Cook, Patrick Carmody, James Laflin, John Traccy, 
Tim Conroy, Michael Toole, John Hogan, Richard Haley, 
Patrick Cavanaugh, Daniel Sweeney, William Tracy, Mrs. 
Jolin Huntington, Edward Marony, John Holleran, James 
McCarty, Mrs. William Ellis, Richard Grace, Maurice 
Mack, Philip Butler, James Evans, David Burns, John 
O'Ncil, Jlichacl Doyle, Patrick Hamberry, William Marrah, 
James Tobin, Patrick Gorman, John Haley, Patrick Koyn, 
Richard Walsh, and Michael Keyes. 



Their church edifice was commenced in 1872, and roofed 
in December, 1874. It is of brick, as yet unfinished, 
costing so far over twenty-three thousand dollars, and has 
sittings at the present time for five hundred people. One 
hundred and nine families constitute the present member- 
ship. 

Rev. J. J. Kraemer served as pastor until the spring of 
1877, when he was succeeded by the present incumbent, 
Rev. James Wheeler. 

THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH 

of Owosso was organized about the year 1856. Its records 
are meagre, and not much can be learned from them con- 
cerning the liistory of this organization. Their first house 
of worship is now owned and occupied by the Lutherans. 
A second church edifice was built in 18G5 at a cost of 
nearly five thousand dollars. It has about three hundred 
sittings. Among those who have served as pastors have 
been Revs. Seth Reed, James T. Hankinson, J. C. Coch- 
rane, James Venning, Elijah H. Pilcher, J. S. Joslin, 
T. Wilkinson, D. Whitely, W. J. Clack, H. Hodlekiss, 
C. R. Kellerman, and W. H. Osborne. 

SALEM'S (GERMAN) CHURCH OF OWOSSO, 

of the Evangelical Association, was organized by the Rev. 
John M. Houk, April 22, 1862. The first services were 
held in the dining-room of the building now known as the 
Exchange Hotel, of which, at that time, Jacob Aberly was 
proprietor, and among the original members were Christian 
Moesner, Frederick Gutekunst, Frederick Launstein, John 
Miller, Christian Kurrle, Frederick Kurrle, John Storrer, 
Michael Strehl, Philip Schnabel, Hermann Schmidgall, and 
Mrs. Caroline Moore. 

In the year 1864, under the management of Rev. John 
Meek, a house of worship, with sittings for two hundred 
people, was built at a cost of twelve hundred dollars. 

The work of building up a church here commenced, 
however, in 1858, when the Ohio Conference of the Evan- 
gelical Association sent as missionaries to this region the 
Revs. Frederick ZcUer and Christopher Roehm. 

Mr. Houk was succeeded by Rev. John Meek, and he in 
turn by Mr. Houk again. Subsequent pastors have been 
Revs. C. IJde, two years ; Christopher Roehm, two years ; 
J. M. Fuchs, two years ; S. Henne, two years ; John Orth, 
one year ; Frederick Schweizer, two years ; and Lewis 
Brumm, the present incumbent. 

ftleantime, churches of this denomination have been es- 
tablished in the townships of New Haven and Bennington. 
In 1875 each of them erected hou.ses of worship, and in 
1877 the church in Chesaning, Saginaw Co., — which is 
also in this district, — erected a church edifice. Two hun- 
dred members of this denomination now reside in the 
county of Shiawassee. 

Rev. John M. Houk, who has served as the presiding 
elder of this district for the past seven years, relates that 
nineteen years ago he traveled through .six different coun- 
ties to preach to the Germans. Then they were poor, and 
but few in numlx^rs ; now they are wealthy, and greatly 
multiplied. 



158 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



BIOGEAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 





ALFRED L. WILLIAMS. 



BENJAMIN O. WILLIAMS. 



BENJAMIN 0. WILLIAMS. 

The gentlemau whose name heads this biographical 
sketch, and his brother, Alfred L. Williams, were the first 
two white settlers in Shiawassee County, forty-nine years 
ago; and both have been residents in, and among the most 
prominent citizens of Owosso, for a period of forty-three 
years, — with the exception of temporary absences in the 
prosecution of their extended business enterprises elsewhere. 
Their father, Maj. Oliver Williams, was also a well-known 
and universally respected citizen of Michigan (a resident of 
Detroit and of Oakland County) for more than a quarter 
of a century. 

In the year 1 638, Robert Williams emigrated from Wales 
to America, and settled in Roxbury, Mass. For more than 
two hundred years his descendants lived in that place, from 
which most of the families of the name in this country 
have sprung. Oliver Williams, one of the sixth generation 
from his ancestor, Robert, was born in Roxbury, on the 27th 
of August, 1774. He was early apprenticed, and learned 
the trade of hatter, which business he carried on at Con- 
cord, Mass., for several years. In 1796 he married Miss 
Mary Lee, a native of Concord (born July 11, 1777), and 
continued to live in that town until 1808, when he came to 
Michigan, and established a general mercantile business in 
connection with the fur trade, making his headquarters at 
Detroit. He purchased his goods in Boston, M;iss., carried 
them in covered wagons to Buffalo, N. Y., and transported 
them thence by water carriage on Lake Erie to Detroit, 
generally making two trips in a year to and from Boston, 
and traveling on hor.seback between that city and Buffalo. 
During the year 1811 his purchases of goods in Boston 
amounted to more than sixty-four thousand dollars. 



In the winter of 1810-11, Maj. Williams had built, at 
the mouth of the Rouge River, a large sloop, which he 
named " Friends Good Will," designed to be used for the 
transportation of goods upon the lakes, in the prosecution 
of his business. In the summer of 1812 the sloop (with 
Maj. Williams on board as supercargo) visited the port of 
Michilimackinac, where she was chartered by the United 
States authorities to transport military supplies thence to 
Fort Dearborn, Chicago, and to bring back furs and other 
merchandise from the government factor there to Detroit. 
Before the return of the vessel to Michilimackinac that 
post had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and upon her 
entrance into the harbor on her way back to Detroit she was 
seized by the British commandant as a prize of war. Maj. 
Williams was made a prisoner, but was paroled and sent to 
Detroit, and was there when the town was afterwards dis- 
gracefully surrendered by Gen. Hull. The sloop " Friends 
Good Will" was renamed by her British captors the " Little 
Belt," and being armed with a battery of three guns, took 
part in the naval battle of Lake Erie, in 1813. There she 
was recaptured by Commodore Perry, and in the following 
winter was destroyed by fire at Buffalo. 

In the fall of 1815, Maj. Williams removed his family, 
consisting of his wife and nine children, — six sons and 
three daughters, — to Detroit. They traveled in a carriage 
and a four-horse covered wagon from Concord, Mass., to 
Buftalo, taking passage at the latter place on the schooner 
" Mink" for Detroit, where they arrived on the 5th of 
November, and where the family made their home for about 
four years. 

Maj. Williams had lost very heavily by the capture of 
his vessel and other disasters during the war of 1812-15, 
and finding it impossible to obtain reimbursement from the 



r 

Co 



$ 




CITY OP OWOSSO. 



159 



United States, or in any manner to recover the property 
lost, determined to leave Detroit and become a farmer. 
Having that object in view, he purchased, in 1818, three 
hundred and twenty acres in Waterford township, Oakland 
Co., a short distance northwest of Pontiac, and to this tract 
he removed his family in 1819. Here, upon the homestead 
which became widely known as the " Silver Lake farm," he 
passed the remainder of his life in quiet and in enjoyment 
of the respect and esteem of his numerous friends and ac- 
quaintances. His death occurred on the 7th of October, 
1834, at the age of sixty years. 

The children of Maj. Oliver and Mrs. Mary Williams 
were fourteen in number, twelve of them being born in 
Massachusetts and two in Detroit. Of the latter, one died 
in infancy, and of the former, four died young. Those who 
lived to maturity were the following, viz. : 

1. Ephraim S. Williams, born at Concord, Mass., Feb. 
7, 1802. He was an early settler in Saginaw County, and 
is now living in the city of Flint, Genesee Co. 

2. Gardner D. Williams, born in Concord, Sept. 9, 1804. 
He was an early settler at Saginaw, and died there in 
1858. 

3. Caroline Lee Williams, born at Concord, Feb. 11, 
1806. Married Rufus W. Stevens, of Grand Blanc, Gene- 
see Co., and lived there and at the city of Flint. She died 
in 1850. 

4. Mary Ann Williams, born at Concord, May 9, 1807. 
Married Schuyler Hodges, of Pontiac, Oakland Co., and is 
still residing there. 

5. Alfred L. Williams, born at Concord, July 18, 1808. 
Settled in Shiawassee Co., Mich., in 1831. His residence 
is at Owosso, though temporarily living in Virginia, in 
charge of a railroad enterprise. 

6. Benjamin Oliver Williams, born in Concord, Nov. 18, 
1810. Settled in Shiawassee County in 1831. Came to 
Owosso in 1837, and still resides there. 

7. Alpheus F. Williams, born in Concord, Nov. 12, 
1812. An early settler in Saginaw. Removed to Califor- 
nia, and now resides at Oakland in that State. 

8. Harriet L. Williams, born at Concord, Mass., Feb. 10, 
1814. Married George W. Rodger's, at Pontiac, Oakland 
Co., and now resides in California. 

9. James Monroe Williams, born at Detroit, Mich., on 
the day (Aug. 14, 1817) when his excellency James Mon- 
roe, President of the United States, arrived in that city. 
Maj. Oliver Williams was marshal of the day on the occa- 
sion of the public reception of the President, and named his 
infant son in honor of the city's distinguished guest. James 
M. Williams is now living in Santa Rosa, Cal. 

Alfred L. and Benjamin 0. Williams were, as has been 
mentioned, the first two settlers in Shiawassee County. In 
August, 1831, they set out from Pontiac with two assist- 
ants and a double team loaded with goods, and passing 
through the intervening wilderness, came to the Shiawassee 
River at the point where that stream is now crossed by the 
Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad, and where A. L. Wil- 
liams had entered an eighty- acre tract of government land. 
Here they opened a trading-post, and soon after built the 
building which later became known as the " Shiawassee 
Exchange," a double house one and a half stories high, 



used as a dwelling and store-house and afterwards as a 
tavern. 

In July or August, 1833, the brothers Williams pur- 
chased lands at Che-boc-wa-ting, or the Big Rapids of the 
Siiiawassee (Owosso), this being the first purchase of lands 
in the north half of the county. In 1835 the younger 
brother, B. 0. Williams, established a mercantile business 
at Pontiac, and remained there two years. 

In the spring of 1836, B. 0. Williams, with his elder 
brother, Gardner D. Williams, of Saginaw, went to the city 
of Washington in charge of a party of thirteen Saginaw- 
Chippewa chiefs for the purpose of concluding a treaty by 
which the Indians should sell to the United States the 
tribal reservations granted them by the treaty of Saginaw 
in 1819. This negotiation was ultimately successful. The 
deputation remained about three weeks in Washington, 
and the whole journey consumed about two months, — the 
means of traveling at that time being by stage and canal. 

In the spring of 1837, B. 0. Williams returned from 
Pontiac to Shiawassee County, and with his brother, A. L., 
located permanently on their lands at Owosso, where they 
at once commenced extending and adding to the improve- 
ments which had been begun there under their direction 
in the fall of 1835. In this removal from their old trad- 
ing-post above, on the Shiawassee, they retained the " Shia- 
wassee Exchange" property, but this they sold the next 
year to the American Fur Company. 

In 1838, B. 0. Williams married Miss Sophia A. Smith, 
of Canandaigua, N. Y. His first dwelling-house was 
erected in Owosso, near the present residence of A. L. 
Williams. He afterwards built a house on the lot adjoin- 
ing Judge Gould's. The residence which he now occupies 
was built in or about 1869. 

A contract for grubbing and clearing about forty miles 
of the line of the old " Northern Railroad" (from the 
centre of Shiawassee County westward to Lyons, Ionia 
Co.) was taken by A. L. and B. O. Williams, at «248.50 
per mile, and one-half of the distance was sub-let by them 
to Messrs. Kipp and Moore, of Ionia. The work was com- 
menced in November, 1838, and was completed in the 
summer of 1839, but resulted in loss to the contractors. 
In 1839, B. O. Williams and Daniel Ball took the contract 
to grade ten miles of the same road, eastward from Lyons, 
but only a part of this work was completed before the 
definite failure and abandonment of the project by the 
State. 

Soon after the commencement of the California gold 
excitement, the brothers A. L. and B. O. Williams re- 
solved to try the experiment of mining on the Pacific slope, 
and in the year 1850 they migrated thither, took up a 
claim in Nevada County, and commenced operations. They 
named their claim " Pontiac Hill," and theirs were the 
first hill-diggings opened in California. The history of 
Nevada Co., Cal., gives to them the credit of finishing 
the first water-race for gold-washing in the county. It ran 
from Nevada City to Rough and Ready. Gold was found 
within thirty feet of where they commenced work, and ten 
feet below the surface they took out a ten-quart pan of 
earth which yielded one hundred and twenty-six penny- 
weights of gold. They remained at this place for two 



160 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



years, then sold tlioir claim and rotuined to Owosso. In 
May, 1852, they again wont to Calil'urnia — sending a party 
of men with horses by the overland route — and purchased 
a water-right in Sierra County, which they worked suc- 
cessfully, and on which over half a million dollars has 
since been expended. Accompanying them were their 
brothers, Alpheus P. and James M. Williams, who re- 
mained in charge of the mining operations while the elder 
two returned to Michigan. 

In 1863-64, B. O. Williams accompanied Col. Hayden, 
of Ohio, on a tour for the discovery and working of gold 
and silver mines in Honduras, Central America. They 
made a very thorough exploration of the region in question, 
but no extensive operations resulted from the discoveries 
made. 

Alfred L. Williams was prominently identified with the 
project of the Amboy, Lansing and Traverse Bay Railroad, 
which was chartered in 1857. He became the first presi- 
dent of the company, and was chiefly instrumental in ob- 
taining for the road its proportion of the lands granted to 
the State of Michigan in aid of railroads by act of Con- 
gress passed in 1856. Mr. Williams continued to be one 
of the most prominent men in the management of this 
railroad until its sale, in 1864. In 1876 he, with several 
associates, obtained from the State of Virginia a grant 
giving them the use of the tow-path of the James River 
Canal as a bed for a railway to run from the city of Rich- 
mond westwardly to Clifton Forge, in Allegany County, 
there to intersect the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at the 
latter point. The enterprise is a most promising one, and 
Mr. Williams is now in Virginia engaged in its prosecution. 

Benjamin 0. Williams has always acted with the Demo- 
cratic party from the easting of his fir.st vote, in 1832, until 
the present time. He has frequently .served the party as 
delegate to State conventions and in other similar ways, 
but has never had any political aspirations. He has held 
the oflSces of justice of the peace, mayor of the city of 
which he was one of the founders, and has been elected to 
a number of minor positions, but he has never held an 
oftice which was the result of his own seeking. His family 
have resided in Owosso from 1838 until the present time. 
He has three children living, viz. : James A. and Charles 
S., who are engaged in business at Owosso, and Benjamin 
0., Jr., who is freight-agent of the Great Western Railroad 
at Detroit. 



HON. AMOS GOULD. 



The life-work of few men illustrates more graphically 
a series of struggles and triumphs than does that of Judge 
Amos Gould, of Owosso. An honored and successful coun- 
selor, a faithful and industrious practitioner, he has ever 
maintained that reputation for fidelity to duty which is the 
general characteristic of the American lawyer. His ac- 
quirements were not attained as light and idle pastimes. 
Each advance step was taken after due deliberation, and was 
then laboriously maintained. Years added to his strength, 



and untiling industry greatly increased his stock of knowl- 
edge, until in the full and complete man we scarcely di.scern 
the feeble beginning. 

The knowledge of Mr. Gould's ancestry begins with his 
grandfather, Capt. Ebenezer Gould, of Killingly ( Windham 
Co.), Conn. He was a young married man of good repute, 
by occupation a farmer, who attained the rank of captain of 
militia during the Revolutionary war, and later removed to 
Granville, Washington Co., N. Y. He purchased a large 
farm, which he improved and lived upon until his death, 
which occurred about 1808. Mrs. Gould, his wife, was a 
Miss Robbins, of Connecticut, and became the mother of 
eighteen children, who were at one time all residing under 
the parental roof The father of Amos Gould, after his 
marriage, about the year 1805, to Miss Polly Simmons, 
removed from Granville to the old town of Aurelius, south 
of Auburn, N. Y., where their son Amos was born, Dec. 
3, 1808. The father there purchased a farm and began 
the work of clearing, to which he devoted himself with 
vigor until called again to the early home to participate in 
the settlement of the estate of his parent. In 1813 he re- 
turned to his purchase in Cayuga Co., N. Y. 

Amos has a vivid recollection of those early days, and 
recalls distinctly the war of 1812. On their return from 
the East troops were seen encamped along the Mohawk 
River. Farther west, in Onondaga County, the camp-fires 
were burning, and a regiment of cavalry overtook the emi- 
grants on the route to their home, and having divided, 
rode swiftly past and disappeared in the distance. 

The son remained on the farm with his father assisting 
in the labors of the husbandman, and devoting the winter 
to such study as was afiorded by the public school of the 
neighborhood. 

From the age of ten years Amos developed a fondness 
for reading, and eagerly availed himself of such material as 
was afforded by the ladies' library established in the vi- 
cinity. One or two private collections were also acees.sible 
to him. 

In 1824 an opportunity occurred of enjoying the supe- 
rior advantages of a school in Auburn, where the languages 
were taught, and where he added greatly to the limited 
knowledge of Latin he had previously acquired. This con- 
tinued with interruptions for two years, after which the 
academy at Aurora, Cayuga Co., opened its doors to him, 
and in 1827 he entered the sophomore class at Hamilton 
College, Clinton, N. Y. 

Mr. Gould pursued his studies until an unfortunate cir- 
cumstance caused the temporary suspension of the institu- 
tion, when, lacking means to enter another seat of learning, 
he engaged in teaching in Auburn, N. Y. He also en- 
tered at this time the ofiice of William H. Seward as a 
student of law. 

Later he became associated with Theodore Spencer, son 
of Chief Justice Spencer, of New York, and received as 
clerk a compensation which materially aided him in his 
early struggles. Ilis admission to the bar of the Supreme 
Court and the Court of Chancery of New York occurred in 
the fall of 1882. 

He soon after opened an office, and at once found himself 
in rivalry with the leading talent of Western New York, 




."W 



'untnu&.iuxcwK (nvs. 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



161 



including Judge F. J. Jewett, of Sicaneateles, James R. 
Lawrence, Judge B. D. Noxon, of Syracuse, and other 
noted lawyers. He ultimately formed a copartnersliii) with 
George Rathbun and continued it several years, the firm 
having enjoyed an extensive practice throughout the 
State. 

The partnership was dissolved in 1840, and Mr. Gould, 
having become involved and rendered liable for debts of 
his brother and brother-in-law, who were merchants in 
Owosso, Mich., and unsuccessful in business, concluded to 
go to that place, and, if possible, close up the matter by the 
payment of the debts. He was also influenced by a desire 
to enjoy a change of climate, and thereby regain his health, 
which was much impaired by close application to profes- 
sional duties. He therefore made Owosso his residence in 
1843, and has remained there since that time. Two years 
later he resumed the practice of his profession in Shia- 
wassee and adjoining counties, and engaged actively in its 
duties until the year 1865, when he surrendered its cares 
and profits to his brother and former partner. Col. E. 
Gould, for whom he had retained the business during his 
service in the army. While in practice in New York Mr. 
Gould was appointed master in chancery by his friend Wil- 
liam H. Seward, then Governor of the State, and later 
made by Chancellor Walworth injunction master for the 
Seventh Judicial Circuit, the courts having been held at 
Auburn, N. Y. These oflSces he held till his removal to 
Michigan. In the fall of 1844 he wu.s elected probate judge 
for Shiawassee County, and in the year 1852 to the Senate 
of the State of Michigan. He was also prosecuting attor- 
ney of the county, and was supervisor of the township of 
Owosso from 1844 to 1850. Mr. Gould has, since the 
Rebellion, afiiliated with the Republican party, but has 
ever made principle a stronger motive than party in the 
casting of his ballot. He has even been induced to change 
his relations with one great party when its platform and 
measures did not accord with his views of right. The 
State election of 1855 found him a candidate of the Demo- 
cratic party for the otfice of attorney-general, but when cir- 
cumstances arising from the late war witnessed the with- 
drawal of many of the strongest supporters of the party, 
Mr. Gould was among them. He organized, in 18G5, the 
First National Bank of Owosso, and has been since that 
time its president, owning a majority of the stock. He is 
also engaged in the superintendence of his large farm of 
twelve hundred acres, and the management of extensive 
land and lumber speculations, which, at the advanced age 
of seventy-two years, make him still an active man, and 
one immersed in business enterprises. 

He is an earnest member of the First Congregational 
Church of Owosso, and was one of its early founders. Mr. 
Gould's spacious residence is filled with the genial mem- 
bers of a happy family circle. His wife, to whom he was 
united in 1841, was Miss Louisa Peck, of New York 
State. They are the well-beloved parents of five grown 
sons and daughters, whose delight it is to comfort their de- 
clining years. 
21 



EZKKIEL SALISBURY. 

Ezekiel Salisbury is a native of that old historic spot 
which so many eminent men of the present and past gen- 
eration claim as their natal place, Johnstown, N. Y., where 
he was born in the year 1812. LIntil he was fifteen years 
of age his time was principally occupied in school. Then 
he went to Utica, N. Y., and apprenticed himself to learn 
the trade of a blacksmith, which had been the vocation of 
his father, John Salisbury. Upon reaching the age of 
twenty-one he began the business for himself in his native 




EZEKIEL SALISBintY. 

county. At the age of twenty-four he removed to Oakland 
Co., Mich., and purchased three hundred and twenty acres 
of government land, and at the same time opened a black- 
smith-shop. Elight years after, he sold out his interest, 
came to Bennington, Shiawassee Co., bought four hun- 
dred and eighty acres of wild land and began elearin"- it 
up. At the same time he again opened a blacksmith- 
shop. 

Mrs. Salisbury was, previous to her marriage with Mr. 
Salisbury, a Miss Martha Stedman, also a native of Johns- 
town, N. Y. They are the parents of eight children, of 
whom four are living. To each they have given a farm, 
and all are industrious, successful citizens. Mr. Salisbury 
was justice of the peace in Bennington two terms, also 
road commissioner. 

In 1870, after giving up all active duties and leaving his 
lands with his children, he removed to the city of Owosso, 
and .settled down to a quiet life there and a rest from the 
labor which he had so steadily pursued for over forty year.s. 
But full quiet has not been allowed him, for since eomin" 
to Owosso he has acted as supervisor of that city five 
years. 

For twenty-five years Mr. Salisbury has been an active 
Christian and zealous worker in the church. 



162 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 




HON. JOSIAH TURNER, 

JUDGE OP THE SEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT. 



This distinguished gentleman was born on the 1st day of 
September, a.d. 1811, in the old patriotic township of New 
Haven, Addison Co., in the State of Vermont, and received 
his academical education at the famous schools of Middle- 
bury and St. Albans, immediately after which he entered 
his name and commenced his legal studies in the office of 
his uncle, Hon. Bates Turner, formerly one of the judges of 
the Supreme Court of that State. He was admitted to the 
bar in the fall of 1833, and opened his office in the village 
of West Berkshire. In January, 1835, he married a 
daughter of Dr. Ellsworth, of Berkshire, Vt., and in 1840 
followed the great tidal wave of emigration to this State, and 
settled at Howell, the county-seat of Livingston County, 
where he at once resumed the practice of his profession. 

Two years after taking up his new residence he was 
elected clerk of the county, and held the office for six years, 
and also held in rapid succession the honorable positions of 
justice of the peace, township clerk, and master in chancery. 

Upon the establishment of the county-court system, in 
1846, he was elected judge of Livingston County, and held 
the position with great credit to himself until the change 
was made in the judiciary of the State by the adoption, in 
1850, of the new constitution. 

At the general State election, in 1856, he was elected 
judge of probate for the same county. His personal popu- 
larity was such, added to his professional character, that 
notwithstanding the Democratic party held a very large ma- 
jority in the county he was triumphantly elected, although 
running on the opposition (Republican) ticket. 

In May, 1857, he was appointed, by the well-deserved 
favor of his old friend, Governor Kinsley S. Bingham, to 
fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court bench, and in the same 
year was elected circuit judge for the Seventh Judicial Cir- 
cuit for the term of six years, at the expiration of which 
he was again nominated and elected, and re-elected in 1869, 



and with increasing satisfaction to the profession and to the 
public he was again, and for the fourth period, in 1875, re- 
elected loithout any opposition, thus making, if he lives to 
the end of his present term, a continuous occupancy of a 
judicial position for twenty-four years and nine months. 

Judge Turner has held the circuit court in forty counties 
of this State, and in every circuit but one. 

In 1860, with the view of getting nearer the centre of 
his circuit, Judge Turner changed his residence to Owosso, 
in the county of Shiawassee. Here he served the muni- 
cipality of that city as mayor in 1864, and was again chosen 
in the following year. 

At the Constitutional Convention held at Lansing, in 
1807, he was elected for the county of Shiawassee, and be- 
came at once an active and valuable member, serving on the 
committee of the judiciary, and chairman of the committee 
on schedule. 

Throughout the whole period of his public and judicial 
life, from its very commencement up to the present period, 
Judge Turner has been distinguished by patience and in- 
dustry and a determination to do what is right whenever 
and wherever that could be known, and it is this principle 
which has won for those who administer the law the respect 
and confidence of the people. 

To the members of the bar, whether old or new practi- 
tioners, he has ever exhibited a kindliness of disposition, an 
unwavering courtesy of demeanor, and a display of charac- 
teristics which so happily become a judge, whether sitting 
in equity, at nisi pritis, or in the performance of professional 
duties in chambei's. The family of Judge Turner consisted 
of five children, three of whom are now living, viz. : Hon. 
Jerome W. Turner, of Owosso, State senater from 1868 to 
1870, and afterwards mayor of that prosperous and enter- 
prising city ; Lucia, the wife of Hon. H. M. Newcomb, of 
Ludington ; and Miss Nellie Turner. 



CITY OF OWOSSO. 



163 




WILLIAM MARVIN KILPATRICK. 



William Marvin Kilpatrick is a native of Middlesex, 
Yates Co., N. Y., where he was born Dec. 25, 1840. He 
was the youngest of the five sons of Jesse and Catharine 
(Seaman) Kilpatrick, the father being of Scotch-Irish 
descent and the mother a native of Maryland. 

His early experiences in life were such as are incidental 
to a farmer's son, and although fond of all out-door sports, 
his natural inclinations were of a studious character. He 
read with delight all the books to which he had access, and 
at the early age of fifteen resolved to study law and follow 
through life that profession. 

His boyhood home was one of strict discipline, and to 
this and his early religious training he doubtless owes much 
of his success in life. Having obtained his primary edu- 
cation at Middlesex, he took an academic course at Rush- 
ville, N. Y., after which he entered Genesee Seminary, 
where he remained three terms ; then for a short time 
taught school in Illinois, and entering the law department 
at Ann Arbor University, graduated in the class of '66. 
He then went to Grand Rapids, seeking admission to a 
law-office there in order to gain a further knowledge of the 
profession. Being unsuccessful in this endeavor, he came 
to Owosso and entered the office of G. R. Lyon, where he 
remained until 1867, when he began the active practice of 
law and soon had a large practice. In 1869 he was ap- 
pointed city attorney ; in 187^^ was elected supervisor at 
large for the city of Owosso, which position he retained 
until the spring of 1875, when he was elected mayor, 
serving one term and declining a nomination for the second, 
which was immediately tendered him. In 1876 he was 
again elected supervisor at large, and in the fall of the 
same year to the office of prosecuting attorney for Shia- 



wassee County; re-elected in 1878, and which position he 
still holds. 

Poliiically, Mr. Kilpatrick is a zealous Republican, and 
in 1865 did efficient work on the stump. He was also in the 
same year a member of the State convention. In 1874 he 
was elected chairman of the Republican county committee, 
which position he still retains. He was elected to the State 
convention in 1880, and by that convention was made a 
member of the State central committee. 

Mr. Kilpatrick married, Dec. 31, 1869, Mary, daughter 
of B. 0. Williams, Esq., of Owosso. Her death occurred 
the following year, and on June 10, 1873, he married 
Emma, daughter of A. L. Williams, and a cousin of his 
former wife. By this marriage he has had three children : 
William D., born April 3, 1874; Mary, born in January, 
1876; and Florence May, born March 12, 1879. 

Few men in Shiawassee County enjoy the respect and 
confidence of the people to as great an extent as Mr. Kil- 
patrick. United to a genial and kind disposition, his fine 
abilities, higii character, and conscientious work mark the 
true jurist. 



D. M. ESTEY. 



Mr. D. M. Estoy, the gentlemanly president of the Estey 
Manufacturing Company, was born in Hillsdale, N. H., in 
1842. When he was four years of age his parents removed 
to Massachu.setts, and thence to Vermont. At an early 
age (when about fourteen) he engaged in lumbering and 
farming, and at the age of twenty had accumulated one 
hundred and sixty dollars in cash, with which he purchased 
a large tract of land in Windham Co., Vt., incurring in ad- 



164 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



dition an indebtedness of nearly six thousand dollars. This 
he paid, acquiring a large sum of money besides from this 
venture, which he considers one of his most successful 
business achievements. 

Soon after this he went into the army, where he remained 
six months. Returning to Vermont, he soon after com- 
menced the manufacture of furniture, continuing in that 
business until he was twenty-five years of age, when he 
"came to West Haven, Shiawassee Co., and laid the founda- 
tion of the enterprise which has since attained the propor- 
tions of the large establishment seen in the accompanying 
cuts. Mr. Estey found the original manufactory at West 
Haven inadequate to supply the increasing demands of his 
business, and, being industrious and determined to succeed, 
he erected the finishing-factory at Owosso, a large two-story 
building or warehouse, to which extensive additions are 
being made the present summer. 

Feb. 1, 1879, he formed a stock company, known as the 
Estey Manufacturing Company, which consists of him.self, 
Charles E. Rigley, and the Hon. Jacob Estey, so noted for 
the excellent organs manufactured by him. 



Mr. Rigley is a native of Vermont, thirty-two years of age, 
and first became connected with Mr. Estey in Detroit, in 
1870, as an expert ornamental finisher. In 1872 he be- 
came bookkeeper, then a partner with Mr. Estey, and is at 
present vice-president and secretary of the stock company. 
He has patented a method of imitating French walnut, 
which cannot be distinguished from the natural wood. 
They have also a newly-invented machine in the dry-house 
for drying lumber. 

From forty to fifty men are employed continually at 
West Haven, and two million feet of lumber kept con- 
stantly in stock for manufacturing purposes. Their ma- 
chinery is all lately improved and the best in the market. 
They also own the best water-power on Shiawassee River, 
and large tracts of land near the factory, which they culti- 
vate as soon as the timber is removed. 

Their furniture is manufactured at West Haven and sent 
to Owosso for finishing, while their sales extend all over the 
Union. Owosso is justly proud of this establishment, and 
of the men who have so energetically and successfully pushed 
the work to its present magnitude and prosperity. 




JAMES M. 

James M. Guile was born in Rochester, N. Y., in 1818. 
The death of his father occurring when he was an infant, 
his mother removed with him, her only child, to Worcester, 
Mass., where they continued to reside until James was about 
twenty-one years old. During this time he attended school 
in the winter sea.son, and worked on a farm the remainder 
of the year. After attaining that age he started for New 
York on foot, stopping at different towns en route, working 
at watch-repairing to replenish his exchequer, and arriving 
in that city with but a few dollars in his pocket. 

After spending some ten years in a jewelry establishment 



GUILE. 

there he came to Detroit and remained about eleven years, 
engaging in the same business for himself. In 1857 he 
came to Owosso and opened a jewelry store, which business 
he continued until his death, April 8, 1880. 

Mr. Guile first married Miss Ann Eliza Weeks, in Octo- 
ber, 1848. William F., the only living child of this union, 
was born in Detroit, Feb. 21, 1851. Mrs. Guile died in 
1853. May 3, 1855, he married Miss Lizzie F. Holman, 
of Romeo, Macomb Co., Mich. To them were born three 
children, — Kate Lsadore, born May 7, 1857 ; Grace Minerva, 
born Jan. 8, 1859 ; and James Arthur, born July 31, 1860. 



CITY OF CORUNNA. 



165 



Mr. Guile was in politics a staunch Republican. In 
religion, for tliirty-five years a member of the Congre- 
gational Church, and for several years a deacon in that 
church ; an earnest Christian, thoroughly honest and con- 
scientious, of a retiring disposition, he enjoyed the respect 
and esteem of all who knew him, and was one of tiie most 
widely- known and valuable citizens of Shiawassee County, 
of which he was a resident twenty-four years. 



EZRA L. MASON. 

Until he was twenty-three years old Ezra L. Mason lived 
on a farm with liis parents in the vicinity of Rochester, 
N. Y., where he was born Oct. 17, 1813. He received a 
common-school education, such as nearly all farmers' boys 
of that section received in those days. 

In 18,35 he married Miss Harriet Wheeler, a native of 
Jeffer.son Co., N. Y., and in 183G came to 0\vo.s.so, Mich., 
whicii was then on the verge of civilization, and located wild 




EZRA L. MASON. 

land for the purpose of establishing a home. He returned to 
Rochester the same year, where he remained until 18159 ; 
then came back to Owos.so and began the clearing of his land 
and the fulfillment of his plan for a permanent abiding- 
place, becoming one of Owosso's pioneers and most esteemed 
and substantial citizens. He has followed farming and sur- 
veying all his life ; was county surveyor for several years, 
which position he filled with ability and to the satisfaction 
of all. He has also held the office of supervisor of Owosso 
town.ship for eight years, besides those of highway commis- 
sioner and school director, all of which offices he has filled 
with fidelity, economy, and an eye solely to the greatest 
good of the greatest number. He has through life been a 
Christian not only by precept but also by example. 

Mr. Mason has been twice married, having by his first 
wife seven children, of whom six are still living. Mrs. 
Harriet Mason died April 4, 1S48, and in 1849 he married 
Miss Sarah W. Whaley, a most estimable lady, wlm, with 
her husband, we hope may for many years survive as a 
pioneer of Owosso. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
CITY OF CORUNNA.* 

Location — Original Laml- Entries — Scttloraont, Settlers, and Progress 
— Incorporation of the Village and List of Village Officers — Incor- 
poration of the City of Corunna — List of City Officers — Manufac- 
turing Inilustries — Banking — Fire Department — Schools — Cliurch 
History — Corunna Cemetery — Secret Orders. 

The city of Corunna, the county-seat of Shiawassee, em- 
braces within its boundaries (as established by the legis- 
lative act which erected it a city) an area of four .S(|uare 
miles of territory lying nearly in the form of a square, of 
which the southwest corner is a little more than a mile 
north and east of the geographical centre of the county. 
It is wholly within the original limits of the township of 
Caledonia, being described by law as covering all of sections 
21 and 28 in that township, with the east half of sections 20 
and 29, and the west half of sections 22 and 27. The Shia- 
wassee River passes through it a little north of its centre, 
flowing from east to west, and furnishing excellent tvater- 
power, which has been from the first .settlement of the place 
until the present time a useful auxiliary in promoting the 
growth and prosperity of the village and city. The Detroit, 
Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway passes through the 
southern part of Corunna, connecting the city with the 
commercial metropolis of the State on the east, and with 
Lake Michigan on the west, affording excellent facilities for 
the shipment of the produce of adjacent portions of the 
county. 

OKIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

The names of the original purchasers from the United 
States of the lands embraced within the present limits of 
the city, and the dates of their respective purchases, are 
given below : 

ON SECTION TWENTY. 

That portion of the southeast quarter south of the Shia- 
wassee River, by Augustus Randolph, of Wayne Co., Mich., 
Sept. 2ti, 1835. 

The north part of the southeast fractional quarter north 
of the above river, by Trumbull Cary, of Genesee Co., 
N. Y., Oct. 21, 1835. The northeast quarter, by Silas and 
Daniel Ball, Monroe Co., N. Y., March 25, 1835. 

SECTION TWENTY-ONE. 
South fraction, and east part of southwest fractional 
quarter, Trumbull Cary, Nov. 2, 1835. Northwest part of 
the southwest fractional quarter and north part of the south- 
east fractional quarter, Elias Comstock and Seth Beach, 
Oakland County, Nov. 19, 1835. The south portion of the 
southeast fractional quarter, William C. Baldwin, Dec. 14, 
1835. The west quarter of the northeast quarter and the 
east half of the northwest quarter, S. l'. Germain, Albany, 
N. Y., April 1, 183G. The east half of the northca.^t 
((uarter, Nathaniel Frouty, Wayne County, April 1, 1836 
The west half ot the northwest quarter, Thomas T. Owen 
Wayne County, April 2, 1836. 



* By E. 0. Wagner. 



166 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUxNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SECTION TWENTY-TWO. 
That part of the southeast quarter lying south of the 
river, Ira A. Blossom and E. D. Efner, Erie Co., N. Y., 
Dee. 9, 1835. The east part of the northeast fractional 
quarter, Alexander D. Eraser, James Davidson, and Alex- 
ander McArthur, Wayne Co., Mich., Feb. 10, 188G. The 
west part of the northeast fractional quarter, James A. 
Van Dyck and H. McClure, Wayne Co., Feb. 13, 1836. 

SECTION TWENTY-SEVEN. 
The northwest quarter, Ira A. Blossom and E. D. Efner, 
Erie Co., N. Y., Dec. 9, 1835. The southwest quarter, 
Elon Farnsworth, Erie Co., N. Y., March 29, 1836. 

SECTION TWENTY-EIGHT. 

The north fraction, Jonathan Kearsley, Detroit, Sept. 
16, 1832. The west half of the southwest quarter, Ninion 
Clark, Shiawassee County, Sept. 26, 1835. The west part 
of the northeast fractional quarter and the east part of the 
northwest fractional quarter, Andrew Mack, Wayne Co., 
Mich., Jan. 27, 1836. The east half of the southwest 
quarter and the west half of the southeast quarter, same 
party. The east half of the southeast quarter, Henry 
Raymond, Feb. 10, 1836. The east half of the northeast 
quarter, Horace H. Comstock, Kalamazoo, Feb. 13, 1836. 
The north part of the northwest fractional quarter, James 
Bowman, Wayne Co., Mich., March 14, 1836. 

SECTION TWENTY-NINE. 
The northeast quarter of the southeast quarter, Ninion 
Clark, Sept. 26, 1835. The east half of the northeast 
quarter, Joseph Pitcairn, New York City, Feb. 20, 1836. 
The west half of the northeast quarter. Lot Clark and 
Stephen Warren, New York, February, 1836. The west 
half of the southeast quarter and the southeast quarter of 
the southeast quarter, Elon Farnsworth, March 26, 1836. 

SETTLEMENT, SETTLERS, AND PROGRESS OF 
CORUNNA. 

The first settlements in Corunna were promoted, and its 
original plat as a village was laid out, by an association of 
proprietors of the land on which it was located. This a.ssoci- 
ation, known as "The Shiawassee County-Seat Company, 
was composed of Andrew Mack, J. C. Schwarz, Alexander 
McArthur, John McDonnell, S. B. Mizner, and Horace H. 
Comstock. The articles of association, in which it was set 
forth that the object of the company was to secure the 
permanent establishment of the couuty-seat at Corunna, 
and to promote the growth and settlement of a village at 
that place, were signed by these proprietors on the 6th of 
August, 1836. None of them were residents of the town- 
ship or county at that time, and it was not until about two 
years later that one of their number — Alexander Mc- 
Arthur, Esq. — removed here as the agent of the company, 
to take charge of its aifairs and advance its interests. 

Upon the formation of the County-Seat Company, Capt. 
John Davids was appointed its agent. He removed to the 
place late in the year 1836, and erected for his principals a 
log house — the first building in Corunna — which stood on 
the bank of the river, on what is now designated as block 
7 of McArthur, Castle, and Hurlburt's Addition. The 



present owner of the property is Andrew Huggins, exten- 
sively known through the county as a skUlful engineer and 
surveyor. The ruins of the old cellar may still be seen 
adjoining the home of Mr. Huggins. 

It is difficult to obtain authentic information regarding 
the progress of the new settlement during the years 1837 
and 1838, the only survivor of that early period finding it 
impossible to recall the events of more than forty years ago. 

The first plat of the village of Corunna, embracing one 
hundred and fifty-seven and seven one-hundredths acres, 
and described as the west part of the northeast fractional 
quarter and the east part of the northwest fractional 
quarter of section 28, was platted June 2, 1837, by A. D. 
Eraser, John Norton, and Chauncey Hurlburt, as trustees 
for the Shiawassee County-Seat Company. The plat was 
recorded Feb. 5, 18-10. The several additions which have 
since been made to the village plat from time to time will 
be mentioned in succeeding pages. 

Capt. Davids, the company's first agent, was originally 
from the village of Niagara, in Canada, and had removed 
to Detroit, where he resided when employed by the County- 
Seat Company to superintend their improvements. He re- 
mained but a year in charge of the company's interests, and 
then retired to the farm of John F. Swain, in Caledonia 
township, embracing seventy acres on section 25, where 
he followed agricultural pursuits until his death in 1869, 
at the advanced age of eighty years. In Canada he had 
been the keeper of a public-house, and an accidental cir- 
cumstance brought him in contact with Morgan, of anti- 
Masonic fame. Together they projected the idea of an ea> 
posi of the secrets of Masonry, and it is said that the work 
was written in the house of Capt. Davids. The latter gen- 
tleman repaired with the manuscript to New York, and 
ordered the publication of an edition embracing twenty 
thousand copies, involving all his means. He later removed 
to Fort Erie, N. Y., and it is stated that he narrowly 
escaped tlie fate which overtook his coadjutor Morgan, 
though the basis of this statement is not known. He after- 
wards removed to Detroit with a view to recuperating his 
lost fortune. 

Capt. Davids was succeeded in his management of the 
company's interests by Joel L. Ancrim, a civil engineer. 
His official career was likewise brief. After a residence of 
less than a year he departed ostensibly on a business tour, 
leaving his implements with Mr. McArthur, and never 
returned. Whether he was the victim of foul play, or had 
determined to abandon a residence not congenial to him, is 
unknown. 

Alexander McArthur, one of the members of the com- 
pany, now determined to remove to the couuty-seat and 
personally supervise the interests of the company. In the 
year 1838 he left Detroit, his former residence, and became 
permanently identified with the locality as a resident, hav- 
ing moved into the house built and vacated by Capt. Davids. 
In that year he erected on the south side of the river a 
saw-mill, which at that early date cut most of the timber 
used in the immediate vicinity, and aided materially in the 
building of the village. Other houses were built, and set- 
tlers slowly found their way to the spot, having been 
attracted by its promising future as depicted in glowing 



CITY OP CORUNNA. 



167 



colors by the various members of the company. In 1838, 
Stephen Hawkins came from Pontiac, where he had for 
three years been a resident (having removed in 1835 from 
Chenango Co., N. Y.). He entered upon section 26, 
in Caledonia, ninety-seven acres of land. By trade a 
carpenter and joiner, he with his partner built many of the 
earliest frame houses in Owosso, where he for a brief time 
Resided. Mr. Hawkins was for several years a settler in 
Corunna, but ultimately removed to the farm which he 
entered and where he still resides. 

Abram Garrabrant came at about the same period, and 
engaged in various occupations which aiforded him a liveli- 
hood. He was an eccentric individual and the object of 
many jokes among his fellows, though his kindly nature 
precluded their being of a very practical form. Mr. Garra- 
brant was not, however, without means, having had a farm 
of considerable size within the present city limits. 

The company offered a plat of land designated as the 
public square to be used for county purposes, and a contract 
was made with Stephen Hawkins for the erection of a 
building, in October of the same year, to be devoted to the 
uses of the county officers. This building not being of 
sufficient proportions to aflbrd conveniences for the sessions 
of the court, they were for a while continued at Shiawasse- 
town, where they had previously been held. 

S. Z. Kinyon emigrated from Onondaga Co., N. Y., to 
the city of Flint in 1836, and entered land in the follow- 
ing year. In April, 1839, he was attracted by the enter- 
prise exhibited by the Shiawassee County-Seat Company, 
and made Corunna his residence. He had meanwhile, in 
connection with A. H. Beach, obtained a contract for the 
construction of a portion of the Northern Railroad which 
had been projected by the State. The project was, how- 
ever, abandoned, and the firm were heavy losers. A suit 
was brought and judgment for the recovery of a portion of 
the amount obtained. Mr. Kinyon on his arrival was em- 
ployed in the saw-mill erected by the company, and met 
with a serious accident which for a while disabled him. 
He afterwards engaged with A. H. Beach in the erection 
of a hotel known as the " Corunna House," which is still 
standing on Shiawassee Avenue, on the south bank of the 
river. They were proprietors for a while, and then it 
passed into the hands of other parties, among whom was 
S. W. Cooper. Mr. Kinyon was married in 18-11 to Miss 
Cynthia M. Day, of Corunna, and on this occasion were 
held the first marriage festivities in tlic village. The ear- 
liest death had occurred three years previously, an em- 
ployee of the company having died in 1838. The first 
birth occurred in 1839. It was that of a child of E. J. 
Van Buren. 

Both Isaac and Lemuel Castle were among the early ar- 
rivals, and were both actively engaged in business enter- 
prises. A brick store was erected in 1840 by Alexander 
McArthur, who employed Dorus Morton, the first mason 
and bricklayer, to construct the building. It was located 
on the site of the store of Joseph Hulick, and a stock of 
goods was placed in it by McArthur, Castle & Cook. They 
were succeeded by Harlow Beach, who came from Pontiac 
in 1841, and engaged in various mercantile enterprises 
with Mr. McArthur. He remained a resident until his 



death in 1856, and contributed much to the growth of 
Corunna. For a while Mr. Beach was absorbed in the care 
of the farm he purchased within the city limits, though 
not entirely confined to this occupation. His brother, Seth 
Beach, came at the same time and was also much inter- 
ested in the advancement of the village. 

E. C. Kimberley, whose name is inseparably linked with 
land speculations in the county and elsewhere, removed 
from Batavia, N. Y., in 1840, as the agent of Trumbull 
Cary, an extensive land-holder. Mr. Kimberley located in 
the village and devoted himself to the care of the large in- 
vestments made by his relative, and remained in Corunna 
until his death. Robert McLaughlin came at nearly the 
same time, and became one of the active business men of 
that day, remaining in the village of his adoption until his 
decease some years later. 

In 1842 a school-house was erected on the site of tlie 
present pretentious building, and Mr. Nelson Ferry exer- 
cised an imperious discipline over the little ones of the 
place. A school had been held previous to this in one of 
the county buildings used as the register's office. 

Joseph Clement arrived in 1842, and opened a black- 
smith-shop (the company having offered him inducements 
to settle, in the erection of a building), wherein he plied 
his trade. The same year or soon after, Messrs. McArthur 
and Hoag succeeded to the general business of Harlow 
Beach, and conducted a thriving trade. 

Andrew and Luke H. Parsons came from Oswego Co., 
N. Y., in 1835, and after a brief residence in Ann Arbor 
removed to Corunna, having purchased large tracts of land 
in the county, a portion of which was located within the 
present city limits. Both were members of the legal pro- 
fession, in which they engaged on their arrival. Andrew 
was the first county clerk of Shiawassee County, and was 
later elected Lieutenant-Governor. The Governor having 
been appointed to a place in the cabinet of President Pierce, 
Mr. Parsons filled acceptably the unexpired term as Gov- 
ernor. Luke H. Parsons also held many important county 
offices. The former died in 1855, and the latter in 1862. 
Another brother, S. Titus Parsons, now resides in Detroit. 

E. J. Van Buren came .soon after and embarked exten- 
sively in commercial pursuits. A brick structure erected 
by Messrs. Morton & Smith was rented by him, and used 
as a store. This building, still standing on Shiawassee 
Avenue, is the first one of brick located south of the river. 

In 1843 a frame building of considerable proportions 
was erected on the corner of Woodworth and Fraser Streets, 
for the holding of the sessions of the court. This edifice 
was in use until the present more spacious quarters were 
provided. It is now owned by the Baptist denomination, 
and occupied as a house of worship. 

Clement Johnson, a former resident of Oneida County, 
located in Owos.so in 1837, and four years later removed to 
Corunna, where he purchased his present tract of eighty 
acres within the city boundaries. He first occupied a log 
cabin on the bank of the river, and later erected for his 
family a comfortable dwelling. Mr. Johnson cleared eighteen 
acres in the first year. The early wheat crops were so 
bountiful as to render prices by no means commensurate 



168 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTi', MICHIGAN. 



with the hibor of cultivating, and the grain was turned to 
more profitable accouut for the feeding of stock. Mr. and 
Mrs. Johnson experienced all the hardships of the pioneer's 
life, and are now enjoying the results of an industrious 
career. 

Dorus Morton and Gerry Tuttle were both among the 
arrivals of 1841, the former having purchased two hundred 
and forty acres adjacent to the village. He was the earliest 
mason, and was constantly employed at the work of his 
trade. Mr. Tuttle later removed to another part of the 
town.ship of Caledonia, but now lives within the city limits. 

S. W. Cooper (as narrated by himself) came to Corunna 
an adventurer, in 18-12, having learned the trade of a mill- 
wright. He was on his arrival employed to superintend 
the erection of a saw-mill owned by Alexander McArthur 
and Robert Thompson. In 1843, McArthur & Castle built 
a flouriug-mill, the construction of which was given to Mr. 
Cooper. 

Seth Beach built a foundry and engaged Mr. Cooper to 
supervise the mechanical portion of the work. He was 
also for a limited period one of the landlords of the Co- 
runna House, and has from that time been a resident of the 
city, and actively engaged in its business enterprises. 

Corunna had now taken its place among the foremost of 
the villages of the county, while its prestige as the county- 
seat had greatly enhanced its growth and promoted its 
business activity. 

The earliest religious services were conducted by Rev. 
Mr. Patterson, of Owos.so, who in his advanced years occa- 
sionally preached in Corunna. Rev. Mr. Gilbert was the 
first resident clergyman. He was a minister of the Bap- 
tist faith and a gentleman of much culture. On his arrival 
in 1842 he became an inmate of Mr. S. Z. Kinyon's home. 
He subsequently removed to Ann Arbor, where he died. 

Seneca H. Petteys, an early resident of Corunna and a 
shoemaker by trade, was also an exhorter, and held frequent 
religious services in the village. 

Henry and A. M. Jennings were the earliest brickmakers. 
They emigrated from Canada to the village, where they 
established a brickyard east of the school-house. During 
the years 1846 and 1847 a fatal epidemic prevailed, which 
included the brothers Jennings among its victims. 

John M. Fraser was originally a resident of New York 
State, and first removed to Oakland Co., Mich. In 1845 
he chose a home in Corunna, and purchased a farm within 
the present city limits. There was then a population of 
several hundred in the village, and the several mills in full 
operation, together with two hotels, gave the place an ap- 
pearance of decided business activity. Mr. Fraser in 
1865 relinquished his farming pursuits, but still retained 
his residence in the village. 

E. F. Wade, an early pioneer in Burns, removed in 1848 
to Corunna, having been elected county clerk and made com- 
mis.sioner of the State to superintend the construction of the 
State road from Corunna to St. Charles, in Saginaw County. 
Later he engaged in the shoe and leather trade, for which 
purpose he, in 1850, erected a store. In 1875 this build- 
ing, standing on Shiawassee Avenue, was superseded by a 
substantial brick structure. Mr. Wade is still one of 
Corunna's most enterprising citizens. 



John Derr came in the same year and made Corunna his 
home, where he lived until his recent death in advanced 
years. 

G. 0. Bachman arrived a year later and engaged in the 
practice of law. He afterwards studied theology and be- 
came rector of the Episcopal Church of the city. His 
death occurred in Corunna some years since. 

Among the representatives of the medical profession, 
Dr. Pierce, a Philadelphian, settled in the city, then a vil- 
lage, in 1842, and engaged actively in the labors of his 
profession. He remained until 1850, when he returned to 
his native State. 

Dr. Wear, of Shiawasseetown, was also frequently called 
to the village in a professional capacity. Dr. E. M. Bacon, 
formerly of Albion, N. Y., was a pioneer of 1846, and 
engaged at once in active practice, having been the second 
resident physician of the village. Dr. Bacon was a gentle- 
man of professional skill, and enjoyed a reputation which 
brought him a laborious professional career and occasioned 
much sorrow at his death, in 1869. Dr. Harder, of New- 
burg, followed him, and after a residence of several years 
returned to his former home. 

James Cummin was an early settler in the township of 
Perry, where he came in 1839. In 1850, having been 
elected county treasurer, he removed to Corunna and held 
the office for six, and again for eight, consecutive years. 
Mr. Cummin purchased later one hundred acres within the 
city limits, where he now resides, and is extensively en- 
gaged in nulling pursuits. 

Morris Jackson came to Shiawassee in 1835, and to 
Corunna in 1849, where he followed the trade of a wagon- 
maker and carpenter and joiner. He is favorably known 
as an early musician, and supplied music for many of the 
pioneer gatherings of a social character. 

James B. Wheeler, who represents one of the earliest 
fiimilies in the township of New Haven, came to the city in 
1850, where he engaged in busine,ss pursuits. Two years 
later he followed the fortunes of other pioneers to California, 
and on his return made Corunna his permanent residence. 
He has been for some years engaged in banking, but is now 
occupied in the superintendence of his extensive farm within 
the city limits. 

Hiram Smith, a former resident of Mexico, N. Y., located 
in the village one year previous to the coming of Mr. 
Wheeler, and engaged in the manufacture of botanic med- 
icines. In 1855 he became one of the landlords of the 
place, and conducted the business for a period of two years, 
when the hotel was consumed by fire. It was rebuilt, and 
a second time burned. Mr. Smith retained his residence 
in Corunna until his death, in 1879. His son, Clark D. 
Smith, is now sheriif of the county. 

Hugh McCurdy removed from Oakland County to 
Corunna in 1855, and engaged in the practice of law, of 
which profession he had been one of the leading represent- 
atives at his former residence. In the year of his arrival 
he was appointed prosecuting attorney, and has been since 
elected to the same ofiice. In 1860 he filled the position 
of probate judge of the county, and four years later was 
elected State senator for the counties of Shiawas.see and Liv- 
ingston. Mr. McCurdy has since been engrossed with the 



CITY OF CORUNNA. 



169 



arduous labors of his profession, and is still an active prac- 
titioner. He has, however, found leisure to devote to the 
public interests of the city, and has been the leading spirit 
in the organization of the various Masonic bodies in Corunna, 
having been honored with the highest State offices in the 
gift of the fraternity. 

Curtis J. Gale came from Ingham County in 1846, and 
made the county-seat his home, having, previous to his 
emigration to Michigan, resided in New York City. He 
engaged in active business pursuits, and was in 1859 elected 
justice of the peace, which office he has held for successive 
years since that date. He was also for six years postmaster 
of the city, and has filled other important offices. He is 
still one of the justices in Corunna. 

ADDITIONS TO THE VILLAGE PLAT OF CORUNNA. 

Since the laying out of the original plat of the village of 
Corunna, in June, 1837, several additions were laid out and 
recorded, as follows : 

McArthur, Castle & Uurlbiiii's Addition, surveyed for 
the above proprietors by Nelson Ferry, Aug. 17, 1843, and 
recorded Dec. 8, 1843. 

Carys Addition, surveyed for Trumbull Cury and Dorus 
Morton by Nelson Ferry, Oct. 5 and 6, 1843, and recorded 
Aug. 23, 1844. 

McL'jugldins Addition, surveyed by Andrew Huggins, 
December, 1860, for Kobert McLoughlin, and recorded on 
the 21st of the same month. 

McArthur's Addition, made by Alexander McArthur, 
Jan. 18, 1862, and recorded May 2, 1864. 

C. S. Converses Addition, surveyed by Ezra Mason, Dec. 
10, 1866, and recorded Aug. 15, 1867. 

INCORPORATION OF THE VILLAGE. 

Corunna was made an incorporated village in 1858 by 
the Board of Supervisors of Shiawassee County, the follow- 
ing transcript from the records of that board showing its 
official action in the matter : " At a regular session of the 
Board of Supervisors of the county of Shiawassee, convened 
and held at the court-house in Corunna, in said county, 
commencing on Monday, the 11th day of October, A.D. 
1858, in the matter of the petition of K. C. Moore, E. L. 
Lyman, John Kinney, John Gouldcn, William Farrell, H. 
Pettibone, John Key, Jonas Fuller, J. A. Fowler, Dorus 
Morton, James Anderson, S. Titus Parsons, James Litch- 
field, R. M. Force, D. Bush, J. C. Clement, A. II. Beach, 
J. Hildreth, H. H. Frost, Joseph Shuttleworth, J. N. 
Lemon, John C. Kingsley, and others for an order incor- 
porating the territory hereinal'ter described as a village by 
the name of Corunna, said territory being known, bounded, 
and described as follows, to wit : Commencing at the sec- 
tion-line running north and south between sections 28 and 
29, where the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad crosses said 
line, running north to section-corners of 20, 21, 28, and 
29 ; thence north on section-line between sections 20 and 
21 to the line of the Port Huron and Milwaukee Railroad; 
thence easterly on the south side of said Port Huron and 
Milwaukee Railroad line to where the section-line of sec- 
tion 21 and 22 crosses said railroad; thence south to sec- 
tion-corners 21, 22, 27, and 28; thence south on scction- 
22 



line between 27 and 28 to the north line of the Detroit 
and Milwaukee Railway ; thence westerly along said railway 
to the place of beginning ; said land and territory being 
situate in the township No. 7 north of range No. 3 east, in 
the county of Shiawassee and State of Michigan. The 
board, after hearing the parties and being satisfied that all 
the requirements of an act entitled ' An act for the incor- 
poration of villages, approved Feb. 17, 1857,' have been 
complied with, and that said territory, hereinbefore de- 
scribed, contains the population required by said act to 
entitle the same to be incorporated as a village, therefore 
it is ordered and declared by the said Board of Supervisors 
(a quorum being present) that such territory hereinbefore 
described shall be and henceforth is an incorporated village 
by the name of the village of Corunna. And it is also 
ordered that Edmund Green, Eli C. Moore, and E. F. 
Wade be and they are hereby appointed inspectors of 
election to hold the first election required by said act afore- 
said, which election is hereby appointed to be held on the 
second Tuesday of December, 1858, at or in the three-story 
building situate in said territory, in a part of which build- 
ing the post-office is now kept." 

LIST OF VILLAGE OFFICERS. 

Following is a list of officers of the village of Corunna 
from its incorporation to the time of its organization as a 
city, with the years of their election, viz.: 

1858.— President, A. McArthur; Clerk, 0. T. B. Wil- 
liams ; Trustees, E. F. Wade, A. A. Belden, C. 
W. Coe, George Wilcox, P. S. Lyman, Daniel 
Bush. 

1859.— President, A. McArthur; Clerk, 0. T. B. Wil- 
liams; Trustees, E. F. Wade, A. A. Belden, 
Jonah Fuller, M. H. Clark, E. C. Moore, Hugh 
McCurdy. 

I860.— President, A. McArthur; Clerk, D. F. Alsdorf; 
Trustees, J. M. Tha3'er, Morris Jackson, A. A. 
Belden, G. Wilcox, C. S. Convers. 

1861.— President, P. S. Lyman; Clerk, D. F. Alsdorf; 
Trustees, J. E. Bush, J. E. Chaffee, J. M. Sils- 
bec, S. Pettibone, Robert McLoughlin, C. S. 
Convers. 

1862.— President, P. S. Lyman; Clerk, D. S. Alsdorf; 
Trustees, Robert McLoughlin, G. W. Goodell, 
James Litchfield, T. S. Martin, H. A. Crane. 

1863.— President, Joseph M. Thayer; Clerk, Robert F. 
Gulick; Trustees, E. F. Wade, Daniel Bush, 
James B. Wheeler, Sheldon Keith, A. A. Bel- 
den, I. E. Hathaway ; Treasurer, J. E. Willis ; 
Assessor, J. M. Fitch. 

1864. — President, James S. Convers ; Clerk, E. P. Gregory ; 
Trustees, K. C. Moore, James E. Bush, Joseph 
Anderson, Seth Pettibone, George W. Goodell, 
James Litchfield ; Treasurer, H. A. Crane ; As- 
sessor, George Wilcox. 

1865. — President, A. McArthur ; Clerk, David F. Alsdorf; 
Trustees, D. B. Wilcox, Joseph M. Thayer, 
Daniel Bush ; Treasurer, James B. Wheeler; As- 
sessor, Seth Pettibone. 



170 



BISTOllY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1S6C.— President, A. MeArthur; Clerk, Theodore W. 
Ferry ; Tr\istoes, James B. Wlieelor, Joseph 
Ilulick, James Anderson ; Treasurer, James E. 
Bush ; Assessor, David W. Wlieeler. 

1SG7.— President, Speneer B. Ilaynale; Clerk, David F. 
Alsdorf; Trustees, Daniel Bush, Erwin M. 
Bacon, Theodore W. Ferry ; Treasurer, Kli C. 
Moore ; Assessor, Hubert McLoughlin. 

1S6S. — President, James Cummin ; Cleik, David F. Als- 
dorf; Trustees, Homer Wilcox, Michael Corland, 
Albert C. Gage ; Treasurer, Lorenzo D. Phelps ; 
Assessor, Curtis J. Gale. 

INCOKPOKATION OF THE CITY OF CORUNNA. 

The Legislature of Micliig-an -at its session of 1869 
passed " an act to incorporate the city of Corunna," which 
was approved on the 12th of IMarch in that year, and 
which provides, " That so much of the township of Cale- 
donia, in the count}' of Shiawassee, as is included in the 
following territory, to wit : the east half of sections twenty 
and twenty-nine, the west half of sections twenty-two and 
tweutj'seven, and all of sections twenty-one and twenty- 
eight, in township seven north, of range three east, being 
in Shiawassee County and State of Michigan, be and the 
same is hereby set off from the said township of Caledonia 
and declared to be a city by the name of the city of Co- 
runna, by which name it shall be hereafter known." 

The corporate limits of the city as thus established by 
the act embrace an area of four square miles, lying in the 
form of a square, as before mentioned. Since that time 
there have been laid out and recorded the following plats, 
viz. : 

S. B. Thomas' Division of the City of Corunna. — Sur- 
veyed October, 1871, by Andrew Huggins, and recorded 
Oct. 18, 1871. 

McArtltur and Cummin's Athlilion. — Surveyed for 
Alexander JlcArthur and William E. Cummin, October, 
1872, by A. Huggins, and recorded Feb. 19, 1873. 

LIST OF CITY OFFICERS. 

The names of officers of the city of Corunna from its 
organization to the present time, with the years of their 
election, are given below, viz. : 

1869. — Mayor, Alexander MeArthur; Kecorder, Spencer 
B. Raynalc; Clerk, William Oaks; Treasurer, 
Morris Ormsby ; Justices of the Peace, John N. 
IngcreoU, Curtis J. Gale ; Coustables, Clark D. 
Smith, Marvin Miller. 

1870. — Mayor, Alexander MeArthur ; Aldermen, S. R. 
Kelsey, Harvey Cregen, Daniel Bush ; Treasurer, 
Morris Ormsby ; Justice of the Peace, William 
Oaks; Supervisors: First Ward, John N. Inger- 
soU ; Second Ward, Alexander Cummin ; Third 
Ward, R. R. Harper; Constables, Cliarlcs G. 
Gage, Samuel A. Fish. 

1871. — Mayor, John N. Ingersoll ; Aldermen, Joseph 
Greer, D. W. Wheeler, Orton Williams, George 
W. Harris; Clerk, R. B. Wiles; Treasurer, 
Morris Ormsby ; Supervisors : First Ward, Hugh 



McCurdy ; Second Ward, Alexander Cummin ; 
Third Ward, James M. Goodell ; Constables, A. 
A. Frain, J. J. Peacock. 

1872. — Mayor, John N. Ingersoll ; Aldermen, Seth Petti- 
bone, Joseph N. Lemon, Horace Peacock ; Treas- 
urer, Clark D. Smith ; Supervisors : First Ward, 
Hugh McCurdy ; Second Ward, Alexander Cum- 
min ; Third Ward, James M. Pettibone ; Con- 
stables, George Mason, Jr., Samuel A. Fish. 

1873. — Mayor, John N. Ingersoll ; Clerk, Orton Williams ; 
Aldermen, A. T. Nichols, Peter Reynolds, George 
W. Harris; Recorder, Philip W. Coleman ; Treas- 
urer, Clark D. Smith ; Justices of the Peace, C. 
J. Hale, E. F. Wade; Supervisors: First Ward, 
Hugh McCurdy ; Second Ward, Alexander Cum- 
min; Third Ward, James M. Goodell; Consta- 
ble, Samuel A. Fish. 

1874. — Mayor, James M. Goodell ; Recorder, R. R. Harper; 
Aldermen, Isaac E. Hathaway, Josiah Creque, 
Horace Peacock; Treasurer, Frank T. Howlett; 
Supervisors : First Ward, John N. Ingersoll ; 
Second Ward, Morris Ormsby ; Third Ward, G. 
W. Goodell; Coustables, Charles L. Bradley, 
Peter D. Rauke. 

1875. — Mayor, Curtis J. Gale; Clerk, Frank Peacock; 
Aldermen, Joseph N. Lemon, Benjamin C. Miner, 

A. R. McBride, George W. Harris ; Treasurer, 
Frank P. Howlett; Supervisors: First Ward, 
Michael Garland ; Second Ward, L. H. W^ilcox ; 
Third Ward, George W. Goodell ; Coustables, 
Marvin Miller, Albert Frain. 

1876. — Mayor, Clark D. Smith ; Clerk, Frank Peacock ; 
Aldermen, A. T. Nichols, Louis Etshnian, Horace 
Peacock ; Treasurer, W. 11. Chapell ; Supervisors, 
First Ward, Peter N. Cook ; Second Ward, L. 
H. Wilcox; Third Ward, George W. Harris; 
Constables, A. A. Frain, Charles Avery. 

1877. — Mayor, Sullivan R. Kelsey ; Clerk, Frank Peacock ; 
Aldermen, John D. Bennett, BenjanUTi C. Miner, 
Albert Gage ; Treasurer, W. R. Chapell ; Super- 
visors : First Ward, Hugh McCurdy; Second 
Ward, L. H. Wilcox ; Third Ward, James B. 
Wlieeler ; Constables, Thomas Agnew, A. A 
Frain. 

1878. — Mayor, John D. Kergan ; Clerk, Frank Peacock ; 
Aldermen : First Ward, Isaac E. Hathaway ; 
Second Ward, Jethro Shout ; Third Ward, Hor- 
ace Peacock; Treasurer, F. M. Kilbourn ; Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Romeyu B. Murray ; Super- 
visors: First Ward, Hugh McCurdy; Second 
Ward, Lewis H. Wilcox ; Third Ward, James 

B. Wheeler; Constables,Thomas Agnew, William 
E. Chaffee. 

1879. — Mayor, John N. Ingersoll ; Clerk, Frank Peacock ; 
Aldermen, John H. Shiek, Richard A. Patton, 
Harvey B. Young ; Treasurer, Frederick B. Kil- 
bourn ; Supervisors: First Ward, Hugh Mc- 
Curdy ; Second Ward, A. R. McBride ; Third 
^Vard, James B. Wheeler ; Constables, Thomas 
A!;i.ew, William E. Chaffee. 



CITY OF CORUNNA. 



171 



1880. — Mayor, Hugh McCurdy ; Clerk, Frank Peacock; 
Aldermen, Joseph N. Lemon, Albert Himes, 
Albert Gage ; Treasurer, Charles Knight ; Super- 
visors: First Ward, Peter N. Cook; Second 
Ward, A. R. McBridc; Third Ward, W. R. 
Chapell ; Constables, Thomas Agnew, William 
E. Chafiee. 

MANUFACTUBING INDUSTRIES. 

McArlhur's Saw-Mill. — In 1841, Alexander McArthur, 
Sr., erected a dam on the Shiawassee River, and soon after 
a saw-mill which derived its power from that stream, upon 
whose bank it was located. The mill was equipped with a 
large and cumbersome sash-saw, which did duty for many 
years, and was replaced by a circular saw in 1866. The 
mill, now owned and operated by A. McArthur, Jr., manu- 
factures both hard and soft wood, and ordinarily employs 
four men in various departments of the work. It has a 
capacity of four thousand feet per day. The market for 
the lumber sawed is found principally in Detroit, though 
large orders are frequently rece'ived from neighboring towns. 
This mill is one of the oldest in the county. 

Steam Saw-Mill of McLaren & Wren — This mill, 
which was built in 1876, is devoted exclusively to the 
manufacture of hard-wood lumber, and depends for its sup- 
plies upon the adjacent country. It has both an upright 
and a circular saw, which are propelled by power furnished 
by a steam-engine of twenty-horse power. The average 
product of the mill is three thousand feet per day, though 
this can be greatly increased as necessity requires. The 
Michigan Car Company, located at Detroit, are the sole 
customers, and consume all that the mill produces. Five 
men are eraploj"ed about the establishment, and the business 
b managed by G. W. Wren, the senior partner giving but 
little attention to its details. 

Flouring- Mill of J. D. Bennett. — This flouring-mill was 
built by S. W. Cooper in 1813 and 1844 for McArthur 
& Castle, with all the machinery in use at that early dale, 
and three run of four-and-a-half-feet buhr-stones. The firm 
later became McArthur & Litchfield, and E. Green pur- 
chased of them, selling in 1800 to Daniel Bush, from whom 
the present proprietor purchased the property in 1876. 
Mr. Bennett thoroughly remodeled the mill, which is run 
by water-power from the Shiawassee River, and placed in 
it new machinery for manufacturing flour by the patent 
process. He also added another run of stones. The 
capacity of the mill is now one hundred barrels per day, 
which can be increased as necessity requires. The grain 
is bought of the neighboring farmers, who deliver it at the 
mill. The market for the flour manufactured is found in 
Michigan and the Eastern States. 

Foundry of D. 0. Reynolds. — This establishment was 
built and first operated many years since by Pettibone 
Brothers. After succes.sive changes it passed into the 
hands of Messrs. Lyman & Allen, of whom it was pur- 
chased by the present proprietor. It is furnished with 
steam-power derived from an engine of twelve-horse power, 
and includes in its list of wares manufactured plows, land- 
rollers, fanning-mills, feed-cutters, coru-sheliers, milk-safes, 
and all varieties of castings. A market is found for these 



articles throughout the county and in other portions of the 
State. 

Woolen-Mills of Amsden & Weeden. — The woolen-mills 
located in the city of Corunna were established as early as 
1844 by Pliny Lyman, and owned by him until 1872, when 
the present firm became the purchasers. They are built 
upon the Shiawassee River, which supplies the necessary 
power by which they are operated. Mr. Lyman placed in 
the mills two looms and one hundred and twenty spindles, 
with which cloths of common grade were manufactured. 
Messrs. Amsden & Weeden have added another fancy loom, 
two hundred additional spindles, a thirty-spindle twister, a 
twenty-four-iuch condenser, and a picker, and have also 
extended the buildings. The wool consumed is purcha.sed 
in the immediate vicinity, and manufactured into cassimeres, 
flannels, stocking-yarn, and horsc-blankcts, for which a home 
demand establishes a profitable market. 

Planing-Mill and Handle- Factory of Messrs. Salmon & 
Wilson. — This mill was erected by Joseph Thayer in 1866, 
on the corner of McArthur and Brady Streets, and was 
purchased of him by the present owners in 1871. It is 
fully equipped with the u.sual machinery of a planing-niill, 
as well as the neceswary apparatus for turning and finishing 
broom-handles. Of the latter two hundred thousand per 
year are manufactured, a large proportion of which are 
shipped to the city of Philadelphia. Messrs. Salmon & 
Wilson also manufacture milk-safes, clothes-bars, and land- 
rollers, and find a ready home market for all these wares. 
The material used in their establishment is principally found 
in adjacent parts of the county. 

Corunna Spoke-Factory. — This factory was established 
in 1867 by S. H. & E. Hall, who manufactured spokes ex- 
clusively. They sold in 18G0 to J. Greer & Company, and 
the present prm of S. D. Wiley & Company became owners 
in 1873. The factory is run by steam, a forty-five horse- 
power engine being used for the purpose. The principal 
article of manufacture is spokes, though whiflietrees and 
neck-yokes are also made. Twenty-one men are employed 
and twenty-five hundred spokes per day are produced, though 
the present active demand necessitates the employment of a 
set of night hands. The material is furnished by timber 
owners in the neighboring townships, who deliver the tim- 
ber at the factory, for which cash is received. The build- 
ing used by the firm is a spacious one of brick, formerly 
built by the Corunna Car Company, and purchased by 
Messrs. S. D. Wiley & Co. The market for the spokes is 
found principally in Detroit and Grand Rapids. 

Wagon-Shops. — J. M. Lemon and A. & E. H. Gale 
are manufacturers of wagons, and do a good business both 
in this line and in general repairing. 

Charcoal Kilns. — The charcoal kins of the Union Iron 
Company of Detroit are located within the corporation 
limits, and were constructed since 1870. Each kiln con- 
tains thirty thousand bricks, and was built at a cost of from 
three hundred to four hundred dollars. The kilns con- 
sume six thousand cords of wood per year, each one having 
a capacity of forty cords. Each cord returns a product of 
forty-five bushels of charcoal, which makes a gross return 
of eighteen hundred bushels to the kiln. Four days is 
the time required for burning a kiln when filled with dry 



172 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



wood, two (liiys more being allowed for green wood. Five 
days more are required to smother the fire and to render 
the material ready to withdraw from the kilns. Ail woods 
but basswood and poplar are made available. Koyal A. 
Jenny is the acting agent of the company, and Thomas E. 
Green the manager of the works. 

BANKING. 
THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK, 
the only one in Corunna, was established in 1865, with a 
capital of fifty thousand dollars. Its first ofiicers were 
Hugh MeCurdy, President, and S. B. Raynale, Cashier. 
The banking-house in which business is transacted is a 
spacious building located on Shiawassee Avenue and owned 
by the bank. Its present oflncers are Roger Haviland, 
President ; A. McArthur, Vice-President ; A. T. Nichols, 
Cashier ; J. D. Leland, Assistant Cashier. Directors, A. 
McArthur, W. D. Garrison, A. T. Nichols, Wm. McKel- 
lops, J. D. Leland, Roger Haviland. 

FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
COKUNNA HOOK-AND-LADDER COMPANY, No. 1. 

The constitution and by-laws of the Corunna Hook-and- 
Ladder Company were adopted, and the company organized, 
April 12, 1876, with the following names upon its roll: 
Almon C. Brown, Wm. H. Cole, C. H. Shuttleworth, E. 
M. Wheeler, A. S. Parsons, Frank Millard, Andrew Jack- 
son, R. B. Ford, E. Huntington, Wm. F. Fowler, L. H. 
Wilcox, J. E. Philips, G. W. Bachman, G. R. Tuttle, A. 
F. Peacock, R. J. Pond, Fred Keith, F. B. Hewlett, Ed. 
Chaffee, Geo. A. Shuttleworth, Fred Seeley, H. B. Headley, 
F. C. Gale, Frank Shuttleworth, Frank Fuller, Levi Seeley, 
John Hiltabiddle, Frank Hoover, Ed Shuttleworth, M. F. 
Bradley, Andrew Seeley. 

With the approval of the mayor and Common Council 
the by-laws and constitution were submitted and were 
formally adopted. The following officers were then 
elected: Almon C. Brown, Foreman; Wm. H. Cole, 
Fir.st Assistant; C. H. Shuttleworth, Second Assistant; 
E. M. Wheeler, Secretary ; Andrew S. Parsons, Treasurer; 
Frank Millard, Andrew Jackson, Stewards. 

A vote had been passed by the Council on the 5th of 
April, 1875, appropriating eight hundred dollars for the 
purchase of all the equipments necessary to a complete 
hook-and-ladder apparatus, and an order was at once given 
for their manufacture, which was completed at the date of 
the company's organization. 

On the 5th of June, 1876, by the vote of the Council, 
one hundred and ninety dollars was devoted to the purchase 
of uniforms, which were at a later date purchased. Thus 
the Corunna Hook-and-Ladder Company was formally or- 
ganized and thoroughly equipped, and has proved itself on 
subsequent occasions admirably adapted to the purposes of 
its organization. 

The following ofiicers were elected for the year 1878: 
Frank Hoover, Foreman ; Alanson C. Brown, First As- 
sistant ; H. B. Hadley, Second Assistant ; T. B. Wil- 
loughby. Secretary ; L. H. Wilcox, Treasurer. 

For 1879, M. F. Bradley, Foreman ; Wm. Linsley, 
First Assistant Foreman ; F. A. Millard, Second Assistant 



Foreman; Fred Goddard, Secretary; L. U. Wilcox, Treas- 
urer; Ed Shuttleworth,' Steward. 

No fires of consequence have occurred since the organi- 
zation of the company, though on occasions where its mem- 
bers have been summoned for duty a zeal and ambition has 
been manifested which has evinced the excellence of its 
working force. 

SCHOOLS OF CORUNNA. 

The records of the public schools of the city are not suf- 
ficiently well preserved to afford a connected history of the 
progress of its educational interests. There are no minutes 
existing of an earlier date than 1854. For the years prior 
to that, the recollection of residents is wholly depended upon 
for such meagre facts as are given. 

The earliest school was taught by Uriah Dubois, in 1840, 
in a log cabin within the village limits. It was a private 
enterprise, and was patronized by the very few families who 
were then settlers and had children. In 1841 a school was 
opened in a building used for county purposes, then stand- 
ing on the west side of the main street, on the site at 
present occupied by the market of William Cole. The 
teachers who taught in succession were Miss Su.san Whit- 
comb, Miss Julia Van Auken, and Miss Mary Ann Mc- 
Arthur. The latter also taught a private school at the 
residence of her father. Luke H. Parsons and Richard 
Parsons were also teachers in 1841. 

In 1842 the district erected a substantial building on the 
spacious ground devoted to school purposes, which was occu- 
pied until the growing demands of the village made more 
commodious quarters iiidispen.sable, and which is still stand- 
ing. The first term in this building was opened by Nelson 
Ferry, whose family resided in Venice, and who became a 
resident of Corunna in his official capacity as teacher. The 
later instructors from that time to the present are given 
with the date of their teaching in Corunna, so far as it is 
possible to obtain them, viz. : 
1841. — Monroe Hawley. 
1842.— Rev. John Gilbert. 
1843 —Miss Sarah Potter, Miss Drusilla Cook.* 
1844. — Miss Julia Hammond. 
184G-47.— Mr. M. P. Wilson. 
1848.— Miss Phelps. 
1849. — Mr. Sylvester Lyman. 
1850.— Mr. G. G. Doane. 
1851.— Mr. Edward A. Sheldon. 
1852.— Miss Sylvia Guilford. 

1853-54.— Rev. S. P. Barker, Miss Cornelia A. Phelps. 
1855.— Mr. G. G. Doane, Mrs. G. G. Doane, Miss Ma- 

riette Thompson. 
1856-58.— Mr. G. M. Reynolds,! Mrs. G. M. Reynolds, 
Miss Mary Wade. 

* Miss Cook was a lady of established reputation as a teacher, and 
found her services much in demand. The ordinary compensation at 
that period was the sum of one dollar per weclt, with the privilege of 
'* boarding round." Miss Cook, whose presence was the cause of some 
competition in the various districts, was secured by Corunna at the 
unprecedented salary of two dollars and fifty cents per week, with 
board. 

t Under the successful priucipalshijt of Mr. Reynolds the school 
was graded. 



CITY OF CORUNNA. 



173 



lg57._Mr. Sweet, Mr. Silas Wooil, Miss Webb, Miss 

Truesdell. 
1858. — Mr. Marcus Haynes, Miss Haynes. 
1859. — Miss Pingrey, Miss Harriet Ilawkius. 
1859-18C9.— Mr. Thomas C. Garner. 
I860.— Miss Charlotte Hendricks, Sliss R. Bradley, Miss 

Hildreth. 
1861.— Miss H. Southard, Mrs. C. Smith. 
1862. — Miss Ida Bigelow. 
1864. — Miss Julia Lemon, Mi.ss Alvina P. Wheeler, Mrs. 

Frank Howe, Miss Etta Parsons. 
1865. — Mrs. Andrew Jackson. 
1866. — Miss Amelia Goodell. 
1868. — Mr. R. Banner Wyles, 3lr. Ashley, Miss Stowell, 

Mrs. W. Jackson. 
1869.— Mr. C. Van Doren, Miss Kate Brearly, Miss Myra 
Bartlett, Miss Nellie Gillett, Miss Bachman, Mr. 
S. W. Baker. 
1871-72. — Mr. H. C. Baggerly, Miss Humphrey, Miss 
Armstrong, Miss White, Mi.ss Dawson, Miss 
Mary Thayer, Miss Hannah. 
1872.— Miss Kellogg, Miss Ferry, Miss Hall. 
1873.- Miss Clara E. Wall, Miss Burrows, Miss Fall, Mr. 

Fred. D. Parsons. 
1874.— Miss Rutherford, Miss H. F. Yakely, Miss Coun- 
tryman, jMiss Reid, Miss Cooper. 
1875. — Mrs. Agnes Van Auken, Miss Nancy McGaw, Miss 
Brands, Miss Arvilla Spaulding, Miss Nettie 
Knight. 
1875-79.— Miss Josephine Wall. 
1876-80.— Prof. Joseph McGrath, Miss C. Parmenter, 

Miss Hattie Curtis. 
1876-79.— Miss Josephine Wall, Miss Ella Kyle. 
1876. — Miss Sarah Wiltse. 
1878. — Miss Hattie Harris. 

1879. — Mr. George A. Wright, Miss Nethaway, Miss 
Emma McGaw, Mrs. H. E. Holt, Miss Linda 
Fowkes, J. William Myers. 

Before 1851 no building other than the one-story frame 
structure already described (and now used as a dwelling) 
had been erected for school purposes. A short time prior 
to the annual school meeting of that year, a few public- 
spirited citizens of the village (Andrew Parsons, E. F. 
Wade, L. II. Parsons, G. 0. Bachman, and others), deem- 
ing the old building inadequate to the wants of the large 
number of resident pupils, suggested to the school board 
the propriety of erecting a more commodious edifice. A 
resolution was, in accordance with this suggestion, oflFered 
with a view to raising the sum of four thousand dollars for 
the purpose, which met with strong opposition, and was voted 
down by a discouraging majority. A similar resolution 
specifying the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars 
shared the same fate. The amount was reduced to three 
thousand dollars, two thousand five hundred dollars, and 
two thousand dollars successively, and met with equal op- 
position. The hour of midnight had nearly arrived, and 
the advocates of the measure, weary and di.sappointed by 
the powerful and persistent array of foes against the enter- 
prise, were about to abandon it. At this juncture one of 



the strongest opponents offered a resolution devoting the 
sum of one thousand five hundred dollars to the purpose. 
On consultation it was decided by the friends of the measure 
to accept this amount, depending upon subsequent appro- 
priations to liquidate the entire cost of building. A con- 
tract was at once let for labor and material sufficient to 
cover the appropriation, and ultimately an additional sum 
was voted to complete the structure, which was erected at a 
cost of four thousand dollars, and is still in use as a part 
of the main building. 

In 1866 the wants of the public school of Corunna had 
so greatly increased that the brick edifice of 1851 afforded 
but meagre accommodations for the number of scholars 
wishing to attend school. As a consequence the present 
commodious edifice was erected at a cost of about twenty 
thousand dollars, the city having issued bonds to meet the 
indebtedness. This, with the additional space afforded by 
the former structure still in use, admirably answers the 
purpose for which it was erected. The school, under the 
efficient superintendence of Prof. Joseph McGrath and his 
able corps of assistants, has attained a high reputation 
throughout the State. In the high school four courses of 
study are prescribed, requiring four years for completion. 
The graduates in the classical and scientific courses are 
admitted to the State University at Ann Arbor without a 
preliminary examination, which may be regarded as a recog- 
nition of the thoroughness with which these departments 
are conducted. The present school board is composed of 
the following gentlemen : D. W. Shattuck, President ; A. 
R. McBride, Secretary ; D. N. Preston, Treasurer ; P. N. 
Cook, Charles Jackson, Marcus Wilcox. 

CIIUUCH HISTORY. 
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

In an early day Corunna was upon the northern border 
of what was called the Shiawassee Circuit. As early as 
1837 or 1838 the Revs. Washington Jackson and Isaac 
Bennett (the latter of whom is still living) were preachers 
on that circuit. At this time occasional Methodist preach- 
in" was given at Corunna, though a society was not formed 
until 1839 or 1840. The house of Alexander McArthur 
was the stopping-place for the Methodist ministers, as indeed 
it was for ministers of all denominations. 

The first class formed was very small, con.sisting of John 
K. Smith, L. M. Partridge and his wife. Mr. Smith was 
the first class-leader, and for many years was a very useful 
man. Blr. Partridge, who was the father of Mrs. Eraser, 
now living in Corunna, was a local elder, and was very 
useful in this new country, preaching in the surrounding 
nei"hborhoods as soon as a few families would assemble, 
attending their funerals and weddings over a large tract of 
country. He lived in a frame house which stood near Mr. 
Hulick's present store. He died April 23, 1845, the first 
death in the little society. The few settlers who knew him 
cherished his memory with much interest. In tlie same 
year Mrs. Eraser, Mr. Partridge's daughter, came to the 
place and soon after united with the class, of which she 
still remains a member. In this year also Mr. Luke II. 
Parsons and wife joined the society. BIr. Parsons became 
a useful and prominent member and a local preacher, and 



174 



HISTORr OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTS, MICHIGAN. 



did much to stiengthcn the society. He died April 19, 
18G2, beloved by all. In July, 1814, Mrs. Mary Lyman, 
now Mrs. David Hewlett, came to this place one week after 
her marriage to Mr. Lyman in Ann Arbor. She brought 
her letter and immediately joined the society, and has ever 
since been a faithful and active member. Among the very 
early and zealous members besides those already mentioned 
were Truman Fox, a Mr. Piper and wife, John Kelly and 
wife (who still live a few miles north of Corunna), Reuben 
Emory (who afterwards became a preacher, and who died 
several years ago), Mr. Freeman and wife, and a Mrs. 
Harriet Beach. 

The old frame court-house which was built in 1843 
became the place of worship of all denominations until 
their churches were built. Previous to its erection service 
and prayer-meetings were held in the.old frame school-house 
which now stands on Main Street. Until their churches 
were built, the Methodists and Presbyterians worshiped 
together, and had a Union Sunday-school. 

Washington Jackson and Isaac Bennett were succeeded 
on the Shiawassee Circuit in 1839 by A. Flemming. In 
1840, F. Brittan and S. C. Stringhara were appointed to 
the circuit, both of whom arc still living. They probably 
had regular appointments at Corunna. In 184:^, John 
Cosart, since deceased, succeeded. In 1843, Riley C. Craw- 
ford and Wm. F. Cowles ; and in 1844, R. C. Crawford and 
F. A. Blades were on the circuit. The first two named are 
yet doing efficient ministerial work ; the latter sustains S 
superannuated relation to the Detroit Conference, and holds 
a government office in Detroit. At that time the Shiawassee 
Circuit was so large as to aiford abundant exercise to the 
preachers. It embraced the following places, at each of 
which service was held once in two weeks : Shiawassoe- 
town, Corunna, Owosso, Bynn, Vernon, North Vernon, 
Venice, Argentine, Deerfield, Boutwells, Boyd School- 
House, Conway, Antrim, Perry, Austin School-House, 
Kellogg's School-House, Bennington, Florence, Green's 
School-House, and Newburg. From 1845 to 1855 the 
following were some of the ministers upon the circuit of 
which Corunna formed a part, though not in the order here 
given, viz. : Westlake, Allen, Levington, Whitcomb, 
Henienway, Arnold, Johnson. 

For some years Owosso and Corunna were taken from the 
Shiawassee Circuit and were constituted a separate charge, 
and in 1857 the two places were .separated, since which 
time each place has constituted a charge. From 1855 to 
the present the ministerial appointments have been in the 
following order: J. M. Arnold 0. Whitmore, L. C. York, 
E. E. Caster, A. J. Bigelow, I. W. Donelson, I. Crawford, 
J. Shank, J. Wesley, L. J. Whitcomb, F. W. May, A. J. 
Richards, J. Kilpatrick, B. S. Taylor, W. W. Hicks, J. 
W. Campbell, S. Reed. The present church edifice in 
Corunna was begun about the year 1848 or 1849, but was 
not at once completed. The parsonage was built in 1863. 

The foregoing sketch by the pastor is as complete as the 
limited time at command enabled him to make it. 

PllESBYTERIAN CUUKCII. 

A meeting for the purpose of organizing a church of this 
denomination was hold in the school-house in Corunna, 



April 27, 1844, under the direction of Rev. Seth Hardy, 
and the following individuals enrolled their names as its 
first members : Harlow Beach, Nelson Ferry, Alexander 
McArthur, James Cummin, Lyman B. Gilbert, Ira B. 
Howard, Seth Beach, Mrs. Elizabeth Beach, Mrs. N. 
Daniels, Mrs. Turza McArthur, Mrs. Emma Howard, Mrs. 
Roxanna Thompson, Mrs. H. Daniels, Miss Margaret Mc- 
Arthur, Miss Anna M. Ferry, and Miss Frances Ann 
Ferry. Nelson Ferry was chosen clerk. Soon after the 
organization, Lyman B. Gilbert, Harlow Beach, and Nelson 
Ferry were elected ruling members. 

The pastors in succession have been the Revs. William 

Smith, Swan, Alanson Schofield, E. Gregory, J. W. 

McGregor, J. R. Stevenson (who filled two pastorates), 

J. W. Phelps, Kellogg, and T. D. Bartholomew, who 

is the present clergyman in charge. Of the original mem- 
bership of seventeen, but one — Mr. Alexander McArthur 
— survives. The present church-roll numbers sixty names 
upon the list. 

The court-house aft'orded a convenient place of worship 
until 18G6, when the present substantial brick edifice was 
erected. Connected with the church is a large and pros- 
perous Sabbath-school, in which many of the church mem- 
bers . are active workers. The present session embraces 
the following gentlemen : Elders — -Charles Holman, S. D. 
Cooper, R. B. Murray, D. N. Preston, J. R. Curtis. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The society connected with the Baptist Church of 
Corunna was organized in 1854, under the aus|)ices of the 
Rev. Joseph Gamble, and with the following constituent 
members : William Weeden and wife, Hiram Smith and 
wife, Jessie L. Smith, Jeannette N. Smith, and Joseph 
Gamble and wife. Of the original members the only sur- 
vivors are Elder Gamble and Mrs. Hiram Smith. The 
first services were held in the old court-house, which was 
purchased by the society and fitted for purposes of worship. 

The early records of the church have been destroyed by 
fire, and no minutes of a date prior to 1867 are obtainable. 
The pastors in succession since that time have been Rev. 
B. H. Shepard, 1867 ; Rev. H. A. Rose, 1868 ; Rev. B. J. 
Boynton, 1869; P. D. Clarke (as supply), 1870; Rev. 
George Wesselius, 1871; Rev. E. R. Clarke, 1873; D. 
Pettit (as supply), 1878 ; Rev. E. E. Baylis, 1879 ; Rev. 
George Atchison, 1880. A new church edifice is now in 
process of erection on the lot at the corner of Eraser and 
Woodbridge Streets, owned by the society. Connected 
with the church is a flourishing Sabbath-school, of which 
Dr. Goodrich is superintendent. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

A church of the Roman Catholic faith was first organized 
in 1860 under the pastorate of Father Van Pannel, who 
remained the resident pastor until 1862. During his min- 
istry a house of worship was erected, the debt upon which 
was speedily liijuidated. He was succeeded by Father 
Bolte, who remained four years, and was followed by 
Father Behrings in 1867. His ministrations continued 
but one year, after which Father Record was delegated to 
the church in Corunna. Father Kramer came in 1870, 



CITY OF CORUNNA. 



175 



and renuiiiieJ seven years. The present pastor, who began 
his labors in 1870, is Father Wheeler, who resides in 
Owosso, but holds a semi-niontlily service in Corunna. A 
Sabbath-school is connected with the church, held after 
each service, at which the children are instructed in the 
catechism by the pastor. The present trustees are Jere- 
miah Collins, Dennis Corcoran. 

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH. 

The organization of the Universalist Society of Corunna 
was effected at the court-house, April 9, 18G5 ; and on the 
27th of the same month a board of trustees was elected, 
of which E. F. Wade was chosen moderator and Cortes 
Pond clerk. The Rev. C. W. Knickerbocker was the 
pastor who visited the charge each month, and held .services 
on Wednesday and Thursday evenings. He devoted himself 
with much vigor to the erection of a church edifice, which 
was completed April, 1872, and formally dedicated soon after. 
The succeeding pastor was Kev. Asa Countryman, who was 
installed in 1872, and during the year the church was for- 
mally organized, with about twenty members. On the 22d 
of March, 1874, the pastor having tendered his resignation, 
the Rev. Amos Crano was called, and conducted services 
regularly every Sabbath, during which time the society 
grew steadily in numbers and influence. The pastor was 
ultimately called to a more extended field of labor, and the 
church is now without a stated supply, though services 
have been regularly maintained by the lay members. 
Clergymen of the denomination also occasionally supply 
the pulpit, the Rev. J. SI. Getchell and Rev. S. F. Gibb 
having been among the number. The strength of the 
society has been somewhat impaired by the removal of 
several influential members, who, by their means and 
influence, aided greatly in its advancement. The large and 
burdensome debt, which has been a source of great anxiety 
to the congregation, was entirely liquidated in December, 
1879, and an efibrt is about being made to .secure the 
presence of a settled pastor. A flourishing Sunday-school 
was early established, and now has sixty members upon its 
rolls, J. D. Leland being the superinteirdent. Teachers' 
meetings are held each Saturday evening. 

ST. PAUL'S CHURCH OP CORUNNA (EPISCOPAL). 

In the summer of 18G2, 5Irs. E. G. Kimberly, Mrs. 
Sophia Crane, Mrs. R. Piper, Miss Ruth Phelps, and Miss 
Cordelia Haskell met at the residence of Mr. J. H. Has- 
kell, and formed a Ladies' Episcopal Society for the purpose 
of raising funds to employ a minister, and also to found a 
church in the village. They struggled on with success, 
slow but sure, until March, 1804, when the services of Rev. 
Thomas B. Dooley, of Owosso, were secured to conduct the 
services for one year on the second and fourth Sundays of 
each month, at the court-house in Corunna. On the 12th 
day of January, 1805, a meeting of the society was held 
at the residence of Mrs. Lockwood for the purpose of or- 
ganizing a church. At this time articles of agreement 
were drawn proposing and agreeing to organize a church to 
be called St. Paul's Church of the village of Corunna. 
These articles were signed by H. A. Crane, J. 11. Ha.skcll, 
Edward Rose, J. N. Lemon, John Ivey, William Ivey, 



J. Hedges, A. M. Smith, and John N. Ingersoll, and were 
recorded in the clerk's oflBce of Shiawassee County, Jan- 
uary 13, 1865. 

At the same date a call was drawn and signed by H. A. 
Crane, J. H. Haskell, William Ivey, and John N. Ingersoll 
for the holding of the first annual meeting of St. Paul's 
Church on Friday, Jan. 27, 1805, to perfect the organiza- 
tion. At that time a declaration of assent to the articles 
of agreement was drawn and signed by H. A. Crane, J. 
H. Haskell, Edward Rose, J. N. Ingersoll, J. N. Lemon, 
John Ivey, William Ivey, J. Hedges, A. M. Smith, J. 
Hulick, L. D. Phelps, and Robert Piper. The church 
then elected the following vestrymen : J. H. Haskell, H. 
A. Crane, J. Hulick, J. N. Ingersoll, L. D. Phehs, John 
Ivey, and A. M. Smith, which having been done, St. Paul's 
Church of Corunna was then and there declared by Rev. 
Thomas B. Dooley to be duly formed. 

Rev. George 0. Bachman became rector of the church 
in November, 1800, and under his excellent supervision the 
society prospered greatly. A considerable number con- 
nected themselves with the society, and in 1807 its mem- 
bers felt encouraged to undertake the erection of a house of 
Worship. The Work of excavating was begun June 21, 
1807. The material was designed to be brick. It was to 
be cruciform in shape, dimensions of nave to be twenty- 
seven and a half by fifty-five feet, the choir and robing- 
room to be thirty-eight feet, the building to be surmounted 
by a tower. The foundation was laid and a large part of 
the material on the ground when Rev. Mr. Bachman was 
removed by death and the further progress of the work 
ended. Services were, however, continued by Revs. Henry 
H. Bonuell and Whitney, of Owosso, Bloodgood, of Corunna, 
and Levi Stiiuson, of Owosso, until the year 1879. Since 
that time they have been conducted by George D. W^right. 
The society are still sanguine of their success in completing 
a house of worship. 

A FREE METHODLST CHURCH 

exists in Corunna, but no facts have been ascertained ou 
which to base a historical sketch of it. 

THE CORUNNA CEMETEIIY. 

The original plat of the cemetery at Corunna was con- 
veyed by Joseph Purdy and wife to the board of health of 
Caledonia by deed, bearing date Nov. 22, 1847. The deed 
shows substantially that, for the sum of one hundred and 
fifty dollars, the parties above named bargained and sold to 
the parties in trust for the township of Caledonia, forever 
to be used as a burial-ground, the following described parcel 
of land situated in said township of Caledonia, being a part 
of the centre third of the west part of the north part of the 
southwest quarter of section 21 of said township, commencing 
at a point on the east line of said centre one-third of said 
part of said fractional section where the south line of 
Pine Street in Gary's addition to the village of Corunna 
extended in a straight line would intersect said point ; run- 
ning thence west on the south line of said street so ex- 
tended, four chains ; thence south parallel with the east line 
of said lot or centre one-third, five chains ; thence east 
parallel with the said street so extended, four chains ; thence 



176 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



north on the east line one-thh'J five chains to the place of 
beginning, containing two acres of land. 

An addition was surveyed by Andrew Huggins in Octo- 
ber, 1869, which is sixty-two feet east and west, and two 
liundred and forty-eight feet north and south, and contains 
thirty-five one-hundredths of an acre of land. 

A second addition was purchased of M. C. Bachman, 
Oct. 1, 1878, described as commencing at the northwest 
corner of the land used as a cemetery, situated on section 
21 in the city of Corunna ; thence running' west ninety- 
eight feet; thence south two hundred and sixty-six feet on 
a line parallel with the west line of said cemetery lot; 
thence east ninety-eight feet to said west line of the ceme- 
tery lot ; thence north on said west line of cemetery lot 
two hundred and sixty-six feet to the place of beginning. 

The Corunna cemetery is now under the control of the 
Common Council of the city, and the lots are disposed of 
by the clerk of the Council. The spot has picturesque sur- 
roundings, and is adorned with many attractive memorial 
tablets, but is still susceptible of much improvement. 

SECRET ORDERS. 
CORUNNA LODGE, No. 115, F. AND A. M. 

The date of organization of the Corunna Lodge takes 
precedence of that of any similar institution in the city, 
the charter having been granted Jan. 14, 1851), after which 
the following officials were chosen : Hugh McCurdy, W. M. ; 
John M. Fitch, S. W. ; Eli C. Moore, J. W. ; Ebenezer 
F. Wade, Treasurer; Austin A. Belden, Secretary ; Samuel 
C. Smith, S. D. ; George W. Goodell, J. D. ; Daniel Bash, 
Spencer B. Raynale, Stewards ; William Rollo, Tiler. 

Its regular communications are held at the following 
dates: January 27th, February 24th, March 23d, April 
2Uth, May 18th, June 22d, June 24th, July 20ih, August 
17th, September 14th, October 12th, November 16th, De- 
cember 14th, December 27lh. 

Its present officers are A. C. Brown, W. M. ; J. M. 
Goodell, S. W. ; J. E. Keith, J. W. ; A. T. Nichols, Treas- 
urer; F. Betts, Secretary; C. M. Peacock, S. D. ; H. B. 
lladiey, J. D. ; W. M. Carleton, Tiler ; J. Appleton, S. H. 
McCurdy, Stewards. 

COEUNNA COMMANDERY, No. 21, K. T. 

A dispen.s.ation was granted April 7, 1868, to Hugh 
McCurdy as Commander, C. C. Goodale as Generalissimo, 
and Daniel Bush as Captain-General; and the Corunna 
Commandery received its charter June 3d of the same 
year. Its charter officers were H. McCurdy, E. C. ; Seth 
Pettibone, Gen. ; 0. L. Spaulding, C. G. ; T. C. Garner, 
Prelate ; C. E. Sbattuck, S. W. ; C. J. Gale, J. W. ; E. 
C. Moore, Treasurer ; S. B. Raynale, Recorder. 

The commandery has a membership of forty-five, and is 
in a prosperous condition. Its present officers are Hugh 
McCurdy, K. C. ; A. T. Nichols, Gen. ; C. J. Gale, C. G. ; 
Seth Pettibone, Prelate ; Michael Carland, S. W. ; E. Rose, 
J. W. ; D. T. Kincaid, Treasurer ; J. D. Leland, Recorder. 

CORUNNA COUNCIL, No. .'iS, R. S. M. 
The charier of the Corunna Council bears date February 
19, 1874, its charter members having been Hugh Mc- 



Curdy, Spencer B. Raynale, Jefferson D. Leland, Joseph 
N. Lemon, F. P. Howlett, E. Rose, J. Ander.son, L. D. 
Phelps, W. D. Garrison, A. Garrison, C. J. Gale, and C. 
D. Smith. 

Its first officers were Hugh McCurdy, T. I. M. ; S. B. 
Raynale, D. M. ; J. D. Leland, P. C. W. ; A. T. Nichols, 
Treasurer ; J. D. Leland, Recorder. The present officers 
are Hugh McCurdy, T. I. M. ; James Anderson, D. M. ; 
Almon C. Brown, P. C. W. ; Albert T. Nichols, Treasurer ; 
Jeff. D. Leland, Recorder; Jo.seph N. Lemon, C. of G. ; 
Henry W. Parker, C. of C. ; Willard iM. Carleton, Sentinel. 

The meetings of the council are held on the third 
Thursday of each month, in an elegantly appointed hall, 
owned and fitted by the various lodges of the city. 

CORUNNA CHAPTER, No. 33, R. A. M., 

was organized Feb. 18, 1864, with the following officers: 
Hugh McCurdy, H. P.; J. S. Hewett, King; G. D. 
Phelps, Scribe ; C. S. Converse, R. A. C. ; J. Irland, P. 
S. ; E. F. Wade, 3d V. ; D. Bush, 2d V. ; J. M. Thayer, 
G. M., 1st v., and Treasurer; S. B. Raynale, C. H., Sec- 
retary. 

The present officers are J. D. Leland, M. E. H. P. ; W. 
Eames, E. K. ; C. D. Smith, E. S. ; C. M. Peacock, C. of 
H. ; A. C. Brown, P. S. ; J. A. Keith, R. A. C. ; A. T. 
Nichols, Treasurer ; F. Betts, Secretary ; G. W. Goodell, 
3d V. ; A. G. Bruce, 2d V. ; J. M. Goodell, 1st V. ; W. M. 
Carleton, Guard. 

Its regular convocations are held on the first Thursday of 
each month. 

LODGE No. 363, L 0. OF G. T. 

The charter under which this lodge was organized was 
granted April 18, 1866, the charter members being I. 
Shank, G. C. Holmes, A. J. Eraser, J. M. Goodell, J. W. 
Turner, A. M. Pond, A. M. Fraser, H. P. Lawrence, S. A. 
Lawrence, R. J. Pond, R. E. Kelsey, M. Ackley, William 
Cochran, Nancy Cochran, Cortes Pond, E. B. Pond, John 
Farrar, Paul Ilarmou, George Sloan, Julius Piper, James 
Slater, J. G. Bryan, Henry Spaulding, William Lucas, J. 
W. Hagerman, A. M. Smith, and G. H. Weeden. The 
lodge, which is in a flourishing condition, embraces a mem- 
bership of one hundred, and holds its meetings in the 
Phoenix Block. Its present officers are Dr. L. M. Good- 
rich, W. C. ; Miss Jennie Hathaway, W. V. ; Rev. Seth 
Reed, Chaplain ; Lyman Brandt, Lodge Deputy ; Fred. 
Goddard, Secretary; Mrs. M. Allen, Treasurer. 

SHIAWASSEE LODGE, No. 407, KNIGHTS OF HONOR. 

This lodge was organized Dec. 9, 1876, with sixteen 
members and the following-named charter officers : Peter 
N. Cook, D. ; Michael Carland, Vice-D. ; Almon C. Brown, 
Asst. D. ; Lewis H. Wilcox, Reporter; L. D. Phelps, 
Treasurer ; A. T. Nichols, Chaplain. 

Its present officers are J. M. McGrath, D. ; Michael 
Reidy, ViceD. ; William H. Cole, Asst. D. ; L. H. Wil- 
cox, Reporter; A. C. Brown, Financial Reporter; J. D. 
Leland, Treasurer; A. T. Nichols, Chaplain. 

The convocations of the Sliiawius.see Lodge are held in a 
hall fitted for their use in the Phcjeuix Block, on the first 



ANTRIM TOWNSHIP. 



177 



and third Wednesday evenings of each month. The pres- 
ent membership is twenty-six. 

CORUNNA LODGE, No. 34, A. 0. OF U. W. 
The order of United Workmen was first instituted in 
Corunna in 1878, the lodge having been organized on the 
19th day of June of that year, with the following charter 
officers: Almon C. Brown, M. W. ; C. T. Armstrong, Re- 
corder; Charles Jackson, Financier. Its present officers 
are George R. Hoyt, M. W. ; Samuel A. Fish, Recorder ; 
S. G. Blake, Financier. The lodge holds its convocations 
on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in 
Odd-Fellows' Hall, in the Phoenix Block, and has thirty- 
nine names upon its membership roll. 

CORUNNA COUNCIL, No. 5, ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEM- 
PERANCE. 

The Council of Royal Templars of Temperance was or- 
ganized Feb. 21, 1879, its charter officers being George W. 
McLain, S. C. ; R. A. Patton, V. C. ; A. G. Bruce, P. C. ; 
Rev. J. W. Campbell, Chaplain ; W. A. Knight, Secre- 
tary ; F. M. Kilburn, Treasurer; C. A. Youngs, Herald; 
J. Creque, Guard ; W. C. Carleton, Sentinel. 

Its present officers are A. G. Bruce, S. C. ; W. A. Knight, 
V. C; G. W. McLain, P. C. ; Nancy Allen, Chaplain ; J. 
Showt, Secretary ; L. Brandt, Treasurer ; C. A. Young, 
Herald ; Lottie E. Knight, Guard ; R. E. Kelsey, Sentinel. 

The lodge holds its meetings in Pha-nis Hall, and includes 
the names of forty-one male and thirty-two female members. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
ANTRIM TOWNSHIP.* 

Early Settlements and Settlers — Roads — Post-Offices — Resident Tax- 
payers in 1841 — Erection and Organization of Antrim — List of 
Township OflBcera — Schools of Antrim — Churches — Cemetery — War 
Record — Societies. 

The township known in its civil organization as Antrim 
is designated in the United States survey as town 5 north, 
of range 3 east, of the principal meridian. The surface, 
like that of other townships in the same tier, is compara- 
tively level, and in many parts wet and swampy. It con- 
tains, however, several ranges of higher lands, though 
these cannot be termed hills. One of these elevations 
more distinctly marked than the rest, and yet hardly no- 
ticeable in its altitude above the surrounding country, forms 
a watershed which divides the township into two distinct 
parts. The eastern part of the township is drained by the 
branches of the Shiawassee, and the central and western 
part by those of the Lookiiig-Glass River. The small 
branches of these streams, assisted by artificial moans, ren- 
der the township comparatively free from waste land. The 
soil is good, and the township is noted for the production 
of wheat. 



*By U. A. M^AIpiin! 



23 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS. 
In the latter part of May, 1836, Allen Beard and Lyman 
Melvin, two young men from New York, came to Michi- 
gan. Leaving their families on Lodi Plains, Washtenaw 
Co., they followed an Indian trail northward, and finally 
reached the log cabin of Dyer Rathburn, in Burns town- 
ship. Being informed that up to that time no explorers 
had entered land or passed from that trail to the westward, 
they left the line usually traveled by land-seekers, and 
made their way through swamps and over creeks, across 
which they were often compelled to fell trees, and finally 
came to a large and comparatively level tract on section 19, 
a place which would usually he described as oak-openings. 
Here, upon an Indian mound, in the midst of luxuriant 
vegetation and bright flowers, they sat down to rest and 
refresh themselves ; and it is related that Melvin, who was 
especially charmed by the beauty of the surroundings, re- 
marked that if he lived in Michigan he wished to live there, 
and if he died he wished to be buried there, — words which 
were subsequently often repeated by him. After noting 
the description of the land, they returned to Detroit, where, 
on June 1,183G, Allen Beard entered the west half of the 
southeast quarter, and Lyman Melvin entered the west 
half of the same quarter of section 19. 

On the 8th of July of the same summer they returned 
with three yoke of oxen, a wagon, a small outfit of farming- 
implements, and cooking-utensils. They built a small hut 
of bark peeled from the bodies of black-ash trees. The 
bark was cut in long lengths, pressed out flat, and then 
leaned against a pole of a tent. Marsh hay well dried 
served a good purpose as bedding. After thus providing 
for their immediate wants they began to plow a piece of 
ground for wheat. There being few trees and but little 
fallen timber in the way, they soon prepared a field of con- 
siderable extent, and then returned to Lodi, where they re- 
mained during harvest. In the fall they came again to 
Antrim, and subsequently brought their families. While 
sowing wheat in the same autumn they were one day sur- 
prised to hear a cow-bell in the timber north of their house. 
Upon looking for neighbors they found the families of 
Peter Cook and Alanson Ailing living in a cabin on section 
17. Both these families had come into the township about 
the same time. Mr. Cook located the northwest quarter of 
section 17 and the northeast quarter of 18. Mr. Ailing 
entered the northwest quarter of section IS and the south- 
west quarter of section 7. After building a cabin on the 
land owned by Mr. Cook, he and Mr. Ailing went to Clin- 
ton, Mich., and persuaded Charles Locke to return with 
them. Mr. Ailing sold him eighty acres of land, agreeing 
to take pay in work. It is believed that Mr. Locke's son, 
born soon afterwards, was the first white child born in the 
township. Mr. Locke is still living in Perry. Mr. Cook, 
after living in Antrim many years, removed to Corunna, 
where he spent the remainder of his life, and where his 
widow is still living. 

Four brothers named Harmon were early settleiv in An- 
trim. Almon Harmon came to the township in the fall of 
1830, with a wife and two children. He located the south- 
west quarter of the northeast quarter of section 20, now 
owned by J. C. Adams. He built a good log house on the 



178 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



site now occupied by the house of Mr. Adams, the best in 
the township up to that time. Mr. Harmon remained but 
a few years. 

Horace B. Flint reached the townsliip about the same 
time as Ahnon Harmon, and bought forty acres of Mr. 
Ailing on section 7, the same now owned by E. Goodburn. 
Of the family which he brought, but one is now living. 

Harvey Harmon came in the winter of 1836-37, and 
settled on section 28, having also bought land on section 
29. He remained but a few years. 

Chauncey Harmon and Daniel Harmon came in 1839. 
Daniel located the land on which the saw-mill now owned 
by Isaac Wright stands. On this site he built the first 
saw-mill in Antrim, in 1840. In 1848 he sold to 
Thomas Munger, who, after running it but a short time, 
sold it to Walter and I. S. A. Wright. Chauncey Har- 
mon bought the land now owned by Chauncey Case, being 
forty acres on section 29. 

On June 2, 183G, Mortimer B. Martin, with a friend 
named Townsend, came to the northeastern corner of the 
township of Antrim. He, too, followed the usual line of 
travel, coming first to the house of Dyer llathburn, whence 
he went north, striking the Shiawassee in the vicinity of 
Knaggs' trading-post. From this place Mr. Martin went 
to the hill on which his residence now stands, and although 
up to that time he had scarcely tliought of farming, he was 
so delighted with the scene that he at once determined to 
locate a tract, which he did on the 6th of July, 1836. 
Mr. Townsend was not so enthusiastio and did not pur- 
chase. Mr. Martin was the first settler in the northeastern 
quarter of the township. 

John Ward came to Antrim May 2, 1837, and settled 
on the northeast quarter of section 7, taking up forty acres. 
His family consisted of a wife and eight children. Mrs. 
Ward died in December, 183S). Hers is believed to 
have been the first death in the township. Lyman Melvin 
died in 1850, and was buried in the mound just in the rear 
of the orchard on his farm, to which we have already 
alluded. His wife married again and went to California. 
The farm is now owned by A. Dippy, also an early settler. 

Allen Beard lives on the farm he located more than 
forty-four years ago. His first wife has been dead many 
years. Nathaniel Durfee, one of the early settlers of An- 
trim, is still living. His settlement is referred to in the 
biography which will be seen in another part of this work. 

The nearest post-office through which the earliest set- 
tlers of Antrim received their mail was at Howell, twenty- 
five miles distant. When the office wa.s established at 
Shiawasseetown it made it much more convenient, as the 
settlers could then get their mail and " go to mill*' at the 
same time. The most embarrassing feature of the case 
was the difficulty at times of getting the necessary twenty- 
five cents to pay the postage on a letter. The next office 
was established at Hartwell. 

The first post-office located in Antrim was established in 
1849, and opened at the house of John Near, who was 
the postmaster. When he resigned, Allen Beard was 
appointed. The name was then changed from Antrim to 
Glass lliver, and Joseph Blinson succeeded to the office. 



after whom the present incumbent, J. C. Adams, was 
appointed. 

The first road opened in Antrim was the north-and-south 
road wliicli passes through the western tier of sections. It 
was located in the fall of 1839, as was also the road leading 
east, connecting with a road established the year before in 
Burns, running to Byron. These roads were the main 
lines of travel for many years. But when Owosso and Co- 
runna grew to be of importance trade and travel gradually 
shifted to that quarter. 

The mill used by the settlers in an early day was situated 
at Shiawasseetown. The farmers from the southwestern 
part of Antrim usually went with a yoke of cattle, and if 
the roads were favorable, could make the trip in two days. 
Before this mill was built they traded in Detroit or Ann 
Arbor. 

Although the lands of the entire township were taken up 
soon after the first entry was made (with the exception of a 
few tracts at that time considered worthless), tlierc were 
but few permanent settlers, and these were in the western 
and southwestern parts. In these localities were all those 
(with one exception) to whom wo have referred, who came 
in in the summer and fall of 1836. 

From the assessment-roll of the township for 1841, given 
below, it will be noticed that tliere was but one taxable in- 
habitant east of a line drawn north and south through the 
centre of the township. At this time large tracts of land 
were held by speculators, and some of it was retained by 
them for many years. There is now, however, but little 
non-resident land in the township. 

RESIDENT TAX-PAYERS IN 1841. 

Following is a list of the resident tax-payers in Antrim 
in 1841, as shown by the assessment-roll of that year, 
signed by Harvey Harmon, assessor. All of these, with 
two exceptions, were assessed on personal property : 



Names. Sections. 

Mortimer B. Martin 1, 12 

Alanson Ailing 7, 18 

John Ward 7 

William Ward 7 

Charles Locke 7 

S.S.Sheldon 4 

Horace B, Flint 7 

Peter Cook 18, 17 

Harvey Harmon 29, 28 

Joshua S. Saddler 29 

Lyman Melvin 19 

Hiram Van Natter 19 

George Abbott 20 

Daniel B. Harmon 21 

James Colboru 32 

Sylvester Colborn .'{2 

Amos Colborn 32 

Guy Lyons 30 

Allen Beard 19, 30 

Cheloy Tupjier 28 

Nicholas Walbarer 25, 2f> 

Totals 



ERECTION AND ORGANIZATION OF ANTRIM. 

Antrim was taken from the territory of Shiawassee town- 
ship (_of which it had previously been a part) and erected 
a separate civil township by act of the Legislature approved 





Value of 


Personal 


icres. 


Real Property. 


Property 


610 


$2,560.00 


$90.75 


200 


696.50 


62.00 


SO 


280.00 


40.00 


160 


660.00 


40.00 


SO 


280.00 


40.00 


160 


560.00 


106.00 


40 


160,00 


68.00 


320 


1,120.00 


52.00 


120 


420.00 


67.00 


40 


140.00 


10.00 


80 


400.00 


92.00 


80 


280.00 




160 


500.00 


65.00 


200 


800.00 


104.00 


40 


140.00 




40 


110.00 


30.00 


SO 


280.00 


40.00 


120 


300.00 


40.00 


16(1 


800.00 


104.00 


80 


280.00 


57.00 


80 


240.00 


56.00 




$11,056.50 


$1163.75 









X 

* 

2 



"I 







ANTRIM TOWNSHIP. 



179 



March 6, 1838. The act provided that the first township 
election should be held at the house of Almon S. Harmon, 
and in pursuance of this provision it was held at the place 
designated on the 2d of April, 1838. Noyes P. Chapman 
was chosen moderator, Aluioa S. Harmon clerk, and Alan- 
son Ailing and Charles Locke assistant judges of election. 
As is usually the case at the first election in a township, 
the number present was so limited that nearly every voter 
received one or more offices. The number in this case was 
twelve, their names being as follows : Almon S. Harmon, 
Noyes P. Chapman, Alanson Ailing, Charles Locke, John 
Ward, Philander T. Main, Horace B. Flint, Allen Beard, 
Lyman Melvin. Hiram Van Natter, Harvey Harmon, and 
Peter Cook. 

A township-meeting was held at the house of Lyman 
Melvin on the 8th of June of the same year, at which 
meeting another full list of officers were elected, none of 
those elected at the first election having qualified. We 
therefore give the results in the following list, the names of 
the oflScers chosen at the election of June 8th as the actual 
township officers for 1838. The list here given includes 
the names of the principal officers of Antrim township 
from 1837 to 1880 inclusive, viz. : 

1838.— Supervisor, Thomas B. Flint; Clerk, Charles 
Locke ; Assessors, John Ward, Allen Beard, 
Henry Harmon ; Highway Commissioners, 
Horace B. Flint, Lyman Melvin, Henry Har- 
mon ; Collector, Lyman Melvin ; Constables, 
Charles Locke, Lyman Melvin, Hiram Van 
Natter; Overseers of the Poor, Peter Cook, 
Chauncey Harmon. 
1839. — Supervisor, Ichabond Kueeland ; Town Clerk, 
Charles Locke ; Treasurer, Harvey Harmon ; 
Justices, John Ward, John Culver ; Highway 
Commissioners, Isaac Colboru, Simon S. Shel- 
don, David B. Harmon ; Assessors, Hiram Van 
Natter, John Ward ; School Inspectors, Allen 
Beard, Chauncey Harmon ; Directors of the 
Poor, Peter Cook, Hiram Van Natter ; Con- 
stables, Nicholas Walbarer, Amos Colborn. 
1840. — Supervisor, Harvey Harmon ; Clerk, Charles 
Locke ; Assessors, D. B. Harmon, Allen Beard ; 
School Inspectors, John C. Culver, Charles 
Locke ; Commissioners of Highways, John 
Ward, Alanson Ailing, D. B. Harmon ; Treas- 
urer, Lyman Melvin ; Collector, Chauncey Har- 
mon ; Constables, Lyman Melvin, Lewis Ward, 
Chauncey Harmon, G. Merrill ; Justice, M. B. 
Martin. 
1841. — Supervisor, Harvey Harmon; Clerk, Peter Cook; 
Treasurer, Horace B. Flint ; Commissioners of 
Highways, Hiram Van Natter, Mortimer B. 
Martin, Amos Colborn ; Justices, Horace B. 
Flint, M. B. Martin ; Constables, Guy Lyons, 
Isaac Colborn, Lyman Melvin, Hiram Van 
Natter. 
1842. — Supervisor, Mortimer B. Martin ; Clerk, Charles 
Locke ; Treasurer, Nathaniel Durfee ; Justices, 
Mortimer B. Martin, Henry Hill ; Commis- 
sioners of Highways, Guy Lyons, Samuel Bal- 



com, Simon S. Sheldon ; Constables, Guy Lyons, 
Don C. Griswold, Stafl'ord Hill. 

1843. — Supervisor, Mortimer B. Martin ; Clerk, Peter 
Cook ; Trea.surer, Lyman Melvin ; Commis- 
sioners of Highways, Peter Cook, Samuel Bal- 
com, Charles Locke ; Justice, Nathaniel Durfee ; 
Constables, D. B. Harmon, Samuel Balcom, 
Hiram Van Natter, Guy Lyons. 

1844. — Supervisor, Mortimer B. Martin ; Clerk, John 
Hill ; Treasurer, Guy Lyons ; Justice, Lyman 
Melvin ; Highway Commissioners, D. B. Har- 
mon, Samuel Balcom, John Dippy ; Constables, 
Alanson Ailing, James Colborn, Hiram Van 
Natter. 

1845.— Supervisor, Timothy M. Fuller; Clerk, John Hill; 
Treasurer, Samuel Balcom ; Justice, Peter Cook ; 
Highway Commissioners, John Dippy, Alanson 
Ailing, Nicholas Walbarer ; Constables, Jabez 
Cook, Martin H. Smith, Timothy R. Bennett, 
D. D. Sias. 

184G.— Supervisor, T. M. Puller; Clerk, John Hill; 
Treasurer, Samuel Balcom ; Justices, H. B. 
Flint, James Beal ; Commissioners of High- 
ways, John Dippy, T. R. Bennett, M. H. Smith ; 
Constables, Sylvanus Sias, S. V. Sherlock. 

1847.— Supervisor, H. B. Flint; Clerk, John Hill ; Treas- 
urer, Samuel Balcom ; Justice, Ichabod W. 
Munger; Commissioners of Highways, George 
W. Lamb, Guy Lyons, Hiram 6. Heminway ; 
Constables, A. M. Grosvenor, George S. Lamb, 
Sylvanus Sias. 

1848.— Supervisor, E. Gould; Clerk, Timothy M. Fuller; 
Treasurer, John Near ; Justices, Peter Cook, 
William H. Eddy ; Highway Commissioner, 
Harvey G. Thomas ; Constables, William H. 
Blake, Ely Stone, George S. Lamb. 

1849. — Supervisor, Mortimer B. Martin ; Clerk, John W. 
Wright ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justice, E. 
Gould ; Commissioners of Highways, Stephen 
V. Sherlock, Timothy R. Bennett ; Constables, 
Augustus M. Grosvenor, T. Monger, William 
Rust. 

1850. — Supervisor, Peter Cook ; Clerk, Timothy M. Ful- 
ler ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justices, Stephen 
V. Sherlock, Evan Roberts ; Commissioner of 
Highways, John Ward ; Constables, Thomas 
Carlton, Francis McCormick, Otis B. Puller. 

1851.— Supervisor, I. S. A. Wright ; Clerk, T. M. Fuller; 
Treasurer, John Near ; Justice, Horace Flint ; 
Highway Commissioner, Peter Cook ; Constables, 
Andrew Shields, Benjamin Eddy, H. F. Sher- 
lock, Ely Stone. 

1852.— Supervisor, M. Martin ; Clerk, I. S. A. Wright ; 
Treasurer, H. B. Flint; Justices, D. Summers, 
A. Rust ; Highway Commissioners, T. R. Ben- 
nett, R. Carr ; Constables, Calvin Flint, William 
Blake. 

1853.— Supervisor, L. M. Martin ; Clerk, I. S. A. Wright ; 
Treasurer, H. B. Flint ; Justices, Asahel Rust, 
D. Summers; Highway Commissioners, T. R. 



180 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Bennett, Robert Carr; Constables, William 
Blake, Calvin Flint, B. Colborn, John Dippy. 

1854. — Supervisor, M. B. Martin ; Clerk, Timothy M. 
Fuller ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justices, Eman- 
uel M. Young, Stephen V. Sherlock ; Highway 
Commissioners, David Waters, Robert Carr ; 
Constables, John Near, William B. Wells, Solo- 
mon H. Hoard. 

1855. — Supervisor, Mortimer B. Martin ; Clerk, T. M. 
Fuller ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justice, I. S. 
A. Wright; Commissioners of Highways, Wil- 
liam B. Wills, Warren C. Harris ; Constables, 
John Near, Guy Lyons, Alanson Ailing, Wil- 
liam B. Welch. 

1856. — Supervisor, M. B. Martin; Clerk, Timothy M. 
Fuller; Trei-suror, John Near; Justices, Calvin 
Howard, Allen Beard ; Commissioner of High- 
ways, Solomon H. Hoard; Constables, William 
H. Blake, Stephen V. Sherlock, Worthington 
Howard, John Walters. 

1857. — Supervisor, M. B. Martin; Clerk, Timothy M. 
Fuller ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justice, Liberty 
Lyman ; Highway Commissioner, Ransom More- 
house ; Constables, James T. Morgan, Byron 
Beard, William Ailing. 

1858. — Supervisor, M. B. Martin ; Clerk, Timothy M. 
Fuller ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justices, Evan 
Roberts, James E. Carr ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, John Ward ; Constables, John Moody, 
Charles Tilson, Byrou Beard, Samuel W. Carr. 

1859.— Supervisor, Lafoyette Arnold ; Clerk, T. M. Ful- 
ler ; Treasurer, John Near ; Justices, Peter 
Cook, Guy Lyons; Commissioners, Anson Red- 
sou, James Case; Constables, Johu Moody, 
Samuel W. Carr, David Waters, John Dippy. 

1860. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold; Clerk, W. H. Eddy; 
Treasurer, William F. Miller; Justices, Walter 
Wright, David Parker ; Commissioners of High- 
ways, Elias Haggerty, Byron Beard ; Constables, 
Gilbert Hemingway, James Peck, A. H. Fuller, 
Byron Beard. 

1861. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold; Clerk, Worthington 
Howard ; Treasurer, William F. Miller ; Justice, 
Guy Lyons ; Commissioner of Highways, James 
Case ; Constables, James W. Fuller, James H. 
Hood, William W. Morgan, Gilbert Heming- 
way. 

1862. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold; Clerk, Calvin How- 
ard; Treasurer, William F. Miller; Justice, 
Horace Simpson ; Commissioners of Highways, 
E. Burlingame, J. H. Hood ; Constables, 
George Dippy, J. H. Hood, P. M. Shelp, 
James Fuller. 

1863.— Supervisor, Lafiiyette Arnold; Clerk, William H. 
Eddy; Treasurer, William F. Miller; Justices, 
David Parker, Jesse J. Bennett ; Highway Com- 
missioner, Jacob T. Miller ; Constables, J. C. 
Adams, P. M. Cook, C. M. Fuller, George 
Bliss. 

1864. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold ; Clerk, T. F. Burt- 



nett ; Trea.surer, William F. Miller; Justice, 
Walter Wright ; Commissioners of Highways, 
J. T. Morgan, J. C. Adams; Constables, J. C. 
Adams, Stewart Krisler, A. M. Lyons, P. M. 
Shelp. 

1865.— Supervisor, P. Parker; Clerk, T. F. Burtnett; 
Treasurer, William F. Miller; Justice, Guy 
Lyons ; Commissioner of Highways, Jacob 
Heath ; Constable, J. C. Adams. 

1866. — Supervisor, David Parker; Clerk, Thomas F. Burt- 
nett; Treasurer, William F. Miller; Justice, 
Ransom Morehouse; Commissioner of High- 
ways, Calvin Howard ; Constables, John Dippy, 
George A. Parker, A. R. Carr, W. S. Scribner ; 
School Inspector, W. H. Adams. 

1867.— Supervisor, Lafeyette Arnold; Clerk, T. F. Burt- 
nett ; Treasurer, William F. Miller ; School In- 
spector, William H. Fleming; Ju.stices, Alfred 
P. Sutterby, Evan Roberts ; Commissioners of 
Highways, Byron Beard, Andrew Love; Con- 
stables, John Dippy, M. Lyons, William Saul, 
Jr., Austin Trowbridge. 

1868. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold ; Clerk, Joseph Blin- 
ston ; Treasurer, John Williamson ; Justices, 
Allen Beard, W. Wright, P. N. Cook ; School 
Inspector, John B. Howe; Commissioner of 
Highways, Thomas Gallagher; Constables, Sam- 
uel Morey, Morton Bennett, Lewis Decker, 
David L. Ed.sall. 

1869. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold ; Clerk, Joseph Blin- 
stoii ; Treasurer, James T. Morgau ; Justices, 
Mortimer B. Martin, John B. Howe ; School 
Inspector, Lewis Decker ; Commissioner of High- 
ways, Lewis M. Baldwin ; Constables, Stephen 
Ward, Delos Williamson, George Bliss, Parley 
M. Shelp. 

1870. — Supervisor, Lafayette Arnold ; Clerk, Thomas 
Burtnett ; Treasurer, James T. IMorgan ; Jus- 
tices, John Dippy, Chauncey Case; School In- 
spector, Alpha A. Carr; Commissioner of High- 
ways, George G. Harris ; Constables, Parley M. 
Shelp, Lucius Slocum, Jlilo Hovey, Edgar Dur- 
fee. 

1871.— Supervisor, P. H. Gallagher; Clerk, T. F. Burt- 
nett ; Treasurer, J. T. Morgan ; Justices, A. P. 
Sutterby, Andrew J. Rounds, John B. Howe ; 
School Inspectors, T. N. Blinston, W. S. Hunt- 
ington ; Commissioner of Highways, Thomas 
Gallagher; Constables, Hiram Skinner, P. M. 
Shelp, George Bliss, Morton Bennett. 

1872.— Supervisor, John Q. A. Cook ; Clerk, T. F. Burt- 
nett ; Treasurer, James T. Morgan ; Justice, 
S. H. Hoard ; Commissioner of Highways, 
Isaac Shotwell ; School Inspector, Eben Bliss ; 
Constables, Alpha A. Carr, Voluey Allen, Whit- 
ney S. Jacobs, Lafiiyette McDivit ; Drain Com- 
missioner, George Graham. 

1873.— Supervisor, John Q. A. Cook ; Clerk, Thomas F. 
Burtnett; Treasurer, W. H. Adams; Justices, 
Thomas A. Lawrie, Evan Roberts; Commissioner 







ft' , 
t 



1. 









iy«^:.5^ 



pi^#". 








ANTKIM TOWNSHIP. 



181 



of Highways, Frank McDivit ; Drain Commis- 
sioner, George Graham ; School Inspectors, J. C. 
Adams, J. E. Wright ; Constables, Joseph Ag- 
new, Volney Ailing, Corydon M. Miller, L. C. 
Dorn. 

1874.— Supervisor, J. Q. A. Cook ; Clerk, T. F. Burtnett ; 
Treasurer, W. H. Adams ; Justice, J. C. Adams; 
Commissioners of Highways, William Buff, 
Jacob T. Miller ; Drain Commissioner, William 
F. Miller ; Constables, Volney Ailing, Jerome 
B. Trim, Jonathan Wood. Jo.seph Agnew. 

1875.— Supervisor, J. Q. A. Cook; Clerk, T. F. Burtnett; 
Treasurer, W. H. Adams ; Justices, Walter 
Wriglit, Moses W. Fuller; Commissioner of 
Highways, I. Shotwell ; Superintendent of 
Schools, J. E. Wright ; School Inspector, J. T. 
Morgan ; Drain Commi.«sioner, J. C. Adams ; 
Constables, Andrew Love, Richard Harding, 
John Dippy, Stephen D. Tasket. 

1876.— Supervisor, J. Q. A. Cook; Clerk, T. F. Burtnett; 
Treasurer, W. H. Adams ; Justice, Evan Rob- 
erts; Commissioner of Highways, Mills L. 
Parker ; Superintendent of Schools, J. E. 
Wright; Drain Commissioner, John C. Adams; 
School Inspector, James T. Morgan ; Constables, 
Joseph Agnew, Heman Hagerty, E. 0. Brown, 
John Dippy. 

1877. — Supervisor, James L. Jared ; Clerk, T. F. Burt- 
nett ; Treasurer, W. H. Adams; Justice, Thos. 
A. Lawrie ; Superintendent of Schools, J. E. 
Wright ; School In.spector, J. T. Morgan ; Com- 
missioner of Highways, Wells B. Fox ; Consta- 
bles, Lafayette McDivit, Volney Ailing, Willis 
Ellsworth, Stephen D. Tasket. 

1878.— Supervisor, J. Q. A. Cook ; Clerk, T. F. Burtnett ; 
Treasurer, W. H. Adams ; Justice, Austin 
Trowbridge ; Superintendent of Schools, Moses 
W. Fuller ; Commissioner of Highways, J. T. 
Morgan ; School Inspector, Alonzo Dippy ; 
Drain Commissioner, Lewis J. Grant ; Consta- 
bles, Albert B. Miller, Volney Ailing, Wilder 
Main, Lafayette McDivit. 

1879. — Supervisor, Isaac Shotwell ; Clerk, John C. Adams; 
Treasurer, W. H. Adams; Justices, Walter 
Wright, Volney Ailing ; Superintendent of 
Schools, J. E. Wright; School Inspector, Ro- 
manzo T. Stone ; Highway Commissioner, James 
J. Atherton ; Drain Commissioner, Alonzo Dip- 
py; Constables, Albert B. Miller, Smith D. 
Morgan, Francis Wright, Henry Ailing. 

1880.— Supervisor, Isaac Shotwell; Clerk, J. C. Adams; 
Treasurer, Walter Wright ; Justices, William S. 
Huntington; Commissioner of Highways, George 
W. Harris ; Drain Commissioner, Alonzo Dippy ; 
Superintendent of Schools, J. K. Wright ; School 
Inspector, Albert B. Miller ; Constables, Smith 
D. Morgan, Stephen D. Tasket, Henry Ailing, 
Calvin M. Fuller. 



SCHOOLS OF ANTRIM. 

On the 14th of November, 1837, when town 5 north, 
range 3 east, now Antrim, was yet attached to Shiawassee 
township, the school inspectors of that town met and divided 
it into school districts. 

Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, to form district 
No. 1. 

Sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36, to form dis- 
trict No. 2. 

Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, IS, to form district No. 3. 

Sections 19, 20, 21, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, to form district 
No. 4. 

But it appears that the school districts were not organ- 
ized until the fall of 1839, as will be shown hereafter. 

The history of the schools of Antrim commences prop- 
erly in the late fall of 1838. In the latter part of the 
summer of that year, John Stiles, a young man from New 
Jersey, came to Antrim to visit his uncle, John Wai'd, who, 
as has been said, reached the township the year previous. 
The young man having signiBed his willingness to remain, 
an informal meeting was called, and it was determined to 
employ him to teach a three months' school in the log cabin 
built by Horace B. Flint, Mr. Flint, in the mean time, hav- 
ing built another log house, and a rather commodious one 
for those days. 

The attendance in this school, though somewhat irregular, 
owing to the great distance many had to come, was from ten 
to twelve. Among the number were Levi and Lyman Kel- 
logg, from Bennington. Mr. Stiles received thirty-six dol- 
lars for his three months' services. 

The first meeting of the school-board of Antrim took 
place on the 6th day of April, 1839, at which time John 
Culver was chosen moderator and Thomas Locke clerk. 
On the 19th of the same month the board again met and 
divided the township into four equal school districts. The 
northeast quarter of the township was set oif as district No. 
1, the northwest quarter as No. 2, the southwest quarter as 
No. 3, and the southeast quarter as No. 4. 

A notice of a school-meeting in district No. 2 was given, 
and the meeting was held on the evening of the 29th of 
April, 1839. This was probably the first regularly organ- 
ized school-meeting held in the township. Horace B. Flint 
was chosen moderator, John Ward director, Charles Locke 
assessor. It was decided by vote to select a site and raise 
two hundred dollars for a school building. The site deter- 
mined upon was in the northeast corner of the northwest 
quarter of section 18, being the same site now occupied by 
the school-house in district No. 3. 

On May 29, 1839, Alanson Ailing, " in consideration of 
twenty-five cents, duly paid," leased one-half an acre of the 
above-described land to the district. A log school-house was 
soon after erected, and Miss Polly A. Harmon was employed 
as teacher at one dollar per week. Intellect seems to have 
been at a discount and muscle at a premium in those days. 
The next school was taught by Miss Lucretia Purdy. In 
a few years the school-house was moved one-half mile 
south. It was subsequently destroyed by fire, since which 
time two school-houses have been built on the old site se- 
lected at the fir.st school-meeting in the district. 

The next school district organized was in the Durfee 



182 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



neighborhood, or in what was originally district No. 4. 
But the division of the township into four districts was 
not of long duration. The boundary-linos of school dis- 
tricts, always more or less unstable, have been especially so 
in Antrim, and to trace out the various changes would fill 
a volume. 

School district No. 1 was formed with nearly its present 
boundaries in 1 848. The first meeting was called at the 
house of Stephen Sherlock. That gentleman, John Near, 
and W. H. Eddy were chosen officers for the district. Mr. 
Eddy took the contract for building the school-house, which 
was completed in the spring of 1849. It stood where the 
Methodist church now stands. In the spring of 1850 it 
was removed to a different site by the combined power of 
eighteen yokes of oxen. It was used a number of years, 
but finally took fire and was destroyed. The one now in 
use was built on the same site in 1861. It cost four hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. W. H. Eddy taught the first school 
in the old building. Philander Muuger was the first teacher 
in the new house. 

On the 3d day of September, 1 853, the school inspectors 
formed district No. 2. The warrant calling the first school- 
meeting was directed to G. R. Bennett, notifying him to 
call a meeting of the electors of iiis district at his house on 
the 26th day of September, 1853. At this meeting T. R. 
Bennett was chosen moderator, J. A. Guthrie director, and 
Daniel Waite assessor. It was then resolved to build a log 
school-house in time to have a three months' term of school 
that winter. The building was erected at a cost of seventy- 
five dollars. In 1863 the log school-house was burned, and 
another was built on the same site at a cost of six hundred 
dollars, which was used until 1880. The one now building 
will cost one thousand dollars. Ruth R. Converse taught 
the first school in the district, and received thirteen dollars 
for the thirteen weeks' term. The attendance was eight. 

School district No. 3 has already been noticed ; it is the 
oldest district in the township, and was formerly No. 2. 

CHURCHES. 
THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ANTRIM 
was organized while David Burns was presiding elder of 
this circuit, about the year 1850. David Thomas was the 
minister in charge. Mr. and Mrs. David D. Adams, Mr. 
and Mrs. Calvin Howard, and Walter Wright formed the 
class, and David D. Adams was chosen leader. The meet- 
ings of the society were held in the school-house, which 
stood on the site now occupied by their church building. 

On Nov. 14, 1874, at a meeting of the Quarterly Con- 
ference, held at the school-house in district No. 1, W. E. 
Biglow being the presiding elder and George Stowe 
preacher in charge, it was resolved to appoint a board of 
trustees. The persons appointed were as follows : Walter 
Wright, D. D. Adams, J. T. Miller, Andrew Love, I. S. 
A. Wright, J. C. Adams, Calvin Howard, W. H. Adams, 
James T. Morgan. On November 17th the same year, at 
a meeting of the trustees, George Stowe was elected chair- 
man of the board, J. C. Adams secretary, and Andrew 
Love treasurer. The board resolved to take active meas- 
ures to build a church. It was decided that the edifice 
should be thirty-six by fifty-four feet, with a vestibule, a 



belfry twelve feet square, and a spire eighty-five feet in 
height. The site was also selected. The programme made 
out in this meeting was carried out in every particular. 
The site determined upon was the northeast corner of the 
west half of the southwest quarter of section 21. At the 
next meeting a building committee was appointed as fol- 
lows : AV alter Wright, Andrew Love, and James Morgan. 
The church was constructed as specified above, and when 
completed cost two thousand seven hundred dollars. It is 
worthy of remark that the members of the board of trustees 
paid seventeen hundred dollars of that .sum. The church 
was dedicated while George Stowe was pastor, Feb. 20, 
1876, by Rev. G. B. Joslyn. The membership at the 
present time is fifty-six. 

CEMETERY. 

The cemetery near the centre of section 19 was pur- 
chased of Allen Beard in the summer of 1842. On the 
4th of June of that year the town board authorized Hor- 
ace B. Flint to purchase a half-acre and pay fifteen dollars 
for the same, which was done soon after. The first inter- 
ment within it was that of a Mr. Lake, who was killed 
while helping to raise a building for Lewis Ward, in Perry. 
There was at that time no cemetery in the township of 
Perry. 

WAR RECORD. 

Antrim sent six men to the Mexican war, of whom but 
two returned. For the war of the Rebellion this township 
furnished, ;is near as can be ascertained, one hundred and 
twenty-five soldiers. Many of these were credited to the 
State at large or to other townships. Their record, there- 
fore, cannot be fully given. Their names are found on the 
rolls of a majority of the regiments from the State. Some 
were killed in battle, some were wounded; many died of 
disease and the hardships incident to soldiers' life, and some 
died miserably in rebel prisons. Among those who were 
killed in battle were Charles F. Beard, John L. Dippy, 
Jacob N. Decker, William Shaw, and Ailing Herrington. 
The first one wounded from the township was J. C. Adams, 
who received a shot in the face, by which he lost an eye, 
the hearing of one ear, and was otherwise badly mutilated. 
Leander Brown also lost an eye, and his brother Willis lost 
an arm. There were many others wounded less severely. 

SOCIETIES. 
GLASS RIVER LODGE, No. 223, L 0. 0. F., 

was instituted by P. G. M. B. W. Dennis, April 9, 1874, 
with the following charter members: Amos Colborn, T. A. 
Lawrie, James V. Avery, James E. Wright, George 
Graham, John Dippy, James F. Colborn, James T. Mor- 
gan, P. P. Booth, V. C. Bawlie. 

The officers elected at the first meeting were T. A. Law- 
rie, N. G. ; John Dippy, V. G. ; J. E. Wright, R. S. ; 
James F. Colborn, P. S. ; Amos Colborn, Treasurer; 
James V. Avery, W. 

After organizing, the lodge proceeded to initiate sixteen 
new members, whose names were added to the roll, as fol- 
lows: J. Blinston, Walter M. Wright, Alonzo Dippy, George 
Bliss, J. C. Adams, P. P. Chambers, Andrew Love, Jona- 
than Wood, I. S. A. Wright, Chauncey Case, J. A. Fish, 




Resid£nc£ OF NATHANIEL DURFEE, Antrim Tp. Shiawassee Co. Mich, 



ANTRIM TOWNSHIP. 



183 



L. M. Baldwin, T. Jarad, Charles Avery, S. D. Tasket, 
William Gallup. 

In the month of March next preceding the organization 
of this lodge the persons who afterwards became its charter 
members met and resolved to build a hall in anticipation of 
the organization. Under this resolution a building was 



erected at a cost of five hundred dollars. The lower part 
of the building is finished as a store-room, but at present is 
not occupied as such. The upper story is fitted up in neat 
style for the use of the lodge, which holds its meetings in it. 
The present membership of the Glass River Lodge is fifty- 
seven. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 





MR. JOHN C. ADAMS. 



MRS. JOHN C. ADAMS. 



JOHN C. ADAMS. 



The parents of the subject of this sketch were natives 
of the State of New York, where also ho was born, in 
Canadice, Ontario Co., Sept. 13, 1837. His father, David 
D. Adams, was born in Johnstown, Montgomery Co., Aug. 
23, 1806. His mother, Angeline (Howard) Adams, was 
born in Livonia, Livingston Co., March 24, 1814. 

They were married Dec. 11, 18.33. David D. Adams 
followed the trade of a stone-mason. He had visited 
Michigan in 1842, and purchased the land upon which he 
has lived since making this State his home. A log house 
was completed in due time, and he, with bis family, moved 
into it Jan. 28, 1848. The death of his wife, the mother 
of John C. Adams, occurred Oct. 21, 1856. 

John C. remained at home, working for his father until 
his twenty-first year, when he contracted to work for him 
by the year for a term of two years, at ten dollars per 
month. He then attended school nine mouths at Lodi 
Academy. On Aug. 9, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, 



Fifth Michigan Infantry, and was discharged July 22, 
1862, having received a severe gun-shot wound.on the Sth 
of May, 18G2, at the battle of Williamsburg, Va., to which 
reference is made in the township history of Antrim. After 
returning home and recovering somewhat from his injury, 
he worked the old fai-m for a share of the products. On 
the 28th of March, 1865, he married Miss Anna M. 
Hutchinson, the daughter of George Hutchinson, of Cuy- 
ahoga Co., Ohio. She died Feb. 4, 1866. On the 22d 
of December, 1870, he married Mrs. Mary ( Krupp) Dodge, 
widow of Henry F. Dodge, who had died May 28, 1867. 
Mrs. Adams was born in Niagara Co., N. Y., March 12, 

1837. 

Mr. Adams is a Republican in politics. He has been 
township clerk for several successive terms, and has also 
been elected to niiimr offices from time to time, all of which 
he has filled with ability and credit to himself and to the 
township of Antrim. 



184 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 





Mil. I. S. A. WKIliHT. 



.MRS. I. S. A. WRIGHT. 



I. S. A. WRIGHT. 



I. S. A. Wright claims for his birthplace one of the 
most romantic counties of the Empire State, — Greene 
County, — one-half of the territory of which is a plain, 
nearly level with the sea, and the other half mountains, 
rising up from the lower section of the county like a wall, 
with their summits among the clouds. Here Mr. Wright 
was born, April 18, 1822, and was the fifth in a family of 
twelve children. His parents were both natives of Con- 
necticut. He remained with them, working at the cooper 
trade after he had attained sufficient age, until about the 
time of his marriage, which occurred on the 10th of Oc- 
tober, 1848, marrying Miss Betsey Bliss, also a native of 
New York, where she was born March 19, 1828. Her 
father was one of Michigan's early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wright were the parents of eight children, viz. : James E., 
born Aug. 9, 1850 ; Mary E., born June 2(5, 1852 ; Cyn- 
thia K., born April 24, 1854, died June 24th of the same 



year; Francis, born Feb. 14, 1856; Wilbur C., born Jan. 
23, 1859 ; John S., born May 24, 1861 ; Hattie, born 
Oct. 9, 1863 ; and Clark B., born Jan. 4, 1866, died Nov. 
G, 1866. These children were nearly all natives of this 
township, as Mr. Wright moved here, with his wife, in 
1852, purchasing from his brother a one-half interest in 
his milling property, which he still retains. Mrs. Wright 
died on the 12th of January, 1866, and on the 16th of 
June, 1869, Mr. Wright married Miss Josephine Blinshaw, 
a native of Erie Co., N. Y., born Sept. 25, 1848. To this 
marriage there have been given three children, — Maggie, 
born July 21, 1871 ; Gracie, born Dec. 25, 1878; and one 
between these whose name we have been unable to obtain. 
Mr. Wright, besides his milling, has large landed inter- 
ests in Antrim, owning a farm of one hundred and ninety 
acres. Politically he is a Republican, and has frequently 
been called upon to fill some of the various township offices. 



WALTER WRIGHT. 

Walter Wright was born in Greene Co., N. Y., Sept. 4, 
1824, and was the sixth in a family of twelve children. 
His father, James Wright, was born in Dutchess Co., N. 
Y., Oct. 22, 1787 ; died September, 1871. His mother, 
Cynthia (Clark) Wright, was born in Connecticut, May 12, 
1794; died September, 1851. The family moved to On- 
ondaga County when Walter was but one year old. Pre- 
vious to their coming to Livingston Co., Mich., in 1836, 
Walter worked at farming and at the cooper trade. After 
continuing at this trade two years he bought a piece of 
land in Livingston County, which he held one year, and 
then came to Antrim with his brother and bought the mill 



property. They carried on the lumber business in An- 
trim until 1856. About 1851 Walter went to California, 
where he remained four years. During this time he en- 
gaged in minin.;, with the exception of eighteen months, 
when he carried on the lumber business extensively. This 
proved financially very successful, but through misplaced 
confidence he lost all, having scarcely enough left to pay the 
expense of returning to Antrim in 1855. Upon reaching 
home the interests in the milling property were divided, 
Walter taking one hundred and forty acres of land and his 
brother retaining the mill and power. In July, 1858, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Hannah E. Miller, who 
was born in Oakland County, April 17, 1835. Her father 
came to this county in 1856. The children of Mr. and 



o 

o 
>1 









Co 

1 

Co 
Co 

Ci 




ANTRIM TOWNSHIP. 



185 



Mrs. Walter Wright are five in number, viz. : Alice and 
Ella, born Oct. 1(!, 185!); M^-ron, born July 21, 18li7 ; 
John L., bora May 11, 1870 ; Millie, born July 14, 1878. 
Ella lived but five months. Mr. and Mrs. Wrij;lit are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Antrim, 
and are among its most influential and respected members. 



CALVIN M. FULLER. 

Timothy JI. Fuller, the father of Calvin M. Fuller, was 
born in Genesee Co., N. Y.. Dec. 17, 1797, and his mother, 
Alvira (Blake) Fuller, was born in Vermont in 18U9. The 
family came to Oakland Co., Mich., in 18;-i6, and lived 
there until 1842, when they came to Antrim township and 
bought an unimproved farm on section 23. Mrs. Alvira 
Fuller died March 22, 1867, and her husband, Timolhy 
M. Fuller, died June 18, 1870. Mr. Fuller was a Repub- 
lican in politics, and universally esteemed as a neighbor 
and a citizen. 

He was an efficient clerk of the township, having been 
elected to fill that position nine years, as is shown by the 
records of the township. His sou, Calvin M. Fuller, from 
whom we obtained the dates above given and who has 
caused the insertion of this brief mention of his parents, 
was born in Oakland Co., Mieh., April 28, 1840. He was 
the fourth in a family of six children. 

On the 27th of May, 1863, he married Miss Sarah A. 
Howard, who was born in New York, May 27, 1843, and 
came to this county in 1848, as the sketch of her father's 
family inserted in this work will show. 

To Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Fuller have been born four 
children: Cary A., born June 4, 1865; Minnie E., born 
Feb. 25, 1868 ; Mary, born March 28, 1873 ; Wealthy, 
born Jan. 25, 1878, and died Sept. 25, 1879. 

C. M. Fuller bought the farm of his father in 1867 ; he 
has since sold forty acres and erected new buildings. 



NATHANIEL DURFEE. 

Stephen Durfee was born iu Rhode Island, April 4, 
1776, and his wife Mary (Allen) Durfee in Dover, Dutchess 
Co., N. Y., in June, 1778. They were members of the 
Society of Friends, and were among the earliest and most 
r&spected settlers and farmers of Palmyra, Wayne Co., 
N. Y., where Nathaniel was born Jan. 19, 1811. Here he 
passed his childhood and youth, and on the 9th of Novem- 
ber, 1837, married Miss Martha Carr, also a native of Pal- 
myra, born July 16, 1817. Her father, David Carr, was a 
native of New Jersey, born July 2, 1793, and her mother, 
Rebecca (Evans) Carr, of Pennsylvania, born Feb. 12, 
1794. 

After his marriage, Nathaniel rented his father's farm 
and worked it for three years, at the expiration of which 
time he came to Michigan, reaching Antrim Jan. 11, 1841. 
He had been to this township three years previou.sly, and 
located the farm upon which he .settled and where he has 
since continued to reside. 
24 



To Mr. and Mrs. Durfee no children have been born, 
but they have brought up two, adopting one at the age of 
three years and the other when hut five weeks old. 

Mr. Durfee's parents never came to Michigan, but Mrs. 
Durfee's parents, Mr. and Mrs. David Carr, came and lived 
with them until their deaths, which took place as follows, 
viz.: David Carr in July, 1860; Rebecca Carr, Sept. 6, 
1867. 

Politically, Mr. Durfee affiliates with the Republican 
party, of which ho has often been a successful candidate for 
minor offices. 

Mr. and Mrs. Durfee have been industrious and frugal 
citizens, and after years of toil enjoy :i well-earned com- 
petency and the respect and esteem of a large circle of 
friends and acquaintances. 



ALLEN BEARD. 

Allen Beard was burn in Ontario Co., N. Y., Jan. 11, 
18IU. His father, Jesse Beard, was a native of Maryland, 
born Feb. 8, 1787, and his death occurred March 21, 1864. 
His mother, Martha (Blake) Beard, was born in Saratoga 
Co., N. Y., Aug. 9, 1790. Allen remained with his pa- 
rents until he was twenty-one years of age, when he mar- 
ried, March 10, 1831, Miss Hannah Arnet, who was born 
Sept. 2, 1810. 

Mr. Beard, the first year after his marriage, worked land 
" on shares." At the expiration of that time he sold his 
interest or bargain, and had remaining three hundred dol- 
lars. It was just at the time when the tide of emigration 
westward had set in. He, with a team and wagon bear- 
ing his family, came to Cuyahoga Co., Ohio. Here he 
reiuained eighteen months and worked a farm, but not 
being successful, came on to Michigan, reaching Lodi, 
Washtenaw Co., April 25, 1836, and on May 28th came 
to the farm where he still resides. He was accompanied to 
the township by his brother-in-law, Lyman Melvin, who 
located a farm adjoining the one entered by Mr. Beard. 
Having previously traded his horses for three yoke of oxen, 
Mr. Beard .sold one yoke, in order to pay for his first eighty 
acres of land, but found that he still lacked four dollars of 
the necessary amount. He then hauled a load of goods 
from Detroit to Romeo, for which he received sixteen dol- 
lars, and another to Ann Arbor, receiving for this twenty- 
four dollars. After this he removed to his land in Antrim 
township. During the winter of 1836-37 he built a house, 
and moved into it in April, 1837, previous to that time 
having resided in a house built by his brother-in-law and 
himself On Aug. 26, 1843, his wife, Mrs. Hannah 
Beard, died. They were the parents of the following chil- 
dren : Martha B., born April 1, 1832; Byron, born Dec. 
1, 1835; Charles F., born Sept. 21, 1838; Marietta A., 
born April 23, 1841. Charles F. was killed in battle at 
Campbell's Station, Tenn., Nov. 12, 1863. 

After a lapse of five years from the death of his first 
wife Mr. Beard married Miss Charlotte Thompson, who 
was born April 13, 1828. To this marriage were born 
eight children, as follows, viz. : Allen, born Nov. 13, 1848; 
died Dec. 13, 1855. Jo>hua, burn April 14, 1850 ; died 



186 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUiNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Dec. 5, 1855. Walter, boru Sept. 10, 1851 ; died Sept. 13, 
1858. Alvira, born Jan. 12, 185-1; died Oct. 21, 1858. 
John C. Abraham L., born April 16, 1860. Sarah Etta, 
born Feb. 8, 1864. George W., born Nov. 28, 1867. 

Mr. Beard was formerly a Whig in politics, subsequently 
became a Republican, but is now a Democrat. He has 
added to the eighty acres which he first purchased until he 
is now the possessor of one of the largest and finest farms 
in the township, consisting of five hundred and eighty-five 
acres. 



BENJAMIN F. HOWARD. 

The grandfather of the subject of our sketch was the 
first settler in Livingston Co., N. Y., where Calvin Howard, 
the father of Benjamin F., was born Nov. 25, 1804. Ben- 
jamin F. was also a native of the same county, born Nov. 
17, 1839. His mother, Sarah (Cory) Howard, was a na- 
tive of Rhode Island, where she was born in 1811. In 
1848 they removed to Michigan, living the first winter 
with the family of D. D. Adams. The following year Mr. 
Howard bought forty acres of land on section 22, upon 
which there was a small log cabin and a little clearing. 
This now belongs to Benjamin F. He afterwards bought 
eighty acres across the road, where Calvin I. Howard now 
lives. Benjamin worked for his father until the death of 
the latter, which occurred in April, 1863. His wife, Mrs. 
Sarah Howard, survived him four years, or until March, 
1867, when her death occurred. Benjamin F. Howard 
followed school-teaching successfully for several years, but 
is now a farmer. Jan. 17, 1869, he married Mrs. Sarah 
E. (Williston) Marcy, the widow of James H. Marcy, who 
with their little son was drowned in the river at Grand 
Haven, Nov. 9, 1867. Mrs. Howard's parents were both 
of Now J!ngland birth, — her father a native of Springfield, 
Mass., where he was boru Oct. 17, 1808, and her mother 
of Rhode Island, born on May 10th of the same year. 
The death of each occurred in 1863, — Mrs. Williston on 
the 20th of November, and Mr. Williston on the 9th of 
December. Mrs. Howard was born May 18, 1841. 

To Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Howard have been born two 
children: Lida E., born Jan. 20, 1874, and Nina, born 
Feb. 23, 1879. 

Mr. Howard has added to the original forty acres until 
he now owns one hundred and sixty acres, one hundred of 
which is under a good state of cultivation. 

In politics he is an earnest Republican, as was also his 
father, Calvin Howard. 

In religion both him.self and wife are zealous members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and although young 
in years they have a large circle of ac(|uaintances, and are 
highly esteemed by the community in which they live. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP.* 

Description, Surveys, and Land-Entries — Early .'Settlements — Resi- 
dent Ta.v-i>ayers of 1844 — Civil and l*olitical — Educational — 
Religious. 

DESCRIPTION, SURVEYS, AND LAND-ENTRIES. 

Bennington is one of the interior divisions of Shiawassee 
County, situated southwest of its geographical centre. In 
the field-notes of the original survey it was design.ated 
township No. 6 north, of range No. 2 east. Owosso town- 
ship joins it on the north, Shiawassee on the east. Perry on 
the south, and Sciota on the west. 

It has a beautiful undulating surface, and all the varieties 
of soil common to Michigan townships, viz., alternate belts 
or strips of clay and .sand loam and alluvial dcpo.sit.s, — a 
soil that is particularly well adapted to grazing and the 
culture of corn, fruits, and the cereals. 

Originally, timbered openings, about one mile in width, 
extended from east to west through its centre. To the 
north and south of these openings were heavy fore.sts of 
beech, maple, oak, ash, elm, and other varieties ol' deciduous 
trees. 

The town.ship has no lake surface. It is drained by the 
Maple and Looking-Glass Rivers. The former intersects 
sections 1 , 2, and 3. The latter in its flow to the westward 
crosses the southern part. Both are sluggish streams, 
afi'ord no mill-privileges, and are bordered by many acres of 
swamp-lands. 

The people are chiefly engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
and in the amount of lands under cultivation, farm products, 
and live stock, Bennington stands in the front rank among 
Shiawassee County townships. 

Railway, express, and mail fiicilities are afforded at Ben- 
nington, a station on the line of the Jackson, Lansing and 
Saginaw Railroad, which cros.ses diagonally the northwest 
corner of the township. Pittsburg and Hartwellville are 
also post-oflBce stations. 

ORIGINAL SORVEYS. 

The first surveying- party to enter the trackless and as 
yet unknown wilds of the present township of Bennington 
was led by Joseph Wampler, a deputy United States sur- 
veyor, who, in accordance with instructions, ran out the 
northern, western, and southern boundary-lines in February, 
1823. The eastern line was blazed by John Mullett, July 
16th and 17th of the same year. 

The task of subdividing the territory designated as town- 
ship No. 6 north, of range No. 2 east, was commenced by 
Joseph Wampler, April 22, 1826, and completed on the 
30th of the same month. Numerous surveying-parties 
were then engaged mapping the lands in the Detroit land 
district, pursuant to contracts and instructions received 
from Edward Tiffin, surveyor-general of the United States. 

The surveyors were directed to enter upon their field- 
books remarks concerning the nature of the surface, soil, 
timber, etc., — instructions which were so fully carried out 

* By John S. Scbenck. 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



187 



by some of his subordinates that Gen. Tiffin supposed the 
lands in the Detroit district uhnost wortliless for agricultural 
purposes, and was induced to make the unfavorable report 
concerning them which he did. 

In his haste, however, to perform his work as rapidly as 
possible, — in eight or nine days, during which time he must 
have traveled at least one hundred and forty miles, — Mr. 
Wampler did not wait to append voluminous remarks re- 
garding the township's natural features ; barely enough to in- 
dicate it as a rolling, generally heavily-timbered, fertile 
tract ; and therefore, at its birth, the township escaped the 
condemnation laid upon others equally as good, yet where 
the deputy surveyors were occasionally mired in swamps 
and morasses. 

FIRST AND OTHER EARLY LAND-ENTRIES. 

On the 25th of June, 1835, Samuel Nichols, of Chautau- 
(jua Co., N. Y., Israel Parsons and Benjamin L. Powers, 
of Ontario Co., N. Y., made the first purciiase of public 
lands in the township, and all located upon section 24. Du- 
ring October of the same year, Trumbull Cary, of Genesee 
Co., N. Y., and Abel Millington, of Washtenaw Co., Mich., 
entered many tracts situated upon various sections. The 
Castles and Davises, from Oakland Co., Mich., also made 
some purcha.ses in this township in 1835, but it was not 
until the year 1836, and the two or three years immediately 
succeeding, that anything like a general transfer was made 
from the general government to individuals. 

Although a few of the original purchasers became actual 
settlers, a large majority were speculators, men who are en- 
titled to no credit whatever in what relates to the develop- 
ment and subsequent history of the township. Be that as 
it may, the following list embraces the names and other data 
of those who purchased from the general government, lands 
situated in the present township of Bennington. 

Section 1. 
George W. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., January, 18.36. 
Daniel Goodwin, AVayne Co., Mich., February, 18u(). 
George W. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Benjamin B. Morris, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 

Section 2. 
Daniel Goodwin, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
George W. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., February, 1S36. 
William Thomjison, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Nelson Waugh, Oakland Co., Mich., October, 1836. 

Section 3. 
Lemuel Catstlc, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
Mercy Castle, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
Lemuel Castle, Oakland Co., Mich., December, 1835. 
Ira C. -Mger, Wayne Co., Mich., June, 1836. 

Section 4. 
Betsy Davis, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
William lhoini)son, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Abucr Davis, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
John N. Watson, Oakland Co., Mich., July, 1S3B. 
Rodolphus Dewey, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1836. 
David Johnson, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1836. 
Benjamin Davis, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1836. 

Section 5. 
Silas A. Yerkes, Shiawassee Co., Mich., January, 1855. 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
David Johnson, Oakland Co., Mich., October, 1836. 



Is.iao S. T.aylor, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1836. 
George \V. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., March, 1837. 
Lemuel Castle, Shiawassee Co., Mich., November, 1837. 
Hiram Davis, Shiawassee Co., Mich., November, 1838. 
Joseph Peters, Washtenaw Co., Mich,, January, 1843. 
William Yerkes, Oakland Co., Mich., December, 1849. 
Willard M. Norris, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1854. 

Section 6. 
Daniel Goodwin, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Delos W. Gould, Genesee Co., N. Y., November, 1836. 
Abner W. Bbickman, Genesee Co., N. Y., November, 1836. 
Milo llarington. Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1839. 
Albert Fitch, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1839. 
David Alger, Shiawassee Co., Mich., February, 1840. 
Charles B. Haight, Shiawassee Co., Mich., November, 1854. 

Section 7. 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Daniel Fuller, Orleans Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
John Pitts, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1839. 
Hiram S. Goodwin, land-warrant, January, 1853. 
AVillard M. Norris, Shiawassee Co., Mich., .lanuary, 1854. 
John Cleaver, Shiawassee Co., .Mich., November, 1854. 

Section 8, 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Daniel Fuller, Orleans Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N. \'., June, 1836. 

Section 9. 
John L. Eastman. Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
William Yerkes, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
Kliphalet Lcivis, Orleans Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 

Section 10. 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Albert Clark, Shiawassee Co., Mich., November, 1836. 
Isaac Ilemmiiigwny, Madison Co., N. Y^., June, 1836. 
Joseph Peters, Washtenaw Co., Mich., January, 1843. 
Abner Coif, Shiawassee Co., Mich., August, 1850. 

Section 11. 
AVilliam Thompson, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 

Section 12. 
Halsey Sanford, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Archibald Purdy, Washtenaw Co., Mich., May, 1836. 
William Thompson, Senoca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 

Section 13. 
Trumbull Cary, Genesee Co., N. Y., October, 1835. 
John L. Eastman, Seneca Co., N. Y., April, 1836. 
Ebenozer Conklin, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Section 14. 
Abel Millington, Washtenaw Co., Mich., October, 1835. 
Satterlee & West, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
David Perry and Philip Worth, Rutland Co., Vt., May, 1836. 
Remembrance Rout, Hampshire Co., Mass., June, 1836. 
Hiram A. Caswell, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Section 15. 
Joseph Purdy, Washtenaw Co., Mich., May, 1836. 
Ebene/.er Conklin, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
John Champion, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
William Coif, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Ebenezer Conklin, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836 
Ira Merell, Livingston Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Section 16. 
School lands. 

Section 17. 
L. Bates, Orleans Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Abner Rice, Huron Co., Ohio, September, 1836. 



188 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSKK COUNTY, MICHlGAiN. 



David Perry, Ilurun Co., Ohio, September, 1836. 
Henry lieiudsloc, Sussex On., N. J., Noveiiilu'r. 1838. 

Section 18. 

\Villi:im Duiritt, Ouklimil Co., Midi., April, l.'^.'ifi. 
Lyman Bivles, Orleans Co., N. Y., May, 18:;ti. 
Daniel Phelps, Shiawassee Co., Mich., January, l.'<lll 
William W. liuigcss, land warrant, January, ISo.'i. 
George J. W. Hill, Genesee Co., Mioh., February, 1856. 

Section 19. 

Daniel Fuller, Orloan.s Co., N. Y., Juno, KS:>6. 
James Scott, Chenango Co., N. Y., September, IS.Ifi. 
David Perry, Huron Co., Ohio, September, lS:i6. 
Harrison S. liugboe, Catlaniugus Co., N. Y., Juno, 18;i7. 
Andrew Marlati, Mi>nroc Co., N. Y., October, 18;i7. 
Alexander MeKinney, Wayne Co., Mich., March, 185H. 

Suction 2(1. 

Israel Pui.^hall, Kivingstou Co., Mich., Seplemlier, ISIili. 
Joseph Skinner, Oakland Co., Mieh., Soptembor, 183B. 
Abraham Hiekey, Genesee Co., N. Y., Septomhor. 1S3B. 
Luther James, Hampshire Co., Mass., Oclobor, 1836. 
Lemuel Cone, Shiawassee Co., Mieh., October, 18.'i6. 
Lemuel Cone, Shiawassee Co., Mich., May, 1811. 

Skction 21. 

Harriet W. Strong, Ontario Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 
Nel.<on Reynolds, (ioneseo Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
Aaron llutchings, Shiawassee Co., Mieh., September, 1836. 
Amasa Bugbee, Shiawassee Co., Mieh., Se[)tembor, 1836. 
Major Rice, Huron Co., Ohic, September, 1836. 
K. Toby, Oakland Co., .Mich., October, 1836. 
Joseph Skinner, Shiawassee Co., Mich., .luno, 1837. 
John Rice, Shiawassee Co., Mich., January, 1S39. 
Civilian Morse, Shiawassee Co., Mich., September, IS17. 
Asa Castle, liind-warrant, September, 18ril. 
Aden Mitchell. .Shiawassee Co., Mich., December, 1853. 
Lanson B, Stevens, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1855, 

Section 22. 

Trumbull Gary, Genesee Co., N. Y., October, 1835. 
Harriet W. Strong, Ontario Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 
Seymour Norton, Genesee Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
John Champion, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Skction 23. 

Trumbull Cary, Genesee Co., N. Y., Oct. 20, 1835. 
Abel Millinglon, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Oct. 20, 1835. 
Abel Millinglon, Wiishteimw Co.. Mich., April, 1836. 
Abel Millinglon, Washtenaw Co., Mich., May, lS3(i. 
Theodore Champion, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Skction 24. 

Samuel Nichols, Chautauqua Co., N. Y.. June 25, 1835. 
Israel I'arsons, Ontario Co., N. Y., Juno 25, 1835. 
Benjamin L. Powers, Ontario Co., N. Y., Juno 25, 1835. 
Trumbull Cary, Genesee Co , N. Y., Oct. 20, 1835. 
Abel Millington, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Oct. 20, 1835. 

Skction 25. 
Abel Millington, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Oct. 20, 1835. 
William Howard, Washtonaw Co., Mieh., June, 1836. 
William Stevens, Washtenaw Co., Mich., October, 1S36. 

Skction 26. 
Abel Millington, Wa.shteiiuw Co., Mich., Oct. 20, 1835. 
Abel Millington, Washtenaw Co., Mieh., May 2S,» 1835. 
Marcus Culver, Oakland Co.. Mich., April, 1837. 
Samuel B. Ilugbee. Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., June, 1837. 
Reuben Place, Shiawassee Co., Mieh., January, 1855. 



* So says the reoord, but it is probably a mistake. 



Skction 27. 

Trumbull Gary, Genesee Co., N. Y., Oct. 20, 1835. 
William L. Strong, Ontario Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 
Samuel Pitts, Jr., Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
William Pago, Washtenaw Co., Mich., May, 1836. 
John Champion, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Suction 28. 

William L. Strong, Ontario Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 
Moses Pitts, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
Jordan Ilulooinb, Niagara Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
Henry Hutehings, Niagara Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
C. C. Hutehings, Niagara Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
Aaron Hutehings, Niagara Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
Kbenozer Reynolds, Oakland Co., Mich., September, 1836. 

Skction 29. 

Albcrl R. and Aioos Dow, Cliautauiiua Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
li'riond Burt, Genesee Co., N. V., .luno, IS36. 
Charles W. Middick. 

Skction 30. 

John Dickinson, Washtenaw Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
Theodore Chanipioii, IJeno.see Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Skction 31. 

John Dickinson, Washtenaw Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
Theudore Champion, Geneseo Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Henry Heardslee. Sussex Co., N. J., Noveinlier, 1838. 
John Terrebury, Shiawassee Co., Mich., .Iimuary, 1838. 

Skction 32. 
Elon Karnsworth, Wayne Co., Mich., July, 1836. 

Skiviion 33. 

Moses Pitts, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
C. Hutehings, Niagara Co., N. Y., May, 1S36. 
John Terrebury. Washtenaw Co., Mieh , November, 1836. 
Lyman Stevens, Wayne Co., Mich., November, 1836. 
Samuel Pitts, Jr., Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1837. 
AllVed Culver, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1837. 
.■\bner Reid, Shiawassee Co., Mich., October, 1837. 
Jidin Pitts. Shiawassee Co., Mieh., October, 1837. 
Saft'ord Pitts, land-warrant, April, 1853. 

Skction .34. 

Samuel Pitts, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 

Linus M. Miner, Monroe Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 

John Terrebury, Washtenaw Co., Mich., November, 1836. 

Jarvis Leonard, Washtonaw Co., Mich., January, 1837. 

Marcus Culver, Oakland Co., Mieh., April, 1837. 

Section 35. 

Mathew C. Patterson, New York City, July, 1836. 
George K. Albro, Washtonaw Co., Mich., July, 1836. 
Morrison Boardslee, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1837. 

Skction 36. 

l^amuel Kellogg, Washtenaw Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
William Howard, Washtenaw Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
George U. Albro, Washtonaw Co., Mich., July, 1836. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

It is conceded by those best conversant witli tlic facts 
that Samuel Nichols was the first settler in that part of 
Shiawassee township now known as Bennington. Chautau- 
(jua Co., N. Y., was his former place of residence, and on 
the 25th day of June, 1835, by the purchase of the west 
lialf of the southwest quarter of section 2-t, he became the 
tirst individual owner of lands in the wilderness township. 










J M . HARTWELL 



M^fJM. HART WELL. 




ReSlOENCEOF J. M. HARTWELL ,B£NN/NOTOfJ,MlCH. 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



189 



Messrs. Parsons and Powers, of Ontario Co., N. Y., also 
purcliased lands upon the same section the same day. 
Whether they vinited the Territory together, or but one of 
them and he bought for the others, is now unknown, in the 
absence of either mentioned. 

However that may be, we find that early in the spring 
of 1836, accompanied by his family and his unmarried 
brother James, Samuel Nichols effected a settlement upon 
his purchase. His dwelling; was an unpretentious log 
cabin, and being situated near what afterwards became the 
well-known Grand River road, he kept an open house or 
tavern, furnishing such entertainment for man and beast as 
wa.s usually to be found in Michigan country hostelries 
from thirty-five to forty-five years ago. His hou.se also 
gained prominence as the place where was held the first 
township-meeting. Otherwise Mr. Nichols was an ordinary 
sort of person, and does not seem to have been conspicuous 
in the further history of the township. 

His brother James, by his marriage* to the rather 
elderly maiden, MLss Thankful Y. Copelaud (a ceremony 
which was performed by Samuel Pitts, Jr., J. P., Jan. 26, 
1839), created considerable fund for gossip and amusement, 
but doubtless he was afterwards thankful, for the chron- 
icler of " ye olden time" saith that she made a most excel- 
lent wife and hou.sekeeper. 

In May, 1836, Aaron Hutchings and Jordan Holcomb,t 
from Niagara Co., N. Y., bought lands situated upon sec- 
tion 28, and, removing here, occupied the same early in the 
fall of that year. Soon after his settlement, Mr. Hutchings 
purchased more land upon section 21. A quiet, unosten- 
tatious citizen, he .still resides in the township. 

During the year 1837 quite a number of families set- 
tled. They were from Vermont and New York States 
principally, yet several had first settled in the counties of 
Oakland and Wa.shtenaw before coming here. Among 
them were James Bugbee, from Monroe Co., N. Y., who 
settled in Oakland County in 1836, and from thence re- 
moved to the premises now owned by Erastus Burnett in 
the .spring of 1837, where he resided for a number of years ; 
Jcseph Skinner, from Oakland County, who purchased 
land situated upon section 20 in September, 1846, and 
upon section 21 in June, 1837 ; Samuel Kellogg, the first 
blacksmith, who came in from Washtenaw County and 
settled upon section 36 ; the Howards, Ira B., Smith, 
Jerry, William, and John A., who also came from 
Washtenaw and settled on section 36 ; and Samuel Pitts, 
Jr., from Oakland County, who located land upon sec- 
tions 27 and 38 in April, 1836. Samuel Moses and 
John Pitts also purchased land in the same vicinity at 
about the same time, and from this family the little vil- 
lage of Pittsburg derives its name. David Johnson, who 
located lands upon sections 4 and 5 in June, 1836, also 
came here from Oakland County iu 1837. 

In May and June, 1837, the brothers Samuel B. and 
Harrison S. Bugbee, from Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., arrived 



* Other early marriages were those of John A. Howard to Margaret 
Casler, of Shiawassee township, Sept. 29, 18.39, an<l of Harrison S. 
Bugbee to Miss Amanda Rice, by Lucius Beach, J. P., Feb. 8, 1840. 

t The first birth in the township occurred in his family in the fall 
of 18.',6. 



in Michigan. From Flint they proceeded on foot westward 
along the blazed line of the proposed Northern Railroad 
to the vicinity of townshi]) 6 north, of range No. 2 east. 
After making choice of locations they returned to Flint, 
only to find that some one had preceded them, and the 
lands of their first choice were already entered. This 
necessitated a second return journey, which resulted in the 
selection and purchase — June 8, 1837 — of the fine farms 
they at present occupy. Mr. S. B. Bugbee recalls the fact 
that at that time not a house or an acre of cleared land 
was to be seen between the cities of Flint and Corunna, 
and that where the Shiawassee County court-house now 
stands was a swamp. Returning to the State of New 
York, final preparations were made for the removal to 
Michigan, and in the latter part of October, 1837, accom- 
panied by their father, Salmon Bugbee, and their sisters 
Viletta and Martha, and the wife and son of Samuel B., 
the Bugbees became permanent residents. 

Previous to his settlement in Michigan, the father of the 
family had resided in the counties of Monroe, Cayuga, 
Niagara, and Cattaraugus, N. Y. lie was a shoemaker by 
trade, and probably was the first of his craft to settle in 
the township. The sons were very proficient in beating 
the drum They brought their instruments with them, 
and, assisted by Lewis Ward, of Perry, and others as fifers, 
furnished music for fourteen successive Fourth of July 
celebrations. 

Bennington in 1837-38 would have been a good field 
for one possessed of the powers attributed to Saint Patrick, 
for Mr. S. B. Bugbee relates that he killed forty rattle 
and other snakes in taking a stroll over his newly-acquired 
premises. Bears, too, came close up to the settlers' dwell- 
ings and looked in upon their occupants. 

From the autumn of 1837 to April 1, 1838, others 
afterwards prominent in the history of Bennington became 
residents. One of them was Lemuel Castle. He was brother- 
in-law of ApoUos Dewey (an early settler of Oworso town- 
ship), one of the very earliest settlers of Oakland County, 
and one of the first to purchase of the government, land in 
this township. He settled in Oakland in 1821, and what 
was soon afterwards Bennington township in 1837. He 
became the first supervisor of Bennington in April, 1838, 
and served in the same capacity for five subsequent years. 
He was also the first treasurer, and one of the first justices 
of the peace, serving as such several years. He was the 
largest land-owner of Bennington, and a highly-respected 
citizen. Several members of his family still reside here. 

Nelson Waugh, one of Bennington's most worthy citi- 
zens, still resides upon the land purchased by him from the 
general government in October, 1836. He also came here 
from Oakland County, and was the second man to poll his 
vote at the first township-meeting of this township. 

Archibald Purdy, from Washtenaw Co., Mich., purchased 
a large portion of section 12 in May, 1836, and settled in 
Bennington at the same time as did Mr. Waugh. He was 
an early and efficient township officer, and enjoyed the 
esteem and confidence of his townsmen. 

Abner Rice, from Huron Co., Ohio, bought lands situ- 
ated upon section 17 in September, 1836. He became a 
resident prior to April, 1838. 



190 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



William Coif, from Monroe Co., N. Y., who settled upon 
section 15, and John Terrebury, from Washtenaw Co., 
Mich., who settled in the southwest part of the township, 
were both domiciled in the town early in the spring of 
1838. Marccllus Harris, Peter Harder, and Hiram Davis 
also participated in the first township-meeting. 

Jonathan M. Hartwell, a former resident of Norwich, 
Chenango Co., N. Y., came to Bennington first in June, 
1838, traveling via the Erie Canal and Lake Erie. At 
Huron, Ohio, he purchased a yoke of steers. These and a 
wagon were shipped to Detroit, and upon his arrival in the 
latter city a supply of provisions, etc., was loaded in, and 
the journey resumed towards Bennington. Upon reaching 
his newly purchased homestead he cleared ten acres of 
land opposite his present residence, partly constructed a log 
dwelling, and then returned to Norwich, N. Y., all of which 
was accomplished in six weeks. Accompanied by his wife 
and five children, and traveling the same route, he again 
arrived in the township on the 2()th of November, 1838. 
They encountered a terrific five days' gale on hake Erie 
and hardly expected to escape drowning, a fate which befell 
so many in emigrating to Michigan. 

A large portion of Mr. Hartwell's land was included in 
the timber-openings before mentioned ; this enabled him to 
place under cultivation many acres from the beginning, and 
in 1839 he broke and sowed to wheat forty acres. He used 
three yoke of cattle, and Samuel Kellogg was the black- 
smith who sharpened his plow-irons. 

During the same year he also opened his house to the 
traveling public as a place of entertainment, the small 
taverns of Nichols and Phillips in the same neighborhood 
hardly sufiicing to supply the wants of those who journeyed 
over the Grand River road. Mr. Hartwell claims to have 
built the first framed barn in the township, and believes 
that Deacon Cook built the first framed house. About 
1847 or 1848 Mr. Hartwell attempted to build a commo- 
dious stone dwelling. The walls were up, and the workmen 
were just beginning to place into position the rafters, when 
the whole fell with a crash. Fortunately, none were se- 
verely injured, although two of his sons and two or three 
hired workmen were on top of the structure at the time. 
This disaster, caused by the inefficiency of the master me- 
chanic, involved a loss of about one thousand dollars. But 
happy over the fact that no loss of life had occurred, Mr. 
Hartwell cleared away the cJibris, and immediately began 
the construction of his present rasidenco. 

The Hartwellville post-office, J. M. Hartwell, postmaster, 
was established about 1844, and with the exception of a 
few weeks it has since remained under the control of him or 
his family. This point has also been the scat of quite an 
extensive mercantile trade. The business was first estab- 
lished by Giles Tucker. Mr. Hartwell and his sons suc- 
ceeded him, and continued it for .some seven or eight years. 

Hon. Isaac Gale, a native of Albany Co., N. Y., settled 
in Washtenaw Co., Mich., in 1830, and in Bennington in 
1840. He soon after became one of its most prominent 
citizens. He has since served four years as county judge, 
sixteen years as supervisor, and thirty-five years as justice 
of the peace. His home and surroundings are not sur- 
passed in the county. 



Other early citizens, whose names are mentioned in the 
following list of residents of 1844 and in lists of township 
officers, etc., are equally worthy of an extended notice, but 
it is found impossible to do so in consequence of deaths and 
removals. Their work bears silent testimony to their worth, 
however. All have added their mite to the grand aggre- 
gate which makes Bennington of to-day one of the most 
beautiful and prosperous townships in the county, and their 
memory should be kept green in the hearts of their pos- 
terity and successors for many generations to come. 

RESIDENT TAX-PAYEKS OF 1844. 

Acres. 

Asher Whitinore, section 1 120 

Archibald C. Cooper, sections 1, 3 371 

Ezekiel Cook, sections 1, 6 368 

Nelson Waugh, section 2 80 

Lemuel Castle, sections 3, 4 860 

Asa L. Kelly, section 4 160 

John Pitts, section 4 80 

Dcnison S. Bugbee, section 4 80 

Lawrence Cummings, secti(m 4 80 

Rodolphns Dewey, section 4 80 

Waterman Perkins, section 5 114 

Asa Castle, section 5 80 

Chester Kemp, section b 114 

Jonas Cook, section .^ 78 

David Alger, section 40 

Robert Sevier, section 6 240 

Joseph Peters, section 10 40 

Nancy Hayward, section 11 160 

Owen Oakes, section 11 160 

Lawrence Sc.agle, section 12 160 

Archibald Purdy, section 12 320 

William Hall, section 14 80 

Koswell Root, section 14 160 

Isaac Gale, sections 14, 23, 25 440 

Cortes Pond, sections 14, 23, 26 200 

Hiram Coif, section 15 40 

James Stewart, section 15 160 

William Coif, section 15 40 

Zerah Sperry, section 17 120 

Luther Sperry, section 17 40 

David Perry, sections 17, 19 160 

Daniel Phelps, sections IS, 21 SO 

Jeremiah Phelps, section 18 80 

Amasa Bugbee, section 19 , SO 

Harrison S. Bugbee, section 19 94 

John Spear, section 19 120 

Jonathan M. Hartwell, sections 19, 24 268 

Sylvanus Rice, section 20 80 

Otis Hicks, sections 20, 21, 29 200 

Abraham Ilickey, section 20 SO 

James Bugbee, section 21 40 

Aaron Hutchings, sections, 21, 28 160 

Levi H. Chaffin, sections 22,27 160 

Thomas Johnson, section 23 80 

Solomon Frain, section 23 80 

Ralph Williams, section 23 40 

Cyrus Miller, sections 23, 33 267 

Samuel Nichols, section 24 (west one-half, south- 
west one-quarter) 80 

William Frain, section 25 lOO 

Silas L. Parks, section 25 80 

Artomas Howard, section 25 40 

Eaton Dewey, section 26 60 

J. D. Dewey, section 26 , 80 

Parley M. Rowell, sections 26, 34 120 

Silas Howe, section 26 20 

.Samuel B. Bugbee, section 26 80 

David Johnson, sections 27, 28, 34 200 

Moses Pitts, section 28, 33 120 

Court Hutcliings, section 2S 160 

Salmon Bugbee, section 29 40 

John Harmon, section 30 SO 

Chilson Sanford, sections 30, 31, 36 324 

John Terrebury, sections 31, 33, 34 140 

Charles Terrebury, sections 31, 33 60 

Henry Boardslee, section 31 196 

Ebeuezor Brown, section 32 640 

Amasa Rowell, section 33 83 

Lyman Stevens, section 33 40 

Alanson Horton, section 35 SO 

George Alexander, section 36 10 

Ira B. Howard, section 36 80 

Jerry Howard, section 36 SO 

John A. Howard, section 36 120 

Samuel Kellogg, section 36 105 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



191 



Acres. 

Lyman Kellogg, section 36 40 

Levi Kellogg, section 36 40 

William llownrd, section 36 150 

David Johnson, Jr., personal. 
John M. Fitch, personal. 
Horace Howe, personal. 

CIVIL AND POLITICAL. 

Bennington, including Perry, was formed from Shia- 
wassee. An act of the State Legislaturo, approved March 
G, 1838, provides that: 

" All that part of the county of Shiawassee designated 
by the United States survey as townships Nos. 5 and 6 
north, of range No. 2 east, be and the same is hereby set 
off and organized as a separate township by the name of 
Bennington,* and the first township-meeting therein shall 
be held at the house of Samuel Nichols in said township." 

Pursuant to the act of organization, Marcellus Harris, 
Nelson Waugh, Jerry Howard, George N. Jewett,| Peter 
Harder, Hiram Davis, William Randall, Archibald Purdy, 
Abner Rice, Samuel Pitts, Jr., John Pitts, Samuel B. Bug- 
bee, Lyman Stevens,]" Smith Howard, Josiah Purdy,f 
Phineas Austin,f William Coif, Jordan Holcomb, William 
Lemon.f William Howard, David Johnson, John Terre- 
bury, Samuel Kellogg, William T. Stevens,"f" James Nichols, 
Samuel Nichols, John A. Howard, Lemuel Castle, Ira B. 
Howard, Joseph P. Roberts,"}" and Harrison S. Bugbee, 
thirty-one electors in all, assembled at the house of Samuel 
Nichols, April 2, 1838, for the purpose of electing the first 
board of township oflScers. 

The meeting was organized by choosing Lemuel Castle 
moderator, and Joseph P. Roberts clerk. Ira B. Howard, 
a justice of the peace, administered the required oath to 
Messrs. Castle and Roberts, and also took his seat as one of 
the inspectors of the election. At the close of the pro- 
ceedings the following ofiBcers were declared elected : Lemuel 
Castle, Supervisor ; Ira B. Howard, Township Clerk; Samuel 
Pitts, Jr., Nelson Waugh, Joseph P. Roberts, Assessors ; 
Samuel B. Bugbee, Collector ; Samuel Nichols, Samuel Kel- 
logg, Directors of the Poor; Joseph P. Roberts, Jerry 
Howard, Archibald Purdy, Highway Commissioners ; Joel 
North, Joseph P. Roberts, Lemuel Castle, Inspectors of 
Schools ; Ira B. Howard, Joseph P. Roberts, Lemuel Castle, 
Samuel Pitts, Jr., Justices of the Peace ; Samuel B. Bug- 
bee, Hiram Davis, Horace Mann, Constables. 

At this meeting it was resolved, " That the ballots be 
presented on one piece of paper. That a bounty of two 
dollars be paid for each wolf killed in the township by an 
inhabitant of said township. That the sum of fifty dollars 
be raised to pay wolf-bounties. That the highway commis- 
sioners divide the township into road districts, and appoint 
overseers. That the supervisor report on the financial 
afiairs of the township at the next annual township-meet- 
ing." 

The total accounts audited and allowed March 19, 1839, 
amounted to ninety-one dollars, of which Archibald Purdy 
received ten dollars and fifty cents ; Samuel Pitts, Jr., six 

• Name derived from Bennington, Vt., the native State of several 
of the early settlers. 

t Then residents of the territory now known as Perry township, 
which was sot oiT as a separate township in 1811. 



dollars ; Ira B. Howard, twelve dollars ; Jerry Howard, 
sixteen dollars ; Lemuel Castle, uine dollars ; and Joseph 
P. Roberts, thirty-seven dollars and fifty cents. 

That the separation from the old township of Shiawassee 
was not effected amicably, the following copy of an old 
document will show. It bears no date, however, but was 
written, probably, in 1839 or 1840 : " The report of the 
township board of the town of Bennington to the electors 
of said town, respecting the claims of the town of Shia- 
wassee, respectfully showeth : That in March last the town- 
ship board of the town of Shiawassee presented a gross 
account against the town of Bennington of about one hun- 
dred and two dollars, which your board did not feel author- 
ized to allow, and requested of them a bill of items, which 
they have presented, purporting to be the expenses of the 
town of Shiawassee from March 1, 1837, to April 1, 1838, 
embracing a period while this town, together with Antrim 
and Woodhull, were connected with the town of Shia- 
wassee. As the town of Bennington embraces one-third of 
the territory, they claim of us one-third of the amount of 
their expenses, which your board do not think them in jus- 
tice entitled to, and as they threaten a prosecution if it is 
not allowed, we therefore submit the case to you, to say by 
vote whether we shall allow it or not, or any part thereof, 
and if any, how much, after giving you a statement of 
their accounts. 

" In the first place they present their bills for laying high- 
ways to the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars and 
eighty-one and a half cents, which we find laid almost 
wholly in their own town, very little in ours, and no legal 
record of a great share of what was laid, as charged in 
their bills. In the next place their school inspectors' bill 
amounts to thirteen dollars and sixty-two and a half cents, 
which we think we have no concern with, as the business 
was all done in their own town. Next, an assessor's bill 
of nine dollars, and the bills of the town board, town 
clerk, and highway commissioners for making out road 
warrants, non-resident returns, etc., etc., to the amount of 
four hundred and thirty^eight dollars and twenty-one cents. 
In addition to which they present us a list of orders on 
Shiawassee township without the corresponding accounts, 
bearing date Sept. 20, 1837, to the amount of one hundred 
and seventy-five dollars and forty-three cents. Also a list 
of orders bearing date Jan. 1, 1838, to the amount of 
seventy-five dollars and twenty-five cents ; in all, six hun- 
dred and eighty-eight dollars and eighty-nine cents. 

" There was in 1837 two hundred dollars raised in the 
town of Shiawassee for contingent expenses, of which we 
have paid one-third, reducing the sum called for to four 
hundred and eighty-eight dollars and eighty-nine cents. 
They now call upon us to pay one-third of the latter 
amount, which is one hundred and sixty-two dollars and 
ninety-six cents. We therefore submit the matter to the 
electors of Bennington, whether we shall allow it or any 
part thereof, feeling that this course will be more satisfac- 
tory to all concerned." 

The grand and petit jurors selected in 1839 were Ezekiel 
Cook, Moses Pitts, Jonathan Kemp, Aaron Hutchiiigs, 
William Coif, David Perry, James McCarty, Harrison S. 
Bugbee, Jordan Ilolcomb, Phineas Austin, Jonathan M . 



192 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Hartwell, James Lauiisbury, Samuel Pitts, Jr., Levi Har- 
mon, John A. Howard, Josiah Purdy, Sauiuel Ki'lluiig, 
Joseph P. Roberts, Cyrus Miller, Nelson Waugh, Hiram 
Davis, John B. Burr, Betliuol Haywood, Thompson Hart- 
well, William Howard, Jerry Howard, John Torrcbury, 
David Johnson, Amasa Bugbee, Majiir Iviee, Joseph Skin- 
ner, William Lemon, Jesse Whitfbrd, Lewis H. Launsbury, 
George Reed, Levi Ijaunsbury, and William Harmon. A 
list which comprised very nearly all the voteis in the 
township. 

In 1842, William Coif, David Johnson, and P. M. 
Rowell each received five dollars, the township bounty for 
killing bears. 

Subsequent township officers elected annually from 1S39 
to 1880, inclusive, are shown in the I'ollowiiig list. But 
where vacancies and appointments have occurred by reason 
of not qualifying, resignations, and death, they do not 
appear. 

Tuwiiahip Clerks. Treasurers. 

Ini li. Howard. Lemuel Castle. 
Jona. M. Hartwell. " " 

Ira li. llowartl. '* " 

" *' Joseph Purdy. 

Joua. M. Hartwell. Samuel Kellogg. 
Cortes Pond. *' " 



Supervisors. 
IS.iy. Lemuel Castle. 
1S40. " " 

ISIt. 

lSi2. " " 

1843. " 
1S44. Isaac Gale. 

1845. " " 

1846. Joseph Howe. 

1847. Isaac Uale. 

1848. " 

1849. " 

1850. " " 

1851. Cortes Pond. 

1852. Isaac Uale. 

1853. Archibald Purdy. 
1854. 

1855. " 

1856. Isaac Hale. 

1857. " 

1858. " 

1859. " " 

1860. " 

1861. Cortes Pond. 

1862. Isaac Cale. 

1863. " 
1S64. " " 

1865. " " 

1866. James H. Hartwell 

1867. " " 

1868. " " 

1869. Norman C. Payne. 

1870. Almon B. Clark. 

1871. Norniau C. Payne. 

1872. Peter H. Smith. 

1873. Norman C. Payne. 

1874. Peter II. Smith, 
1875. 

1876. John C. Lanckton. 

1877. " " 

1878. " " 

1879. " " 

1880. " " 



Philauiler T. Maine. 



IMliki Newell. 



Henry Kuthrutl'. 
Cortes Pond. 

Charles P. Parkill. 
James A. Chapin. 

Norman C. Payne. 
James A. Chapin. 

Edwin R. Myers. 

Chester J. Stuart. 



Ceplius Stuart. _ 

• i it 

George Goodwin. 

a tt 

it ti 

t* It 

Joseph H. Howe. 

,*>ilas Howe. 

Hollin Pond. 

tt it 

tt it 

William llainaiond. 



Knocli Kddy, Jr. 
Peter 11. Smith. 



Francis G. Morrice. 



Lemuel C. Cooper. 



lieuuu'l C. Cooper. 
James A. Chapin. 



Nonniin C. Pavuo. 



JUSTICES OF THK PEACK. 



1839. Samuel Pitts, Jr. 

1840. Lemuel Castle. 

1841. Isaac Gale. 
Ebenezer Brown. 

1842. Ira B. Howard. 
Cortes Pond. 

1843. Ebenezer Brown. 



1843. Archibald Purdy. 

1844. Lemuel Castle. 
lS4j. Isaac Gale. 

1846. Archibald Purdy. 

1847. Civilian Morse. 

1848. Asa Castle. 
1S49. Isaac Gale. 



ISSO. 


Ezekiel Cook. 


1866. 


Norman C. Payne. 


1851. 


Kalph Williams. 


1867. 


Newcomb Mitchell. 


1852. 


Lemuel Castle. 


1868. 


John Storer. 


1853. 


Isaac (Jail*. 




IVter H. Suiith. 




Ezekiel Salisbury. 


1809. 


Isaac Gale. 


1854. 


Ezokicl Cook. 


1870. 


Norman C. Payne. 


1855. 


Ualph Williams. 


1871. 


No record. 




Ezekiel Cook. 


1872. 


George Uiiwell. 


1S5B. 


Ezekiel Salisbury. 


1873. 


Henry C. Howard. 




Ardiibald Purdy. 


1874. 


Norman C. Payne. 


1857. 


Isaac (iaie. 


1875. 


Isaac (J ale. 


1858. 


.'\rchili:ild Purdy. 




Norman C. Payne. 


1859. 


Kalph Williams. 


1876. 


George Howell. 


1860. 


Abuer A. Davis. 




Hyland K. Greeniuan. 


1861. 


Isaac Gale. 


1877. 


Henry C. Howard. 




Newcomb Mitchell. 




Freeman N. Waugh. 


1862. 


Ardiibald Purdy. 


1S7S. 


Freeman N. Waugh. 


1863. 


Sylvester Dean. 


1879. 


Samuel IJ. Bugbee. 


1864. 


Abuer A. Davis. 


1880. 


John Walsh. 


1S65. 


Isaac Gale. 







HIGHWAY COMMISSION EKS. 



1839. 



1S40. 



1S41. 



1842. 



1843. 



1844. 



1845. 



1846. 



1847. 



1848. 



1849. 
18511. 



1851. 

1852. 



Joseph P. Roberts. 
Archibald Purdy. 
Samuel Kellogg. 
Samuel Pitts, Jr. 
Samuel Kellogg. 
.Archibald Purdy. 
Ebenezer Brown. 
Ira B. Howard. 
Carlton Sawyer. 
Archibald Purdy. 
Donison S. Bugbee. 
Ebenezer Brown. 
Samuel B. Bugbee. 
Ebenezer Brown. 
Denison S. Bugbee. 
Samuel B. Bugbee. 
Denison S. Bugbee. 
Cyrus Miller. 
Samuel B. Bugbee. 
Cyrus Miller. 
James Stuart. 
Cyrus Miller. 
Samuel B. Bugbee. 
Ezekiel Salisbury. 
Cyrus Miller. 
Samuel B. Bugbee. 
Ezekiel Salisbury. 
Ezekiel Salisbury. 
Henry Beardsiee. 
Jonathan W. Brewer. 
Samuel B. Bugbee. 
Levi H. Chatlin. 
Levi H. Chatlin. 
Nelson AVaugh. 



1853. 
1854. 

1855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 

1860. 
1861. 

1862. 
1863. 

181U. 

1865. 

1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1S71. 



1872. 
1873. 
1874. 
1875. 
1876- 
1880. 



Waterman Perkins. 
Levi H. Chatlin. 
Silas A. Verkes. 
Nelson Waugh. 
Horace S. Goodwin. 
William Frain. 
Benjamin Davis. 
Abner A. Davis. 
Horace S. Goodwin. 
William Frain. 
Horace Howe. 
John Wire. 
Philo Newell. 
George W. Hunt. 
James U. Byerly. 
John A. Vanderhoof. 
Carlti>n Rood. 
A. B. Clark. 
Alva Bemis. 
D. D. Williams. 
John A. Vanderhoof. 
John lunes. 
Howard D. Thomiisou. 
Silas A. Yerkes. 
William Lewis. 
Joseph 0. Hathaway. 
I'rancis G. Morrice. 
Cornelius A. yanderhoof. 
William Lewis. 
Levi H. Chaffin. 
Cornelius Hibbard. 
79. Levi H. Chalfin. 
Enoch Eddy, Jr. 



KDUCATIONAL. 

On the 14th of November, 1837, while township No. 
G north, of range 2 east, still formed part of Shiawassee 
township, Levi Rowe, W. Z. Blanchard, and Robert Stew- 
art, school inspectors of the latter township, divided the 
former into four equal school districts, designating the 
northeast quarter of the township, district No. 1 ; the south- 
east quarter, district No. 2 ; the northwest quarter, district 
No. 3; and the southwest quarter, district No. 4. 

With scarcely more than half a dozen families in the 
whole township, it is hardly probable that anything more 
was done concerning schools while Bennington formed part 
of Shiawassee. 

Soon after the organization of Bennington, on the 11th 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



193 



of April, 1838, the first board of school inspectors met at 
the township clerk's office, and organized by choosing Joel 
North, chairman. On the 27th of the same mouth five 
school districts were ordered organized, and their bounda- 
ries described. But it does not appear by the records, nor 
have we learned that any schools were taught in 1838. In 
1839 the electors voted to raise by tax fifty dollars for the 
support of primary schools. The moneys received for school 
purposes in 1840 amounted to forty-three dollars and fifty 
cents, of which twenty-five dollars was voted from the town- 
ship treasury, and eighteen dollars and fifty cents from the 
county treasury. This was applied as follows : 



District. 
No. 1., 
" 2.. 



18 


$16.65 


29 


26.73 



In 1841 the schools seemed in a more flourishing condi- 
tion, and the school moneys were apportioned as here shown. 

District. SchuliirH. Amount. 

No. 1 26 $17.25 

" 2 35 23.22 

" 4 15 9.95 

" 5 8 5.30 

" 6 18 11.94 

" 7 II 7.30 

Among the early teachers were William C. R. Patterson, 
Louisa Pitts, Diautha F. Chaffin, M. L. Whitford, Sarah 
Edson, and Clarissa Pond, in 1843. Mary J. Stewart, 
Mary Hicks, Diantha F. Chaffin, Leroy Stephens, George 
Reynolds, and Francis Terry, 1844. George Reynolds, 
Mary Stuart, Sarah J. McOmber, Diantha F. Chaffin, Har- 
riet Castle, Margaret L. Wilson, Lovica Pitts, Samantha 
Chaffin, Julia Van Auken, Drusilla D. Cook, and SaffiDrd 
Pitts, 1845. Sarah J. McOmber, Elvira Howard, Saman- 
tha Chaffin, Armina Pitts, Margaret L. Wilson, Drusilla 
D. Cook, SafiFord Pitts, George M. Reynolds, 1846. Delia 
M. Castle, Isadore E. Parkill, Sabrina A. Castle, Diantha 
F. Chaffin, Jabez S. Cook, J. H. Hartwell, Emily Ham- 
mond, 1847. Elvira M. Howard, Miss Pratt, Drusilla D. 
Cook, Safford Pitts, Charles H. Collins. Byron Hollister, 
1848. Sarah Stuart, Miss T. Parker, Helen M. Brewer, 
Frances IngersoU, Diantha F. Chaffin, Juliet Gale, W. J. 
Chatham, I. W. McEwen, Samantha Chaffin, Amanda Guil- 
ford, Sylvia Guilford, Clara K. IngersoU, 1 849. Miss Dun- 
ning, Amanda Rowell, Sarah B. Stuart, Saflt)rd Pitts, Phi- 
lander T. Maine, 1850. Mary Ann Hill, Miss Salisbury, 
Miss 0. Miller, Helen M. Brewer, Miss IngersoU, Constan- 
tine Yerkes, 1851. 

Following have been the apportionments of primary- 
school funds for various years : 



1848. 

District. .Scbulara. 

No. 1 .-iO 

" 2 20 

" 3 (il 

B. and P. Fractional District No. 1... 35 

1850. 

District. Scholars, 

No. 1 33 

" 2 43 

" 3 48 

" 4 24 

B. and P. Fractional District No. 1.. 40 

B. and S. Fractional District No. 1... 27 

25 



Amount. 

$11.51 

8.31 

19.46 

11.18 



Amount. 

$11.22 

14.62 

16.32 

8.16 

15.04 

9.18 



1860. 
District. 
No. 1 


Scholars. 
80 
34 
46 
41 
45 
43 

Scholars. 
80 
36 
64 
51 
87 
40 
32 


Amount 
$36.80 


" 2 


15.64 


" 3 


21.16 


" 4 


18.86 


" 5 


20.70 


B. and P. Fractional District No. 1... 

1870. 
District. 

No. 1 


19.74 

Amount 
$.38 78 


" 2 


17.24 


" 3 


30.64 


" 4 


24.42 


" 5 


41.65 


" 6 


19.15 


B. and P. Fractional District No. 1.. 


15..32 



The following statistics are gathered from the school in- 
spectors' report for year ending Sept. 1, 1879 : 

Nuuiber of whole districts 6 

" fra<.'tional districts 1 

" children of soboul age residing in 

the township 444 

Number of children attending school during 

the ^'car 352 

Number of frame Bcbool-huuses 7 

•* sittings 442 

Value of school property .$4375.00 

Number of men teaehers employed 7 

" women teachers employed 8 

Paid men teachers $549.27 

Paid women teachers 364.00 

Total resources for the year 2066.80 



RELIGIOUS. 

THE FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF BEN- 
NINGTON, 

whose church edifice is situated in the village of Benning- 
ton Station, was organized about the year 1869, when Rev. 
John Maywood came here as the preacher in charge of the 
Bennington Circuit. Previously the members of this 
denomination living here had been included in the Owosso 
Circuit. 

The early meetings were held in the school-house ; but 
very soon after this became a regular appointment the 
building of a house of worship was agitated, and the mat- 
ter received such favorable consideration that the present 
structure was commenced in 1869, completed and dedicated 
in February, 1871, at a cost, including bell, organ, etc., of 
two thousand eight hundred dollars. 

Among the early members were Apollos Dewey, Mr. 
Halstead and wife. Nelson Waugh and wife, Orra Waugh 
and wile, William and Nellie Waugh. But a short time 
.subsequently, James Byerly and wife, Mrs. Mary Thorpe, 
Mrs. William Byerly, Mrs. Juliet Rowell, and others joined 
the organization. 

The Sabbath-school antedates the church by about one 
year, Mr. Gould, a superannuated minister, assisted by 
James Byerly and Mrs. Juliet Rowell, having established a 
Sabbath-school in the school-house in June, 1868. The 
schools have had an uninterrupted continuance to the pres- 
ent, and have ever formed one of the prominent features of 
this church. To Mrs. Rowell, who, during the superiutend- 
ency of Messrs. Gould and Byerly, assumed fiiU charge 
in the absence of either, great credit is due for the success 
which has hitherto attended their sessions. 

Rev. Mr. Wilkinson succeeded Mr. Maywood. Other 
pastors have been Revs. Whitley, Clack, Thompson, Laing, 



194 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



and Frederick Strong, the latter being the present incum- 
bent. Number of present members, sixty. In this charge 
is included the Newburg class ; also one at Pittsburg of 
forty members. 

EMMANUEL CHURCH OF THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIA- 
TION IN BENNINGTON. 

The members of this church erected a house of worship 
in IST.'i, and the society was incorporated June 26, 1876. 
Those named as corporators were Gottlieb Reuss, Henry 
Wentz, Christian Berrick, Henry Merkler, John Hortman, 
Michael Bower, Frederick Schuknecht, Jacob Schmidtgall, 
Christian Kock, Frederick Hiuspader, Simon Salisbury, 
George Merkler, F. Klein, John Crutts, and C. Crutts. 
This church belongs to the district of which Rev. John 
M. Houk is presiding elder, and includes churches at 
Owosso, Bennington, New Haven, and Chesaning. 

THE PITTSBURG CHURCH OF BENNINGTON, 

of which Joseph Place, Mary M. Place, Mary J. Gardner, 
Sarah Hutchings, Hiram Pierson, B. C. Chittenden, and 
Josephine Chittenden were named as members, was incor- 
porated April 2, 1877. At a meeting held in the school- 
house in Pittsburg, May 15, 1877, Rev. M. Hayden 
chairman, Joseph Place, D. P. Austin, and Albert Gillett 
were elected trustees. This church has erected a house of 
worship in the small village of Pittsburg, which structure 
is also occupied by the Pittsburg Methodist Episcopal 
class. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



ISAAC GALE. 

Isaac Gale was born at Berne, Albany Co., N. ¥., on the 
4th of December, 1808. His parents were Roger and 
Anna (Sherburne) Gale. The Gale family came to America 
some time in the seventeenth century and settled in the 
Eastern States. The Sherburne family were originally from 
Germany, emigrating from that country to England in the 
sixteenth century, and from the latter country to America 
at a somewhat later date. 

The young man remained at home, working on his 
father's farm until he was twenty-one years of age, in the 
mean time availing himself of such means of education as 
were afforded by the ordinary district schools of the day. 

Soon after his arrival at manhood, and after careful con- 
sideration, he determined to follow, as the priucipal avoca- 
tion of his life, the pursuit of agriculture, considering it 
the most independent, and the safest and surest road to a 
reasonable competence, and one that would afford the most 
ample time for reading and contemplation, as well as a safe 
asylum from the cares and perplexities of ordinary business 
pursuits. 

With this determination he bravely pushed out alone, 
without an acquaintance or companion, and came to the 
then wilderness and Territory of Michigan ; traveling by 



the Erie Canal to Lake Erie, and thence by the steamer 
" Niagara," commanded by the famous seaman. Captain 
Blake, — eccentric and rough, but as kind of heart as a 
woman. On the 15th day of May, 1830, he landed at De- 
troit, then but an inferior frontier village. From there he 
went to Superior township, in tlie eastei'n part of Washte- 
naw County, near Ypsilanti, where he commenced improving 
one hundred and sixty acres of timbered land ; cleared a 
few acres, which he planted with wheat, and returned to 
New York, where, on the 4th day of September, 1831, he 
married Miss M. A. Wilbur, and came back to his farm in 
Washtenaw County, where he continued to reside until 
April, 1840. 

Miss Wilbur was a daughter of Henry and Lydia Shelden 
Wilbur, of Dutchess County, N. Y., where she was born 
September 4, 1813. 

During his stay upon his new farm Mr. Gale made many 
improvements, and also served the people as township clerk 
and school inspector. Previous to 1840 he exchanged his 
farm for a larger tract of new land in Bennington, Shiawassee 
County, to which he removed in April, 1840, and where he 
has continued to reside to the present time. His property 
has grown till it embraces three hundred and eighty acres, 
the greater portion of which is well improved, and on which 
are good buildings and the necessary conveniences of a 
well-conducted farm. 

After many years devoted to agricultural pursuits, Mr. 
Gale can look back with satisfaction and truly say, " If T 
were again young, with the experience and observation I 
have had, I should certainly choose the same occupation." 

In addition to his labors upon the farm, Mr. Gale has 
been called to oiEciate in another sphere as a servant of 
the people, and as a prominent business man in various 
positions. In the spring of 1841 he was elected to the 
office of justice of the peace, which he has held for a period 
of thirty-six years, a fact of itself sufficient to prove his 
character and standing. He has also held the office of 
supervisor of the township for fifteen years, and served four 
years as second judge of the county court before that 
tribunal was superseded by the Circuit Court. He was an 
industrious student, and upon his election as justice began 
a systematic study of statute and common law by utilizing 
the long winter evenings, rainy days, and other leisure time. 
In the early days of Michigan an extensive business, both 
civil and criminal, came before the justices of the peace. 
Mr. Gale remembers with gratitude the timely advice and 
valuable assistance tendered him by the late Governor 
Parsons, and Hon. Amos Gould, of Owosso, both then 
practicing before the justices' courts. In his capacity as a 
justice of the peace, Mr. Gale considered it his duty to 
advise a settlement of all difficulties without litigation if 
it were possible. 

During a period of ten years he was engaged in the bank- 
ing business at Coruiina, under the firm-name of J. B. 
Wheeler & Co. The firm did a private business, in which 
they were reasonably successful. xVt the end of ten years 
they sold the business to other parties who have since closed 
it up. 

Mr. Gale has also been a prominent railroad man. In 
connection with W. L. Bancroft and others, commencing 




ISAAC GALE 




M^f ISAAC GALE . 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



195 



about 1868-70, he took an active part in the construction 
of a road from Port Huron to Lansing. Between Port 
Huron and Flint this road was known as the Port Huron 
and Lake Michigan road, and between Flint and Lansing 
as the Chicago and Northeastern road. These now form 
a part of the Chicajjo and Grand Trunk line. He was one 
of the directors of the company, and worked through the 
trying times when the company, like many others, was poor, 
and the work progressed very slowly. When this road and 
the one building at the same time between Lansing and 
South Bond, Ind., were consolidated under the name of the 
Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad, he was elected a direc- 
tor in tlie new company. When the Chicago and North- 
eastern Company was organized for the purpose of con- 
structing the link lying between Lansing and Flint, Mr. 
Gale resigned his position, and was elected to the office of 
vice-president of the last-named company, which position 
he occupied until tlie final sale of the entire line to the 
Canada Grand Trunk Company, in September, 1879. 

Mr. Gale spent a considerable portion of twelve years in 
the interests of the various segments of what now consti- 
tute a great international line of railway, during which 
period the profits and losses about balanced each other, 
leaving to him as the only valuable acquisition an extensive 
experience and the knowledge gained by contact with an 
able and energetic class of business men, of whom he con- 
siders Hon. W. L. Bancroft, of Port Huron, the prominent 
representative, and the one to whom, above all others, the 
credit is due for pushing to completion a great and valuable 
line of railway. 

The subject of this memoir is now living with his wife 
on his farm, which is managed by his son ; and his conclu- 
sion, after a bu.sy life, is that, were he to commence anew, 
he would set aside all business except that pertaining to the 
occupation of farming, and bend _all his energies to the 
cultivation of the soil and its kindred pursuits. He con- 
siders a sand bank more valuable to the farmer than any 
other, and has come to the conclusion that " Short-horn" 
and " Alderuey stock" is much better than railway stock 
as an investment. 

Politically Mr. Gale favored the election of John Quincy 
Adams in 1828. During the existence of the Whig party 
he was a strong advocate of its principles, and on the for- 
mation of the present Republican party, in 1854, he asso- 
ciated himself with the Democracy, with which party he 
has since affiliated. He believes it the duty of all Ameri- 
can citizens to abide by and faithfully carry out every 
provision of the constitution until annulled or amended, 
not only by act of the general government, but by every 
State in the Union. 

In religious opinion and belief Mr. Gale has been a 
member and supporter of the Methodist Church for a 
period of thirty-six years. He claims to be free from sec- 
tarian or bigoted views and feelings, and totally' ignores the 
doctrines of election and reprobation its taught by John 
Calvin and his followers. 



NEWCOMB MITCHELL. 

Among the prominent farmers and early settlers of Ben- 
nington the subject of this biography is entitled to special 
mention. Although he is not a pioneer he has done much 
pioneer work. He has perfected a valuable record, and 
demonstrated his general worth as a citizen. He was born 
in Bennington, Vt., Sept. 21, 1821. He was the son of 
Newcomb and Polly (Hone) Mitchell, who reared a family 
of eleven children, — six boys andfive girls. 

The elder Mitchell was a blacksmith, a sturdy, industrious 
man, but devoid of the faculty of money-getting, and his 
children were deprived of educational advantages, and their 
learning was obtained more from the bitter school of ex- 
perience than from books. When Newcomb, Jr., was a 
babe the fimily removed to New York, where his father 
followed his vocation, changing his residence from Syracuse, 
where he first located, to Lyons, and from there to Wyo- 
ming County. In 1844 he removed to Michigan, and set- 
tled in the town of Salem, Washtenaw Co. He returned to 
the State of New York, however, and died near Attica, at an 
advanced age. At the age of ten years Newcomb was 
thrown upon his own resources. He first obtained employ- 
ment on a farm at a sixpence a day. His boyhood days 
were devoid of pleasure, and toil and privation seemed his lot ; 
but by reason of his surroundings he developed in youth 
many traits of character that might otherwise have remained 
dormant, and which have had an influence upon his future. 
He worked as a farm-laborer until he was twenty years of 
age, when he went to Bufi"alo and apprenticed himself to 
the trade of a mason, which avocation he followed many 
years. In 1844 he came to Michigan, where his brother 
Calvin, now one of the prominent farmers of Wa.shtenaw 
County, had settled the year previous in the town of Salem. 
Soon after his arrival the two brothers made a trip of obser- 
vation to Wisconsin. Upon their return Newcomb purchased 
eighty acres of wild land in Salem, which he afterwards sold. 

In the fall of 1847 he came to Lansing and engaged in 
the grocery trade. This venture, owing to the perfidy of 
his partner, proved disastrous. In the winter of 1849 
he came to Bennington, and the following summer built 
the octagonal school building near Corunna. 1852 found 
him in the employ of the Michigan Central Railroad. In 
1852 he returned to Bennington, and the following year 
commenced the improvement of his farm, which he had 
purchased in 1846. Here he has since resided, and to the 
original purchase of eighty acres has added one hundred 
and ninety acres. The farm is one of the best in the town- 
ship, and his commodious buildings and finely-cultivated 
fields attest his thrift and success. In 1866, Mr. Mitchell 
married Miss Eliza, daughter of Dyer Phelps, one of the 
early settlers of the town of Shiawassee. She was born 
in Springfield, Pa., Christmas-day, 1835. Eight children 
have been born to them, — three boys and five girls. 

Mr. Mitchell is emphatically a self-made man. Starting in 
life with only his strong pair of hands and a robust consti- 
tution, he has attained success in all departments of life. 

In his political and religious affiliations he is a Republican 
and a Methodist, and among the representative men of 
Bennington he occupies a foremost position. 



196 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SAMUEL NICHOLS. 



I'ioiiooi' biogrupliics are usually 
devoid of romantic incidents and 
startling event.-*, but are always 
replete with recitals of hardships 
and privations that to the present 
generation sound more like fiction 
than fact. Many lessons of in- 
dustry, indomitable pereeverance, 
and rigid economy can be gleaned 
from them ; and while all arc of 
historiciil importance, special in- 
terest is felt in the life of that 
adventurous individual who made 
the first permanent .settlement. 
To Samuel Nichols belongs the 
honor not only of being the first 
white settler, but of building the 





SAMUEL NICHOLS. 



first house, felling the first tree, 
and plowing the first furrow within 
the present limits of the town of 
Bennington. He Wiis born in the 
town of Hinsdale, Vt., in 1804. 
But little is known of his early 
history further than that he was 
left an orphan at the age of four 
years, and was reared by a gentle- 
man by the name of Philander 
Glover, in whose family he lived 
until he was fifleen years of age. 
He then started in life as a farm- 
laborer ; was industrious and ener- 
getio, and, by carefully husbanding 
his earnings, acquired a sum suf- 
ficient tu purchase a home of his 



own. In 1832 he bought a new 
farm near Jamestown, N. Y., on 
which he remained four years, 
when he sold his property and 
came to Bennington, where ho 
made the first purchase of govern- 
ment land in the township as at 
present organized, it being the 
southwest quarter of the south- 
west quarter of section 24, town- 
ship () north, range 2 east. Upon 
this farm he resided until his de- 
cease, which occurred March 30, 
18t)!), in the sixty-fifth year of 
his age. 

In 1831 he married Miss Mi- 
randa Kathan. She was also a 





MRS. SAMUEL NICHOLS. 



LYMAN UICKEY. 

native of Vermont, and was born 
in 1808. Although advanced in 
years, her recollections of the 
early days are still vivid, and she 
recalls many incidents in her pio- 
neer life that prove conclusively 
that she was possessed of perse- 
verance, energy, and remarkable 
fortitude, and that she is worthy 
of a conspicuous position among 
the pioneer women of Shiawassee 
County. She has been the mother 
of ten children, six of whom died 
in infancy. Of the four others, 
two only are living, Samuel aiuj 
Mary M. The latter was married, 
in 1858, to L. Hickey, who was 




y^ 



BENNINGTON TOWNSHIP. 



197 



bora in Genesee County, N. Y., in 1824. His father came 
to Michigan with his family in 1824, and settled in the 
town of Commerce, Oakland Co., where Lemuel resided 
until 1840, when he came to Bennington, where he has 
since resided. He is also a pioneer, having been a resi- 
dent of the town for forty years. He is the owner of the 
Nichols farm, on which he resides, a view ol' which appears 
on another page. 



JOHN INNES. 



The gentleman whose name heads this brief notice is one 
of the early settlers of Shiawassee, and was born in the 
city of Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, July 7, 1815. 
His father, also named John, was born in the parish of 
Mathlick. He was a manufacturer of linen and cotton goods, 
but in the later part of his life, owing to ill health, became 
a farmer. He married Miss Jane Frasier, and reared a 
family of four children, — two boys and two girls, — John 
being the eldest. In 1825 he removed from Peterhead to 
the place of his nativity, and leased a farm of Lord Aber- 
deen, on which he remained until his decease, which oc- 
curred at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years. He was 
an upright, honorable man, and highly esteemed by all who 
knew him. John assisted his father on the farm until he 
was sixteen years of age. He attended a parochial school, 
and obtained a good education. 

Peterhead, the place of his birth, is a seaport town, and 
the most easterly city in Scotland, and the dream of his 
boyhood days was " a life on the ocean wave," and he deter- 
mined to follow the sea as the principal avocation of his 
life, but his plans were opposed by his parents, and he de- 
cided to come to America. June 18, 183G, he bade good- 
by to friends and relatives, and after a tedious voyage of 
seven weeks arrived in New York. He immediately 
started for the West, and first stopped at Huron, Ohio, 
where he found an organization known as the Ohio Com- 
pany, having for its object the development of lands in 
what is now the town of Shiawassee, Shiawassee Co. He 
engaged himself to this company, and with others started 
for Michigan. They arrived at Detroit in August, 1836, 
and the journey from that point to their destination was a 
tedious one. From Fenton there was nothing but an In- 
dian trail, and one week was consumed in their journey 
from that place to Shiawasseetown. He remained in the 
employ of this company until the autumn of 1837, and 
during that time assisted in the construction of the first 
saw-mill, grist-mill, and bridge within the present limits of 
the county. 

This enterprise proved unsuccessful both to the company 
and Mr. Innes, and in the fall of 1837 he returned to 
Ohio, where he remained one year. He then started on an 
extended trip through the Southern States, stopping at 
Natchez, Vicksburg, New Orleans, and cither important 
towns. 

In June, 1838, he went into the northern part of Wis- 
consin, where he engaged in lumbering until the fall of 
1840, when he again went South with tiie intention of 
making it his home. He remained, however, but four years. 



during which time he was engaged in rafting lumber, cord- 
wood, and pickets to the New Orleans market. On his 
return North he stopped in the town of Perry, where he 
met his destiny in the person of Miss Orissa Howard, 
whom he married in April, 1845. Shortly after his mar- 
riage he leased a large farm at East Plains, Ionia Co., and 
commenced farming. About one month after his marriage 




JOHN INNES. 

Mrs. Innes died, and in the January following he was 
again married to Mrs. Elizabeth Dean, who died thirteen 
months after. Just previous to the death of his wife he 
had purchased eighty acres of land in Bennington, to 
which he subsequently added eighty acres more, and upon 
which he resided until his removal to Owosso in 1880. In 
October, 1849, Mr. Innes was married to Bliss Margaret 
Yeats. She is a Scotch lady, and was born in the parish of 
New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Sept. 8, 1828. When she was 
ten years of age the family came to the United States and 
settled in Livingston Co., N. Y., where they resided until 
1841, when they emigrated to Livingston Co., Mich. Mr. 
and Mrs. Innes have been blessed with three daughters, all 
of whom are living. 

In his religious belief Mr. Innes is a Presbyterian. He 
is a man of positive character, tenacious of his opinions, 
which are formed by mature deliberation and investigation. 
He believes that " an honest man is the noblest work of 
God," and his practice is in accordance with his belief, and 
wherever he is known his word is considered as good as his 
bond. In his domestic relations he is a kind husband and 
an indulgent father. In his dealings with his fellow-men 
he is dignified and courteous, and possessed of much suavity 
of manner. His life has been an eventful one, and the 
early part was one of rough experiences and replete with 
hard.ship and privations ; but notwithstanding the obstacles 
that beset his path his life has been a success, and now in 
the evening of his days, with his family around him and 



198 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



knowing that he has the respect and esteem of all, and 
that his success in all departments of life is duo wholly to 
his own cflForts, he feels that he has been rewarded. 



JONATHAN M. HARTWELL. 

This venerable pioneer was bora in Norwich, Chenango 
Co., N. Y., July 29, 1801. His father, Ebenezer Hart- 
well, was a native of Dutchess County, and was one of the 
early settlers of Chenango County. He married Rachel 
Mead, and reared a family of twelve children, — six boys and 
six girls. His fiithcr, Oliver HartwcU, was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, and served during its continuance, par- 
ticipating in many decisive battles. He died at the advanced 
age of ninety-seven years. 

Ebenezer Hartwell, or Deacon Hartwell, as he was 
» familiarly known, was an energetic arid successful farmer, 
and a man of undoubted integrity. He was a prominent 
member of the Baptist Church, and was closely identified 
with the history of Norwich and Chenango County. His 
wife was one of those good women of the olden time ; she 
spun and wove, and reared her children to habits of indus- 
try and thrift. She died in Bennington in 1845. 

Jonathan, as was the custom in those days, acknowledged 
obligation to his father in his labor until he attained his 
majority; he acquired such an education as the district 
school of that day afl'orded. In 1822 he married Miss 
Eliza, daughter of Laban Crandall. She was a native of 
Dutchess County, and was born in the town of Amenia, 
Nov. -1, 1806. In his youth Mr. Hartwell evinced much 
enterprise and energy, and shortly after his marriage he 
purchased sixty acres of land near his father's farm, in- 
curring an indebtedne.ss of one thou.sand dollars for the 
same. He remained upon this farm ten years; making sub- 
stantial improvements and freeing himself from debt. In 
1832 he sold his farm and engaged in trade in North Nor- 
wich. Merchandising proved an uncongenial occupation, 
and he resolved to seek his fortune in the then Territory 
of Michigan. In the spring of 1837, in company with 
his brother-in-law, Horace Green, he came to Michigan 
on a tour of observation ; he was favorably impressed with 
the soil and natural advantages, and decided to make 
this State his home. Ho returned East, and the following 
year (1838) again came to Michigan, and purchased eighty 
acres in section 24. He cleared, fenced, and plowed ten 
acres, built a log house, and went back to the State of New 
York, where he closed up his business, and November 10th 
of that year started for Michigan with his family, which 
consisted of his wife and five children. He brought with 
him a stock of boots and leather, which found a ready sale 
among the settlers. The following summer he broke forty 
acres. He entered into the improvement of his farm with 
his usual energy, and the third year after his arrival sowed 
one hundred acres of wheat. In 1841) he established a 
store near his present residence, and for a long time did an 
extensive business. He also kept a house of entertainment 
for many years, and the " Hartwell Tavern" was known far 
and wide. 



Mr. Hartwell's record as a citizen and neighbor is an 
enviable one. His word, whether given in a business trans- 
action or in ordinary conversation, is as good as his bond ; 
he has never sought political honors; his aim in life has 
been to accumulate a competency and to win an unspotted 
reputation, and well has he succeeded. Socially he is genial 
and courteous, winning the regard and esteem of all with 
whom he comes in contact. We should prove recreant to 
our duty did we not speak of the many virtues of his noble 
wife, who shared the hardships of early days, and to whose 
thrift, industry, and sage counsel he attributes much of 
his success; her portrait, .so full of character, in connection 
with his own and a view of the old home, may be seen 
elsewhere in this volume. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
BURNS TO\A^NSHIP.* 

liounilancs and Natural Features — Settlement of the Township — 
Schools — Early Roads — Civil History of the Township — Byron Vil- 
lage — Church History — Societies and Orders. 

Burns, the southeast corner township of Shiawassee 
County, described as town 5 north, of range -1 west, is 
bounded on the north by Vernon, on the east by Genesee 
County, on the south by Livingston County, and on the 
west by Antrim. The surface, though in places level, and 
inclined to be wet and swampy, is generally undulating, 
and is well drained by the Shiawassee and its branches, as 
well as by several large artificial water-ways. The stream 
usually known as the East Branch unites with the Shiawas- 
see River at Byron village, forming an excellent water-power 
at that village. There are two small lakes in the township, 
both of which have small outlets that unite and flow into 
the river. The soil is very fertile, and the township is 
justly considered one of the best in Shiawassee County. 
Until September, 1850, parts of sections 5, 7, and 8, and 
all of section 6, were held as an Indian reservation,^ but at 
that time it was opened for settlement. 

SETTLEMENT OP THE TOWNSHIP. 

Although Whitmore Knaggs came to what is now the 
township of Burns and opened a trading-station here as 
early as the year 1820, and was succeeded by the traders 
Grant, Godfrey, and John Knaggs, the last mentioned of 
whom (a son of Whitmore Knaggs) commenced trade on 
the Indian reservation in or about 1832, the actual settle- 
ment of the township by immigrant farmere intending to 
become permanent residents did not begin until 1835. In 
the summer of that year (in July as near as can be ascer- 
tained) Dyer Rathburn, with a wife and seven children, 
reached the township, and located the southeast quarter of 
section 20. With the help of Rufus, his eldest son, then 
about twenty-one years of age, he immediately built a log 

» By G. A. McAlpine. 

f The reservation of Kechewondauj^oniug, granted to the Shiawas- 
see Obippewas in the Saginaw treaty of September, 1819. 



BURNS TOWNSHIP. 



199 



cabin dwelling, which, after the settlement of the township 
fairly commenced, was used also as a tavern. 

Mr. llathburn seems to have had some idea of the diffi- 
culties to be encountered, for he came well prepared to 
meet them. He brought two yokes of oxen and a span of 
horses, with wagons, fanning implements, and household 
goods. In the fall he sowed a small piece of wheat, and in 
the spring planted corn. For nearly a year the family lived 
in solitude, with no neighbors but Indian.s, many hundreds 
of whom at times passed along the trail east of the cabin 
on their way southeast to the Detroit River, and on their 
return thence to their homes and hunting-grounds in the 
northwest. 

The first knowledge the fiimily had of other settlers 
being in the township was brought about accidentally. 
Some members of the family being in the woods at a con- 
siderable distance from home heard the cackling of chickens 
on the north side of the Shiawassee River, and on search- 
ing for new-comers they found the family of Robert Craw- 
ford comfortably located in a cabin, near the north bank of 
the river, on section 15. Mr. Crawford came to Oakland 
Co., Mich., in 1826, from Canada, having gone there from 
New York in 1820. He came to Burns in March, 1836, 
and located as above stated. As soon as his cabin was 
completed, Joseph Leonard (his son-in-law) and wife came 
to the new home of her father. Her younger brother and 
sister came at the same time, and the rest of the family 
came in June. 

The first white child born in the township was Adelaide 
Crawford, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Crawford, 
the date of her birth being Nov. 2, 1830. Wallace Goodin, 
who with F. J. Prevost was striving to make a city of the 
village of Byron, deeded this child Cin commemoration of 
the event) two lots now owned by Nicholas Gulick. She. 
subsequently became the wife of Rev. Mr. Sprague, a 
Methodist minister, and now lives in Galesburg, Kalamazoo 
Co., Mich. Robert Crawford is still living, at the age of 
eighty-six years. His wife died in January, 1880, aged 
eighty-one. 

The next settler was John Burgess, who located the 
80Uthwe.st quarter of section 23. He brought a wife and 
one daughter, named Lauretta. After building a log house 
he sold to Capt. John Laurie, and then located a part of 
the farm now owned by William Chaffee. Mrs. Burgess 
died soon after, and was buried on this farm. Her coffin 
was made of walnut boards taken from the floor of John 
B. Barnum's cabin, and was nailed together and polished 
with beeswax. Her remains have not been removed, 
though the plow has passed over them many times, and no 
trace of her grave is now visible. 

John B. Barnum, who, on June 22, 1836, settled on the 
northwest quarter of section 28, was probably the next 
settler in Burns. He built a log house on this farm, and 
after the expiration of a year and a half he traded it to 
William Baulch for part of the southeast quarter of sec- 
tion 26. The farm first entered by Mr. Barnum is now 
owned by S. S. Wiltsie, who purchased it in 1843. Mr. 
Barnum built on his new farm a house and barn, which 
are still standing. His family at the time ot settlement 
consisted of a wife and four children, and a halfbrotlur, 



familiarly known in the early days as Uncle Tommy. John 
B. Barnum died Feb. 5, 1865. His wife, Urena, died May 
24, 1848. His second wife died in February, 1880. His 
son, Isaac S. Barnum, married Amelia, the daughter of 
Robert Crawford. They live on section 20, near the site 
of the old homestead. 

Peter Kanouse came to Burns with his family in the 
summer of 1836. He was a blacksmith, and brought a 
kit of tools with him. He settled on the south line of 
section 27, built a cabin, and was ready for busine.ss, for 
which he did not long have to wait, as the township filled 
up very rapidly from this time on. His was the first black- 
smith-shop in the township. The next was started at Byron 
by Joseph Lay ton. The same month Ezra D. Barnes, 
from Tioga Co., N. Y., settled on section 27. He brought 
a wife and two boys, one of whom was killed by falling 
from a fence. Mr. Barnes died in 1876. 

Thomas P. Green reached Burns township in August, 
1836, after a trip of twenty-one days. He stopped in 
Livingston County, where he met D. F. Rockwell, who 
had located land on sections 32, 33. Of him Mr. Green 
bought one hundred acres, where he still lives, being one 
of the few survivors of those who came to the township in 
1836. Mr. Green helped locate many of the first roads 
in the south part of the county. The Indians called him 
" Che-Shemokeman," meaning big white man. At the 
same time that he purchased his land, Bright L. Clement, 
then a young man, bought sixty acres in the same locality. 

In September, Amos Foster, with his wife, came to the 
township, and settled on the southwest quarter of section 
22. Mr. Foster had been here and located forty acres 
of this quarter in the May previous. He also bought 
eighty acres for William Chaffee. During the summer of 
1836 Mr. Foster acted as guide to the numerous land- 
seekers who at that time began to flock into the township. 
He then returned and brought his wife as stated. He 
built a log cabin on his farm, in which Andrew Iluggins 
is supposed to have taught the first school in the township 
in the winter of 1838-39, while Mr. Foster and wife were 
absent on a trip to the East. Mr. Foster afterwards sold 
the forty acres on .section 22, and bought eighty acres on 
section 20, now owned by George Rogers, who purchased 
it in 1846. He afterwards purchased the land on the 
school section now owned by Albert Rowley. 

Among the names of the early settlers of Burns that 
of Nicholas Braden should be included, who reached the 
township in 1836. He was born in Germany, but left 
home when a mere youth, and finally, after residing in 
England and in New York, settled in the woods of Michi- 
gan. He bought the northwest quarter of section 32, and 
built a log cabin, where he lived alone for eighteen months 
and shook with the ague the greater part of the time. 
One day, while lying sick on his bed, an Indian came and 
sat down on a log near the house. Mr. Braden, hearing 
the dogs bark, looked through the window, when the Indian 
opened the conversation with the single word — " Sick ?" Mr. 
Braden replied that he was. " No squaw ?" said the Indian. 
Mr. Braden replied he had none. This to the Indian 
seemed to be the very extremity of misfortune, and he 
went away, groaning in .sympathy i'or the sick man. 



200 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Aaron Welltnan reached Burns probably in 1836, 
although there is a difference of opinion in regard to the 
exact date. He bought a large tract of land on sections 
10 and 14, part of which he sold to Hamah Cole, it being 
the same now occupied by his son, Jason Cole. Aaron 
Wellman died in 1851. 

Raniah Cole, with his wife and three children, came to 
Burns in 1837. 

Gideon Drake and Oliver Wolcott were also pioneers of 
Burns who settled in 1837. 

Daniel Kitson was the next settler north of the river. 
He was a shoemaker by trade, and remained at the house 
of Aaron Wellman until his cabin was completed on the 
southeast quarter of section 1 1 . The southeast quarter of 
section 2 was entered by Roger Haviland in 1838, but he 
did not settle permanently in the township until 1840. 
After locating his land he returned to the south part of the 
State, and worked in various places until 1839, when he 
returned to Burns, and built a cabin on his land. Mr. and 
Mrs. Haviland are now the only couple living north of the 
river in Burns township who came in 1840. Mr. and Mrs. 
Isaac Barnum and Mr. and Mrs. Amos Foster are the 
oldest residents south of the river. 

J. J. Gaylord was the first settler on the Indian reserva- 
tion. He was followed soon after by J. PI Martenus. 

William Walworth reached the township about 1840. 
Robert Fox was also a pioneer. Among those of a more 
recent date, but still old settlers, are to be mentioned S. R. 
Swick and W. W. Smith. 

The first death in the township was probably that of 
the daughter of Robert Crawford, which occurred in the 
■winter or early spring of 1837. She was the first per- 
son buried in the cemetery at Byron.* There could have 
been but few days, or weeks at most, between the death re- 
ferred to and that of the son of F. J. Prevost, which is 
spoken of in the history of Byron. 

It is difficult to decide who the contracting parties were 
in the first marriage. The most authentic accounts point 
to a double wedding which took place on the 17th day of 
December, 1840, at which time Elder Brigham united in 
marriage Jacob Kanouse to Miss Mabel Drake, and John 
P. Drake to Miss Agnes Kanouse. 

SCHOOLS. 
The first school in the township of Burns was held in 
the unoccupied log cabin built by Amos Foster, near the 
road on the top of the hill, on the southwest quarter of sec- 
tion 22. This school was taught in the winter of 1838-39 
by Andrew Huggins, who is now a resident of Corunna. 
During the following summer several schools were taught 
in the township, although no school district was regularly 
organized until 1843. It is held by some that a lady, who 
afterwards married a Mr. McColin of Fentonville, taught 
the first school in Byron in the summer of 1838. School 
was taught at an early day also in the log house built by 
Robert Crawford near the river. When the road was 
established iu 1837, Mr. Crawford put up a more preten- 

* Up to this time a, large band of Indians had occupied this site, 
but when this took place they removed their entire village to the 
ground east of the river where the upper iron bridge now stands. 



tious dwelling, after which his cabin was used both as a 
church and school-room. The next school was taught by 
Miss Jane Duncan, in a log house which stood on the north- 
east quarter of section 20. This was in 1840. Several 
terms of school had already been taught just across the 
line in Livingston County, which gave the southwestern 
part of the township better school facilities. 

Schools were held in the cabins above referred to or in 
other private dwellings until the regular organization of the 
several districts, which occurred as has been stated. Though 
the town board of school inspectors met in the spring of 
1840 and divided the entire township into school districts, 
with the exception of the Indian Reservation, the schools, 
nevertheless, seem to have gone on in the same old way. 
There is no record of the first school-meetings in the older 
districts. This is noticeably the case in district No. 5, the 
oldest district in the township. The records reach but a 
few years back, and these are imperfect and unsatisfactory. 

In 1842 the board met and apportioned the primary- 
school money as follows: District No. 3, Byron district, 
received $8.64 ; district No. 5, Chaffee district, received 
$6.72 ; district No. 4, Green district, received $2.88. 

It will be observed that these districts were numbered as 
at present, and, although they are now somewhat smaller, 
they have not been materially changed since first organized 
in 1840. 

The first call for a school-meeting north of the river was 
addressed to Robert Crawford under date of Nov. 14, 
1842. This was to have been held at his house, but as 
Mr. Crawford did not live in district No. 1, for the benefit 
of which the school-meeting was to have been held, the 
place of meeting was changed. On the 6th of May, 1843, 
the school board, seeming not to have forgotten tlie disre- 
gard paid to former instructions, addressed Robert Craw- 
ford as follows : " Mr. Robert Crawford, you are hereby 
commanded to notify every qualified voter in the above 
district (No. 2), either personally or by leaving a written 
notice at his residence, that a school-meeting will be held 
at the house of Ramah Cole, on the 18th inst., at one o'clock 
P.M." It, no doubt, required considerable effort to notify 
every voter in the above district, and perhaps equally as 
much to leave a written notice at his residence. 

The next action of the board was " to examine A. Hug- 
gins and Sarah E. Stoddard, candidates for teaching," both 
of whom received certificates. The board then directed 
Mr. Henry Wiltsie to call a school-meeting in district No. 
6 (now No. 10), at the house of Dyer Rathburu, on the 
18th of May, 1843. 

In district No. 2 a log school-house was built soon after 
the meeting called by the letter addressed to Robert Craw- 
ford. It was used until 1856, when the one now standing 
on the northwest quarter of section 10 was built. 

In district No. 1 the first school-meeting was held at the 
house of Edward Peck, April 24, 1847. R. Haviland was 
appointed chairman, and the following district officers were 
elected: R. Haviland, Director; Edward Peck, Assessor; 
Daniel Kitson, Moderator. The next year the same per- 
sons were re-elected. 

At a school-meeting on the 25th of September, 1848, a 
motion was carried to raise seventy-five dollars to build a 





%^«4i//LA'i?>''" 









'-' fe 



"jf^"' 






■if'^-M. 




ResiDENCE OF POGER HAV/LAND, Burns Shiawi\ssie,Co.Mich. 



BURNS TOWNSHIP. 



201 



log school-house, whidi was completed the next year. This 
one was used until 1870. The new one was then erected, 
and cost seven hundred and fifty dollars. Miss Marinda 
Bradley taught the first scliool in the log house. Miss 
Acintha Wellman was the first teacher in the frame build- 
ing. 

District No. 8 was organized about the year 1854, being 
formed from other districts. The first school-meeting was 
held in a cabin built some years previous for school pur- 
poses. S. S. Tower was chosen director, and John B. Bar- 
num assessor. The room was then repaired, and Athenia 
Morse engaged as teacher. Several terms of private school 
had already been taught in the district by Miss Eliza 
Tower. The next teacher was Miss Candace Burgess, during 
whose term the building took fire and was destroyed. An- 
other log house was built on the same site soon after. This 
was used until 1870, when it was removed and another 
erected in its stead, at a cost of eight hundred dollars. 

The following tables may be of interest as showing the 
apportionment of the primary-school fund for the years 
1860 and 1879 : 

I860. 

Districte. Ntilnlior uf Scliuhli-s. Amount. 

No. 1 21 J10.5S 

" 2 51 25.73 

" 3 i)7 48.95 

" 5 05 32.79 

'• 6 2(1 10.08 

' 7 11 2fl.6S 

8 27 13.61 

' 10 20 10.08 

1879. 
Districts. Niiinln'r of Scholare. Amount. 

No. 1 40 $26.72 

'< 2 61 40.76 

" 3 147 98.22 

" 5 39 26.06 

" 7 44 29.40 

" 8 47 31.40 

" 10 27 18.10 

The following table shows the total amount of money 
expended in each school district in the township for the 
year 1879: 

Districts. Amount. 

No. I (fractional) $262.36 

" 1 159.56 

" 2 127.48 

" 3 802.74 

" 4 100.17 

" 5 216.58 

" 7 134.73 

" 8 53.96 

" 10 163.14 

EAKLY ROADS. 

May 18, 1837, the minutes of the road from Genesee 
County entering Burns just south of the East Branch of the 
Shiawassee River were entered on the records of the town- 
ship. It was located a few days previous, as was also the 
river road, leading northwest from Byron, which was really 
a continuation of the survey which established the former 
road. In the same month the road leading north from 
Livingston County, passing the residence of Thomas P. 
Green, on section 32, to the northwest corner of the town- 
ship, was established. On the !Jth of August the east-aud- 
west road, passing the Moss Hotel and the Chaffee school- 
house, was established. Then the one paiising the school- 
house in district No. 8 and the residence of Isaac S. Bar- 
26 



num was located. These roads were laid out by Thomas 
P. Green, Wallace Goodin, and Rufus C. Rathburn, com- 
missioners of highways. In 1840 the State road from 
Byron to Owosso was established. 

CIVIL HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP. 

Burns was set off from the territory of the old township 
of Shiawassee, and was erected a separate civil township 
with its present name and limits by act of the Legislature 
of Michigan, approved March 11, 1837, which also directed 
the first meeting of the electors of the newly-formed town- 
ship to be held at the house of Francis J. Prevo.st. Under 
this provision of the act the first meeting was held at the 
office of the Byron Company (which was in the house of 
Maj. Prevo.-it), on the 3d of April, 1837, on which occasion 
there were present the following-named electors : Ezra D. 
Barnes, Thomas P. Green, Amos Foster, Peter Kanouse, 
Rufus C. Rathburn, Francis J. Prevost, Robert Crawford, 
John Burgess, Wallace Goodin, Alonzo Woods. 

All the voters who attended this meeting received one or 
more offices. Francis J. Prevost was elected to four, Thomas 
P. Green and Ezra D. Barnes each to three, while several 
received two offices each. 

In 1838 it was resolved to pay W. Jackson fifty dollars 
for building a bridge across the Shiawassee River. This 
was the first bridge constructed by the township, and 
crossed the river on the Reservation, near the cabin of 
John Knaggs. It was very unstable, and lasted but a few 
years. 

April 3, 1843, the town.ship voted to raise one hundred 
dollars to bridge the river at Byron. This bridge was on 
the road leading west from the village, and stood near the 
place where the present one stands, below the Byron Hotel. 
It also was a very frail structure. The upper iron bridge 
was built at a cost of eleven hundred dollars. The wood 
bridge now spanning the river in the west part of the vil- 
lage is to be replaced immediately by an iron one, to cost 
sixteen hundred dollars. 

The following table shows the total amount of tax levied 
for various purposes for the years 18C0, 1870, and 1879, 
not including school tax : 

1860. 

State ta.x $212.22 

County tax 1168.18 

Township ta,\ 690.00 

Highway tax 72.28 

Total ta,\ levied for all purposes 2826.87 

1870. 

State tax .?1395.14 

County tax 1461. {10 

Rejected tax 36.46 

Ditch tax 49.79 

Township tax 500.00 

By highway c<)niniisaioner 5)K).O0 

Delinquent highway tax 02.19 

Total lor all purposes 6535.39 

1879. 

State tax $1298.71 

County tax 1271.02 

Contingent tax 300.00 

Highway tax 200.00 

Uridge tax 500.00 

Total tax levied for all purposes 6095.92 

The following is a list of township officers from its 
orjrauization to 1880 inclusive; 



202 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1837. Ezra D. Barnes. 

1838. Francis J. Prevost. 

1839. E. D. Barnes. 

1840. Francis J. Provost. 

1841. Ezra D. Barnes. 
1842-44. John K. Tyler. 
1845. S. R. Kelsey. 
1846-48. Nicholas Giiliok. 
1849. Bowman W. Dennis. 
1850-51. S. R. Kelsey. 
1852-53. Roger Haviland. 
1854-58. Sullivan R. Kelsey 
1859. Jabcz Close. 



SUPERVISORS. 

1860. S. R. Kelsey. 
1861-63. Jaboz Close. 
1864-65. Amos Foster. 
1866-67. Nelson S. Van Tuyl. 
1808. Charles L. Allen. 
1869-70. Roger Haviland. 

1871. A. Judson Cole. 

1872. Roger Haviland. 
1873-75 Theodore M. Euler. 
1876-77. Norman K. Potter. 

1878. Theodore M. Euler. 

1879. Ch.arles H. Lemon. 

1880. Norman K. Potter. 



TOWN 

1837. Francis J. Provost. 

1838. Amos C. Foster. 

1839. Pierpont L.Smith. 

1840. R. C. Crawford. 
1841-42. Henry Rowland. 
1843-44. II. White. 

1845. W. W. Kelsey. 

1846. llolden White. 
1847-48. Francis G. Lee. 

1 849. George C. Holmes. 

1850. H. L. Drake. 
1851-52. George B. Runyan. 
1853. William S.JosIin. 
1854-65. David G. Royce. 



CLERKS. 

1856. (J. B. Runyan. 
1857-58. (ieorgo C. Holmes. 

1859. David Dickson. 
1800. Hiram Webster. 
1801-65. Nicholas Guliok. 

1860. E. B. Welch. 

1807. Frank Karrer. 

1808. William F. Close. 

1869. Henry M. Billings. 

1870. Norman P. Leland. 

1871. E. A. Sheldon. 

1872. Nicholas Gulick. 
1873-80. Gilbert S. Lewis. 



1839-40. Ramah Cole. 
1841. Henry Wiltsie. 
1842-44. W. H. Chaffee. 

1845. H.White. 

1846. Heury Rowland. 

1847. Roger Haviland. 
1848-49. Joseph H. Wendell, 
1850-51. Roger Haviland. 

1852. Edward Peck. 

1853. Robert Fox. 



TREASURERS. 

1854. William Drake. 
1855-56. Edward Peck. 
1857-00. J. P. Gale. 
1861-66. Isaac S. Barnum. 
1867-70. A. Judson Cole. 
1871. Henry Croope. 
1872-77. John Kitson. 
1878-79. George H. Eddy. 
1880. H. L. Cook. 



1837-: 



1839. 
1840. 
1841. 
1842. 
1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 

1848. 
1849. 
1850. 

1851. 
1852. 

1853. 
1854, 
1855, 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 



JUSTICES 
38. Ezra D. Barnes. 
Francis J. Prevost. 
Thomas P. Green. 
Robert Crawford. 
John K. Tyler. 
Thomas P. Green. 
Ramah Cole. 
Francis J. Prevost. 
John K. Tyler. 
Nicholas Qulick. 
S. R. Kelsey. 
Edward Peek. 
Oliver E. Wolcott. 
John P. Dralcc. 
Nicholas Gulick. 
Sullivan R. Kelsey. 
Robert Crawford. 
John P. Drake. 
Harvey T. Lee. 
Nicholas Gulick. 
Oliver Wolcott. 
Jabez Close. 
Horace B. Southard. 
John Davis. 
Nicholas Qulick. 
Jabez Close. 
J. M. Gorham. 
Thomson H. Reovas. 



OF THE 


PEACE. 


1859. 


Manning Hathaway. 


1860. 


Nicholas Gulick. 




Edmund Kanouso. 


1861. 


William Chaffee. 


1802. 


Hiram Webster. 




Oliver E. Wolcott. 


1863. 


Thompson H. Reeves 


1804. 


Nicholas (iulick. 


1865. 


John P. Davis. 


1866. 


Heury S. Ridman. 


1867. 


James Sleeth. 


1868. 


Nelson S. Van Tuyl. 


1869. 


John P. Davis. 


1870. 


Nicholas Gulick. 


1871. 


James Sleeth. 




George A. Parker. 


1872. 


George A. Parker. 




S. R. Middleworth. 


1873. 


Henry S. Redmond. 


1874- 


-75. Nicholas Gulick. 


1875. 


0. E. Wolcott. 


1876. 


Warren Clough. 


1877. 


Frank Karrer. 




Charles Drum. 


1878. 


Oliver E. AVolcott. 


1879. 


Luther Pratt. 


1S80. 


Ale.vander Orr. 



COMMISSIONERS OF HIGHWAYS. 



1837. 

1838. 

1839. 

1840. 
1841. 

1842. 

IS43. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

1848. 

1837. 
1838. 
1839. 
1840. 

1841. 
1842. 

1843. 

1844. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
1851. 



Thomas P. Green. 
Wallace Goodwin. 
Rufus C. Rathburn. 
Ramah Cole. 
Aaron AVellman. 
John Barnum. 
Robert Crawford. 
John K. Tyler. 
Peter Kanousc. 
Seymour Goodalc. 
John K. Tyler. 
John K. Tyler. 
Ezra D. Barnes. 
Roger Haviland. 
Edward Peck. 
Ezra P. Barnes. 
David Sherwood. 
John Burgess, 
C. D. Fox. 
Edward Peek. 
Robert Crawford. 
John G. Drake. 
William C. Richards. 
John P. Drake. 
Roger Haviland. 
Edward Peck. 
William H. Chaffee. 
Edward Foster. 
Benjamin Welch. 
Allen Davis. 
William H. Chaffee. 
Benjamin Welch. 
Roger Haviland. 

SCHOOL 
Ezra D. Barnes. 
Francis J. Prevost. 
Wallace Goodwin. 
Gideon Drake. 
0. E. Wolcott. 
Robert Crawford. 
Francis J. Prevost. 
G. A. Brown. 
Allen Davis. 
G. A. Brown. 
Ezra D. Barnes. 
Francis J. Prevost. 
Abner Soars. 
John G. Tyler. 
Abner C. Botsford. 
William H. Chaffee. 
Thomas P. Green, 
Francis J. Prevost. 
Abner Sears. 
William H. Chaffee. 
Nicholas Gulick. 
Abner Sears. 
Nicholas Gulick. 
Abner Sears. 
Nathaniel Turner. 
William H. Chaffee. 
William II. Eddy. 
Oliver E. Wolcott. 



1848. 
1849- 
1851. 
1852. 
1853. 
1854. 
1855. 

1850. 



1857. 
1858. 
1859. 
1860. 
1801. 
1862. 
1863. 
1804. 
1866. 
1866. 
1807. 
1868. 
1869. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 
1873. 
1874 
1875, 
1876- 
1878. 
1880 



William H. Chaffee. 
50. Edward Peck. 
Truman W. Rowley. 
Benjamin Welch. 
Thomas Culbert. 
Manning Hathaway. 
Benjamin Welch. 
Edward Foster. 
Jacob V. Brown. 
John P. Drake. 
Roger Haviland. 
J. J. Gaylord. 

Edward Ernich. 
Jonathan P. Gale. 

John G. Gaylord. 

Benjamin Hulitt. 

Isaac S. Barnum. 

John E. Marteni.-i. 

Truman W. Rowly. 

Henry S. Redman. 

D. Euler. 

Ira Merlin. 

Henry Croope. 

S. K. Swick. 

Richard Wellman. 

George S. Devore. 

N. K. Potter. 

George G. Foster. 
. George S. Devore. 
. N. K. Potter. 

77. George Eddy. 
-79. Orlando Lee. 
. Perry Hadsall. 



INSPECTORS. 

1852. Andrew Huggins. 

1853. Edward A. Sheldon. 

1854. Jabez Close. 

1855. Oscar P. Green. 
1850. 0. E. Wolcott. 

1857. James Sleeth. 

1858. Judson Cole. 

1859. William R. Sellon. 

1800. William H. Chaffee. 

1801. Andrew Huggins. 

1802. William H. Chaffee. 

1803. Amos Foster. 

1804. William H. Chaffee. 
1806. Charles E. Jacobs. 

1860. William F. Close. 

1867. J. L. Cook. 

1868. William Merlin. 

1869. Edwin A. Sheldon. 

1870. William H. Chaffee. 

1871. Charles Lancton. 

1872. E. S. Burnett. 

1873. Seward Chaffee. 

1874. E. S. Burnett. 
1875-76. Seward Chaffee. 

1877. A. D. Thompson. 

1878. Elmer F. Joslin. 

1879. George Foster. 

1880. L. W. Barnes. 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS. 
1875-76. E. M. Plunket. 1878. Edward M. Plunket. 

1877. William C. Randall. 



1879-80. William C. Randall. 



1837. Thomas P. Grccu. 
Robert Crawford. 
Amos Foster. 



ASSESSORS. 

1838. Robert Crawford. 
John Burgess. 
Thomas P. Green. 



BURNS TOWNSHIP. 



203 



1839. Thomag P. Grceo. 
Robert Crawford. 
John Burgess. 

1840. Robert Crawford. 
Martin Loveland. 
Abner C. liolsford. 

1811. Rufus Rathburn. 
Thomas P. Green. 
Edward Peck. 



1842. Roger Ilaviland. 

Ezra I). Barnca. 
1845. John Burgess. 

Sauford Siuith. 

1848. Roger Ilaviland. 
William II. Chaffee. 

1849. David Sherwood. 
Edward Kanou^e. 



CONSTABLES. 



IS.'iT. John Burgess. 1855. 

Edmund Foster. 
Alonzo Wood. 

1838. T. Nichols. 
John Burgess. 1856. 
Nelson Coston. 

1839. T. Nichols. 
John 0. Tyler. 
John Burgess. 1857. 

1840. John Burgess. 
Nelson Coston. 
Tilly Nichols. 1858. 

1841. Tilly Nichols. 
John G. Tyler. 
John Burgess. 

1842. William R. Knapp. 1859. 
John G. Tyler. 
John W. Williams. 

1843. Timothy Tyler. 
Robert Fox. 1860. 
Jarvis White. 
Nelson Coston. 

1844. Timothy Tyler. 
Robert Fox. 1861. 

0. L. Reading. 

1845. D. L. Reading. 
Robert Fox. 

Wm. L. M. Butler. 1862. 

Benjamin Welch. 

1846. F. G. Lee. 
N. P. Merrill. 

1. C. Gillctt. 1863. 
I. A.Guthrie. 

1847. Chauncey Barber. 
James Botsford. 

A. P. Barnum. 1864. 

T. Tyler. 

1848. Jarvis White. 
Nathan P. Merrill. 
Robert Fox. 1865. 
Abijab P. Barnum. 

1849. James L. Middlesworth. 
James M. Blake. 

Robert Fox. 1866. 

N. P. Merrill. 

1850. Robert Fox. 
Truman W. Rowley. 
Henry H. Bradley. 1867. 
Edward Foster. 

1851. Robert Fox. 
Jonathan P. Gale. 
Isaac Crawford. 1868. 

1852. Robert Fox. 
U. B. Trcadwell. 
Samuel Ilunt. 
Isaac Crawford. 1869 

1853. Robert Fox. 
G. B. Whitney. 
Leslie Alden. 
Henry A. Bradley. 1870 

1854. Lester Alden. 
Myron A. Carpenter. 
W. Q. Merrill. 
Thomas Trumbull. 1871 



Charles AVest. 

A. F. Westcott. 
Oliver Wolcott. 
Olin S. Spring. 
Nathaniel Murdick. 

B. H. C. Howe. 
Robert Fox. 
Leslie Alden. 
Frank Karrer. 
D. C. Burdick. 
Alonzo Denton. 
Frank Karrer. 
George Van Tuyl. 
Oliver C. Woleott. 
Robert Fox. 
Frank Karrer. 
0. C. Wolcott. 
Martin L. Davis. 
James T. Ketchledge. 
James T. Ketchledge. 
Robert Fox. 
S. Swick. 
M. L. Davis. 
A. J. Rowley. 
J. Park hurst. 
M. Cooly. 
A. H. Clark. 
A. J. Williams. 
Leslie Alden. 
Myron Corn. 

A. J. Rowley, 
George Foster. 
George Rogers. 
Lester Alden. 
Myron A. Carjjenter. 
John L. Wilkins. 
Robert Fox. 
Myron A. Carpenter. 
Frank Karrer. 
William A. Vansickles. 
Reuben H. Wilteie. 

B. J. Green. 
Truman Van Tuyl. 
B. F. Green. 
F. M. Van Tuyl. 
Reuben II. Wiltsie. 
John Kitson. 
Reuben Wiltsie. 
Frank Van Tuyl. 
Adam S. Bettcrly. 
John Badger. 
E. N. Fisher. 
Melviu Haughtin. 
Francis Van Tuyl. 
Albert Martin. 

. Nathaniel T. Murdick. 

Edward Burtingamo. 

William J. Tower. 

William R. Vansickles. 
. Daniel Lewis. 

Benjamin F. Green. 

Rufus Rood. 

George C. Wolcott. 
. Oliver Campbell. 



1871. Albert M. Drumm. 
Charles Swan. 
Martin Comstock. 

1872. A. S. Betterly. 
Rufus Rood. 

W. P. Parsons. 
0. Campbell. 

1873. John A. Olmstead. 
H. N. Lewis. 
Lester Newman. 
A. S. Betterly. 

1874. S. Steele. 

A. S. Betterly. 
Charles H. Smith. 
Lester Newman. 

1875. William Boice. 
William Nelson. 
A. S. Betterly. 
Lorenzo Barnes. 

1876. WiUiam Boice. 



1876. Albert Rowley. 
Frank Karrer. 
Mathew Walworth. 

1877. Charles W. Parker. 
A. S. Betterly. 

A. W. Campbell. 
Alexander Orr. 

1878. Milton Coykendall. 
David M. Tilman. 
Walter Wadley. 
Anson Redson. 

1879. Milton Coykendall. 
John D. Williams, Jr. 
Walter Wadley. 
Talcott Tyler. 

1880. David M. Tillman. 
Walter S. Pratt. 
A. S. Betterly. 
Alfred Blgelow. 



BYRON VILLAGE. 

The corporation of the village of Byron comprises the 
adjacent quarters of sections 13, 14, 23, and 24. This 
territory was located by Judge Samuel W. Dexter, July 
13, 1824. The patent conveying the same to him is dated 
October 20th of the same year. Judge Dexter came from 
Massachusett-s and settled in Washtenaw Co., Mich., at a 
very early day, the township of Dexter in that county 
being named in liis honor. 

On the 21st of June, 1836, Judge Dexter sold the lands 
above referred to to his brotiierin-law, Maj. F. J. Prevost, 
C. Smith, P. L. Smith, and S. S. Derby, who formed an 
association usually known as the Byron Company. On 
the 28th of August of the same year Wallace Goodin be- 
came one of the firm by purchasing a one-fifth interest in 
the undivided lands of the company. The village of Byron 
was immediately platted and recorded April 28, 1837. 
The moving spirit of the enterprise was Maj. F. J. Pre- 
vost. He came from New York to Washtenaw Co., Mich., 
where he married the daughter of Judge Boyden, a pio- 
neer of that county, after whom the locality known as 
Boyden's Plains was named. Maj. Prevost lived in Wash- 
tenaw County a few years and then came to Byron, bring- 
ing his wife and three children, in the summer of 1836. 
He employed men to build a log house on the company's 
land, now owned by George Buel. HLs family lived here 
until the fall of 1837, when they moved into the house 
now occupied by William Russ. This house was erected on 
the site where Jabez Close's residence stands, from which 
place it was removed. 

Major Prevost and his wife lived in Byron until April, 
1850, when, accompanied by Augustus, their eldest son, 
they went to California, where Maj. Prevost died. His 
eldest daughter married Capt. David Royce, who was killed 
in the battle of Falling Waters, Va. She afterwards mar- 
ried Mr. Fairbanks, and now lives in Nebraska. In the 
cemetery near the bank of the river stands a small monu- 
ment raised in memory of Theodore H., the son of F. J. 
and M. A. Prevost, who died March 17, 1837. It records 
the first death in the village of Byron. The name of a 
sister, who died many years after, is also engraven upon it. 

C. Smith, another member of the Byron Company, came 
to the new village, but after remaining a short lime re- 



204 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



turned to W<ashtenaw County. P. L. Smith brought his 
family to Byron, and after remaining a few months re- 
turned to liis home in Living.ston County. Of S. S. Derby 
but little is known. His visits were infrequent and of 
short duration. He would, as it were, look in on the little 
village struggling for existence, and with a shake of the 
head would soon depart. 

Wallace Goodin came to Byron in the summer of 1836, 
and, next to Maj. Prevost, was the life of the enterprise. 
He was married to Miss Augeline Smiley about the year 
1845. Her people came from Pennsylvania and settled in 
the vicinity of Newburg. Mr. Goodin lived in Byron 
until 1847, when he disposed of his property and went to 
Massachusetts, where he died. 

As soon as fairly organized the Byron Company began 
to build a dam across the East Branch of the Shiawassee 
River, the village being located at the union of these 
streams. This dam broke away many times, causing the 
necessary outlay of considerable money. It was first com- 
pleted late in the fall of 1836. The company also built a 
log house intended for a boarding-house for their employees. 
It was the first building in the village, and was completed the 
latter part of September, 1836. It stood on the hill above 
the gristmill, and near the site of the present residence of 
E. A. Sheldon. It was occupied by M. Mosier and wife, 
who had been engaged to board the company's men. When 
the saw-mill was completed, Mr. Mosier took charge of it. 
But he soon became dissatisfied, and moved with his fam- 
ily to St. Joseph County. When Mr. Mosier left, the 
building was occupied by Seth Saddler, to whom the com- 
pany gave it, on condition that when he went away " he 
should leave a landlord." It was afterwards occupied by a 
Mr. McLain and then by a Mr. Haddin, neither of whom 
remained long in Byron. In January, 1837, Joseph Lay- 
ton, a blacksmith, came to the village. Maj. Prevost had 
previously visited him at his home in Washtenaw County, 
and persuaded him to come and look the situation over. 
The company offered to give him two lots in a good loca- 
tion and lumber for a shop, as an inducement to him to 
locate with them. Mr. Lay ton accepted the proposition, 
and in the month of May following brought his wife and 
five children to Byron. He built the first framed building 
in the village. It stood on the side of the hill, directly 
north of the dwelling now known as the mill-house. Many 
years afterwards it was moved to the top of the hill, where 
it still stands, occupied by Dr. F. E. Sleeth. Mr. Layton 
also built the first blacksmith-shop in the village. It stood 
at the foot of the hill, on the east side of the road, where 
the mill-house now stands. When Mr. Haddin wished to 
leave Byron, Mr. Layton bought the log hotel from him, 
and occupied it, but also continued to run the blacksmith- 
shop, until his death, which occurred in July of 1840. 
Mrs. Layton was subsequently married to a Mr. Woods, 
and she is still living in a house which occupies the site of 
an Indian camp near the upj)er iron bridge across the 
Shiawassee River. Of the five children but two are living, 
one near Omaha, Neb., and the other in Huron Co., Mich. 
We have thus mentioned the founders and the first set- 
tlers of Byron in a cursory glance. From this time its 
history will be arranged under proper headings. The vil- 



lage did not grow as rapidly as its founders had expected. 
When Judge Dexter entered the land in 1824 it was be- 
lieved that a county-seat must be located somewhere in this 
vicinity, but the erection of new counties from the territory 
of Shiawassee ruined the prospects of the projected village. 
To use the expression of an old settler, Byron " was t" one 
side," and its excellent water-power and the splendid farm- 
ing country surrounding it could not overbalance this dis- 
advantage. After three years of hard work and much ap- 
parently useless effort, the Byron Company was poorer in 
money and less courageous in spirit than when — at its com- 
mencement with the plat of Byron — it saw in imagination 
a prosperous and thriving village. In 1840 Byron con- 
tained but five families. The first step that tended to 
make life more tolerable was the establishment of a post- 
oifice, with a weekly mail. A letter from New York cost 
twenty-five cents. Maj. Prevost was the first postmaster, 
and opened the oflBce in a little frame building which stood 
on the east side of Main or Saginaw Street, nearly on the 
site of Owen's Knapp's cabinet-shop. Prior to 1840 tlie 
mail was brought from Holly, but not at regular intervals. 
From the establishment of the oflice, in the early spring of 
that year, until about the 1st of June the mail was carried 
on horseback. At this time a stage-line was established 
from Pontiac to Ionia, by which the mail was brought to 
Byron. The stage-line was not, however, a success finan- 
cially, and was soon taken from the road. The mail was 
then carried as before. In 1845 another stage line was es- 
tablished over the same route, which proved a success, and 
which continued to run until the completion of the railroad 
to the east. Maj. Prevost was succeeded as postmaster 
by Holden White, who came to Byron in 1842. Mr. White 
opened the first general store in the village soon afterwards. 
The following are the names of the postmasters of Byron, 
in the order of their appointment, as near as can be ascer- 
tained : Francis J. Prevost, Holden White, George C. 
Holmes, Nicholas Gulick, G. G. Royce, C. Lemon, F. E. 
Sleeth. 

Dr. Abner Sears was the first physician who located in 
Byron. He came to the village in 1838 or 1839, and 
died in a few years. Dr. Henry Rowland came in 1841. 
He was subsequently married to a daughter of Robert 
Crawford, and practiced his profession until his death, 
which occurred about the year 1850. Drs. Guthrie, Web- 
ster, Sleeth, Austin, Fox, Colwell, Stevens, Knapp, and 
Seymour are among the physicians practicing in Byron in 
subsequent years. 

Several attorneys have resided in Byron from time to 
time, the first of whom was probably Corydon Lee. The 
profession is now represented by James Sleeth. 

Mills. — In 1842 a partnership was entered into in Byron 
by Bowman W. Dennis and Sullivan R. Kelsey, under 
the firm-name of Dennis & Kelsey. These gentlemen 
were a most valuable addition to the business element 
of the village, and their energy began at once to infuse 
new life into the little settlement. They purchased the 
mill-privileges of the Byron Company, and immediately 
began operations. The saw-mill was moved from the east 



s 

i 






Co 

I 

I 

<*) 



§ 




BURNS TOWNSHIP. 



205 



end of the dam to the place where the one now stands, and 
was repaired and improved. The road, wliich before had 
run along the top of the dam, much to the terror of trav- 
elers, was now changed to near the line of the present one, 
and some time afterwards necessary bridges were con- 
structed. The firm also opened a store, the second one in 
the village of Byron. But the crowning achievement was 
the completion of the flouring-mill, the first and only one 
built in Byron. It was completed in 1843. The firm 
continued to do business until about the year 1858. The 
interest of Mr. Dennis was then purchased by Owen Good- 
speed. The Hon. S. R. Kelsey is now living in Corunna, 
and is filling the ofiice of Judge of Probate. The saw- 
mill referred to above took fire and was destroyed. The 
one now standing was built by Royce & Lemon. 

A building was erected by F. J. Prevost at the waste- 
gate south of the flouring-mill for a carding-mill. It was 
also burned, and another was built in the same place, which 
was, however, discontinued in a few years, and converted 
into a plaster-mill, which was not a success, and was soon 
left to go to decay. 

In 1856, Solon Stone built a dam across the Shiawassee 
River, in the northwest part of Burns town.ship, and soon 
after completed a saw-mill. He sold it to I. A. Roberts, 
who some years after tore it down and built a new one. 
Mr. Roberts in 1874 built the large flouriiig-mills at the 
same place. A village has been platted here by Mr. J. J. 
Gaylord, but it has not yet been recorded. 

Hotels. — The first public-house in Byron was the log 
building intended as a boarding-house for the mill-hands. 
When Mr. Saddler took possession of this cabin he hung 
out the sign " Cottage Inn," which continued to attract at- 
tention until 1847, when it was taken down by Mrs. Lay- 
ton, who had kept the hotel from the death of her husband 
to that time. 

About the year 1841, Wallace Goodin built a small 
frame building, which he named the " Byron Hotel," — a 
name which has descended to the hotel now standing on the 
same site. Mr. Goodin sold it to Freeborn Joslin, and it 
was subsequently purchased and enlarged by Harvey Lee. 
At two o'clock in the morning of the 19th of June, 1848, 
it was discovered to be on fire, and it was totally destroyed. 
Two young men, named J. D. Williams and E. L. Buck- 
ingham, narrowly escaped death by jumping from an upper 
window. It was the largest hotel at that time in the county. 
Mr. Lee built another on the same site, which has since 
been improved. The Eagle Hotel was built in 1860, by 
F. W. Downer. 

Early Stores. — As has been stated, Holden White started 
the first store in the village of Byron in 1842. The build- 
ing stood on the site of the house now occupied by Dr. 
Knapp. In 1845, Mr. White built the large house oppo- 
site the Byron Hotel now owned by Mrs. Wilson, and 
opened a large stock of goods. He only continued in busi- 
ness, however, in Byron until 1846, when he again went 
East and remained there. Nicholas Gulick came to Byron 
in 1843, and was employed by Holden White as clerk in 
his store. Mr. Gulick subsequently bought a small stock 
of goods from George C. Holmes, who started a store in 
Byron in 1845. Mr. Gulick is still in the business, and is 



now the only one left of those who had settled in the village 
up to 1843. 

The business interests of Byron are at present represented 
by a number of fine general .stores, two firms dealing in 
agricultural implements, several wagon- and blacksmith- 
shops, two hotels, and the usual accompaniment of smaller 
business places. 

Schools of Byron. — The first school in Byron was taught 
by a young lady in a little log cabin that stood near the 
place where the Odd-Fellows' Hall now stands. This young 
teacher (whose name has not been ascertained) subsequently 
married a Mr. McCollum and moved to Fentonville. 

The nest school was taught in the house now occupied 
by Dr. F. E. Sleeth, before referred to. The first regular 
school-meeting called in the village was held at the Byron 
Hotel on the 6th day of December, 1843. There had, 
however, been a number of terms of school taught in the 
village besides tho.se mentioned above, previous to this time. 
At this meeting Freeborn Joslin, was chosen moderator, 
Joseph H. Wendell director, and Holden White assessor. 
Dr. Abner Sears acted as chairman. It was resolved to 
have three months' school in .the winter, and four months' 
school in the summer. William Chaffee was employed to 
teach the school, which was soon after commenced. By 
resolution of the school board, each scholar was required to 
furnish a one-half cord of wood. 

The first school-bouse was erected in Byron in 1845, 
and cost two hundred dollars. It stood on lots 5 and 6, 
block 3. The union-school building was built in 1865, 
and cost three thousand five hundred dollars. The primary- 
school building cost about eight hundred dollars. 

The report for the year 1879 shows the number of 
scholars of school age in the district to have been one hun- 
dred and forty-seven, and the total amount of money ex- 
pended eight hundred and two dollars and seventy-four cents. 
Village Incorporation. — The village of Byron was in- 
corporated April 1, 1873. The first election was held on 
the 8th of the same month in Welch & Leland's hall. The 
following are the names of the oflBcers of the village from 
its organization to 1880: 

1873. — President, Charles H. Lemon; Recorder, James 
Sleeth; Assessor, Jabez Close; Marshal, D. M. 
Tallman ; Trustees, Chauncey Wells, Wellman 
F. Close, Orlando Lee, A. B. Welch, Adam 
Betterly, Isaac Barnum. 
1874. — President, Charles Lemon ; Recorder, Charles M. 
Fuller ; Assessor, Jabez Close ; Treasurer, Owen 
Knapp ; Trustees, E. B. Welch, Jacob Boice, 
Perry Hadsall, H. D. Cook, F. E. Welch, E. B. 
Newman. 
1875. — President, George GofF; Recorder, F. Karrer ; 
Treasurer, O. Knapp ; Assessor, 0. H. Lemon ; 
Marshal, J. A. Olmstead ; Trustees, F. W. 
Downer, E. B. Newman, Perry Hadsall, F. M. 
Van Tuyl, William Caldwell, Jacob Boice. 
1876. — President, George Goff; Recorder, Frank Karrer; 
Assessor, Charles H. Lemon ; Treasurer, 0. S. 
Fuller; Marshal, William Boice; Trustees, Perry 
Hadsall, Mark Boice, H. S. Cook, William Cald- 
well, E. B. Welch, James Anderson. 



206 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1877. — President, Perry Hadsall; Recorder, Frank Karrer; 
Marshal, Albert W. Campbell; Assessor, Jabez 
Close ; Treasurer, Edward S. Fuller ; Trustees, 
Byron S. Knapp, Joseph M. Royce, Orlando 
Lee, Hiram Webster, Byron Rosseter, Oliver 
Campbell. 

1878.— President, H. L. Cook ; Recorder, F. E. Welch ; 
Treasurer, 0. S. Fuller ; Assessor, Jabez Close ; 
Marshal, E. H. Fisher ; Trustees, E. B. Welch, 
Orlando Lee, A. S. Betterly, E. B. Newman, 
John E. Martinis, Mark Boice. 

1879.— President, H. L. Cook ; Recorder, F. E. Welch ; 
Assessor, Jabez Close; Treasurer, C. M. Fuller; 
Marshal, William Butcher ; Trustees, Orlando 
Lee, John Martinis, Mark Boice, B. B. New- 
man, E. B. Welch, G. S. Lewis. 

1880. — President, Orlando Lee; Recorder, W. H. Bige- 
low ; Treasurer, E. A. Sheldon ; Assessor, F. E. 
Welch; Marshal, F. G. Lyude ; Trustees, P. 
Gale, John E. Martinis, Jacob Boice, Gilbert 
Lewis, Joseph M. Royce, H- L. Cook. 

chukcii'history. 

The first regularly organized society in Byron was that 
of the Christian Church. Occasionally, during the years 
1838-39, several families living in Burns and Argentine 
held religious meetings, usually led by William Cunimings, 
an authorized exhorter. These families had been connected 
with this church in the East before coming to Michigan. 

In 1840, Rev. John Cannon, a resident of Romeo, Mich., 
came to Byron and began a series of meetings, which was 
attended with considerable success, and which resulted in 
the organization mentioned above. These meetings were 
conducted in an unoccupied dwelling on the hill on the 
west side of Saginaw Street, and occasionally at the house 
of Maj. Prevost. Mr. Cannon was followed by Rev. Stephen 
Winans, who remained one year. The society built a 
church in 1842-43, but there is a diversity of opinion as 
to who was the minister in charge at that time. The 
growth of the society was gradual until one of its members 
joined a secret order in 1849, and the society having pre- 
viously voted to ordain him as a minister then refused, and 
in consequence of this several prominent members withdrew. 
The society gradually declined until 1855-56, when meet- 
ings were entirely discontinued, and since that time the 
society of the Methodist Episcopal Church has occupied 
the building erected by the Society of Christians. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Although this society wa.« not the first regularly organ- 
ized in the town of Burns, it is probable that religious meet- 
ings were held by its ministers at a very early day. The 
church record, from which are taken many of the following 
facts, does not give the names of the first class, nor does it 
give the date of its organization. 

In 1836 the Rev. Washington Jackson made a circuit 
of the new settlements in this vicinity, preaching wherever 
and whenever an opportunity presented itself He organ- 
ized the Shiawassee mission, embraced in the Flint River 
district, with the Rev. A. P. Shaw as presiding elder. 



The Shiawassee mission at that time embraced an area of 
country extending from Fentonville on the east to the 
Rochester Colony on the west, and thence south to the 
boundary of the Ann Arbor district, making a circuit of 
more than one hundred miles to be traveled once in four 
weeks. The Rev. Isaac Bennett succeeded Rev. Washing- 
ton Jackson in 1837-38. He organized the class in Gaines. 
The Rev. Abram Billings was appointed presiding elder, 
and Flaviel Britton to the charge of the mission. The 
latter was reappointed in 1840, with S. P. Springham to 
assist him. The following are the names of the ministers 
who traveled the circuit from 1840 to 1850: Revs. John 
Cosart, Riley C. Crawford, W. F. Cowles, G. T. Heimway, 
J. Boynton, E. Westlake, A. Allen. 

In 1844 the mission embraced twenty-two appoiutmentsi 
and Rev. E. Westlake made the circuit alone. The Byron 
circuit proper was not formed till 1853. 

Since occupying their present place of worship the so- 
ciety has enlarged and repaired the building. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

The First Presbyterian Church of Byron was organized 
by the Rev. Seth Hardy, June 24, 1845, at which time the 
following-named persons presented testimonials of dismissal 
and recommendations from other churches, and desired to 
be organized into a church : Joseph H. Wendell, Phuebe W. 
Wendell, Eliza Wendell, Naney Hathaway, Peter Kanouse, 
G. B. Runyon and wife, Samuel Lovejoy, Mary B. Lovejoy, 
Emily Kelsey, Sarah C. Kanouse, Joseph Royce, Sally Royce. 

After adopting the name for the society, Joseph Royce 
and Joseph Wendell were elected elders. The first motion 
made after completing the organization was to the efi"ect 
that the members should neither use nor traffic in intoxi- 
cating liijuors, which was unanimously carried. In the 
afternoon Arthur B. Hathaway was baptized, after which 
the Rev. Seth Hardy administered the sacrament. 

The meetings of the society were usually held in the old 
school-house until the church edifice was built, in 1858, at 
a cost of two thousand dollars. It was dedicated in 1859, 
Rev. Chaunccy Osborn officiating. 

The society is now free from debt and numbers thirty- 
eight members. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 
In the winter of 1838-39, Elder Brigham, who had 
preached occasionally in the previous year in the township, 
organized the First Baptist Church of Burns. The following, 
so far as ascertained, composed the society : Deacon Sanford 
and wife, Deacon Ramah Cole and wife, John Barnum and 
wife, Michael Thatcher and wife, Mrs. Samuel Leonard, 
Mrs. Aaron Wellman, Mrs. Beard, and Mrs. Botsford, 
whose husband joined soon afterwards. In the spring of 
1839 a protracted meeting was held, which resulted in the 
conversion of nine persons, all of whom joined the church. 
These meetings were held in a log cabin built by Edward 
Foster, which stood on the south part of section 22. Al- 
though receiving much encouragement at the start, the so- 
ciety lost its influence and declined, and was finally disorgan- 
ized. It was again revived and reorganized by Elder Peck 
and some of the substantial members of the former associa- 
tion. The meetings were held in the school-house which 



i^^^^f^,.':^ 





Resioenceof AMOS FOSTER. Burns Tp. Shiawassee. Co. Mich. 



BURNS TOWNSHIP. 



207 



stood ou the southeast corner of section 20, across the road 
from the residence of G. Morse. In about ten years from 
the time of its reorganization it was again broken up. 

BAPTIST CHURCH OF BYRON. 

On the 6th of October, 18CG, the friends of the Baptist 
Church met, agreeably to notice, at tlie " Green School- 
House," as follows : Jacob Kanouse, Henry Wiltsie, Thomas 
F. Shelton, Daniel Wiltsie, Mabel Kanouse, Lorilla Kanouse, 
Eliza Shelton, Elder William White, T. H. Shelton. The 
result of the meeting was the organization of " A religious 
association to be known as the Baptist Conference of Burns 
and Cohoctah." The association formed at this meeting 
was the germ of the society now in active operation in 
Burns and the village of Byron. 

On Aug. 31, 1872, at the covenant-meeting of the 
society, it was resolved " to build a place of worship the 
coming fall." Committees to select a .site and solicit sub- 
scriptions were then appointed. J. Kanouse, Isaac S. Bar- 
num, and J. D. Williams, Jr., were appointed on the latter, 
and J. Kanouse, A. J. Cole, J. Close, Noah Joslin, H. L. 
Cook on the former. The edifice was completed at a cost 
of three thousand dollars, and was dedicated Nov. 30, 1873. 
The church now numbers ninety members. 

SOCIETIES AND ORDERS. 
BYRON LODGE, No. 43, I. 0. 0. F. 

A dispensation was granted by the Most Worthy Grand 
Master Benjamin Follett, on the 2d day of July, 1849, to 
B. W. Dennis, F. J. Prevost, George C. Holmes, Isaac R. 
Middlesworth, C. C. Mills, W. W. Wixom, J. S. Curtis, 
James Botsford, William S. Joslin, and J. M. Van Alstine, 
and on the 9th day of August following District Deputy 
Grand Master Charles D. Little, assisted by the Worthy 
Grand Marshal George H. Hazelton, instituted " Byron 
Lodge, No. 43, I. 0. 0. F." The following were the first 
elective oflScers : Francis J. Prevost, Noble Grand ; Bow- 
man W. Dennis, Vice-Grand ; George H. Holmes, Secre- 
ary ; J. M. Van Alstine, Treasurer. Three candidates were 
initiated the same evening, making a membership of thir- 
teen. Byron Lodge, No. 43, has initiated since its organ- 
ization three hundred and ninety-three candidates. 

In 1865 articles of association were entered into by B. 
W. Dennis, C. H. Lemon. Owen Knapp, Frank Karrer, 
and H. L. Cook, who became incorporated as " Byron 
Lodge, No. 43, I. 0. 0. F.," according to an act of the 
Legislature approved March 15, 1865. 

The lodge now has a membership of eighty-one in good 
standing, who rank among the best citizens of Burns. It 
owns its building, which was erected at a cost of three 
thousand dollars. It is twenty-four by seventy feet. The 
first story is used as a store, and is the source of a good 
revenue to the lodge. The hall, which is in the second 
story, is twenty-four by forty feet, and has two commo- 
dious anterooms and an encampment-room attached. 

BYRON ENCAMPMENT, No. I.'i, I. 0. 0. P., 

was in.stituted at Byron, June 9, 1864, by Grand Patriarch 
Cummins, assisted by P. G. P. Charles Hunt. The fol- 
lowing named were the charter members, viz. : B. W. 



Dennis, C. H. Lemon, Frank Karrer, A. Crippin, Matthias 
Cummins, Henry Croop, and A. H. Clark. Of the charter 
members of Byron Lodge, No. 43, Isaac R. Middlesworth 
is the only one now remaining ; and of the Encampment, 
C. H. Lemon, Frank Karrer, and Matthias Cummins only 
remain. 

The above historical sketch of the Byron Lodge and 
Encampment was kindly furnished by F. E. Welch, Esq., 
for which courtesy he has the thanks of the writer. 

BYRON LODGE, No. 8(1, F. AND A. M. 
The charter granted by the Grand Lodge of the State 
of Michigan authorizing the organization of Byron Lodge, 
No. 80, P. and A. M., is dated Jan. 10, 1856. The 
lodge in Byron now has a membership of fifty-six. It has 
a commodious hall, comfortably furni.shed, and owns the 
building. The names of the oflScers are Theodore P>uler, 
W. M. ; Orlando Lee, S. W. ; Robert Fox, J. W. ; George 
Cosgro, Secretary. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



TRUMAN W. ROWLY. 

Truman W. Rowly was born in Connecticut, Aug. 12, 
1820. He was the youngest in a family of six children. 
His father, Isaac, and his mother, Content (Risley) Rowly, 




TRUMAN W. ROWLY. 

were also natives of Connecticut. His father being a sea- 
captain, Truman remained at home until tweuty-.six years 
old, devoting the most of his time and attention to the wel- 
fare of the family, and working in a saw-mill and at farm- 
ing, adding materially to their comfort. With his parents 
he came to Monroe Co., N. Y., and then to Washtenaw 
Co., Mich. 

Ou the Kith of February, 1847, he married JMI.ss Jane 



208 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Voorhis, daughter of James N. and Martha (Swartout) 
Voorhis, who came to Michigan iu 1830. They were for- 
merly residents of Seneca Co., N. Y., where their daughter 
Jane was born, Nov. 25, 1821. She was the third in a 
family of eight children. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Truman Rowly 
have been born seven children, viz. : A. J., born Nov. 23, 
1847 ; Mary, born March 5, 1850 ; James E., born Dec. 
6, 1852 ; Alva A., born May 6, 1855 ; Martha, born Nov. 
3, 1857, died the same day; William, born born July 10, 
1860 ; Frederick J., born Nov. 10, 1862. All live in Shi- 
awassee County with the exception of two. 

Truman Rowly came to Burns in 1847, and purchased 
the farm where the family now lives. Here he resided 
until his death, which occurred June 3, 1870. Mrs. 
Rowly, who has caused this brief sketch and a portrait of 
her husband to be inserted in this work as a tribute of re- 
spect to his memory, is still living with her son Albert in 
the old home. 



ROGER HAVILAND. 

Roger Haviland was born in Londonderry, Ireland, Dec. 
12, 1812. Bernard Haviland, his brother, was born in the 
same place, Feb. 2, 1808. Both, when of sufficient age, 
wore apprenticed to a shoemaker, and served seven years at 
that trade. In 1832, Bernard landed iu Philadelphia, Pa., 
and went to work at his trade. The year following Roger 
left the old home of his parents (for they, too, were born and 
brought up in the same town) and came to America, reach- 
ing Philadelphia Oct. 25, 1833, and the two brothers con- 
tinued diligently to attend to business until the next year, 
when they moved to Canada, where they remained two 
years. In April, 1836, Bernard came to Michigan and 
bought land in Washtenaw County, and in July Roger fol- 
lowed him to the new settlement. In the fall, having sold 
tlieir laud in Washtenaw County, they came to Burns, and 
located part of section 2. They then went back to Wash- 
tenaw County, Roger working at his trade until 1839, 
when he returned to Burns and built a log cabin on the site 
now occupied by his residence. He then broke and sowed 
five acres of wheat. On Feb. 10, 1837, he married Mi.ss 
Catherine Ferry, who was third in a fiimily of four chil- 
dren, and born in Wilton, Fairfield Co., Conn., April 21, 
1821. Her parents, both of whom were natives of Ireland, 
moved to Michigan in 1832, and settled in Scio, Washtenaw 
Co. Roger Haviland, with his wife, moved to Burns, Feb. 
9, 1840, and occupied the cabin already spoken of. Ber- 
nard came to the townsship soon after. The brothers worked 
together and accumulated a large property. Upon the death 
of Bernard, which occurred May 27, 1864, from consump- 
tion, Roger inherited his property. Bernard, though not 
a member of any religious denomination, died in perfect 
faith of a better life. His plain and unostentatious ways, 
his kindly disposition, coupled with sterling honesty, won 
the esteem and respect of all who knew him. No children 
have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Haviland, but five 
orphan children have borne their name by adoption and 
grown to maturity loving and honoring them. Mr. Roger 
Haviland has filled all the more important offices in the 



township, as is indicated by the records given in the history 
of this county. He has large business interests in Corunna, 
being president of the First National Bank of that place, 
and is also president of the Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
pany of Shiawassee County. We might add to this brief 
sketch many encomiums on the life and character of Mr. 
Haviland which would be heartily endorsed by his many 
acquaintances and friends, but we feel assured that his un- 
assuming nature and sterling common sense will be better 
pleased with this plain statement of facts. 



ROBERT FOX. 



The parents of Robert Fox, the subject of this sketch, 
were both natives of New York. His father, Chauncy D. 
Fox, was born June 14, 1793, and his mother, Rebecca 
(Lenox) Fox, Aug. 17, 1795. Robert, who was the second 
in a family of fourteen children, was born in Ontario Co., 
N. Y., Oct. 16, 1816. On the 4th of June, 1842, after 
a long and tedious journey, the fiimily reached Burns 
township, and the father bought a part of section 14. 
Aug. 1, 1858, Robert married Mary C. Webster, who 
died March 9, 1860. On the 25th of October, 1863, he 
married Miss Celia Rathbun, whose family were among the 
early settlers of Burns, and are spoken of in the history of 
that township. She was born in Shiawassee township, 
Shiawassee Co., Oct. 18, 1846. The children of Mr. and 
Mrs. Fox are three in number, viz. : Ida Belle, born Jan. 
1, 1865; Monroe, born July 12, 1867; Robert R., born 
April 13, 1870. Mr. Fox bought the land where he now 
lives in 1873, and having sold the place where he had re- 
sided, on section 26, moved to it in 1878. Though his ad- 
vantages for schooling were very limited, Mr. Fox, by the 
judicious selection of reading-matter, became much better 
informed than could have been expected, considering the 
many discouraging circumstances which surrounded him. 
In politics he is a Democrat, and has often been elected to 
the various township offices by his party. In religion he 
is liberal in his views, maintaining that each man has a 
right to his own candid conviction. Mr. Fox's mother 
died March 5, 1849; his father, July 29, 1871. 



ISAAC S. BARNUM. 

Isaac S. Barnum, the youngest in a fiimily of five chil- 
dren, — three sons and two daughters, — was born in Delaware 
Co., N. Y., Aug. 17, 1827. His fiither, John B. Barnum, 
was born in Dutchess Co., N. Y., March 28, 1798. His 
mother, Urana (Sutherland) Barnum, was also born in 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. They were married about the year 
1818, and lived in New York until 1836, when they came 
to Michigan, and settled in Burns township, Shiawassee 
Co. 

When twenty-one years of age Isaac, who up to this 
time had remained at home, began taking contracts to 
" break land" for new settlers in that vicinity. He followed 
this occupation for three years. His father in the mean 




ResiDBNCE OF fiOBEPT FOX, Burns. Shiawass££ Co Mich. 



BURNS TOWNSHIP. 



209 



time having helped him to forty acres of land, he purchased 
an additional forty acres adjoininn;. But he was not yet 
satisfied. In 1852 he hazarded his little store of hard- 
earned means, and started for California. The trip from 
New York City to San Francisco, via Cape Horn, extended 
over a period of one hundred and fifty-two days. The ves- 
sel stopped twelve days at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 
twelve days at Valparaiso, Chili, giving the passengers (of 
whom, when leaving New York, there were three hundred 
and twelve) a fine opportunity to see those cities and the 
surrounding country. Thirteen passengers died of yellow 
fever on the voyage, and were buried at sea. Upon reach- 
ing California Mr. Barnuni turned his attention to mining, 
which he followed the first year of his stay. The second 
year he secured a good salaried position, which he retained 
until his return home, when he found tliat he had realized 
by his venture two thousand dollars clear of all expen.ses. 
On his return trip he came via the Nicaragua route, the 
journey occupying twenty-six days. 

On the 28th of June, 1855, Mr. Barnum married 
Amelia, daughter of Robert and Sarah Crawford, pioneers 
in the township of Burns. 

Robert Crawford was born in Ontario Co., N. Y., March 
17, 1794. Sarah, his wife, was born Aug. 14, 1798, and 
died Jan. 18, 1880. Mr. Crawford is still living. 

Mrs. John B. Barnum died May 24, 1848, and her 
husband Feb. 5, 1865. Abigor P. Barnum, eldest son of 
John B. and Urana Barnum, died and was buried at sea. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Barnum have been born the fol- 
lowing children: Ella, born April 19, 1858; Nellie May, 
Jan. 6, 1867 ; Osmond S., born April 17, 1875, died Feb. 
26, 1877. 

Mr. Barnum's farm now consists of two hundred and 
thirty-two and a half acres of land in one of the most fer- 
tile and highly cultivated portions of the township. In 
politics he is a Democrat, and in his religious belief is 
liberal. Mrs. Barnum is a member of the Baptist Church. 

Mr. Barnum remarks, with satisfaction, that although 
fifly-two years of age, and having been actively engaged in 
business with nearly all classes of men since he first com- 
menced breaking land, he has never been compelled to go to 
law, either in his own defense or in the prosecution of others, 
and has never invested but one dollar in legal advice. 



NICHOLAS BRADEN. 

Nicholas Braden was born in the kingdom of Hanover, 
Germany, in February, 1808, being the ninth in a family 
of ten children. He remained at homo, working for his 
father, until .seventeen years of age, when he borrowed a 
small sum of money and went to England, where he found 
employment in a sugar-refining establishment. He re- 
mained there two years, paying close attention to business 
and exercising the strictest economy, by which means he 
saved sufiicient money to pay his fare to New York City, 
where he arrived in 1827, with only half a crown remain- 
ing of his two year.s' earnings. He soon secured a position 
in a sugar-house, which he retained for two years, at the 
expiration of which time he went into the grocery busi- 
27 



ness. He followed this occupation until 1836, when he 
sold out, came to Michigan, and bought a farm, being a 
portion of the one now occupied by him. After going to 
New York and settling his business affairs, he came back 
to Michigan, built a log cabin, and began the work of 
clearing the forest around him. He lived alone in this 
cabin about eighteen months, when he married Miss Ka- 
trina Lahring, who was also born in Germany. By this 
union four children were born, but one of whom is now 
living, — Eliza, born Dec. 29, 1841. 

Mrs. Braden died May 11, 1844, and Mr. Braden mar- 
ried, as his second wife, Mrs. Deborah (Clayton) Minor, 
the widow of Raymond Minor, who died in Oakland 
County, April 9, 1844. Their only living child is a resi- 
dent of Traverse County. Mrs. Deborah Braden was born 
in New Jersey, Jan. 12, 1819. 

Mr. and Mrs. Braden have been active members of the 
Methodist Church for more than thirty years. To them 
have been born the following children : Emma A., born 
June 4, 1846; Luther J., born Aug. 24, 1848; Franklin 
A., born Feb. 2,1851; Ruth K., born Jan. 22,1854; 
and Henrietta, born Oct. 5, 1856. 

Mr. Braden reached New York City at the age of nine- 
teen, without money or friends, unacf|uainted alike with 
the language and the customs of the people. He now 
owns a farm of two hundred and sixty-two acres. 

He has been succe.ssful in business, and as a neighbor 
and a citizen deserves honorable mention among the self- 
made men and pioneers of his county. 



AMOS FOSTER. 



Amos Foster was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Oct. 26, 
1811. His mother, Elizabeth (Lowrie) Foster, was a native 
of Columbia Co., N. Y., and his father of Wa.shington 
County, same State. After the death of his father, Amos 
being next to the eldest child was at an early age called 
upon to assist in providing for and sharing in the care of 
a large family. He remained at home, therefore, until in 
his twenty-fourth year. On the 12th of March, 1836, he 
married Miss Ordelia, daughter of Hiram and Otse Rath- 
bun, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter 
of New York. Mi.ss Ordelia was born in Onondaga Co., 
N. Y., June 9, 1820. In the mean time the mother of 
Amos had married William Palmer, of Oneida Co., N. Y. 

In the spring of 1836, Mr. Foster, with his young wife 
(she being then scarcely sixteen years of age), came to 
Michigan. Leaving her in the southern part of the State, 
Amos proceeded at once to the frontier, and after much 
diiEculty succeeded in finding, in the .southern part of Burns 
township, a distant relative of his wife named Dias Rath- 
bun. Here he purchased forty acres in the southwest 
quarter of section 22. After acting as guide for several 
new-comers in tiie township lie returned to his wife, and in 
the September following they came to Burns. 

He built a log cabin on his property, in which he taught 
school the two winters following, this being the first school 
in the township. During the summers he worked on the 
land he had purcha.sed. At the expiration of two years, 



210 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



on account of sickness, ho sold liis property and moved 
with his family to Ohio, where he remained, spending 
much of his time in the school-room, until 1S62, when he 
returned to Michigan and purchased the farm where he 
now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Foster are the only couple now 
living in Burns who wore married and residing here as 
early as 1836. They have been the parents of the follow- 
ing children: Lauretta, born May 23, 1837; George L., 
born Sept. 20, 1838; Thomas, born Oct. 6, 1850; Mark 
v., born July 17, 1854; Carrie, born June 27, 185(5. 
Thomas and Carrie died in infancy, and Mark V., June 3, 
1879. 



The hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Green is well known 
among a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. They 
live in a pleasant home in the midst of comfortable sur- 
roundings, the reward of patient toil and economy in earlier 
years. 



THOMAS P. GREEN. 

Tiiomas P. Green was born in the State of Connecticut 
in August, 1805. The family moved to Burlington town- 
ship, Otsego Co., N. Y., about the year 1807. Thomas 
remaiued at home until sixteen years of age. From that 
time until in his twenty-first year he worked by the month 
during the summer, and taught school several terms. He 
then went to work in a general store. On the 25th of 
March, 1829, he married Ann Sprague, who was born in 
Richfield, Otsego Co., May 7, 1807. He and his wife 
remained in Burlington and Richfield until 1832, when 
they moved to Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., where they resided 
most of the time until 1836, when they moved to Michi- 
gan, first stopping in Livingston County. The same sum- 
mer, however, Mr. Green came to Burns and purchased a 
tract of land. After building a small cabin he broke six 
acres of ground, which he put under cultivation the next 
spring. After several years Mr. Green erected a larger and 
more commodious house, which was destroyed by fire; 
after which the present residence was built. 

For many years Mr. and Mrs. Green lived happily to- 
gether, enjoying the fruits of the labors and sacrifices of 
earlier years. Her death occurred Oct. 1, 1875. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Green but one child was born, Oscar 
P., Feb. 19, 1830. He died Sept. 12, 1855, having pre- 
viously married a daughter of Garret Morse, who was an 
early settler of Burns township. 

On March 15, 1876, Mr. Green married Elizabeth Mon- 
roe, the widow of Angus Monroe, who came to Michigan 
in 1854. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Monroe — three 
in number — reside in Michigan. Mrs. Elizabeth Green 
was born May 5, 1828. 

At the time Mr. Green settled in Burns township it was 
necessary for him to go three miles beyond Brighton — a 
distance of thirty miles from his residence — to mill ; and 
the nearest post-office was at Howell, fifteen miles away. 

At the first town-meeting he was elected justice of the 
peace, as.sessor, and a commissioner of highways ; in the 
exercise of the duties of which latter officii he assisted in 
locating some of the earliest roads in the township. 

In politics Mr. Green is a Republican. Although a 
member of no denomination he is liberal in his religious 
views. His first wife belonged to the Methodist Church, 
but his present wife is a member of the Presbyterian 
denomination. 



W. W. SMITH. 



On the 18th of June, 1815, in Leicester, England, was 
born W. W. Smith, the subject of this sketch and son of 
John and Mary (Pool) Smith, and the eighth in a family 
of fifteen children. 

His father was a blacksmith by trade, following that oc- 
cupation until 1823, when with his family ho sailed for 
America, locating at Geneva, N. Y. Here he resided till 
his death, which occurred in December, 1876, having 
reached the advanced age of one hundred and four years, 
ten months, and fifteen days. The mother of our subject 
died at the age of seventy-five. 

Mr. Smith remained at home till twenty-six years of 
age, and on the lOih of January, 1843, married Rebecca 
Wbodin, who was born in Seneca Co., N. Y., May 3, 1821. 
She was the third in a fiimily of eight children. 

Her father, Robert Woodin, was a native of England, 
and her mother, Mary (Moline) Woodin, was born in Ire- 
land. Mr. and Mrs. Smith moved to Warren Co., Pa., 
where they remained and engaged in farming for three years, 
at the expiration of which time, in 1848, they came to 
Washtenaw Co., Mich., and bought eighty acres of land, 
for which they paid six hundred dollars. BIr. Smith im- 
mediately began to clear his new farm. Four years of 
energy and industry had placed it in such a condition that 
he was offered sixteen hundred dollars for it, which he ac- 
cepted, and then came to Burns and bought one hundred 
and twenty acres of choice land. Of this but fifty acres 
were cleared. Mr. Smith has since added to his farm until 
he now owns two hundred and thirty acres, one hundred 
and thirty acres of which are under good cultivation. Of 
the family of fifteen children but two remain besides Mr. 
Smith, a brother and a sister, the latter being seventy-seven 
years old. 

Mr. Smith was a staunch Democrat until the formation 
of the National party, since which time he has adopted 
many principles advocated in their platform. He is opposed 
to monopolies of every description, and especially disap- 
proves legislation in their behalf. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith have lived to acquire a fine property, 
and to see several of their children married and comfortably 
located near them. They have been the parents of the 
following children, viz.: Mary Jane, born Nov. 11, 1843; 
George M., born April 15, 1845; Charles H., born Nov. 
2, 1849, died Jan. 22, 1878 ; Robert J., born Oct. 30, 
1855 ; William B., born Oct. 17, 1857, died Sept. 5, 1858; 
Willis Wintield, born Dec. 27, 1859; John F., born March 
23, 1862. 








M'^f M/ M/ SMITH . 




ResiDENCB Of W^W. SMITH. BufiNS Tp. Shiawassee Co- Mich. 



CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 



211 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 
CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP.* 

Location and Natural Features — Original Laud-Entries — Early Set- 
tlers and Settlements — Township Organization and Civil List — 
Early Roads — Schools — Coal -Mining. 

The township of Caledonia may be justly regarded as 
one of the two most important townships of Shiawassee 
County, because, while its territory is composed of lands 
second to none in fertility and productiveness, it numbers 
among its natural resources a valuable vein of excellent 
coal, and it includes within its original boundaries the city 
of Coruuna, the county-seat of Shiawassee. On section 
20 are located the coal-beds, which continually develop new 
resources as their wealth of material is explored. Section 
32 is the site of the county farm, which, by careful culti- 
vation, has been rendered one of the most productive pieces 
of land to be found within the township limits. 

Caledonia is designated as township number 7 north, 
of range 3 east, and is bounded on the north by New 
Haven, south by Shiawassee, east by Venice, and west by 
Owosso. The township contains no lakes of any consider- 
able size. A portion of the territory is watered by the 
Shiawassee River and several small tributaries, which pour 
their watere into the larger stream. This river, which 
affords an excellent water-power, enters the township near 
the southeast corner, on section 36, and flowing in a gen- 
eral northwesterly course through the township and the 
city of Corunua, passes out through section 19 of Caledo- 
nia and enters the limits of the city of Owos.so. 

The surface of the township is generally undulating, 
though in some parts nearly level, presenting few obstacles 
to the operations of the husbandman. The soil is gen- 
erally of good quality, and produces abundant crops. In 
the northern part of the township the soil is considerably 
intermixed with clay, but it becomes more sandy as the 
southern boundary is approached. A rich muck is found 
along the river, and this is very productive. The timber 
found growing in the township is principally beech, elm, 
maple, basswood, and hickory, very little pine being found 
here. The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway 
passes through the southern portion of Caledonia, and has 
a depot at Corunna. A branch of this road extends to 
the coal-beds on section 23. 

OJUGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

The lands embraced in the township of Caledonia were 
entered from the government or purchased of the State of 
Michigan by the following persons : 

SECTION 1. 

Acres. 

S. M. Root (State), 1849 HILOS 

P. J. Kinney, 1849 187.12 

T. L. Woodworth, 1849 SU 

Z. V. Spencer, 185U 40 

S. M. Root, 1849 40 

Henry Wilcox, 1849 40 

SECTION 2. 

Thomas R. Young (State), 1839 120 

(i. W. Peck, " 1849 207.91 

» By E. 0. Wagner. 



Acres. 
Eli Bush (State), 1849 160 

A. P. Frary, " 1848 40 

David Wesoott, " 1849 160 

SECTION 3. 

D. P. Sturdevant, 1836 107.62 

D. P. Congdon, 1836 80 

W. R. Seymour, 1836 80 

Wm. Lyman, 1838 240 

Theodore Champion, 1838 186.97 

SECTION 4. 

D. P. Sturdevant. 1836 106.71 

D. P. Congdon, 1836 80 

W. R. Seymour, 1836 160 

Lulie Hoagland, 1836 160 

L. H. Parsons (State) 188.30 

SECTION 5. 

Cyrus Backus, 1837 SO 

S. M. Root (State), 1849 271 

C.W.Butler, " 1849 113.19 

Henry Dwight (State), 1846 160 

William Caywood, " 1856 80 

SECTION 6. 

J. and S. D. Beers, 1836 160 

.r. Kearsley, 1836 140.46 

Roh.Tt Stewart, 1836 101.66 

.J. B. Smith, 1836 113.28 

Harvey Backus, 1837 80 

David Gould, 1854 160 

SECTION 7. 

J. and S. D. Beers, 1836 160 

J. L. Stevens, 1836 141.28 

George Dickenson, 1836. 160 

B. W. Farnum, 1836 160 

SECTION 8. 

G. E. Peck, 1836 ; 80 

J. D. Overton, 1836 240 

B. W. Farnum, 1836 320 

SECTION 9. 

Hor.ace Perry, 1836 80 

A. Newcomb, 1836 80 

Alexander Hilton, 1836 80 

Allen Cadwell, 1836 160 

Joel Smith, 1836 160 

S.H.Phelps, 1838 4 

R. Freeman, 1839 40 

SECTION 10. 

Aaron Seymour, 1836 80 

T. Peck, 1836 80 

Edwin Peck, 1836 80 

Silas Warner, 1837 160 

R. P. Coddington, 1837 80 

L. H. Parsons (State), 1849 80 

SECTION 11. 

T. R. Young 320 

L. U. Parsons (State), 1850 240 

J. A. Clark, 1848 40 

S. M. Root, 1849 40 

SECTION 12. 

James Van Aukin, 1839 80 

T. R. Young, 1839 80 

C. S. Kimberley (State), 1854 160 

A. E. Babcock, 1854 80 

Ethan Doano (State), 1862 40 

Jesse Bradford, " 1860 40 

J'ohn Newton, " 1858 40 

S. T.Parsons, " 1868 40 

SECTION 13. 

F. G. Macy, 1836 320 

D. D. Linge, 1854 40 

D. Fraser, 1854 40 

John Newton (State), 1858 40 

Daniel Fraser, 1858 80 

A. P. Brewer, 1868 120 

SECTION 14. 

F. G. Macy, l.HSfi 480 

A. B. Witherbce, 1854 120 

J.A.Thompson (State), 1865 40 



212 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SECTION 15. 

Acres. 

S. A. Pottus, 1836 160 

Thomas Crouch, 1836 320 

P. «. Maoy, 1836 160 

SECTION 16. 

Dorus Morton (State), 18,'i4 80 

B.Stewart, " 1854 40 

Joseph Lauoron, *' 1S53 40 

S.W.Cooper, " 1854 40 

A. Stewart, " 1851 40 

Fannv Hamilton, " 1853 40 

Edward (Jreon, " 1847 80 

Louisa Cooper, " 1848 40 

A. M. (ircen, " 1853 80 

S. W. Cooper, •' 1853 40 

J. M. Thayer, " 1859 80 

H. S. Stew"art, " 1845 40 

SECTION 17. 

S. and D. Ball, 1836 160 

J. and S. D. Beers 480 

SECTION 18. 

A. L. and B. 0. M'illiams, 1835 72.56 

Kiuiberlevs, 1835 80 

Henry Dwight, 1836 80 

J. Kearslev, 1836 152.68 

Schuyler Hodges, 1836 80 

F. G.' Macy, 1836 160 

SECTION I'.). 

.Ids. Parmlev, 1835 207.40 

A. Kellogg, 1835 81.83 

P. A. Coudrey, 18.35 71.40 

S. Hodges, 1836 80 

J. Pitcairn, 1836 80 

Clark and Ware, 1836 80 

SECTION 20. 

A. Randolph, 1836 244.07 

Trumhull Cary, 1836 64.52 

Comstock and' Beach, 1835 146.99 

S. and 1). Ball, 1835 160 

SECTION 21. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 97.26 

Comstock and Beach, 1835 120.87 

W. C. Baldwin, 1835 78 

S. P. Germain, 1836 160 

N. Prouty, 1836 80 

T. J. Owen, 1S3G 80 

SECTION 22. 

Blossom and Efnor, 1835 207.96 

A. D. Eraser & Co., 1836 116.25 

li. B. Migner, 1836 49.40 

Van Dyke and MoClure, 1836 95.09 

Benjamin I.obroton, 1836 80 

A. Abbott, 1836 80 

SECTION 23. 

J. Kearsley, 1822 11.17 

J. Greenfield, 1836 62.88 

A. 1). Frascr A Co., 1836 80.07 

.1. and S. D. Beers, 1836 160 

Luther Smith, 1836 160 

F. G. Maoy, 1836 160 

SECTION 24. 
Entries not found. 

SECTION 25. 

J. F. Swain, 1834 32.07 

H. B. Brown, 1836 11.S.32 

A. iMcArthur.t Co., 1836 160 

Anthony Ten Eyok, 1836 80 

E. W.Doaue, 1836 80 

S. C. llolden, 1836 80 

SECTION 26. 

S. Hawkins, 1835 97.48 

Cornelius Bergen, 1836 154.12 

Charles Jackson, 1836 170.83 

Silas Ball, 1836 160 

J. and S. D. Beers, 1836 40 



SECTION 27. 

Acres. 

Blossom and Elner, 1835 320 

E. Farnsworth, 1836 320 

SECTION 28. 

J. Kearsley 80 

N. Clark 80 

Andrew Mack, 1836 317.77 

Henry Kaymond, 1836 80 

H. 11. Comstock, 1836 80 

James Bowman, 1836 80 

SECTION 29. 

N. Clark, 18.35 40 

Joseph Pitcairn, 1836 80 

Clark anil Warren, 1836 80 

K. Farnsnorlh, 1836 280 

William Gage, 1836 160 

SECTION 30. 

William Gage, 1836 150.24 

S. and D. Ball, 1836 400 

Mary Williams, 1836 68.48 

SECTION 31. 

B. F. Lamed, 1836 77 

Henry Bush, 1836 150.92 

James \^ilontine, 1836 160 

Samuel Warren, 1836 40 

Ellis Doty, 1836 80 

Desnoyers and Whipple, 1836 SO 

J. A. Van Dyke, 1836 40 

SECTION ,32. 

C. Blake, 1836 160 

«. C. and H. F. Lieb, 1836 240 

I). J. Canipnu, 1836 80 

Nathaniel Prouty, 1836 160 

SECTION 33. 

.lames Churchman, 1836 320 

G. C. and II. V. Lieh. 1836 320 

SECTION 34. 

Hartford Cargill, 1836 160 

E. Farnsworth, 1836 160 

G. C. and H. F. Lieh, 1836 160 

S. P. German, 1836 160 

SECTION 35. 

J. P. Clark, 1S36 SO 

S. W. Harding, 1836 160 

Hartford Cargill, 1836 160 

J. L. Barton, 1836 80 

J. and S. D. Beers, 1836 80 

W. W. Whitney and Eber Crawford, 1836 80 

SECTION 36. 

J. F. Swain, 1834 40 

Philo Rockwell, 1835 160 

Patrick and Hitchcock, 1836 54.42 

H. II. Brown, 1836 41.58 

J. P. Clark, 1836 40 

Chesley Blake, 1836 131.79 

J. and S. D. Beers, 1836 80 

S. C. Holdcn, 18.36 80 

EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS. 

But few of the original pioneers of Caledonia remain. 
Many have died, while others years since removed to adja- 
cent portions of the county, or found homes in other counties 
or States. The names and faces of most of these indi- 
viduals have passed from the recollection of the survivors, 
and very few facts of a reliable and interesting character 
are obtainable, which may account for the barrenness of 
material regarding the township's early liistory. 

The earliest settler within the township of Caledonia was 
John Swain, who removed from Chenango Co., N. Y., and 
located upon thirty-two acres on section 25. He entered 
this land in 1834, and erected a log house upon it probably 



CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 



213 



in the same year. Mr. Swain was for a wliile a resident at 
the Williams trading-post in Shiawassee township, and 
while there did something towards clearing the land and 
rendering it habitable. He was by occupation a carpenter 
«nd joiner, and also filled the sacred office of preacher at a 
very early date. The first religious services in tlie town- 
ship were conducted by him, and the latter years of his 
life were entirely devoted to the duties of an evangelist. 
Mrs. Swain's death occurred iu 183(5. She was buried on 
the farm, and the funeral services were the earliest held in 
Caledonia. The first birth in the township occurred in the 
family of Mr. Swain in the same year. At a later period 
Mr. Swain purchased a farm in Vernon township, upon 
which he died, as nearly as can be ascertained, about thirty 
years since. 

The farm which had been partially cleared by Swain, the 
first settler, was purchased by Capt. John Davids, the ear- 
liest agent of the Shiawassee County-Seat Company, who, 
after relin(iuishing his official duties in Corunna, removed 
to the farm and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 

The next settler was Philo Kockwell, who removed from 
Saratoga Co., N. Y., and in 1835 entered one hundred and 
sixty acres on section 3(j in Caledonia. At this date John 
Swain was the only resident of the township. Mr. Kock- 
well returned to the East, and in 1837 came again to 
Michigan for the purpose of erecting a log house and mak- 
ing a preliminary clearing upon his land. He found dur- 
ing this interval a welcome to the household of William 
Black, of Shiawassee township, and a year later his family 
removed to their Western home. Capt. Davids had mean- 
while purchased the Swain farm and become a resident of 
the township, and two other settlers, whose names are not 
recollected, had arrived. Mr. Rockwell, in addition to the 
clearing already effected, improved five acres and sowed 
wheat, which yielded a bountiful crop. Many Indians 
passed the house on their way to the Williams trading-post, 
and occasionally shelter was afforded them for the night. 
They were generally laden with supplies, which were ex- 
changed with the traders for wares in use among the In- 
dians. Other settlers followed Mr. Rockwell, though for 
years much of the land of Caledonia remained uncleared. 
In 1855 his log cabin gave place to a substantial frame 
hou.se, which is still occupied as the family residence. 

Thomas R. Young left the Empire State iu 1838, and 
located in Lapeer County. In the following year he entered 
a tract of land on sections 1, 2, 11, and 12 of Caledonia, 
embracing six hundred and forty acres. He retained two 
hundred and sixty acres of this purchase on section 11, 
upon which he settled, and sold the remainder. The land 
immediately near him was entirely uncleared, and a pil- 
grimage of two miles was necessary to visit the house of 
the nearest neighbor. Mr. Young remained with Joel B. 
Go.ss, in the township of Venice, while erecting the log 
house, to which he soon after removed. Six acres were 
cleared the first year, and later improvements made, as 
opportunity oft'ercd. Much inconvenience was experienced 
from the frequent visit.s of wolves and bears, who made 
serious inroads upon the sheep-folds and rendered con.stant 
watchfulness a necessity. Soon after Mr. Young's arrival 
there came in as settlers William Lemon, Uerry Tuttle, and 



Auburn Stuart, whose location made them his near neigh- 
bors. The log house erected in 1839 gave place in 1867 
to the comfortable frame residence which Mr. Young at 
present occupies. Mrs. Young, whose pioneer recollections 
are very vivid, is the daughter of Horace Hart, the earliest 
settler within the township of New Haven. 

In point of chronological order, the arrival of William H. 
Jewett should antedate that of Thomas R. Young, the 
former having located eighty acres upon .section 4 as early 
as 1838. It is probable that the land was bought from 
speculators, as no record of a purchase by Mr. Jewett from 
the government is found. He proceeded at once to the 
erection of a log house and to the clearing of his farm, 
which was little else than a wilderness on his arrival. Upon 
this land he remained for many years, but ultimately re- 
moved to New Haven, where he died. 

At his house in Caledonia, in February, 1841, there was 
celebrated the earliest marriage service in the township, — 
that of Lewis Hart, of New Haven, to Miss Cordelia Sey- 
mour. Early religious gatherings also occurred at the same 
place, and these were generally conducted by Seneca Pettis. 

Robert McBride was a native of Kingston, N. Y., and 
when a lad removed to Canada. In 1836 he became a pio- 
neer in Michigan, having chosen a residence in Detroit, 
where he remained two years and engaged in wagon- 
making. In 1838 he removed to Shiawassee County, and 
purchased a farm of forty acres on section 36, which was 
later increased to one hundred and twenty acres. It was 
uncleared, and Mr. McBride found the usual labor of the 
pioneer awaiting him. He spent the closing years of his 
life on this farm, and died in the year 1879. His sons are 
the present occupants. 

The family consisting of W. R. Seymour and his two sons, 
George R. and Walter, were pioneers of 1839, the former 
having entered land on sections 3 and 4 as early as 1836. 
Upon this land they settled, and at once became prominent 
in advancing the interests of the township. They exercised 
a generous hospitality to all new-comers, and by their uni- 
form kindly bearing won the esteem of the community. 
George R. died on the homestead, and his widow subse- 
quently made the township of Vernon her residence. 
Walter removed to New Haven, where he remained until 
his death. 

Ninion Clark in 1835 located one hundred and twenty 
acres on sections 28 and 29, which is now occupied by Wil- 
liam Ames, and upon which he found a home in 1839. 
Mr. Clark began at once the improvement of his land, 
upon which he expended much labor, but meanwhile found 
leisure to devote to public interests. He was a member of 
the first board of highway commissioners, and with his col- 
leagues laid out many of the early roads of the township. 
He removed from Caledonia to Shiawa.ssee, and later to 
Vernon, where he died. 

Don C. Griswold purchased of parties who had bought 
for purposes of speculation a fann on section 20, south of 
the Shiawa.ssee River, now occupied by D. B. Reed. This 
and was rapidly cleared under his energetic management, 
and converted into productive fields. Mr. Griswold was 
an active partisan in political campaigns of an early day, 
and was clothed with judicial honors as one of the first 



214 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



justices of the peace. He later removed from Caledonia, 
and is .since deceased. 

Abrani Garrabrant, a pioneer from New Jersey, ar- 
rived in 1839, and purchased forty acres on section 29, to 
which he at once removed. He devoted much labor to 
the clearing and cultivating of this land, and converted it 
into one of the most productive fiirms in the township. 
He resided upon it until 1875, when he removed to Ten- 
nessee and died there. 

Ammon Blain, from New York State, also came in 1839, 
and .selected a tract of land embracing one hundred and 
twenty acres on section 20, formerly occupied by a Mr. 
Dunning. Upon this he erected a temporary shelter and 
began the work of improvement. His progress was suf- 
ficiently rapid to satisfy the most ambitious pioneer, but 
he was attracted by a more eligible farm in Oakland County, 
to which he soon after removed. 

Benjamin M. Waterman was a former resident of Niag- 
ara Co., N. Y., from whence he came to Michigan in 1840, 
and located upon eighty acres on section 4 in Caledonia, 
purchased of David Potter, of New York. The latter 
gentleman had effected no improvement on the land, and 
Mr. Waterman found it necessary at once to erect a log 
house and clear a tract sufficiently extensive to afford a 
crop of wheat for future subsistence. His family were 
meanwhile welcomed to the residence of their neighbor, 
Mr. Seymour, and remained there for two months. After 
a residence of some years upon his farm, Mr. Waterman 
removed to his present residence on the .same section. Co- 
runna at this time afforded a fair market, though much of 
the milling was done at Pontine and Owosso. Religious 
services were held at the .school-bouse in the neighbor- 
hood, which was erected in 1842, and to which the settlers 
went with ox-teams. Mr. Waterman is still a resident of 
the township. 

Norman L. Jennings was a resident of Monroe Co., N. Y. 
He became a settler in this county in 1836, and four years 
later removed to the township of Caledonia, where he 
purchased one hundred and fifty-six acres on section 31. 
No clearing had been effected upon this land, which was 
still in its primitive condition. Mr. Jennings found shelter 
in a hut that had been erected south of his laud, and in 
this he lived for some months the solitary life of a bach- 
elor. On completing his own house he removed to it, and 
in 1841 brought a wife as mistress of the establishment. 
Emanuel Young was then the nearest neighbor, who was 
located on the same section, but Stephen McCoy followed 
soon afler. Indians were occasional visitors, and supplied 
game and fish in abundance, for which other commodities 
were given in exchange. Owosso was the most accessible 
village, and there they purchased their household supplies. 
Mr. Jennings still resides upon his purchase. 

Robert R. Thompson, previously a resident of Washte- 
naw County, came in the following year, and located upon 
a farm in section 25. He was engaged with Alexander 
McArthur in the saw-mill, and also embarked in commer- 
cial ventures iu the village. He afterwards sold and re- 
moved to Saginaw, where he died. 

Following is a list of the resident and non-resident tax- 
payers iu the township of Caledonia for the year 1840: 



N. L. Prouty. 

Eraser, McArthur & Hul- 

bert. 
A. McArthur. 
McArthur & Hulbort. 
I. A. Blosum and E. D. 

Efner. 
J. & S. D. Beers. 
Luther Smith. 
Jonathan Kearsley. 
Elon Parnsworth. 
Electa M. Dean. 
Samuel C. Holden. 
M. Reynolds. 
Cornelius Burger. 
Silas Ball. 
Charles Jackson. 
Henry Raymond. 
Joseph Pitcairn. 
Wm. Gage. 
James A. Van Dyke. 
Elias Doty. 



Desnoyers & Whipple. 
Henry Rush. 
Carlton Sawyer. 
Cheksey Blake. 
G. C. & F. Leib. 
County-Seat Company. 
Stephen Hawkins. 
D. P. Sturdevant. 

Bishop. 

George B. Peck. 
John Dorelan. 
Joel Smith. 
Allen Cadwell. 
Alex. Hilton; 
Horace Pei'ry. 
Asahel Newcomb. 
Philo Peck. 

Phelps. 

Francis G. Macy. 
Comstock & Beach. 
S. & D. Ball. 
Silvenas German. 



S. N. Warren, formerly of Oakland County, became 
owner in 1841 of the farm now occupied by C. Flint on 
.section 31, whicli he cleared and cultivated. Mr. Warren 
was known as a skillful farmer and a public-spirited citizen, 
who manifested a lively interest in the advancement of the 
township. He remained for many years in Caledonia, but 
ultimately removed to the city of Flint, where he now re- 
sides. 

Aubui'n Stewart came to the township from Yp.silanti in 
1841, aud purchased sixty acres on section 3. Upon this 
land he built a log house and made .some improvement, but 
soon after sold to S. W. Cooper. He then removed to a 
farm on section 16, and later to the village of Corunna. 

William Lemon came from Livingston County in 1842, 
and located in this township on section 3. He was en- 
gaged in farming for a time, but afterwards lived in Co- 
runna, and eventually removed to the West and died there. 

Arthur Huntley formerly resided near Detroit, and in 
1845 purchased forty acres of land on section 3, Caledonia, 
upon which he has since lived. After clearing a small 
tract he built a log house, meanwhile having found a home 
with his neighbor, M. Jewett. In the first year after his 
arrival a serious, calamity befell the family in a conflagra- 
tion which swept away their household effects and con- 
sumed a little child in the flames. The kindness of friends 
in Detroit .soon supplied the loss of furniture, with which 
they recommenced their pioneer life. They still reside on 
the same farm. 

Samuel Young, a brother of Thomas R., removed from 
Lapeer County in 1847 and settled on forty acres on sec- 
tion 12, upon which the usual labor incident to clearing 
was bestowed. The log house he erected was later super- 
seded by a frame one of more extended proportions, in 
which he still resides. 

John Kelly, formerly of Cleveland, Ohio, purchased in 
1846, aud in the following year became a resident on, one 
hundred aud sixty acres of laud on section 9, formerly 



CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 



215 



owned by George Kirkland, of Ohio. Joseph Kelly took 
eixty acres of this land, upon which lie early erected a log 
house, and thus aiforded his brother a welcome on his 
arrival, and during the interval required for clearing and 
building. Mr. Kelly cleared but three acres the first year, 
but has since that time made rapid progress, and ha.s now a 
well-cultivated farm and a spacious residence as the reward 
of his labor. Joseph Kelly died at his home in 187.5. 

Philo H. Currier, a pioneer from Ohio, located upon 
eighty acres on section 9 in 1850, which he found little 
else than a vast forest on his arrival. He found in John 
Kelly a hospitable neighbor while building a cabin. He 
early planted an orchard, which afforded an ample supply 
of fruit when apples were so rare as to be regarded a lux- 
ury. Mr. Currier died on the homestead in 1867. Mrs. 
Currier's residence is now with her son in the township. 

John Brands came from Tompkins Co., N. Y., in 1845. 
He remained for a while in Corunna, engaged in daily 
labor, but in 1852 became the owner of his present farm 
of ninety acres on section 26. His father, David Brands, 
had two years before purchased one hundred and twenty 
acres on section 25, upon which he lived until his death in 
1865. Mr. Brands at once built the usual primitive abode 
of logs, which in 1864 was displaced by a more substantial 
frame residence, — his present home. His land is now 
cleared and much of it highly improved. 

0. B. Townseud was a pioneer of 1836 from Ontario 
Co., N. Y., having first selected Ingham County as a loca- 
tion. He was led to a favorable opinion of the lands in 
Shiawassee County, and in 1854 selected one hundred 
acres on section 7, in Caledonia, as a home, upon which he 
at once located. Half of this had already been cleared by 
Elijah Moak, whose father formerly owned it and built a 
log house upon it. The immediate neighborhood was en- 
tirely unimproved and destitute of roads. Mr. Townsend 
obtained a contract and cut the road running from his farm 
to Owosso, as he did also other highways adjacent to his 
farm. His present spacious residence was built in 1858, 
which was much superior to most of the dwellings of that 
day. His ownership of a saw-mill and pinery in Mont- 
calm County enabled him to build of excellent material 
and at reduced cost. Mr. Townsend still occupies the farm 
he originally purchased in the township. 

J. A. Thompson emigrated from Jefferson Co., N. Y., in 
1857, and located upon one hundred and twenty acres on 
section 14, which he has since increased to one hundred 
and eighty acres. Though central in point of location, 
Mr. Thompson was for a time comparatively isolated, from 
the fact that much of the adjacent land was held by specu- 
lators who saw prospective fortunes in the coal and oil to be 
developed upon them. There was at this time no road 
from Corunna, the way being opened from that point witli 
the axe, as Mr. Thompson sought his purchase. Four 
months were spent with a settler named Moe, who re- 
sided upon the southwest corner of the same section. 
Meanwhile a log house had been built and a con.siderable 
clearing effected. His time at first was spent in chopping 
and clearing, for which he obtained extensive contracts. 
The second year twelve acres of his own land was improved, 
and the family, for whom he returned to the E;vst, comfort- 



ably established in their Western home. In 1879, Mr. 
Thompson erected his present imposing residence, which is 
one of the most attractive in Caledonia. 

Other settlers arrived at a later date, and, though active 
in developing the interests of the township, may not, strictly 
speaking, be entitled to mention among the number of its 
pioneers. 



TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

The township of Caledonia was formerly a portion of the 
township of Owosso, and was separately organized by the 
following act of the State Legislature, approved March 22, 
1839: 

" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the State of Michigan, that all that part of the 
county of Shiawassee designated by the United States 
survey as township No. 7 north, of range No. 3 east, 
which lies east of the west line of sections Nos. 5, 8, 17, 
20, 29, and 31, in said township, be and the same is hereby 
set off and organized into a township by the name of Cale- 
donia, and the first township-meeting thereof shall be held 
at the house of Alexander McArthur in said township." 
This left sections 6, 7, 18, 19, and 30 in township 7 north, 
of range 3 east, attached to Owosso. After much oppo- 
sition these were embraced in Caledonia by an act of the 
State Legislature, approved Feb. 16, 1842. By the incor- 
poration of the city of Owosso the west half of sections 18 
and 19 were made a part of that city, leaving Caledonia as 
it at present exists. 

The first meeting of the electors of the township of Cale- 
donia was held, pursuant to public notice, ou the 29th day 
of April, 1839, for the purpose of electing township officers. 
Alexander McArthur was chosen Moderator ; Samuel N. 
Warren, David Warren, Stephen Hawkins, and Henry L. 
Bangs, Inspectors of Election ; and Don C- Griswold and 
David Lester, Clerks. The following officers were declared 
elected : Supervisor, Alexander McArthur; Township Clerk, 
Samuel N. Warren ; Treasurer, Samuel N. Warren ; As- 
sessors, D. P. Congdon, Alexander McArthur, W. R. Sey- 
mour; School Inspectors, S. N. Warren, John Davids, 
Alexander McArthur; Highway Commissioners, Stephen 
Hawkins, Ninion Clark, John Davids ; Justices of the 
Peace, Samuel N. Warren, Alexander McArthur, John 
Davids, Don C. Griswold ; Constable and Collector, Ninion 
Clark. 

The names of the officers of the township from that time 
to the present are given in the following list : 





SUPERVISORS. 


18i0. 


Alexander McArthur. 


1859-04. Hugh MoCurdy. 


1S41. 


A. n. Beach. 


1805. Pliny S. I.yraan. 


ISW- 


40. Andrew Parsons. 


1800. Hugh McCurdy. 


1847- 


48. Luke 11. Parsons. 


1807. William Oaks. 


1849. 


Andrew Parsons, 


1808. William D. Holt. 


1850- 


-51. Luke 11. Parsons. 


1869-7:i. John M. Fitch. 


1852 


Andrew Parsons. 


1874-75. James A. Thompson 


1853. 


L. H. Parsons. 


1S70. 1). B. Reed. 


1854- 


56. Edward Green. 


1877-78. Charles Wren. 


1857 


James Cummin. 


1879. Jason W. Sanders. 


1858 


Kdward Oreen. 


1880. Horace W. Bigelow. 



216 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



TOWNSHIP CLERKS. 



1840. 
1841- 
1843- 
1847- 
1849. 
1850- 
J855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 



S. H. Petteys. 
42. John R. Smith. 
46. Nelson Ferry. 
48. P. S. Lyman. 

George W. Harris. 
54. Pliny S. Lymiin. 

E. F. Wade. 

J. B. Wheeler. 

E. C. Moore. 

Cortes Pond. 

W. Goodell. 



1860- 
1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1869- 
1871- 
1873- 
1879- 



62. George Wilcox. 

J. W. Turner. 

P. W. Coleman. 

Alexander Cummin. 

James Anderson. 

Theodore W. Ferry. 

J. H. Anderson. 
70. Burt Saddleson. 
72. H. I. Newell. 
78. J. B. Eveleth. 
80. William Parker. 



TREASURERS. 



1840. A. M. Jennings. 

1841. Stephen Hawkins. 

1842. S. Z. Kinyon. 

1843. Henry Jennings. 

1844. S. Z. Kinyon. 
1845-46. Henry Jennings. 
1847-48. Thomas S. Morton. 
1849-62. Alfred Bartlett. 
1853-54. I. M. Th,ayer. 
1855. Thomas S. Morton. 
1856-58. Morris Jackson. 
1859. Thomas Lyons. 



1860-62. John M. Fitch. 
1863. Robert C. Kyle. 
1864-65. L. W. Gafiney. 

1866. John M. Fitch. 

1867. John L. Wild. 

1868. Morris Ormsby. 
1869-72. William West. 
1873. Isaiic 0. Derr. 
1874-76. Charles Wren. 
1877-79. E. G. Hawkins. 
1880. N. B. Aiken. 



SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



1840. 


A. H. Beach. 




S. H. Petteys. 




William H. Jewett 


1841. 


R. R. Thompson. 




S. N. Warren. 




S. 11. Petteys. 


1842. 


L. II. Parsons. 




W. H Beach. 




.S. N. Warren. 


1843. 


L. H. Parsons. 




S. II. Petteys. 


1844. 


John Gilbert. 


1845. 


Joseph Purdy. 




L. H. Parsons. 


1846. 


Joseph Purdy. 


1847. 


M. P. Willson. 


1848. 


J. M. LutheV 


1849. 


L. H. Parsons. 


1850. 


0. T. B. Williams. 


1851. 


J. P. Richardson. 


1852. 


0. 0. Bachman. 




L. II. Parsons. 


1853 


James Cummin. 


1854 


L. H. Parsons. 


1855 


S. T. Parsons. 


1856 


E. A. Morley. 


1857 


0. T. B. Williams. 


1858 


R. B. Wylea. 



JUSTICES 

1840. S. H. Petteys. 
Alexander McArthur. 

1841. William H. Jewett. 

1842. R. R. Thompson. 
L. H. Parsons. 

1843. R. R. Thompson. 
B. M. Waterman. 

1844. Harlow Beach. 

1845. B. M. Waterman. 

1846. L. H. Parsons. 
Joseph Purdy. 

1847. 0. C. Beatty. 

1848. Isaac Castle. 

1849. Eli Stewart. 

1850. A. McArthur. 

1851. William H. Beach. 



1859. L. C. York. 
Robert Duncan. 

1860. Robert Duncan. 
F. W. Warren. 

1861. T.C. Garner. 
J. W. Turner. 

1862. J. W. Turner. 
lSfi3. J. M. Goodell. 

T. C. Garner. 

1864. E. P. Gregory. 

1865. L. D. Phelps. 
T. C. Garner. 

1866. Joseph W. Manning. 

1867. T. C. Garner. 
W. D. Holt. 

1808. E. C. Moore. 

1869. W. A. Maynard. 
B. R. Parsons. 

1870. W. A. Maynard. 

1871. George B. Fitch. 

1872. John Brandt. 

1873. John Kelly. 

1874. William Hinman. 

1875. John Brands. 
1876-77. C. B. Pelton. 
1878-79. Lyman Brandt. 
1880. J. A. Thompson. 



OP THE PEACE. 

1852. S. Z. Kinyon. 

1853. R. N. Thumpsun. 
Eli Stewart. 

1854. Alexander McArthur. 

1855. Richard ft Clark. 

1856. B. Stewart. 
E. F. Wade. 

1857. T. C. Carr. 

1858. A. McArthur. 
H. J. Newell. 

1859. C. J. Gale. 

1860. John Corland. 

1861. H.J. Newell. 

1802. E. F. Wade. 

1803. C. J. Gale. 
Alexander McArthur. 



1864. 


Alexander McArthur. 


1872. 


P. S. Aokerson. 


1865. 


11. J. Newell. 


1873. 


J. B. Eveleth. 


1866. 


J. N. Ingersoll. 




Schuyler Ferris. 




G. W. Harris. 


1874. 


Duane Cooper. 


1867. 


C. J. Gale. 




I. 0. Derr. 


1868. 


G. N. Roberts. 


1875. 


C. Mead. 


1869. 


W. A. Maynard. 




C. H. Powell. 




B. R. Parsons. 


1876. 


N. B. Aiken. 




H. J. Newell. 


1877. 


J. A. Thompson 


1870. 


W. A. Maynard. 


1878. 


A. B. Stedman. 




A. A. Barry. 


1879. 


Hugh Parker. 


1871. 


Calvin Flint. 




James MoBride. 


1872. 


D. B. Reed. 


1880. 


J. B. Eveleth. 



HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 



1840. 



1841. 



1842. 



1843. 



1844. 



1845. 



1846. 



1847. 



1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
1852. 

1853. 
1854. 
1865. 



William II. Jewett. 
John Davids. 
Henry Jennings. 
A. Blain. 

Abram Garrabraut. 
William H. Jewett. 
A. Blain. 
W. H. Jewett. 
Oliver Eraser. 
A. Blain. 
C. S. Johnson. 
John Pope. 
W. H. Jewett. 
Stephen Hawkins. 

A. Blain. 

B. M. Waterman. 

C. S. Johnson. 
John Davids. 
William Lemon. 
C. R. Gilbert. 

E. C. Kimberley. 
C. S. Johnson. 
W. H. Jewett. 
C. R. Gilbert. 
C. R. Gilbert. 
E. M. Bacon. 

C. S. Johnson. 

D. Morton. 

B. M. Waterman. 
Philo Rockwell. 
G.W. Haines. 
Philo Rockwell. 

E. C. Kimberley. 



1856. 


H. J. Newell. 




H. B. Flint. 


1857. 


T. R. Young. 




H. J. Newell. 


1858. 


J. M. Thayer. 




T. R. Young. 


1859. 


R. McLaughlin. 




J. R.Thompson. 


1860. 


J. A. Thompson. 


1861. 


J. R. Thompson. 


1862. 


Milo Stewart. 


186,3. 


Charles Rhodes. 


1864. 


H. B. Young. 




Robert Lyon. 


1865. 


Joseph Kelly. 


1866. 


Samuel West. 


1867. 


Robert McBride. 




Enos Merrill. 


1868. 


Horace Peacock. 


1869. 


Isaac Sutton. 




John Kelly. 


1870. 


Enos Merrill. 


1871. 


John Kelly. 


1872. 


George T. Sanders 


1873. 


C. H. Powell. 


1874. 


John Kelly. 




C. B. Pelton. 


1875. 


P. S. Ackerson. 


1876. 


W. J. Hinman. 


1877. 


N. L. Jennings. 


1878 


William Packer. 


1879 


Daniel Manger. 


1880 


Joel C. Potter. 



DIRECTORS OF THE POOR. 



1840-41. S. N. Warren. 1849- 

Alexander McArthur. 1851. 

1842. Stephen Hawkins. 

Robert Lyon. 1862. 

1843. Harlow Beach. 

J. B. Howard. 1853. 

1844. S. W. Cooper^ 

J. B. Howard. 1854- 

1845. R. R. Thompson. 

Seth Beach. 1856. 

1846. L. B. Gilbert. 

Seth Beach. 1857. 

1847. H. Beach. 

S. Perkins. 1858. 

1848. J. M. Eraser. 

George W. Haines. 1859. 

1349-50. J. M. Eraser. 



50 S. W. Cooper. 

Harlow Beach. 

C. S. Johnson. 

S. W. Cooper. 

Harlow Beach. 

Hiram Smith. 

G. W. Wait. 

55. E. McLaughlin. 

James Cummin. 

James Cummin. 

A. H. Beach. 

C. S. Johnson. 

R. P. Ciark. 

James Cummin. 

A. H. Beaeh. 

Cranston Belden. 

S. W. Cooper. 



ASSESSORS. 



1840. W. R. Seymour. 
G. J. Van Buren. 
Philo Rockwell. 

1841. S. N. Warren. 



1841. W. R. Thompson. 
R. R. Thompson. 

1842. B. M. Waterman. 
C. S. Johnson. 



CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 



217 



1839. Ninion Clark. 



COLLECTORS. 

1840-41. S. Z. Kinjon. 



SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 
187.')-SII. Duane C. Cooper. 

DRAIN COMMISSIONERS. 



1872. 


John Kelly. 


1876. 


Theron Stevens. 


1873. 


Jonas Hoenshell. 


1877- 


78. C. H. Raymond. 


1874. 


Charles Doane. 


1879. 


Orvill Grant. 


1875. 


C. B. Pelton. 


1880. 


Darwin Shavalier. 






CONSTABLES. 


1840. 


S. Z. Kinyon. 


1858. 


J. A. Fowler. 


1841. 


S. Z. Kin.von. 




Lyman Newell. 




H. R. Seymour. 


1859. 


J. L. Smith. 




John Ackley. 




J. C. Preston. 


1842. 


S. Z. Kinyon. 




Jonah Fuller. 




Henry Jennings. 




H. B. Young. 




Abrauj Garrabrant. 


1860. 


J. L. Smith. 


1843. 


J. R. Corwin. 




W. R. Witherell. 




Henry Jennings. 




C. H. Brown. 




Orsamus Doty, 




M. Miller. 


1844. 


Henry Jennings. 


1861. 


H. M. Rowefer. 




S. Z. Kinyon. 




J. L. Smith. 




0. Doty. 




L. W. Gaffney. 


1845 


S. Z. Kinyon. 




M. Miller. 




Henry Jennings. 


1862. 


L. W. Gaffney. 




0. Doty. 




W. R. Witherell. 


184fi. 


John Redeon. 




M. Miller. 




0. Doty. 




Samuel Stickney. 




S. Z. Kinyon. 


1863. 


J. R. Corwin. 


1847. 


T. S. Morton. 




Isaac Dorr. 




J. E. Chaffee. 




H. A. Huntington. 




0. Doty. 




Edwin Hawkins. 




John Nedson. 


1864. 


David Beatty. 


1848. 


T. S. Morton. 




J. B. Armstrong. 




J. R. Cummin. 




E. M. Bailey. 




G. W. Wait. 




Joshua Morton. 




G. Tuttle. 


1865 


L. W. Gaffney. 


1849. 


L. C. Eddy. 




H. H. Bartlett. 




Brooklyn Stewart. 




J. L. Smith. 




A. C. Kilnberley. 




J. E. Bush. 


1850. 


John Redson. 


1866. 


George Badgen. 




L. C. Eddy. 




Jonah Fuller. 




B. Stewart. 




Solomon Blake. 




D. Martin. 




J. L. Smith. 


1851 


AVilliam Lemon. 


1867 


S. G. Blake. 




L. C. Eddy. 




Calvin Smith. 




G. Tuttle. 




C. D. Smith. 




E. W. Sliokney. 




W. H. Roam. 


1852 


L. C. Eddy. 


1868 


M. Miller. 




John Redson. 




Calvin Smith. 




Nelson Hickey. 




George Badgen. 


1853 


David W. Palmer. 




Clark Smith. 




John Redson. 


1869 


C. D. Smith. 




L. C. Eddy. 




John Vedder. 




John Dwight. 




William Stewart. 


1854 


James R. Cummin. 




Jackson Shore. 




D. W. Palmer. 


1870 


A. G. Young. 




Lewis Lyon. 




Frederick Young. 




L. C. Eddy. 




James Barry. 


1855 


T. S. Morton. 




J. W. Curtis. 




D. Morton. 


1871 


John Miller. 




J. L. Smith. 




James McBride. 




D. W. Palmer. 




William Derr. 


1856 


C. McArthur. 




Charles Lamonion. 




J. L. Smith. 


1872 


E. H. Vail. 




D. R. Corwin. 




Albert Young. 




W. D. Ingersoll. 




J. Hoenshell. 


1857 


R. .M. Ford. 




J. A. Fitch. 


1858 


R. M. Ford. 


1873 


Edward Lamoreau.x 




D. W. Palmer. 




C. C. Kelly. 



1873. Frederick Young. 
Albert Young. 

1874. Richard Goward. 
Frederick Young. 
Charles H. Raymond. 
A. H. Innes. 

1875. S. Mead. 

H. Humphrey. 
Theron Stevens. 
Frederick Y'oung. 

1876. E. Couoly. 
Frank Kingsbury. 
A. H. Innes. 

F. Young. 

1877. F. Kingsbury. 



1877. G. W. McClellan. 

E. Conoly. 

F. Y'^oung. 

1878. E. Conoly. 

F. Kingsbury. 

E. J. Almendinger. 

Charles Edwards. 

1879. John Jenkins. 
William Boyd. 
Isaac 0. Derr. 
Theron Stevens. 

1880. G. W. Kelley. 
John Brands. 
George W. McClellan. 



28 



EARLY ROADS. 

At a meeting of the highway commissiotiers of the town- 
ship of Caledonia, held the 16th day of May, 1839, Ninion 
Clark, John Davids, and Stephen Hawkins, forming the 
board of commissioners above mentioned, divided the town- 
ship into the following road districts : 

District No. 1, embracing sections Nos. 14, 15, 17, 20, 
21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35. 

District No. 2, embracing sections Nos. 13, 23, 24, 25, 
26, 36. 

District No. 3, containing sections Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 
9, 10, 11, 12. 

The first recorded road is known as a road from Corunna 
to Warren's and Capt. Davids', and is described as a high- 
way " commencing at the south line of township No. 7 
north, of range 3 east, at the corners of sections 35 and 
36, and running thence north on section line one hundred 
and sixteen chains and twenty-five links to the south bank 
of the Shiawassee River; thence west northwest along the 
bank of said river and fifty links therefrom, sixteen chains 
and forty links to the quarter line of section 26 ; thence 
west on said quarter line one hundred and fifty-two chains 
and thirty-three links to the centre of tlie highway running 
from the village of Corunna to Shiawasseetown." 

The following road, surveyed at the same date, began on 
the south line of township No. 7 north, of range 3 east, 
sixty links west of the corners of sections 31 and 32, and 
ran thence north thirty degrees, east sixty-three chains and 
fifty links ; thence north sixty-five degrees, east seventy-two 
chains and .sixty-five links ; thence north thirty-seven chains 
and eighty-one links to or near the south line of the plat 
of the village of Corunna, in said town. These highways 
were surveyed by Daniel Gould, May 28 and 29, 1839. 

The road from Capt. Davids' to Shiawasseetown was 
surveyed Jan. 8, 1840. Beginning at the corners of sec- 
tions 25 and 36, in township 7 north, of range 3 east, on 
the east line of said township, and running thence west on 
said section line eighteen chains and ninety links ; thence 
north fifty-five degrees, west fifty-nine chains and twenty- 
five links; thence east twenty-four chains and fifty links to 
a stake standing on the west bank of the Shiawassee River, 
on the line of a road running east from Corunna, on the 
quarter line to said stake. In June of the same year a 
road was surveyed by Nelson Ferry, running north of 
Corunna, and tlie following August a highway was opened 
on the south line of the township of Caledonia, which wa.s 
recorded on the 15th day of the same month. 



218 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SCHOOLS. 

No very definite information is obtainable regarding the 
early schools of the township. A school was opened in 
Corunna some time before the erection of a school building 
in the township, and those settlers who removed to Caledonia 
then enjoyed the advantages of education afforded in the 
village. The earliest school-house was erected in the year 
1842, and a school opened in it by Miss Drusilla Cook, who 
for a number of terms instructed the youth of the township. 
Her successor is not remumbered. The present school ter- 
ritory of Caledonia is divided into four whole and two frac- 
tional districts. The following-named gentlemen compose 
the board of directors : Walter Smalley, Albert Youngs, 
Jonas Hornshell, Erwin Eveleth, John Brands, Samuel 
Kirby. The number of scholars in attendance is two hun- 
dred and seventy-three, of whom seventeen are non-residents. 
They are under charge of two male and eleven female teach- 
ers, who receive in salaries a sum total of nine hundred and 
fifty-seven dollars. The value of school property in the 
township is six thousand four hundred dollars, which em- 
braces one brick and five frame buildings. 

COAL-MINING. 

In 1837 a geological survey of the State was authorized, 
and Dr. Douglas Houghton was placed in charge of it. 
During the progress of the survey Corunna was visited, at 
that time consisting of one log house occupied by John 
Davids. The examination made by the corps along the Shi- 
awassee River satisfied them that the character and dip of 
the rock indicated the presence of coal ; but none was dis- 
covered at that time. Two years later, in 1839, Alexander 
McArthur discovered coal on his land on the bank of Coal 
Creek, in the southeast quarter of section 22, about half a 
mile west of where the present coal-beds are being worked. 
It was at first taken out in small quantities, and as it became 
known that coal could be obtained, purchasers (mostly black- 
smiths) came from long distances, and trade increased to 
quite an extent. It was delivered on the wagons of pur- 
chasers for ten cents per bushel. 

It was not, however, till many years after that any organ- 
ized effort was made to mine coal to any extent. About 
186-4, B. Brisco, master mechanic of the Detroit and Mil- 
waukee Railroad, assisted Mr. McArthur in making exami- 
nations of the coal deposits. Parties in New York City be- 
came interested in the discoveries and it was decided to organ- 
ize a company for the purpose of mining coal, to be known as 
the McArthur Mining Company, with a capital of one hun- 
dred thousand dollars. On the 22d day of April, 1805, 
Mr. McArthur sold to the company one hundred and twenty 
acres of land on the east half of the northwest quarter and 
the west half of the west part of the northeast quarter of 
section 22. The parties interested were Alexander McAr- 
thur, of Corunna ; Dr. G. M. Peck, Samuel Daskham, and 
Edward W. Lockwood, of New York City. Dr. Peck was 
chosen president, A. McArthur local agent. A large amount 
of money was expended in the erection of engine-rooms, coal- 
houses, offices, and tramways. In addition to machinery and 
buildings at the mines, an extensive wharf was built on the 
Detroit River, sheds and other buildings were erected, and 



an agency established in the city of Detroit. The cost of 
transportation was great from the coal-beds to the depot, and 
in the latter part of 18G6, labor was suspended and the com- 
pany dissolved. 

The Briar Hill Iron and Coal Company of Ohio, in 1869 
and 1870, sent out to this county Charles Gilbert, a practi- 
cal geologist, to examine the coal region. lie began at once 
the labor of testing for coal. Fifty-six test-holes were drilled 
and deposits of coal were found in forty-six of them. On 
the 1st day of April, 1871, Henry P. Gilbert purchased of 
Chauncey Hurlburt the land on which these tests were made, 
62J^ acres on the west part of the southwest fractional 
quarter of section 23. In the December following he sold 
an interest to George F. Perkins, John Stambaugh, of 
Akron, Ohio, and George Todd, of Youngstown, Ohio. In 
the following year (1872) they opened a slope and began 
the work of mining, and operated for about a year, but not 
being successful the work was abandoned, the company hav- 
ing expended ninety thousand dollars in various efforts. 

On the 26th of February, 1873, the Corunna Coal Com- 
pany was organized for mining coal, fire-clay, and other 
ores or minerals, with a capital stock of one hundred and 
fifty thousand dollars, forty thousand dollars paid in. The 
corporators were George F. Perkins, of Akron, Ohio ; 
George Todd, Youngstown, Ohio ; Henry P. Gilbert and 
Harry R. Gilbert, of Corunna, with an office at Youngs- 
town and Corunna. On the 5th of December, 1874, the 
lands previously worked on section 23 were purchased by 
the Corunna Coal Company, who have since leased lands 
adjoining. In 1877 the company were induced (after a 
thorough investigation, which assured them that large 
fields of coal yet existed on their purchase) to open a new 
shaft seventy-five feet in length. They were rewarded in 
discovering a rich vein of the mineral from two feet three 
inches to three feet nine inches in thickness. The neces- 
sary works for mining and shipping were completed in 
June, 1877, and the company at once began their labors. 
This branch of industry having been unfamiliar to the 
workmen of the neighborhood, much difficulty was at 
first experienced in obtaining miners who were skilled in 
their occupation. This obstacle was finally obviated by 
employing nearly one hundred laborers from Ohio, who are 
constantly engaged in various departments of the work. Of 
this number seventy-five are skilled miners. 

From seventy-five to one hundred tons are mined daily, 
though the maximum quantity is rarely reached during the 
summer season. The coal was originally hauled from the 
mines to the depot of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, 
a distance of two and a half miles. This difficulty was 
obviated by the construction, in 1872, of a branch road 
from Corunna to the present base of operations, which ma- 
terially decreases the labor and expense. The stockholders 
of the Corunna Coal Company are George Todd, George 
F. Perkins, Thomas Struthers, John Stambaugh, H. P. 
Gilbert. The officers are George Todd, President ; Todd 
Kincaid, Secretary and Treasurer. 



•t-rwT- 







5 
o 

I 

5 



Q: 



I 









CALEDONIA TOWNSHIP. 



219 



BIOGRAPHTGAL SKETCH. 





THOMAS R. YOUNG. 



MRS. THOMAS R. YOUNG. 



THOMAS R. YOUNG. 



Mr. Youug is de.scended from New Elngland stock, his 
father, who early acquired the sturdy calling of a black- 
smith, having been a native of Connecticut, as was also 
his mother, formerly Miss Nancy Crane. Thomas R., the 
seventh of an interesting family of eight children, was born 
in Hampton, Windham Co., Conn., Sept. 26, 1815, and 
became a resident of the Empire State at the age of eigh- 
teen years. Ten years later found the family pioneers to 
Michigan, where they chose a location in Lapeer County. 
In 1840 the family circle was afflicted by the irreparable 
loss of the wife and mother, whom the father survived but 
six years, having during the interval improved a tract of 
land in Lapeer County and followed farming pursuits. 

Thomas R., on taking leave of his home, at the age of 
eighteen, found ready employment in New York State, a 
portion of the time being engaged on the Erie Canal. 
When twenty years of age he was influenced by the charms 
of a seafaring life to become a sailor, and joined the crew 
of the ship " Rambler," which sailed from Nantucket on a 
three years' cruise. Mr. Young's share of the proceeds of 
the return cargo was three hundred dollars, with which he 
made a pleasure trip, and then repaired to his father's home 
in Michigan. In the spring of 1839 he entered the farm 
upon which he at present resides, together with other land 
embracing two hundred and eighty acres. After becoming 
weary of the .solitary life of a bachelor he married, Feb. 
21, 1841, Miss Nancy M. Hart, whose birth occurred in 
New York State, Aug. 17, 1823, and whose father brought 



her when an infant from Monroe Co., N. Y., to the wilds 
of New Haven township. Mr. Hart died in 1867, having 
survived his wife nearly forty years. Mrs. Young is now 
the only living representative of a family of eight children. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Young, a sketch of whose home ap- 
pears on an adjoining page, were born seven children in the 
following order : William, born Dec. 20, 1841, died April 
21, 1843; Albert, born Feb. 13, 1843; Lucinda, born 
Dec. 2, 1845; Melinda, born Aug. 28, 1847; Sarah M., 
born Aug. 20, 1849, died Oct. 15, 1872 ; Mary I., born 
July 8, 1851 ; Delia A., born Sept. 13, 1853, died March 
19, 1866. All the surviving children are married and es- 
tablished in comfortable homes adjacent to the family resi- 
dence. 

Mr. Young's present farm includes two hundred and sixty 
acres, which, in the high degree of cultivation it has at- 
tained, well attests the industry and enterprise of its owner. 

The political preferences of Mr. Young have led him to 
associate with the Democratic party. He has held minor 
township offices, though not an aspirant for political honors. 
He has been since his residence in Caledonia actively inter- 
ested in educational matters, and assisted in the erection of 
the earliest scliuol building of the district. He is inclined 
to liberalism in his religious views, though not dogmatic in 
the assertion of his opinions. 

As a striking example of the .self made man, Mr. Thomas 
R. Young is one of the finest types that Sliiawassee County 
afibrds. 



220 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP.* 

Location, Natural and Artificial Features — Settlement of Fairfield — 
Tax-payers of 1854-55 — Township Organization and Civil List^ 
Voters of 1859 — Highways — Schools — Religious— Fairfield in the 
Rebellion — Fatal Accidents. 

This township (the youngest in the county), lying upon 
the meridian line and occupying the northwestern corner of 
Shiawassee County, is but a fractional town, containing 
twenty-four full sections and six fractional sections, equal 
in the aggregate to twenty-five full sections. The township 
boundaries are the Saginaw County line on the north, Mid- 
dlebury township on the south, Rush township on the east, 
and the Clinton County line on the we.st. 

When Fairfield received its first settlers it was heavily and 
densely timbered in every portion, except along the northern 
border, where there was a strip of pine woods. There was, 
moreover, considerable swamp land, and of this there is yet 
an abundance, although much has been reclaimed and more 
will be, rapidly, according to present indications. There is 
a swamp tract of perhaps a thousand acres in the north, 
that touches .sections 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11, and one reach- 
ing from section 18 towards the southwest, :is far as the 
centre of section 22, and containing something like seven 
hundred acres. There are other pieces of swamp, but they 
amount in the aggregate to nothing important. Extended 
town-ditches have latterly worked most excellent results in 
clearing up these waste lands, which must ultimately, and 
speedily, too, become valuable to the husbandman. A 
singular topographical feature of the country may be 
further remarked in the presence of a ridge, or " divide," 
which, extending north and south through the town, from 
section 2 to section 35, causes the water-courses of the 
town to flow both eastward and westward. 

Fairfield is distinguished as a town that has never con- 
tained either church building, post-ofiBce, store, mill, or 
mechanical industry, or yet permitted the sale of alcoholic 
liquors within its borders. It is now and has ever been a 
purely agricultural region, and is esteemed among the most 
productive in the county. The surface is quite level and 
is dotted in numerous localities with cold-water springs, 
wherefore it was sought, upon the organization (}f the town, 
to bestow upon it the name of Cold Spring. 

Fairfield enjoyed in 1869 the anticipation of railway 
transportation conveniences at home, for in that year the 
town voted bonds to the amount of si.x thousand five hun- 
dred dollars in aid of the Owosso and Big llapids Railway. 
The line was graded partially through the town, but the en- 
terprise failed, and to-day remains in the unfinished condi- 
tion in which it was then left. As the bonds were to be 
donated only upon the completion of the road, the town 
was, of course, not called upon to make the payment. 

SETTLEMENT OF FAIRFIELD. 
Previous to 1850 the town now known as Fairfield was 
untenanted by settlers, although settlements south and west 
of it were made as early as 1836. Why immigrants held 

* By David Schwartz. 



aloof so long cannot be explained, except upon the general 
supposition that as it was one of the extreme northern 
towns in the county it w;is compelled to await the settle- 
ment of towns in more southerly localities. Even when 
the tide of pioneering did set in towards the town it rolled 
sluggishly at first, and failed to show much volume until 
1854. A majority of Fairfield's early settlers came from 
Ohio, and indeed a large proportion of the later ones came 
from that State. 

The place now occupied by S. G. (i. Main on section 35 
is the locality of the first white settlement effected in Fair- 
field. Lewis Lockwood was the settler, and the spring of 
1850 the date of his coming. At that date there were, of 
course, white settlements close at hand in neighboring town- 
ships, yet it was no slight task to penetrate single-handed 
into the then dense forest that covered town 8. Lock- 
wood was, however, a sturdy pioneer, and bravely held his 
way through all obstacles, although he and bis lamily ex- 
pen'enced in no small degree the hardships of an almost 
isolated existence in the woods. Lockwood was the solitary 
settler until the fall of that year, when Aaron S. Braley 
entered the town and moved to the northeastern corner 
upon section 2, f;ir from the locations of other white men 
and deep into a lonely stretch of wilderness. Braley ex- 
perienced with his family a sharper taste of hardships and 
privations than fell to the lot of Lockwood, since he was 
farther removed from neighbors, and in times of emergency 
had to go farther and pass over more difficulties in the 
journeys to localities of civilization for supplies or assist- 
ance. His and Lockwood's were for some little time the 
only resident families in the town, and upon one occa.sion 
Lockwood said to him, " Braley, you and I own the whole 
of this town : you are the only one north of the swamp 
and I the only one south of it." Of the Lockwoods none 
are now in Fairfield ; of the Braleys the widow and her son 
Alonzo still remain. Mrs. Lockwood's daughter, Henrietta, 
born 1851, was the first white child born in the town, and 
Mrs. Lockwood, who died in 1854, the first white person 
who died in Fairfield. Her husband died in 1858. 

The third settler was James E. Rouse, who came in 1851, 
and occupied upon section 11a place still the home of Mrs. 
Elizabeth Cramer, whom he left his widow. Rouse cut out 
his road from Hiram Bennett's in Duplain to section 11, a 
distance of two miles and a half, and had for a time upon 
his farm in the woods a sadly lonesome time. He was poor, 
and made shift to get along only by tedious struggles and 
much comfortless denial. Mrs. Cramer relates that she 
passed through a very tedious experience in encountering 
the cares and vexations of pioneer life. Carrying water 
from a place a mile away from her home was among the 
many familiar examples of life in the woods, while howling 
wolves awakened frequent fears and tested her resolute 
spirit to the utmost. 

Referring to Braley once more, and the .sorry time he 
met in his efforts to pick up a livelihood, it is recalled that 
he was often compelled to make a journey on foot of twenty 
miles to St. Charles, where he got a chance to work for a 
supply of flour or other provisions, and when he had earned 
the provisions he had to bring them upon his back to the 
home where he had been compelled to leave his wife and 



PAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



221 



little ones to tremble in their loneliness while he toiled for 
something to keep the wolf of starvation from the door. 
They were frequently so poorly oflF for something to eat that 
on more than one occasion they subsisted on nothing but 
such nutritious roots as they could find in the woods. 

THE MUNSON SETTLEMENT. 

In the spring of 1853, George B. Munson made a loca- 
tion in Fairfield upon section 32, where he still resides. At 
that time the population of the town included just six other 
families. They were the families of A. S. Braley, on sec- 
tion 2 ; Lewis Lockwood, on section 35 ; James Rouse, on 
section 11 ; Henry Higgins, on section 17; Moses Wool, 
on section 8 ; and Henry Wool, on section 8. In the spring 
of 1S53 came Alfred Veltman, John Myers, and Henry 
Stebbins, and in the autumn following, Abadillah Borden 
and Uriah Squires. The road passirg now eastward from 
Mr. Munson's place was then simply underbrushed for three 
miles, but was not in a condition passable for wagons. The 
Meridian road was not opened until about two years after, 
and this, as well as many other highways, was constructed 
through the medium of " road-bees," at which, on each 
Saturday, the settlers would gather e« masse and work to- 
gether to improve the means for getting out of and into 
town. Urged on by their great desire to see the work 
pushed ahead rapidly they performed effective service, and 
the result was that ere long they had all the roads they 
wanted, and moderately good ones at that. Of the settlers 
mentioned as having been in the town when George B. 
Munson came in, he is the only one now permanently 
residing in it, although Henry Wool owns a farm in the 
town, and resides occasionally upon it. 

Mr. Munson brought with him a pair of horses, and it is 
his recollection that there was at that time no other horse- 
team in the town, nor had there been but one, which the 
Wool family brought in and traded off directly after they 
came. Horse-teams were so scarce, indeed, as late as 1862, 
that when in that year Roe G. Van Deusen made the town 
assessment he found but three horse-teams and not more 
than fifty sheep. 

In 1854 settlers began to come in quite rapidly. Alfred 
Veltman, who has been mentioned as a settler in 1853, came 
to the town in 1851, put up a cabin on section 35, made a 
clearing, and put in a crop. He kept bachelor's hall on his 
place two years, and then going East for his family, came 
back in 1853 and made a permanent .settlement. Upon that 
place now lives Mrs. Sophia Culver, who was Mr. Vellman's 
widow. Among the settlers in 1854 were E. F. Bennett, 
Oscar Darling, Dory Castle, and later Ira Allen, the Brain- 
ards, Perkins, Moses Leavitt, C. J. Austin, Charles Wait, 
Wm. Peck, I. L. Munson, C. G. Munson, John W. Curtis, 
Orrin Wetherboe, Merrick Rockwell, Ralph Van Deu.sen, 
E. J. Herrington, and B. W. Darling. Ralph Van Deusen 
came in 1854 from Medina Co., Ohio, and in 185U he was 
joined by his brother, Roe G. Van Deusen, who came and 
stopped in town through that summer, working at his trade 
as carpenter. In 1859 he made a permanent settlement 
upon the place he now occupies. 

Elder Ira Allen, now on section 17, located in Duplain 
in 1852, and in 1850 moved to his present home, which 



was first settled by Henry Higgins. Elder Allen began to 
preach Baptist sermons shortly after his location in Fair- 
field, and for the past sixteen years has been pastor of the 
Baptist Church of Elsie. Upon the Meridian line in Fair- 
field in 1856, when Allen located, the residents were Ralph 
Van Deusen, Merrick Rockwell, E. J. Harrington (who 
built the fir.st framed house in the town ), John W. Curtis 
(who had bought out Henry Wool), George B. Munson, 
Charles Wait, David Bates, and Moses Wool. 

Concerning B. W. Darling, one of the settlers of 1854, 
there is related a story of his ready wit in an emergency 
and how he tricked a would-be trickster. " Buck" Dar- 
ling, as he was known, was one of the town constables, and 
was one day commissioned verbally to procure the arrest of 
one Seely, who, it appears, had received an advance of 
money upon a contract to build a school-house, and who 
was understood to be contemplating a hurried departure 
from the town instead of a fulfillment of his contract. 
When Darling received orders for Seely 's arrest he felt 
sure that if he delayed long enough to procure a warrant 
in the regular way Seely would be off and out of sight, 
since report had it that he was even then making ready for 
flight, and was perhaps that moment on the wing. In the 
emergency the sight of a " road-warrant" lying near him 
gave Darling a sudden inspiration, and seizing the road- 
warrant as if his salvation rested within it, he made off 
post-haste after Seely. As luck would have it he over- 
hauled the latter as he was upon the eve of taking a hasty 
leave of absence, and presenting his document so that only 
the word " warrant" appeared to view, said, " Seely, you 
can't go just now ; I've a warrant for you, and I rather guess 
you'll have to go with me." Seely looked at the " warrant" 
as Darling held it before him, and felt inclined to rebel at 
an adverse fate that thus left him in the lurch, but he never 
questioned the genuineness of the document upon which he 
was captured, and so marched away with his captor. The 
upshot of the aifair was that to avoid a prosecution he 
made a settlement of the matter at issue, and received his 
liberty. Not until then was he informed of the trick that 
had been played upon him, and it is said that upon learn- 
ing it he became one of the most disgusted men ever heard 
of in Shiawassee County. 

E. F. Bennett, conspicuousl}' identified with town afiiiirs 
for twenty-five years, came to the township in 1854, directly 
after Uri Squires, who located in the fall of 1853. An 
underbrushed road was the only highway which Bennett 
could use when he moved in, but that condition of things 
he, with Squires and others, soon improved by introducing 
" road-bees" and getting roads into such shai)e that travel 
thereon was fiiirly easy. 

E. S. Hambleton came from Ohio in May, 1855, to land 
upon section 28, which was even then a wilderness. His 
nearest neighbor was Dory C. Castle, who lived a half-mile 
to the westward. East tlie neighborhood was a swampy 
and heavily-wooded region. William Oaks, brother-in-law 
to Hambleton (subse(|uently county register of deeds and 
Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the Independent 
Order of Odd-Fellows of the State), .soon came in and 
located upon a farm adjoining Hambleton's on the east. 



222 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



C. D. Searl, also a brother-in-law to Hambleton, came with 
the latter, and still lives west of the Hambleton place. 

W. H. Dunham came with his son, W. C. Dunham, in 
1861, and bought one hundred and sixty acres on section 
15. The son made his settlement in 1861, but the elder 
Dunham deferred his permanent establishment until 1862. 
Upon the quarter section taken by the Dunhams there had 
not been a stick cut up to 1861. North, on section 10, 
was Asa Burbank, who occupied the place soon afterwards 
bought by Andrew Williams, with whom, in 1865, came 
to the town also his nephew, Thomas Williams, now living 
on section 15. On section 3, in 1861, were Enos Gay and 
James Corp, and on section 1 was W. L. Arnold, upon the 
place settled earlier by Edward Smith. 

Among the later settlers in Fairfield other than such as 
have already been mentioned may be noted the names of 
William Warner, William Peck, Eli Chamberlain, Chester 
Fox, H. W. Fuller, S. G. Main, C. B. Loyens, J. B. 
White, and E. W. Washburn. 



THE TAX-PAYERS OF 1854. 

Fairfield's first assessment-roll, made out for the year 
1854, presented the following names of resident tax-payers, 
with the number of acres owned by each : 

Acres. 

George B. Munson, sections 29, 32 121 

Henry Stebbius, sections .33, 28 160 

John A. Borden, section 28 40 

Uri Squires, section 33 120 

E. F. Bennett, sections 28, 33, 34 120 

Moses Leavitt, section 24 160 

Alfred Veltman, section 35 160 

Lewis Lockwood, section 35 80 

Henry Higgins, section 17 54 

James Rouse, section 11 100 

Moses Wool, sections 8,9 80 

Aaron Braley, section 2 40 

Number of acres assessed 10,138 

Value of real estate .*29,694 

'* personal estate 1,525 



THE RESIDENT TAX-PAYERS OF 1855. 

Acres. 

A. S. Braley, section 2 40 

Moses Wool, sections 8, 9 80 

James E. Rouse, section 11 100 

H. Higgins, section 17 53 

Oscar Darling, section 21 80 

Samuel Garrison, section 24 80 

John Gillam, section 24 80 

Moses Leavitt, section 24 160 

Levi Mosher, section 24 40 

D. S. Buffington, section 24 40 

Warren Wetherbee, section 26 80 

P. F. Balfour, section 26 40 

B. W. Darling, section 27 100 

E. F. Bennett, sections 28, 33, .34 120 

D. A. Castle, section 28 160 

J. A. Borden, section 20 ' 80 

William Walrath, section 28 40 

William Peck, section 28 40 

G. B. Munson, sections 29, 32 120 

Henry Stebbins, section 33 160 

Charles Wait, sections 32, 33 71 

Ori Squires, section 33 120 

A. Veltman, section 35 160 

L. Lockwood, section 35 120 

J. M. Gifford, section 23 80 

Silas Sowle, section 34 40 



THE TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1854. 

The first annual report oT the town treasurer, dated Nov. 
20, 1854, presented the following: 



Dr. 

To $544.48 

Cr. 

Return of delinquent taxes $353.53 

Town orders 52.27 

Collecting fee 7.64 

Balance in treasury 131.04 

$544.48 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

Town 8 north, in range 1 east, was a portion of the 
township of Middlebury until Jan. 4, 1854, when it was 
set ofl" by the Board of Supervisors and given separate 
jurisdiction under the name of Fairfield. The name of 
Brunswick was sent in, among others, to the supervisors as 
one desired by many residents of the town, for it was from 
Brunswick, Ohio, that a majority of the town's early set- 
tlers came. For some reason of their own, however, the 
supervisors put aside all the names sent in and adopted the 
one now borne by the town. 

The first town-meeting was held April 3, 1854, in the 
house of Henry Stebbius, and even at that comparatively 
late date Fairfield was so thinly populated that but twelve 
votes were cast, and as there was necessarily but one ticket 
in the field — the town being Democratic — the election was 
quickly and easily brought to a conclusion. 

The result of the election is given below : 

Officere. Candidates. Votes. 

Supervisor J. A. Borden'^-' 12 

Clerk Henry Stebbins* 12 

Treasurer Henry Higgins* 12 

f Lewis Lockwood^' 9 

I Uri Squires* 7 

..James E. Rouse* 7 

..Henry Higgins 6 

..G. B. Munson 6 

[ Uri Squires (one year)* 12 

. .. ,., „ I Alfred Veltman (two years)* 12 

Justices of the Peace ^ g_ j,^^^^^ ^^j^^^^ ^^^^_.^j^ jg 

[ ..• A. S. Braley (four years)* 12 

John A. Myers* 5 

James Hall* 11 

J. E. Rouse* 6 

Alfred Veltman (one year)* 12 

Uri Squires (two years)* 7 

John A. Borden 6 

i Henry Stebbins* 11 

Poorraasters < Alfred Veltman* 6 

( John A. Myers* 5 

One hundred and fifty dollars were voted for highways 
and one hundred and twenty-five dollars for coutiugeut 
expenses. The pathmasters were A. S. Braley for district 
No. 1, J. A. Myers for district No. 2, and Uri Squires for 
district No. 3. Subjoined is a list of the persons chosen 
annually from 1855 to 1880 to serve as supervisor, clerk, 
treasurer, and justice of the peace: 



Highway Commissioners 



Year 


Super\i8o!-s. 


Clerks. 


Treasurers. 


Justices. 


IS.W. 


J. A. Borden. 


G. B. .Munson. 


H. Higgins. 


A. S. Braley. 


1866. 


" " 


•' " 


" " 


P. Balfour. 


1857. 


Ira Alien. 


E. S. Hambleton. 


D. S. Bnrtlelt. 


E. F. Bennett. 


1858. 


" 


" 


" 


J. W. Curtis. 


1859. 


William Oakes. 


C. D. Searl. 


G. W. Bates. 


G. W. Bates. 


1860. 


E. S. Uamblfton. 


" 


" " 


William Oakes. 


1801. 


Wm. Armour. 


" " 


William Oakes. 


It. G. Van Deusi-n 


1862. 


R.G.VauDeusen 


Cba^. Burleson. 


" 


E. P. Bennett. 


1863. 


" " 


0. D. Searl. 


" " 


Daniel Butts. 


1864. 


« •• 


" " 


R. F. Miller. 


C. G. Munsou. 


1865. 


C. D. Searl. 


B. P. Bennett. 


0. G. Munson. 


C. G. Wait. 


1866. 


.• .. 


A. K. Bennett. 


J.A.Borden. 


R. G. Van Deusen 


1867. 


K. G. Van Deusen 


" " 


C. Hddy. 


E. F. Bennett. - 






* Elected. 





M 
to 



m 
o 
O 






Co 

o 

^ 
b 



o 

i 




:•;,;* 
':•'!>«'. 



m 




-ji--y^ 



FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP. 



223 



Year 


Supervisors. 


Clerks. 


Treasiirers. 


Justices. 


1868. 


0. Eddy. 


S. G. Main. 


G. B. Munson. 


L. Church, 


1869. 


" " 


0. Butts. 


W. Warner. 


(-!. Munson. 


1870. 


0. D. Searl. 


F. F. Robbins. 


E. V. Bennett, 


H. W. Fuller, 


1871. 


R.G. Van Deiisen 


" " 


" " 


K, G, Van Dei^sen 


1872. 


.1 .. 


K. H. Van Deusen 


" " 


B, F, Bennett, 


1873. 


P. Scott. 


0. Eddy. 


E. W, Washburn 


" 


1874. 


E. W. Washburn 


" " 


G. U. Munson. 


F, Cushman, 


1876. 


" " 


" " 


William Warner 


E, F, Bennett, 


1876. 


>. .. 


" " 


G. B. Munson. 


F. Cushman. 


1877. 


.. 


" " 


A. H. Dunham. 


C. B. Loyens. 


1878. 


" " 


" " 


" 


R, G, Van Deusen 


1879. 


P. Scott. 


J. Colby. 


G. B. Munson. 


C. D. Searl, 


1880. 


E. W. Washburn 


R.G. Van Deusen 


" " 


M,S, HamWeton, 



Although the first supervisor, J. A. Boiden, was a Dem- 
ocrat, the town has been Republican in politics each year 
since 1855, with the exception of 1873 and 1879. 

THE VOTERS OF 18.57. 

Thirty-two votes were cast in 1857, as follows : Alniou 
Batchelor, Liva Mosher, D. S. Bartlett, Chauncey Searl, 
Clement Netheway, A. S. Braley, E. F. Bennett, J. W. 
White, B. W. Darling, John Wetherbce, M. M. Perkins, 
E. 8. Hambleton, Oscar Darling, Alfred Veltman, G. W. 
Bates, E. H. Harrington, Moses Wool, J. W. Curtis, A. K. 
Bennett, G. B. Munson, S. A. Mosher, Edwin Curtis, Mer- 
rick Rockwell, Ira Allen, Henry Stebbins, Warren Austin, 
R. H. Van Deusen, Uri Squires, J. E. Rouse, Ichabod Chase, 
William Oakes, Warren Wetheibee, John A. Borden. 

THE VOTERS OF 18.59. 

The list of voters first registered in 1859 under the reg- 
istry law contained the following names: (]. J. Austin, Ira. 
Allen, Warren Austin, A. J. Burleson, A. L. Batchelor, 

D. S. Bartlett, A. S. Braley, E. F. Bennett, A. K. Bennett, 
Geo. W. Bates, John A. Borden, Wni. Brainard, Lyman 
Brainard, P. F. Balfour, A. T. Burbauk, E. M. Curtis, Icha- 
bod Cha.se, K. B. Chamberlain, Henry Ferris, John Gillam, 
J. M. Gifford, Enos Gay, P. F. Garrison, Jesse Garrison, 

E. S. Hambleton, E. H. Harrington, E. B. Harrington, 
C. D. Loyens, C. B. Loyens, Geo. B. Munson, I. L. Mun- 
son, Liva Mosher, Wm. Oakes, Wm. Peck, A. E. Rock- 
well, James Rouse, Merrick Rockwell, Uri Squires, C. D. 
Searl, R. H. Van Deusen, Alfred Veltman, Moses Wood, 
Charles G. Wait, John Wetherbee, William Warner. 

HIGHWAYS. 

At the first town-meeting, April 3, 1854, the town was 
divided into three road districts as follows : No. 1 to em- 
brace the north half of the town ; No. 2 to include six 
sections in the southwestern corner of the town ; No. 3 
to include six sections and the three fractional sections 
in the southwestern corner of the town. July 21, 1854, 
a petition for a road from a point between sections 20 
aud 29, and running east to the east line of the town, 
was signed by Henry Higgins, James E. Rouse, Henry 
Stebbins, John A. Borden, George B. Munson, E. F. 
Bennett, Uri Squires, Lewis Lockwood, Moses Leavitt, 
Warren Wetherbee, and I. L. Munson. August 14 and 
15, 1854, a road was laid out, beginning at the north- 
east corner of section 25, and passing on section lines 
westward to the northwest corner of section 29 on the 
meridian line. Jan. 15, 1855, a road was laid out from 



the southwest corner of section 25 to the southeast corner 
of the section. Feb. 22, 1855, a petition for a road 
from the southeast corner of section 36 northward on the 
town line to the northeast corner of section 1 was signed 
by Cornelius J. Austin, Lewis Lockwood, J. M. Gifiiird, 
P. T. Balfour, D. S. Buffington, J. A. Borden, Henry 
Stebbins, John Gillam, Alfred Veltman, Samuel I. Garri- 
son, Moses Leavitt, E. F. Bennett, and Uri Squires. 

March 28, 1855, roads were laid as follows : One begin- 
ning at the southeast corner of section 25, and running 
thence to the northeast corner of the section ; one begin- 
ning at the southwest corner of section 35, and running on 
section lines to the southwest corner of section 23, thence 
to the southwest corner of section 21, and north to the 
southwest corner of fractional section 17. May 5, 1855, a 
road was laid beginning at the west quarter post of section 
24, and running thence to the east quarter post of said sec- 
tion. March 24, 1855, a road beginning at the quarter 
post on the line between sections 23 and 24, and running 
thence eastward to the town-line; one, June 30, 1855, be- 
ginning between sections 5 and 8, and running thence east- 
ward to the town-line; and one, Jan. 5, 1856, from the 
quarter jiost between sections 27 aud 34 south, on the 
quarter line of section 27. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school in Fairfield was taught by Elizabeth 
Borden in 1855. She began the term in Henry Stebbins' 
house, and finished it in the .school-house built that year. 
In Miss Borden's school there were twelve scholars, and 
among them was but one boy, Edwin R., son of E. F. 
Bennett. Presumably, therefore, Edwin was at that time 
the only male scholar in Fairfield. In 1856 school-houses 
in districts 2 and 3 were built. Henry Higgins took the 
contract for building the house in district No. 3 for seventy- 
five dollars, and then bargained with some of the residents 
in the district to put on additional work, they to furnish 
the lumber. He soon concluded he had made a profitless 
contract, and induced R. G. Van Deusen for a bonus of 
one thousand feet of lumber to take it off his hands. 

The annual school report for 1857 showed as follows: 

District, Children. Attendance. Months Teachers* 

Taught. Pay. 

No. 1 34 26 6i $68 

" 2 32 27 5 50 

" 3 24 19 6 44 

1858. 

No. 1 26 28 4J $41 

" 2 26 28 5i 45.25 

" 3 22 20 4} 40.84 

" 4 20 17 3i 33 

District No. 1, organized Nov. 7, 1854, was bounded 
north by sections 15, 16, and 17, west by the meridian 
line, south by the town-line, and east by sections 35, 26, 
and 23. No. 2, organized the same day, was bounded 
north by sections 13 and 14, west by sections 22, 27, and 
34, south by the town-line, and east by the town-line. No. 
3 was formed Nov. 3, 1855, and commenced at the south- 
west corner of fractional section 17, running thence east to 
section 14, north on section lines to the north town-line, 
thence west to the meridian line, and thence south to the 



224 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



place of beginning. No. 4 was organized June 22, 1858, 
by dividing district No. 1 on the quarter line east and west 
througli sections 27, 28, and 29. No 5 was formed Jan. 
17, 181)0, and No. 6 in October, 1865. 

Dec. 15, 1855, rules for the government of the town 
library wore adopted as follows : 

1. For a grease spot on a boojc a fine of twelve and a 
half cents. If more than one, in the same ratio. 

2. A torn leaf, if not torn bad, ten cents. 

3. Torn-out leaf, twenty-five cents. 

4. If more than one torn out, the price of the book. 

5. Corner of leaf turned over, six cents. 

6. Ink spots and pencil marks, each six cents. 

7. A broken or torn-off cover, fifty cents. 

TEACHERS. 

To 1860 certificates were issued to teachers as follows: 

March 17, 1855.— Harriet E. Borden and Sarah A. 
Leckenby. 

Dec. 7, 1855.— Ellen C. Beebe. 

May 16, 1857. — Lydia D. Linnian. 

June 6, 1857. — Harriet E. Borden. 

Nov. 7, 1857 Henry C. Ferris, Mi.ss Miriam Wool. 

Dec. 23, 1857.— John Wool. 

April 5, 1858. — Sarah Ann Ferris. 

April 10, 1858.— Sophia Burleson. 

April 10, 1858.— Adelia M. Smith, 

June 12, 1858.— Miss Marilla Netheway. 

Nov. 6, 1858.— William H. Sexton. 

Nov. 20, 1858.— Harriet Crow, Loren Shelby. 

April 9, 1859. — Nancy Burleson, Amanda Peck. 

May 14, 1859.— Lydia Rockwell, Harriet E. Borden. 

November, 1860. — Elizabeth Hobbs, Nelson Olmstead, 
Violotta Chase. 

The annual school report for 1879 gave the following 
details : 

Number of districts (vvholo, 5 ; fractional, 1) 6 

Number of children of school age 291 

Average attendance 24."? 

Value of school property $3000 

Teachers' wages $85] 

The school directors for 1879 were A. Southwell, B. W. 
Gates, Charles Dunham, C. D. Searl, E. D. Loyens, and 
R. G. Van Deusen. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The first sermon preached in Fairfield is supposed to have 
been the funeral discourse upon the death of Mrs. Lewis 
Lockwood, delivered by Rev. Mr. Macomber, in tiie winter 
of 1 854. In the following spring he preached a sermon to 
the settlers at the house of E. P. Bennett, notice of such 
intention having been given previously by personal commu- 
nication with the settlers in all cases available. Mr. Ma- 
comber preached but one more sermon in the town, and 
that, too, at Mr. Bennett's house, and upon both occa- 
sions is said to have had deeply interested if not large con- 
gregations. About that time Rev. Mr. Angell, a Prot- 
estant Methodist preacher, held services occasionally. There 
was Methodist preaching in school district No. 1 very soon 
after the school-house was built, in 1855, and there a Meth- 
odist Episcopal class was organized after a brief delay. The 



class did not, however, flourish as well as it was hoped it 
might, and although it made a good eftbrt for vigorous life 
the effort was unavailing. After a brief but uncertain ex- 
istence it expired. 

Fairfield has never been nor is it now prolific in religious 
organizations, and as to church edifices there have been 
none erected iu the town. A rea.son for all this is found 
in the statement that the township is so small that the 
residents of any part of it find it convenient to reach hou.ses 
of worship in adjoining townships, and thus, for the uncer- 
tainties which attend upon the lives of religious societies in 
small communities, they exchange a membership with sub- 
stantially-established organizations and an assured system 
of public religious services. 

A METHODIST EPISCOPAL CLASS, 

organized at the Leavitt school-house, about 1869, has 
since then maintained worship with more or less regularity 
in the same locality. There are now about fourteen mem- 
bers, who assemble once each fortnight for public services, 
conducted at the present time by Rev. Mr. Church, of 
Mungerville. Sunday-school exercises are held weekly 
under the direction of Ezra Latimer, superintendent. 

A UNITED BRETHREN CLASS 

was formed in the Hambleton school-house, in 1878, by 
Elders Kinnon and Weller, with a membership of six. 
The class is now on the Saginaw Circuit, in charge of Rev. 
Mr. Bunday, has preaching once every two weeks, and is 
led by William Brainard. 

FAIEFIELD IN THE REBELLION. 

Although organized only in 1854, Fairfield was, never- 
theless, able to furnish no inconsiderable number of soldiers 
for the national army during the Rebellion of 1861-65. 
The military enrollment of the town at the close of the 
war was but forty, and precisely that number of men en- 
tered the service from Fairfield. Of these forty not one 
was drafted, and in the contemplation of that circumstance 
Fairfield's citizens are justly proud. Ten of the forty lost 
their lives in the service, but of the ten only three were 
killed iu action. The aggregate expenditure for war boun- 
ties reached the sum of four thousand nine hundred dollars, 
of which two thousand nine hundred dollars was raised by 
private subscription. For the Volunteers' Family Relief 
Fund the county supervisors appropriated for Fairfield, 
during the four years ending with 1864, the sum of one 
thousand three hundred and ninety dollars and ninety-two 
cents. 

FATAL ACCIDENTS. 

Present recollection recalls but two fatal accidents to 
citizens of the town within its limits. The first was Henry 
Rockwell, who, while at work upon a highway in 1855, 
was struck by the falling limb of a tree and almost in- 
stantly killed. 

On the night of Dec. 7, 1878, two young men, named 
Charles Caul and Peter Keyser, were out hunting rabbits 
by moonlight, when by some mischance Caul's gun was 
accidentally discharged, and Keyser being directly in its 




ResiOence OF G- B.MUNSON , Fairfield Mich. 



patrfieLd township. 



225 



range was shot and killed. Caul was taken into custody 
upon the eliarge of murder, and taken lor exainiuatiou 
before Roe G. Van Deusen, Esq. There was considerable 
local interest over the affair, and I he examination was 
attended by a good many people. There was, however, 
no testimony to show that Keyser's death was the result of 
anything but accident, and the discharge of Caul ended 
the matter. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



EPHRAIM F. BENNETT. 

Oliver R. Bennett was born in Now Hampshire, from 
whence he with his father moved into the State of New 
York about 1808, and settled near Canandaigua. The 
breaking out of the war of 1812 fired the patriotism of 
young Bennett, and he eidisted and was with the American 
army at Buifalo when that city was burned. His regiment 
was soon after discharged, when he again enlisted and served 
during the remainder of the war under Gen. Harrison. 
After the war he went to Shelby, Orleans Co., N. Y., where 
he and his brother John bought a piece of new land of 
Gen. Wadsworth. It was thirty miles from any inhabit- 
ants, in the midst of a dense wilderness. Nothing daunted, 
they built a shanty on their lot and for a time kept bachelors' 
hall while they cleared and improved their land. In 1820 
they sold out and again wended their way westward, set- 
tling in Brunswick, Medina Co., Ohio, whicli was then very 
new. Here Oliver resided until his death in August, 1863. 
Ephraim F., son of Oliver, was born in the town of Shelby 
above named Feb. 12, 1817. He grew to manhood on the 
home-farm in Medina, which he and his brothers cleared. 
Arrived at his majority he bought a small piece of land, 
upon which he made his home while he worked at the shoe- 
maker's trade. This trade not agreeing with his health he 
abandoned it and worked at whatever he could get to do 
until 185-i, when he sold his place and started for Michigan, 
where land was plenty, cheap, and of an excellent quality. 
He purchased from the government one hundred and twenty 
acres of heavily-timbered land in the town of Fairfield, 
Shiawassee Co. Buying and settling upon his land ex- 
hausted all his means, and for a few years he and his family 
experienced many privations. They owned no stock, their 
oxen being their only wealth save their land. For two 
years they had no cow and tjieir living was of the plainest 
kind, often consisting of corn-meal made by drawing an ear 
of corn across a carpenter's plane. Butter, milk, and meat 
were luxuries seldom seen by them, " but," says Mr. Ben- 
nett, " we had appetites to fit our food." With energy and 
perseverance Mr. Bennett plied the axe, and soon fields of 
waving grain took the place of the wilderness and better 
days dawned upon the family. In all the ups and downs 
of pioneer life Mrs. Bennett has shown herself equal to the 
occasion, doing more than her share and proving such a 
pioneer wife and mother as the times and surroundings 
demanded. With Mrs. George Muuson she dispensed the 
homely but welcome fiire of a frontier home, never so happy 
as when doing some generous act. They now possess a well- 
29 



improved farm with a fine house and outbuildings, all the 
result of hard work and close economy. In early life Mr. 
Bennett was a Democrat, but since 1840 has been an earnest 
Republican. He has filled acceptably most of the town- 
ship oiEces. For forty-eight years he and his wife have 
been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On the 
22d of May, 1842, he married Miss Catherine W. Squires, 
daughter of Morris and Rhoda (Wells) Squires, and born 
in Shelby, Aug. 17, 1823. Her family were among the 
early settlers in Shelby, and in 1848 moved to Brunswick, 
where Mr. Squires lived until his death. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Bennett have been born two children, Rhoda E., Aug. 22, 
1846, and Edward R., June 23, 1849. Edward R. still 
remains with his parents and conducts the farm. He, too, 
is a Republican in politics, and has been for several years a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



GEORGE B. MUNSON. 

The oldest settler now living in the town of Fairfield is 
George B. Munson, who was the seventh settler in the 
town, and is the only one left of the seven. He came into 
the town in the spring of 1853, with his wife and child, 
having moved from Brunswick, Medina Co., Ohio, by 
wagon, being twenty-one days on the road, nineteen of 
which were rainy. There were no roads to or near his 
property, and Mr. Munson was obliged to underbrush the 
way to his farm. The day before reaching Elsie was occu- 
pied in removing trees which had blown down in a terrible 
wind-storm of the previous day, one large tree falling across 
the road but a few moments after they had pas.sed. He 
did not have money enough to pay for his land, and in 
order to raise the balance both himself and wife worked 
out, he on the farm, his wife in the house, cooking and 
performing the duties rendered necessary by a large force of 
workmen. As soon as they had built a log house they 
moved into it, and Mr. Munson at once commenced to clear 
his I'arm of one hundred and twenty acres, which was heavy 
timber-land. But only a portion of his time could be spent 
on his land, as money had to be earned to keep the wolf 
from the door. To do this he cleared land for others more 
fortunate than him.self, clearing in all more than fifty acres 
besides his own. The season of the hard frost was a severe 
one for them, as it cut off their crops, and for a long time 
their food consisted of bread and tea ; butter, meat, and 
potatoes being luxuries beyond their reach. Mrs. Mun.son 
says the best meal of her life was one prepared after Mr. 
Munson had been to Owosso and purchased, with money 
sent him by his brother, some pork, butter, and groceries. 
Their latch-string in those days was always out, and Mrs. 
Munson was noted for her hospitality. By dint of hard 
labor in and out of the house, they have now a well-im- 
proved farm, with good and comfortable buildings. Al- 
though a Democrat, Mr. Munson has held nearly all the 
oflSces in his township, which is strongly Republican, he 
having been one of the first highway commissioueis, and 
since then treasurer for eight terms, clerk one term, akso 
school inspector and justice of the peace; to all of which 
offices he has been elected by his fellow-townsmen regard- 



226 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEfi COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



less of politics, they knowing his worth as a citizen of un- 
blemished character and of warm and generous impulses. 
Mr. Munson was born in the town of Guilford, Medina Co., 
Ohio, Aug. 10, 1824. His father, Jacob Munson, was 
born in WalHngford, Conn., Feb. 16, 1798. lie was a 
carpenter, acquiring his trade in Canandaigua, N. Y. 
When twenty-two years of age he married Postreme 
Reeves, who was born in Mount Holly, N. J., July 6, 
1797. After his marriage he moved to Medina Co., Ohio, 
which was then new. In 1824 he moved to the town of 
Brunswick, where he cleared a farm, and where he re- 
mained until his death, Nov. 13, 1859 ; his wife died July 
15, 1875. George married, Aug. 8, 1847, Miss Zelinda 
Peck, who was born in Mattewan, Dutchess Co., N. Y., 
Aug. 29, 1827. She was daughter of William and Eliza 
Jane (Wilson) Peck. Mr. Peck was born Nov. 27, 1802, 
and his wife April 7, 1805. He was a machinist, and 
worked at his trade until compelled to stop by reason of old 
age. He was an early settler in Fairfield, and built the 
first school-house in that town. There have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. George Munson five children, viz. : Almira, 
June 30, 1848; William Henry, Nov. 27, 1850 (died 
March 28, 1852) ; Charles B., March 30, 1855 ; Edward 
R., Jan. 14, 1863; and Emma E., Feb. 7, 1866. 



ITHIAL L. MUNSON. 

Of the early settlers who came into Fairfield there are 
none who have been more successful or who have done 
more to advance the growth and prosperity of the township 
than Ithial L. Munson, the subject of this sketch. He 
was born in Canandaigua, Ontario Co., N. Y., Nov. 8, 
1819. When he was five years old his father moved to 
Brunswick, Ohio, where Ithial grew to manhood, thus 
early becoming acquainted with the hardships and priva- 
tions of a life in the wilderness. His education was such 
as could be obtained by a few terms' attendance in the dis- 
trict schools of a new country. Mr. Munson remained 
with his parents until he was twenty-three years of age, 
when his health being poor for a number of years, he was 
unable to make a start in life until after he was thirty. He 
then for a number of years worked at the carpenter and 
joiner's trade in Cleveland, Canada, and in Illinois. In the 
fall of 1853 he purchased from the government two hun- 
dred and forty acres of heavily-timbered land in the town 
of Fairfield, Shiawassee Co., Mich., but did not go to it 
until the spring of 1857, when he made a final settlement 
on his farm. At that time he had caused to be cleared 
five acres, and had cut the timber from forty acres addi- 
tional. The new farm, purchased in 1853, has now be- 
come one of the finest in the township, and consists at this 
time of three hundred and twenty acres, of which two 
hundred and thirty are under improvement ; it also con- 
tains a fine house, large barns, and is well fenced and culti- 
vated. In 1877, Mr. Munson bought of William Armond 
a fine thoroughbred short-horn, called the " Duplane Lad," 
and has since raised some fine cattle, with which his farm 
is well stocked. Mr. Munson also keeps a fine flock of 



well-bred sheep, believing that in mixed farming the great- 
est success is to be obtained. 

Among his neighbors and fellow-townsmen he stands 
high as a man of sound business capacities and of sterling 
integrity. In politics. Mr. Munson was originally a Whig, 
and has affiliated with the Republicans since the formation 
of that party, but is not a politician. On the 10th of 
June, 1860, he married Mrs. Mary A. Munson, the widow 
of his cousin, Ithial J. Munson. She was the daughter of 
Frank Carse, and was born in County Down, Ireland, June 
24, 1831. There have been born to them three children, 
namely, L. L., born March 15, 1861 ; James J., Aug. 20, 
1863 ; and Emily A., Oct. 7, 1866. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 
HAZELTON TOWNSHIP.* 

Origin of Name — Natural Features — Original Land-Purchases — Set- 
tlements — The Earliest Highwajs — Schools— Ha zelton Grange — 
tothrop VilLage — Hazeltonville — Judd's Corners. 

Much of the land embraced in the township of Hazelton 
was owned by Porter Hazelton, of Genesee County, to 
whom it was transferred by the State in 1849, in payment 
for services performed in the construction of a bridge across 
the Flint River. His brothers, George H., Homer, and 
Edward, were engaged with him in the enterprise, and be- 
came part owners of the lands in Shiawassee County, as did 
Ezekiel R. Ewing, also of Genesee County, another partner 
in the work. Mr. Hazelton offered many inducements to 
settlers, and ultimately disposed of his property in the 
township, which was, in deference to his connection with 
its early history, named Hazelton. 

In geographical position it may be described as the ex- 
treme northeast township of the county, lying south of 
Saginaw County, and bounded on the east by Genesee 
County, west by the township of New Haven, and having 
the township of Venice on its southern line. 

The surface of Hazelton is generally level, presenting few 
elevations. An exception to this is found, however, in the 
south and east, where rolling ground is occasionally met, 
though there are no abrupt declivities. Numerous streams 
water the township and afford variety to the landscape. 
Chief among these is the Misteauguay Creek, which rises 
in Venice and entering this township on section 35 flows 
in a general northward course, and leaves again at section 1. 
Numerous small tributaries feed this main stream, which 
affords an excellent power for milling purposes. Onion 
Creek makes its entry on section 33, and, flowing north, 
pours its waters into the Misteauguay, as does also Porter 
Creek, which ri.ses in the southwest corner and flows north 
and northeast, ending its course on section 11. In the 
northwest is a stream formerly known as Dutcher Creek, 
which passes into Saginaw County through section 3 of 
Hazelton. 

The soil of Hazelton embraces in its composition sand, 



* By E. 0. Wagner. 



HAZELTON TOWNSHIP. 



227 



gravel, clay, and muck The northwest portion has a clay 
subsoil with a sand and gravelly surface. More clay abounds 
in the centre, while in the .south and ea.st is a sandy soil 
of excellent quality. But a small proportion of the swamps, 
which were at an early day an obstacle to the farmer, now 
remain as such. An excellent system of drainage has con- 
verted them into some of the best soil to be found in the 
township. In the north and northwest, however, there is 
still apparent a belt of swampy land, from eighty to one 
hundred rods wide, which is being rapidly drained. 

Beech, maple, elm, and basswood are the prevailing 
timbers, though otiier woods are occasionally found. 

Wheat and corn find here a congenial soil, and produce 
an average crop equal to that of other portions of the 
township. The last census gives the number of acres de- 
voted to wheat in 1873 as eight hundred and three, which 
produced a yield of thirteen thousand eight hundred and 
fifteen bushels, while five hundred and thirty-three acres of 
corn yielded a harvest of fourteen thousand eight hundred 
and twenty-three bushels. Hay is usually a prolific crop. 
The later development of the township will of course 
greatly enhance the above returns. 

ORIGINAL LAND-PURCHASES. 

The lands of Hazelton were entered from the general 

government, or purchased of the State by the following 

persons : 

SECTION 1. 

Acrps. 

E. B. Strong, 18.36 111.09 

John Casilear, 1836 160 

E. L. Walton, 1836 161) 

J. H. Coddington, 1836 80 

J. D. Emerson, 1836 58.26 

T. M. Laine, 1836 80 

H. L. Strong, 183" ,... 58.26 

SECTION 2. 

P. F. Ewer, 1836 160 

H. Resford, 1836 187.28. 

J. L. Larzalier, 1836 160 

N. Haywood, 1836 186.96 

SECTION 3. 

James Butler, 1836 80 

David Lee, 1836 80 

Georgo McDougall. 1836 80 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 240 

George Fleming, 1842 106 

L. A. Tebcr, 1842 103.36 

SECTION i. 

James Parsons, 1836 320 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 160 

John Collins, 1854 101.51 

Martin Welch, 1854 101.35 

SECTION 5. 
Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 682.48 

SECTION 6. 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 417.43 

Harvey Adams, 1854 207.611 

G. M. Hemingway, 1854 160 

SECTION 7. 
Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 735.68 

SECTION 8. 

L. C. Russell, 1857 160 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 480 



SECTION 9. 

Acres. 

B. F. Town, 1836 80 

Porter Hazelton, 1849 560 

SECTION 10. 

James Butler, 1836 80 

John Starkweather, 1836 80 

Edward Jerome, 1836 80 

J. M. Fitch, 1837 80 

Porter Hazelton, 1849 320 

SECTION 11. 
Isaac Hill, 1836 640 

SECTION 12. 

Horace Foote, 1836 120 

JI. B. Brown, 1836 160 

Jonathan Turgan, 1837 160 

Harry Brotherton, 1837 80 

Samuel llubbell, 1S37 40 

E. H. Hazelton, 1854 80 

SECTION 1.3. 

B. R. Ewing (.State), 1850 640 

SECTION 14. 
Garret D. Wall, 1836 640 

SECTION 15. 

Giirdus Dunlap, 1836 160 

Porter Hazelton (Stale), 1849 480 

SECTION 16. 

J. S. Knibs (State), 1865 40 

J. H. Savage (State), 1865 40 

E. C. Gulick (State), 1857 80 

W. H. Crawford (State), 1854 80 

C. R. Speers (State), 1854 80 

S. C. Christian (State), 1867 40 

D. C. Burpee (State), 1867 40 

SECTION 17. 

E. Conkling, 1836 240 

L. C.Russell, 1837 160 

J. 6. M. Fisk, 1837.. 160 

Henry Skutt, 1837 80 

SECTION 18. 

Stephen Fisk, 1836 120 

E. Stacey, 1.837 200 

Daniel Beebe, 1837 40 

Joseph Peck, 1837 80 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 168.72 

SECTION 19. 

Philo Curtis, 1836 160 

C. H. Godspeed, 1854 80 

J. D. Wright, 1854 209.80 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 80 

James Grant (State), 1851-52 211.44 

SECTION 20. 

James Grant (State), 1849 240 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 400 

SECTION 21. 

William T. Latta, 1854 40 

Lorenzo lirigham, 1854 120 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 160 

James Grant (State), 1849 320 

SECTION 22. 

James Wadsworth, 1836 160 

D. R. Prindle, 1836 80 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 400 

SECTION 2.3. 

James Wadsworth, 1836 240 

Almon Whitney, 1836 80 



228 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Acres. 

Gardus Dunlap, ISKO 160 

Paul Spofford, 1836 160 

SECTION 24. 

Joseph Vallett, 1836 160 

David TroHibley, 1836 160 

E. R. Ewing (State), 1850 320 

SECTION 25. 

Samuel Goddard, 1836 80 

Azel Noyes, 1836 160 

6. N. Chapplin, 1836. .; 160 

David Trombley, 1836 1611 

E. R. Ewing (State), 1850 SO 

SECTION 26. 

James Wadswortb, 1836 160 

0. M. Nourse, 1836 160 

E. R. Ewing, 1850 320 

SECTION 27. 

T. L. L. Brent, 1836 320 

John F. BIiss,1836 320 

SECTION 28. 

John Robbins, 1836 320 

James Grant (State), 1849 320 

SECTION 29. 

E. H. Hazelton, 1854 1«0 

James Grant (State), 1849 320 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 480 

SECTION 30. 

H. C. Riggs, 1853 80 

C. H. Goodspeed, 1854 80 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 587.92 

SECTION 31. 

Alfred Allen, 1834 80 

M. C. Cole, 1834 160 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1858 514.28 

SECTION 32. 

E. H. Hazelton, 1854 160 

A. P. Greenman, 1854 160 

William B. C. Gillett, 1854 80 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849.., 160 

James Grant (State), 1849 80 

SECTION 33. 

John Martin, 1836 80 

John Robbins, 1836 80 

J. F. Russell, 1836 320 

Porter Hazelton, 1849 160 

SECTION 34. 

Colby Chew, 1836 160 

Robert R. Howell, 1836 160 

Weed and Howell, 1836 80 

John Martin, 1836 160 

E. H. Hazelton, 1854 80 

SECTION 35. 

James Wadsworth, 1836 160 

D. R. Prindle,1836 80 

S. A. Goddard, 1836 80 

E. H. Brush, 1836 80 

James Weed, 1836 80 

E. R. Ewing, 1849-50 120 

H. W. Felt, 1849 40 

SECTION 36. 

S. A. Goddard, 1836 160 

J. L. Larzalere, 1836 160 

J. T. Van Vlecli, 1836 80 

Edwin Jerome, 1836 80 

M. Mallowery, 1836 80 

John Wells, 1836 80 



SETTLEMENTS. 

The year 1848 saw the first settlements made witliin the 
limits of Hazelton. Stanton S. Latham and Eli E. Fowles, 
who were relatives, came from Genesee Co., Mich., and lo- 
cated upon eighty acres on section 27. They at once built 
a cabin and began a small clearing, but made no very de- 
cided improvement. Their limited quarters afforded .shel- 
ter to the settlers who followed, and the hospitality extended 
by these early pioneers was in no wise governed by the 
dimensions of their primitive home. In the family of Mr. 
Latham was born the first child in the township, in the year 
following their arrival. In his home also occurred the 
earliest death, — that of Mrs. Latham, in 1852. Four weeks 
later he was married to his second wife by Charles Wilkin- 
son, then justice of the peace, in Venice. This was the 
earliest marriage in Hazelton. At the house of Mr. Latham 
occurred the first township-meeting, in 1850, at which time 
the list of voters embraced the following names : Stanton 
S. Latham, Salmon Mclntire, J. C. Smith, J]than Lord, 
Eli E. Fowles, John Willis, Orrin Black, Otis- Burpee, the 
latter of whom is the only one of this number still a resi- 
dent of the township. 

Mr. Latham ultimately removed to the West and became 
an emigrant to the wilds of Oregon. 

John Willis was a pioneer of 1849. Porter Hazelton 
had given forty acres each to Messrs. J. C. Smith, John 
Willis, Salmon Mclntire, and J. L. Richardson, under 
agreement to eflFect certain improvements within a specified 
time and also to purchase an additional forty acres, to be 
paid for as they were able. Mr. Willis located upon eighty 
acres on section 22, which he immediately began clearing, 
having remained at the house, or rather shanty, of Mr. 
Latham while erecting a habitation upon his own land. He 
soon had a very considerable tract cleared, which was sown 
with corn and wheat, and presented something of the aspect 
of a cultivated farm. He, however, wearied of the labo- 
rious monotony of a settler's life, and he removed to Mis- 
souri in 1858. Mr. Willis was chosen as the first super- 
visor of Hazelton, and filled successive offices during his 
brief residence in the township. 

Salmon Mclntire, formerly of Ohio, was a companion 
in his settlement with John Willis, in 1849, and located 
upon the farm now occupied by F. F. Brewer, on section 
15, where he had eighty acres secured under contract from 
Porter Hazelton. He lived at the cabin of Stanton S. 
Latham while erecting a log house. He devoted some 
years to the cultivation of his land, and on his removal, 
some years after, removed to Grand Traverse, where he 
became a resident. 

Otis Burpee removed, in 1849, from Genesee Co., Mich., 
to the township, where he located upon eighty acres on sec- 
tion 10. Half of this had been given him by George H. 
Hazelton, while the remainder was purchased of him and 
paid for on possession having been given. This was en- 
tirely unimproved. He started with horses and wagon from 
Genesee County and pursued an Indian trail as the only 
guide. There were no roads, and the axe was an indispen- 
sable implement in his progress. For three nights he found 
no habitation, and was obliged to camp out, improvising 
such shelter as was possible. Mr. Burpee erected a cabin 



HAZELTON TOWNSHIP. 



229 



of logs and cleared a few acres, but made no decided prog- 
ress until four years lat«r. Latham and Fowles were the 
only settlers who had made inroads upon the vast forest of 
the township, while Messrs. Willis and Mclntire had built 
their cabins, but were still domiciled with the former settlers. 
Mr. Burpee soon began the work of improvement, which 
eventually resulted in the conversion of his land into a pro- 
ductive farm, ilthan D. Lord came at the same time, and 
chose the east half of the southeast quarter of section 15, 
upon which he began the labor of clearing. Not long after- 
wards be moved to Genesee County. 

J. L. Richardson arrived the following year, having had 
eighty acres under the Hazeltnn contract, which be selected 
upon section 22. This land rapidly improved under the 
industry manifested by Mr. Richardson, who erected a 
comfortable house and did much during his official career 
as highway commissioner in 1850 to make various portions 
of the township accessible by the laying out of highways. 
He was prominent in public enterprises connected with the 
township and filled many offices of importance. 

J. C. Smith, another of the parties whose advent is 
associated with the Hazelton contracts, arrived in 1850 
and became a settler on the east half of the southwest 
quarter of section 27. His first work was the erection of 
a shelter for his family, after which he began chopping. 
Mr. Smith remained several years, and as a result of his 
energy left twenty acres of improved land, fie ultimately 
found a more attractive home in Wisconsin. 

The farm first occupied by John Willis was in 1850 
sold to Daniel L. Patterson, who removed from Niagara 
Co., N. Y., in the same year. A cabin bad already been 
built by the former owner, though Mr. Patterson, finding 
this insufficient to meet his wants, at once erected a more 
spacious one adjoining. He met many obstacles to prog- 
ress on his way, and underbrushed a portion of the road 
with his jack-knife. Salmon Mclntire, who had but re- 
cently come in, was the nearest neighbor. Mr. Patterson 
added much to the clearing already made by his prede- 
cessor, and was actively engaged at an early period in lay- 
ing out and opening roads through the township. He was 
also an early dispenser of justice in Hazelton, and held his 
court within the precincts of the log cabin. His death 
occurred upon the farm in 1859. His widow — now Mrs. 
Levi McCarn — still occupies the estate and the log house 
built by him. 

The following list embraces the resident tax-payers in 
the townsliip of Hazelton for the year 1850, thus showing 
pretty nearly who had been the settlers in the township 
prior to that time : 

Acres. 

Otis Burpee, section 10 SO 

Eli E. Fowles, section 27 "80 

Stanton S. Latham, sections 27, 23 160 

Ethan D. Lord, section 15 80 

Salmon Mclntire, section I. i 80 

Ahram Pierson, section 27 80 

J. L. Richardson, section 22 80 

Orin Smith, section 22 80 

Almond Torrey, section 15 80 

John Willis, section 22 .^0 

Jesse Rhodes, a former resident of Ohio, became a 

pioneer to the township in 1850, having purchased eighty 

• acres on section 25. His progress was not rapid at first, 



the erection of a log house having engaged his attention on 
arrival. Later much of the land was cleared and afforded a 
bountiful yield of grain. John Willis, one-half mile west, 
had already settled and effected a small clearing. Deer and 
wolves were among the visitors to the cabin, and the In- 
dian in his hunting expeditions occasionally craved a wel- 
come and a place before the blazing hearth for the night. 
The township was at first slow in its progress, but later years 
have made a perceptible difference in its population. Mr. 
Rhodes' death occurred in 1869. Two sons. Ransom and 
Marshall, are still residents of the same section, where they 
have each well-cultivated farms. 

Another of the pioneers of 1850 was H. S. Allen, whose 
land lay upon section 15 and embraced eighty acres. Mr. 
Allen came from Grand Blanc, Genesee Co., and was a 
cabinet-maker as well as farmer. He built a house of logs 
and effected some improvement, but ultimately removed to 
Corunna, and later to Newburg, in Shiawassee township. 

W. W. Warner emigrated from Potter Co., Pa., in 1852, 
and located on section 34, where he purchased one hundred 
and sixty acres. On a small clearing amid this wilderness 
he built a board shanty, hauling the boards with an ox- 
team from Flushing, where he remained while building. 
Ten acres were chopped the first year, a small portion of 
which was planted with corn. The following year Mr. 
Warner built a substantial frame dwelling, in which he still 
resides. Indians occasionally visited the house and brought 
game and fish in exchange for other supplies. Early relig- 
ious services were held at the houses of the settlers, Elder 
W. J. Kent having been the first to conduct these exercises. 
Mr. Warner has taken a prominent part in the development 
of the township and manifested much public spirit during 
his active career. He has been for successive terms super- 
visor and held other minor offices. 

C. S. Gillet, another early pioneer, came in 1853 (having 
formerly been a resident of New York State), and purchased 
eighty acres of uncleared land on section 9. Upon this he 
erected the customary log house and began the improvement 
of the land, having four sons who came with him and 
assisted in the labor of clearing. Mr. Gillet was among 
the early township ofiicers and held many official positions 
of responsibility. He later removed to and is still a resi- 
dent of Flushing, his sons having also gone from the 
township. 

John Bowman emigrated from Germany in 1850, and in 
1855 became a pioneer in Hazelton. Section 26 afforded 
him an eligible location, upon which he purchased one hun- 
dred and twenty acres. Henry St. John, then a resident 
of section 35, extended him a welcome on his arrival. Mr. 
Bowman accomplished but little in the way of improvement, 
his time having been principally devoted to lumbering. The 
timber for his first residence was drawn from Flushing, two 
hundred feet being regarded as a fair load on account of 
the exceedingly bad roads. The family supplies were car- 
ried from the latter village upon his back on Saturday even- 
ing. He has now reached a condition when these depriva- 
tions are but recollections of the past. His present spacious 
residence, built in 1876, hears witness to the success which 
has been the reward of his industry. 

Jacob C. Brown came from Livingston Co., Mich., in 



230 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1855. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres on sec- 
tion 23. to which he afterwards added eighty acres on sec- 
tion 24, formerly owned by John Willis and partially im- 
proved by him, after he had removed from his tirst purchase. 
His brother, James Brown, had preceded him and located 
upon section 24, where he for years resided, but ultimately 
removed to Grand Blanc, having sold to William Eames. 
The former erected a house of logs, while the yard was 
partially inclosed by a maple-tree which was felled across 
the front, and with a gate at the end did duty as a fence. 
Mr. Brown began the labor of chopping and converted much 
of the land into productive acres. He filled many town- 
ship offices and was prominent as one of its most energetic 
citizens. In 1877 he purchased a farm of fifty-four acres 
within the limits of the city of Corunna, upon which he 
now resides. 

Amos Lewis came from Flint in ISoO and purchased a 
tract of forty acres on section 29, which was uncleared on 
his arrival. John Decker, a near neighbor, formerly of 
Genesee County, oflered him shelter while building a house. 
Soon after his arrival Mr. Lewis was a victim to fever and 
ague, which rendered labor impossible. For that reason 
little progress was made during the time immediately suc- 
ceeding his arrival. He remained upon this farm until 
1870, when the township of Rush oflFered superior attrac- 
tions, but later years found him again a resident of Hazelton 
on section 33. 

Elijah Coons, a pioneer of the same year, located upon 
one hundred acres on section 32, formerly the home of John 
Phipps, who had made some inroads upon the forest and 
built a cabin, to which Mr. Coons removed. He was also 
a victim to the prevailing malady of the day — ague — and 
made little progress at first. He is still a resident of the 
township. 

George Jacobs, a former resident of the Green Mountain 
State, settled in 1857, upon sixty-five acres on section 7, 
which on his arrival was little else than an unbroken wilder- 
ness. Eli H. Day, who was a pioneer upon the same sec- 
tion, had preceded him and was his nearest neighbor. 
With him Mr. Jacobs found a temporary home while erect- 
ing a log house, to which settlers from various parts of Hazel- 
ton and adjoining townships came to the raising. This house 
was occupied without waiting for the modern conveniences of 
doors and windows. 11. J. Holme.'* became a resident of the 
same section soon after. Deer were abundant and afforded 
a considerable addition to the family supplies. Mr. Jacobs 
was a skillful marksman, and many of these fleet-footed ani- 
mals fell victims to his unerring aim. He was an early 
highway commissioner, and assisted in laying out many of 
the early roads in the northwest portion of the township. 
He still resides upon his original purchase, which he has 
made into a highlj'-productive farm. 

B. Dutcher preceded Mr. Jacobs by two years, having 
come from Livingston County and located upon one hun- 
dred and sixty acres on section 6. On coming from his 
former borne he met many obstacles to progress, and for 
some distance was obliged to underbrush the road as he 
came. J. A. Clough, a near neighbor in New Haven, ex- 
tended his hospitality while erecting a log cabin, after which 
he proceeded to the labor of clearing, and improved eigh- 



teen acres during the first year. Mr. Dutcher was for 
many years somewhat isolated, but few settlers having 
chosen the northwest portion of the township as a resi- 
dence. At the close of the war, however, the laud was 
rapidly developed. Corunna attracted Mr. Dutcher in 
1S77, and he now resides there. 

Levi Morse, formerly of Genesee Co., N. Y., came 
to Hazelton in 1858, and located upon eighty acres on 
section 30, which afforded a good field for development. 
His neighbor at the time was Reubeu Chapin, who then 
resided on the same section, whither he had removed from 
Canada. Later he moved to the West, but returned again 
to Chesaning, in Saginaw County. Mr. Morse enjoyed 
Mr. Chapin's hospitality while erecting a home. The first 
year five acres were cleared, and from that time on much 
improvement was the result of his labor, until the farm he - 
early purchased is now under a high state of cultivation. 

Emery Lewis was a pioneer of 1859, from Ingham 
County, though originally from the Empire State. His 
first purchase was eighty acres on section 29, which has 
since been increased to one hundred and sixty, with an 
additional forty upon section 31. This site was originally 
the home of John Decker, who had eifected a partial 
clearing and built a house upon it. Mr. Lewis continued 
these improvements, and ultimately converted the land 
into a fruitful farm, upon which he now resides. His 
present house was built nine years since. 

F. F. Brewer located upon the land formerly secured by 
Salmon Mclntire, and described a.s the east half of the 
southwest quarter of section 15, which he purchased in 
1860, and has greatly enhanced in value. Mr. Brewer is 
a citizen of much public spirit, and has been frequently 
elected to important township offices. 

L. H. Barrett, a former resident of Oakland County, 
located in 1863 upon forty acres on section 28, on which 
he still resides. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND LIST OP 
OFFICERS. 

The survey of the township of Hazelton was made by 
Joseph Wampler, who was employed by the government in 
the capacity of deputy surveyor, and performed much labor 
throughout the county. Hazelton was formerly a portion 
of the town.ship of New Haven, and was erected as an in- 
dependent township by the act of the Legislature (approved 
March 25, 1850) which provided " That town No. 8 north, 
of range No. 4 east, in the couuty of Shiawassee, be and 
the same is hereby set off from the township of New Ha- 
ven and organized into a separate township by the name of 
Hazelton, and the first township-meeting therein shall be 
held at the house of Stanton S. Latham, in said township.'. 
Under the provisions of this act the electors of the town- 
ship of Hazelton met at the house of Stanton S. Latham, 
on the 30th day of April, 1850, for the purpose of choosing 
township officers. Orrin Smith was appointed moderator, 
and E. D. Lord and John Willis inspectors of election. 

The following officers were elected for the year : Super- 
visor, Orrin Smith; Township Clerk, J. L. Richardson; 
Treasurer, E. D. Lord ; Highway Commissioners, Stanton 
S. Latham, J. L. Richardson, Otis Burpee ; Justices of 



HAZELTON TOWNSHIP. 



231 



the Peace, Abram Pearson, S. D. Latham, John Willis, J. 

L. Richardson ; School Inspectors, E. D. Lord, Otis Bur- 
pee ; Directors of Poor, Abram Pearson, E. E. Fowls; 

Constable, E. E. Fowls. 

The township officers of Hazeltou elected in succeeding 

years from that time until the present have been as follows, 

viz. : 

1851. — Supervisor, Orrin Smith; Township Clerk, J. L. 
Richardson ; Highway Commissioners, J. C. 
Smith, E. D. Lord ; Justice, D. H. Patterson ; 
School Inspectors, 0. Smith, E. D. Lord ; Direc- 
tors of Poor, J. C. Smith, B. D. Lord ; Con- 
stable, E. E. Fowles. 

1852.— Supervisor, 0. W. Smith ; Township Clerk, J. L. 
Richardson; Treasurer, John Willis; Justices, 
J. L. Richardson, J. C. Smith ; Highway Com- 
missioners, S. Mclntire, E. E. Fowles ; School 
Inspector, Abram Pearsons ; Directors of Poor, 
S. Mclntire, J. C. Smith ; Constable, Ransom 
Rhodes. 

1853. — Supervisor, H. S. Allen ; Township Clerk, J. L. 
Richardson ; Highway Commissioner, S. Mcln- 
tire ; School Inspector, Abram Pearsons ; Treas- 
urer, John Willis. 

1854. — Supervisor, John Willis ; Township Clerk, W. W. 
Warner ; Treasurer, J. L. Richardson ; High- 
way Commissioners, W. W. Warner, A. Cum- 
mings ; School Inspector, A. W. Rhodes ; Di- 
rector of Poor, A. B. Woodcock ; Justice, John 
Willis ; Constable. A. B. Woodcock. 

1855. — Supervisor, John Willis; Township Clerk, W. W. 
Warner ; Treasurer, A. W. Gillet ; Justice, John 
Phipps ; Directors of Poor, E. Flemmings, J. 
L. Richardson ; Highway Commissioner, A. W. 
Rhodes; Constable, F. H. Conklin. 

1856.— Supervisor, J. Willis; Township Clerk, F. H. 
Conklin ; Treasurer, A. W. Gillet ; School In- 
spector, W. B. Gillet ; Justice, W. C. Day ; 
Directors of Poor, E. H. Sherwood, A. W. 
Rhodes; Highway Commissioner, G. Bennett; 
Constables, E. H. Sherwood, G. Bennett. 

1857. — Supervisor, A. Pearsons; Township Clerk, F. H. 
Conklin ; Treasurer, J. D. Newell ; Justices, W. 
W. Warner, B. Dutcher ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, J. Ferris ; Constables, L. Bentley, W. L. 
Emery, A. Cummins, P. Frazier. 

1858. — Supervisor, John Willis; Treasurer, J. B. Hol- 
comb ; Justices, A. Pearsons, John Willis; 
Highway Commissioner, Otis Burpee ; Consta- 
ble, S. S. Gillett. 

1859. — Supervisor, Daniel Torrey ; Township Clerk, J. L. 
Richardson ; Treasurer, D. B. Holcomb ; Jus- 
tices, Daniel Torrey, W. W. Warner; School 
Inspector, George Jacobs; Highway Commis- 
sioners, George Jacobs, J. C. Brown ; Directors 
of Poor, J. W. Rickly, John Judd ; Constables, 
Cyrus Brigham, H. E. Burges, M. A. Pixley, 
William Emery. 

1860. — Supervisor, D. Torrey; Township Clerk, 1'. F. 
Brewer ; Treasurer, J. L. Richardson ; Justices, 



Jacob Ferris, W. C. Day, M. E. Rhodes ; High- 
way Commissioner, L. Colby, Jr. ; Constables, 

C. P. Day, Nathan Colby, Amos Lewis, W. W. 
Emery. 

1861.— Supervisor, J. C. Brown; Township Clerk, F. F. 
Brewer ; Treasurer, J. H. Brown ; Justices, W. 
W. Warner, D. B. Holcomb, William Piper; 
Highway Commissioner, F]mery Lewis ; School 
Inspectors, James King, L. L. Houghton ; Con- 
stables, W. Emery, C. P. Day, Alex. Kellas, J. 
Featherby. 

1862.— Supervisor, F. F. Brewer ; Township Clerk, D. B. 
Holcomb ; Justice, J. C. Brown ; Treasurer, F. 
H. Conklin ; Highway Commissioners, J. Aus- 
tin, Nathan Colby; School Inspector, Benjamin 
Duulap ; Constables, W. Eames, W. W. Emery, 
Wm. Nobles, W. Amidon. 

1863. — Supervisor, F. F. Brewer; Township Clerk, Stephen 

D. Warren ; Trea.surer, L. Benchley ; Justice, A. 
W. Gillet; Highway Commissioner, C. S. Gillet; 
School Inspector, C. P. Day ; Constables, W. W. 
Emery, S. D. Warren, L. Benchley, S. S. Gillet. 

1864. — Supervisor, F. F. Brewer ; Township Clerk, S. D. 
Warren ; Treasurer, Loren Benchley ; Justices, 
W. C. Day, Henry Lewis; Highway Commis- 
sioners, D. C. Pierce, C. W. Smith ; School 
Inspector, L. L. Houghton ; Constables, L. 
Brigham, C. W. Smith, S. D. Warren, William 
Lyon. 

1865.— Supervisor, W. W. Warner ; Township Clerk, Isaac 
Sutton ; Treasurer, F. Benchley ; Highway Com- 
missioners, E. Coons, John King, Jr., D. W. 
Gillet ; School Inspectors, Daniel Torrey, L. L. 
Houghton ; Constable, L. Benchley. 

1866. — Supervisor, F. F. Brewer ; Township Clerk, L. H. 
Barrett; Treasurer, L. Benchley; Justices, J. 

C. Brown, D. W. Eames ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, S. S. Puffer ; School Inspectors, Wm. 
Eames, A. Kell ; Constables, W. W. Emery, C. 
W. Smith. 

1867. — Supervisor, S. S. Bush ; Township Clerk, L. H. 
Barrett ; Treasurer, Wm. Eames ; Justices, 0. 
Hathaway, L. H. Barrett ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, J. Austin ; Constables, 0. Butterfield, 
Sullivan Fay, H. Frazier, A. Featherby. 

1868. — Supervisor, F. F. Brewer ; Township Clerk, L. H. 
Barrett; Treasurer, Wm. Eames; Highway 
Commissioner, Gilbert Heminway ; Justices, 
George Jacobs, Philip Holland, John Featli- 
erby ; School Inspectors, Wm. Eames, E. M. 
Judd ; Constables, William Emery, Jackson 
Barrett. 

1869. — Supervisor, F. H. Brewer; Township Clerk, Cal- 
vin Rich ; Treasurer, Wm. Eames ; Justices, 

D. B. Holcomb, Wilson West; Highway Com- 
missioners, C. W. Smith, E. S. Jones ; School 
Inspector, Wm. Eames; Constables, L. II. Bar- 
rett, F. F. Brewer, L. Brigham, Patrick Murphy. 

1870. — Supervisor, W. W. Warner; Township Clerk, L. 
H. Barrett; Treasurer, John King; Justices, 



232 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



W. W. Warner, Almon Brown ; Highway Com- 
missioner, E. H. Jones ; Constables, O. Carpen- 
ter, F. F. Brewer, B. F. Austin. 

1871. — Supervisor, F. F. Brewer; Township Cleric, A. C. 
Brown ; Treasurer, John King ; Justice, A. 
Houghton; School Inspector, William Eames ; 
Highway Commissioner, Levi Morse; Constables, 
A. J. Featherby, Charles Lowrie, 0. Carpenter, 
Wm. Emery. 

1872. — Supervisor, W. W. Warner; Township Clerk, B. 
F. Dunlap; Treasurer, John King; Justice, J. 
C. Brown ; Highway Commissioners, C. C. Law- 
son, George Cronk ; Drain Commissioner, Eras- 
tus Call ; Constables, Thomas Lawton, W. W. 
Emery, R. J. Holmes, George Welsh. 

1873.— Supervisor, W. W. Warner; Township Clerk, B. 
F. Dunlap ; Treasurer, John King ; Justice, 
Caleb Lawson ; Highway Commissioner, George 
Cronk ; Drain Commissioner, Erastus Call ; 
Constables, L. Brigham, A. Dutcher, W. W. 
Emery, R. Davis. 

1874. — Supervisor, L. H. Barrett; Township Clerk, Wm. 
Stage ; Treasurer, John King ; Justices, W. W. 
Warner, H. A. Fenner ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Levi Morse ; Drain Commissioner, Daniel 
Cameron ; School Inspector, F. F. Brewer ; 
Constables, W. W. Emery, S. Lyons, Isaac 
Lewis, J. L. Delbridge. 

1875. — Supervisor, L. H. Barrett; Township Clerk, F. 
I. Richardson ; Treasurer, William Eames ; Su- 
perintendent of Schools, H. A. Fenner ; School 
Inspector, F. F. Brewer; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Nathan Colby ; Justice, Wm. Emery ; 
Drain Commissioner, Hiram Monroe ; Consta- 
bles, Samuel Lyons, A. 0. Bush, C. W. Thorp. 

187G.— Supervisor, L. H. Barrett; Township Clerk, F. I. 
Richardson ; Treasurer, Wm. Eames ; Superin- 
tendent of Schools, H. A. Fenner ; School In- 
spector, F. F. Brewer ; Highway Commissioner, 
N. Colby ; Justice, Carlos Burbanks ; Consta- 
bles, A. 0. Bush, William Emery, 0. Brown, 
Wallace Purse. 

1877.— Supervisor, L. H. Barrett; Township Clerk, F. I. 
Richardson ; Treasurer, F. F. Brewer ; Superin- 
tendent of Schools, H. A. Fenner; School In- 
spector, F. F. Brewer ; Highway Commissioner, 
W. H. Lyons; Justices, W. Decatur, John Far- 
rar; Constables, F. Featherby, W. W. Emery, 
C. M. Braddoek, Peter Brown. 

1878. — Supervisor, L. H. Barrett; Township Clerk, F. I. 
Richardson ; Treasurer, F. F. Brewer ; Justices, 
C. K. Runnells, Alanson Kimble; Highway 
Commissioner, Erastus Call ; Superintendent of 
Schools, H. C. Fenner; School Inspector, F. F. 
Brewer ; Drain Commissioner, James Garrison ; 
Constables, F. Featherby, Aaron Hartshorn, 
Peter Jones, E. R. Muiison. 

1879. — Supervisor, F. I. Richardson ; Township Clerk, H. 
P. Niles ; Treasurer, C. K. Runnells; School 
Inspector, L. H. Barrett; Superintendent of 



Schools, H. A. Fenner ; Drain Commissioner, 
James Fee ; Highway Commissioner, E. Call ; 
Constables, J. S. Thompson, A. M. Brown, E. 
D. Babcock, Robert Easton. 
1880. — Supervisor, F. I. Richardson ; Township Clerk, H. 
P. Niles; Treasurer, C. K. Runnells; Highway 
Commissioner, Ambrose Austin ; Superintendent 
of Schools, 0. W. Tock ; Drain Commissioner, 
James Fee ; Justice, J. R. Farr ; School In- 
spector, W. E. Jacobs ; Constables, John Sharp, 
A. Brown, Aaron Hartshorn. 

THE EARLIEST HIGHWAYS. 

For .some years after the first settlement of the township 
very few highways had been surveyed, and the earliest set- 
tlers met with many obstacles to necessary travel. The . 
first recorded road was surveyed when Hazelton was still a 
part of New Haven. As no date is given it is impossible 
to give the time of survey, though the commissioners who 
directed the work were Walter R. Seymour, Richard Free- 
man, and Cyrenus Clark. It is described as " beginning at 
the northwest corner of section 8, township 8 north, of 
range 4 east, and running thence north eighty-seven and 
three-quarter degrees east on section-line eighty chains and 
fifty links ; thence north eighty-seven and three-quarter 
degrees east on section-line seventy-eight chains thirteen 
links to the northeast corner of section 9 ; thence north 
eighty-seven and three-quarter degrees east two hundred 
and thirty-eight chains fifty links to the northeast corner of 
section 12, on the county-line." 

Another road began at the northeast corner of section 9, 
and ran thence by a great number of recorded courses and 
distances to the northeast corner of section 34, in township 
8 north, of range 4 east. 

Later roads were surveyed as settlers became more numer- 
ous. Excellent highways, which are maintained at a con- 
siderable cost to the township, now traverse every portion 
of its territory. 

SCHOOLS. 

The township was, soon after its organization, divided 
into districts, whose boundaries were enlarged or diminished 
as circumstances demanded. The earliest school in Hazel- 
ton was taught in the year 1851, by Mrs. Daniel L. Pat- 
terson, in a log cabin standing upon the farm of her hu.sband, 
on section 22, which was built by John Willis. It was 
embraced within the boundaries of district No. 1, and the 
succeeding teacher was Miss Mary Gillet, now Mrs. Nathan 
Colby. The earliest school in the Judd neighborhood was 
taught by Miss Jane Judd, now Mrs. John Bowman, in 
1854, in a log school-house built the same year on sec- 
tion 34. 

The present territory of Hazelton is divided into seven 
whole, and two fractional, districts. The board of directors 
is composed of the following gentlemen : John A. Fitch, 
L. H. Barrett, G. Garner, Enoch Wing, Batus Snyder, F. 
J. Richardson, I. S. Jones, D. Beatty, J. C. Bronson. 

The number of children receiving instruction is four 
hundred and forty-eight, of whom twenty-eight are non- 
residents. They are under the direction of eight male and 
nine female teachers. The value of school property in 



tn 
o 

Ob 
O 



N 



5: 




HAZELTON TOWNSHIP. 



233 



Hazelton is four thousand eight hundred dollars, which in- 
cludes one log and eight frame school-houses. 

CHUROH HISTORY. 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The first class of this deuouiinatiou was organized Feb. 
21, 1858, under the direction of Kev. S. W. Wooster, it 
having been at that time a part of the Owos.so district. 
Its members were John Judd, Loren Bensley, Matilda 
Judd, Jane Bensley, Mary Kellogg, Julius Kellogg, John 
Bowman, Klisha Coons, Hep.sah Coons, Jane Bowman, 
Moses A. Pixley, John Judd, Jr., Edward Judd, Lorenzo 
Brigham, John Meeker, Betsey Meeker. The Rev. S. W. 
Wooster, after having organized tlie class, left it in charge 
of Rev. Jesse Bradford, now of Grand Rapids, who was 
the active pastor for a period of five years, Loren Bensley 
having been the first class-leader. In 1859 it was reorgan- 
ized and became a part of the Corunna Circuit. Rev. L. 
H. York succeeded to the pastorate in 1859, and D. W. 
Hammond acted as supply. Since that time the clergymen 
in succession have been as follows: 1860, Rev. Samuel 
Wilkinson; 1861, Rev. J. H. Cornalia ; 1863, Rev. 
Thomas Wakelin ; from 1864 to 1867, supplies; 1867, 
Rev. A. A. Allen; 1869, Rev. Joel B. Goss; 1872, Rev. 
A. Whitcomb; 1873, Rev. Thomas Wakelin; 1875, Rev. 
D. M. Van Deusen ; 1878, Rev. D. M. Ward ; 1879, Rev. 
Edward Steer. 

The present commodious church edifice was erected in 
1871, and dedicated in October, 1874. Its debt of sixteen 
hundred dollars is entirely liquidated, and a parsonage has 
also been purchased by the society. A Sabbath-school 
numbering sixty scholars is connected with the church, of 
which the pastor is superintendent. 

PROTESTANT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Very few facts regarding this church are at command. 
The class was organized many years since and religious 
services held at the Gillet school-house. An effort was 
made to erect a house of worship, which was so far suc- 
cessful that in 1879 ground was chosen at Lothrop, and the 
building proceeded toward completion, when some unfor- 
tunate circumstances caused a temporary suspension of the 
work. The present pastor is Rev. Mr. Snyder. The 
trustees are Aaron Hoxie, Lsaac Wood, and Leonard Hoff- 
ner. 

The building committee is composed of John Frame, 
Isaac Wood, Robert Craig. 

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. 
The society of this denomination was organized in 1873, 
under the direction of Elders Van Horn and Lane, meetings 
having at first been held in Flushing, and later in the 
school-house on section 34, in Hazelton. Various preachers 
have since that time supplied the pulpit. The society, 
which has grown more flourishing as it advanced in years, 
is now erecting a house of worship on the southeast corner 
of section 26. 

II.VZELTUN ORANGE, No. 600. 
This grange was organized in 1875, with thirty-three 
members, the following having been its first oflScers : Daniel 
30 



Cameron, M. ; L. H. Barrett, Secretary; Johu Bowman, 
Trea.surer; F. I. Richard.son, Lecturer; Edward Judd, 
Chaplain. The present officers are L. H. Barrett, M. ; 
Frank Twitchell, Secretary ; John Towle, Treasurer; A. 0. 
Busli, Lecturer; Edward Judd, Chaplain. A spacious 
hall is owned by the organization, which also has a flourish- 
ing supply department, of which Edward Judd is pur- 
chasing-agent. Fifty names are enrolled upon its member- 
ship list. 

LOTHROP VILLAGE. 

The following description of the plat of the village of 
Lothrop is recorded : " Commencing at a point on the 
section-line between sections two and eleven, township 
eight north, of range four east, said point being eight 
hundred and twenty-nine feet east of the corner of sections 
two, three, ten, and eleven, thence north parallel with the 
west line of section two four hundred and thirty-three feet, 
thence west fifty-five feet, thence north parallel with said 
section-line three hundred and ninety-six feet, thence west 
parallel with the south line of section two seven hundred 
and seventy-four feet, thence west parallel with the south 
line of section three eight hundred aud twenty-nine feet, 
thence south parallel with the east line of section three 
eight hundred and twenty-nine feet, thence south parallel 
with the east line of section ten eight hundred and twenty- 
nine feet, thence ea.st parallel with the north line of section 
ten eight hundred and twenty-nine feet, thence east parallel 
with the north line of section eleven eight hundred and 
twenty-nine feet, thence north parallel with the west line of 
section eleven eight hundred and twenty-nine feet, to the 
place of beginning. Blocks 3, 4, 5, and 6 belong to N. 
Colby; blocks 9, 10, 15, and 16, to Gideon Silvertliorne ; 
blocks 1 and 2 are reserved for Mes.srs. Runnells and Craig; 
and the remainder of the blocks and lots belong to F. Berry. 
Surveyed October 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th, by Lyman 
Mason, C. E." 

A tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon a 
portion of which the village of Lothrop is built, was en- 
tered in 1836 by James Butler, of New York. This 
included eighty acres each on sections 3 and 10, the latter 
of which was purchased in 1855 by A. W. Gillet and a 
man named Luce. In 1858, Nathan and Levi Colby set- 
tled upon section 10, and the former brother, in 1865, 
purchased the east half of the southeast quarter of section 
3, upon which he built a residence. Gideon Silverthorne 
came in 1871, and also erected a dwelling. The same year 
Alexander Bailey came from Oakland County and built a 
store, in which he placed a small stock of goods and began 
his career as the pioneer merchant. Francis Berry arrived 
in 1875, and purchased the Gillet property, which he im- 
proved in various ways. He also established himself as a 
merchant, but later sold to C. K. Runnells and resumed his 
former calling, that of a clergyman. Mr. Runnells also — 
in connection with his partner — built the grist-mill, and 
Mr. Colby constructed a blacksmith-shop, which was leased 
to N. Fcnncr. Mr. Berry, in 1878, erected a spacious 
store, which is now occupied by Messrs. Niles & Co., who 
conduct an extensive business in general merchandising. 
In 1879, Mr. Colby built a hotel of considerable propor- 



234 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



tions, and Andrew Krebs a harness-shop, and later a second 
sliop. 

Tlic business interests of the place may bo summed up 
as ibllows : 

A. N. Niles & Co. and C. K. Runnells, dry goods, gro- 
ceries, etc. 

John Hart, groceries and clothing. 

A. Krebs, harness, etc. 

David Krebs, shoe-slio]). 

William Hill, blacksmith-shop. 

N. Fenner, blacksmith-shop. 

AV. H. Reid, blacksmith-shop. 

E. P. Beam, wagon-sliop. 

John Sharp, restaurant and livery-stable. 

James Berry, harness-shop. 

Runnells & Craig, saw- and grist-mills. 

N. Colby, hotel. 

Dr. 0. W. Took is the active physician and surgeon of 
the place, and C. K. Runnells the postmaster. 

By order of the Post^Office Department the office has 
been changed to New Lothrop, though no change of a 
corresponding nature has been recorded with regard to the 
name of the village. 

Flouring-Mill and /Saw-Mill. — The flouring-mill of Run- 
nells & Craig, which has the reputation of being one of the 
most complete in the county in all its appointments, was 
constructed by the present proprietors in 1877. It is pro- 
pelled by an engine of thirty-five horse-power, and has 
three run of stones. It is devoted exclusively to custom- 
work, and bus a capacity for grinding one hundred bushels 
of wheat and two hundred bushels of corn per day. The 
average custom-work done per day is eighty bushels, though 
at times this is greatly increased. The most approved 
modern machinery for manufacturing flour by the patent 
process has been introduced. 

The saw-mill owned by the same firm is also propelled 
by steam. It has an upright saw and an edger, and lias a 
capacity for sawing five thousand feet of hard timber per 
day. The market is found in Owosso and East Saginaw. 

HAZELTONVILLE. 

A portion of the land upon which the village of Hazel- 
tonville is located was originally entered by Gen. James 
Wadsworth, of Geneseo, N. Y., in 1836, eighty acres of 
which was purchased by Eliakim Wood of the Wadsworth 
estate. That part which borders on section 14 was for- 
merly in possession of Hiram A. Fenner, while that on 22 
— also a part of the Wadsworth purchase — was subse- 
quently controlled by H. J. Patterson. In the year 1872, 
Erastus Call and B. F. Dunlap each erected a store, the 
former having also built a house and a cooper-shop. His 
residence was brief, the same year having witnessed both 
his arrival and departure. During the year 1874, Almond 
Kimball erected a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the Misteau- 
guay Creek, the power having been supjilied by the stream 
upon which it is located. The latter was furnished with 
two run of stones and was devoted exclusively to custom- 
work. Dean Hartshorn had arrived some time before and 
opened a blacksmith-shop, which monopolized most of the 
work of the neighborhood. Soon after, Lewis Elliott 



opened a similar shop, and shared the patronage with his 
predecessor. Several houses had meanwhile been erected, 
and in 1878 another blacksmith- and wagon-shop was 
opened. In 1879, Dana Bros, built a store, which was 
filled with a stock of goods adapted to the wants of their 
country trade ; and Thomas Ackcrson and Benjamin San- 
born each established a wagon-shop. John Thompson also 
opened'a boot- and shoe-sliop, the only one in the place. 

The Post-Office Department has established here an 
office, known as Hazelton, of which William Gage is post- 
master. There is no hotel in the hamlet, but travelers are 
entertained at the house of B. F. Dunlap. 

JUDD'S CORNEKS. 

This ])oint in the township was first settled by John 
Judd, who came from Connecticut to Genesee County in 
1836, and removed to Hazelton in 1853. He purchased of 
the Hazelton brothers four hundred acres of land on sections 
33 and 34 in the township, and section 3 in Venice. He 
settled at once on this land, erected a cabin, and cleared ten 
acres. The following year fourteen acres were added to the 
former improvement and much of it sown with wheat, 
though the exceeding richness of the ground rendered the 
crop a poor one. Leeks were prolific in their growth, and 
the most formidable antagonist with which the settler con- 
tended. 

In 1854 a school-house was erected on section 34, in 
which Miss Jane Judd was the earliest teacher. George 
Pangborn bought a portion of section 34, upon which he 
soon after made a small clearing. It was not until many 
years later that any actual growth was apparent at the Cor- 
ners. 

In 1877 a blacksmith-shop was opened by A. Babcock, 
and H. A. Briokwell built a saw-mill. In 1879 a spacious 
store was erected by Wellington Cameron, who placed in it 
a general stock of goods. His health failed soon afterwards 
and the business was assumed by John Judd, who now 
conducts the store. The saw-mill is at present operated 
by John Fitch & Son, and a shoe-shop has also been 
opened at the Corners. Dr. C. J. Annis is the physician 
and surgeon of the neighborhood. 

The Methodist Episcopal church and the Grangers' 
hall are both located at Judd's Corners. A post-office was 
established in 1879, with E. D. Babcock as postmaster. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JOHN JUDD. 

The genealogy of the Judd family traces their ancestry 
back to the puritanical times of 1633-34. Thomas Judd 
emigrated to this country, and settled at Cambridge, Mass., 
being eight generations removed fi'om the present subject 
of this sketch. John Judd, the father, married Abigail 
Palmer, a descendant of Governor Carver, first Governor of 
the State of Massachusetts. John Judd, the present, was 
the eldest of a family of seven children, and born at Hart- 
ford, Coun., June 15, 1809, where he continued until about 



HAZBLTON TOWNSHIP; 



235 





JOHN JUUl). 




MRS. MATILDA JUDB, DEC D. 



MRS. JOHN JUDD. 



twenty-one years of age, followini; the occupation of cooper. 
In that capacity he shipped aboard an outward-bouud whaler, 
and for three years followed the sea, visiting the Portuguese 
island St. Helena, the burial-place of Napoleon, doubled 
Cape Good Hope, and fished in the Straits of Mozambique 
and Madagascar, visited the coast of Africa, and was twice 
sliipwrecked, barely escaping a watery grave. He turned his 
face homeward, and on his arrival, July 27, 1834, married 
Matilda Leach, — whose parents were Thomas and Temper- 
ance Loach, descendants of the old Puritanical emigrants of 
that name who settled at Norwich, Conn., — and without the 
tour which is considered so essential to the happiness of 
the newly wedded they immediately started a home at 
Hartford, Conn., where they resided until IS.'iiG, when a 
colony of tlie Methodist Church was organized for emigra- 
tien. Michigan was chosen as the future home. D. L. 
Belden was appointed agent, and came to Michigan, visited 
several localities, finally decided to locate in Genesee County, 
and purchased nineteen hundred acres in the town of Rich- 
field. Aa the time for departure drew near one after another 
gave notice of their abandoning the enterprise, preferring 
the comforts of a home by name instead of one in reality 
in a new and unimproved country. At the day appointed 
but two, D. L. Belden and John Judd and family, departed, 
and, after the usual fatigue and hard.ships incident to a 
journey overland and by lake, they arrived at their destina- 
tion fatigued and sore, but not di.gheartened. Mr. Judd 
purchased eighty acres of Mr. Belden, to be paid for in 
work, and for a period of five years the struggle to meet 
his payments, improve his land, and maintain his constantly- 
increasing family continued, when he was obliged to ex- 



change his improved farm for wild land, necessitated by 
the non-payment of county orders, which he had received 
in payment for contract highway work. A journey half 
across the continent and we find them at Norwich, Conn. 
Broken and despondent, they turned back to seek rest. 
Five years later, with renewed strength and energy, they 
returned to begin anew the pioneer life, their past experi- 
ence being turned to good account. Mr. Judd invested 
their accumulations in merchandise, and connecting with 
it the manufacturing of black salts and potash, he was 
enabled to cany forward improvements more rapidly and 
with less physical labor to himself In 1854 an exchange 
was made for four hundred acres in Hazelton township, 
Shiawassee Co., and for a third time he began the subduing 
of the wilderness. Since that time improvements have gone 
rapidly forward, resulting in a finely-improved farm-home. 
Not alone have men subdued the wilderness, but by their 
side come her upon whom no purer, holier appellation than 
that of wife can be bestowed. Sundering the ties that bind 
them to home and its hallowed influences, they go forth to 
do and endure for the .sake of those who call them wife 
and mother. Such a one was Mrs. Judd, and when home 
comforts were provided, and while carefully instructing her 
own in the path of rectitude and virtue, she found time 
and opportunity to aid others. Originally she was a Con- 
gregationalist, but finding the majority of new-comers 
favoring Methodism Mr. and Mrs. Judd united their eflbrts 
in building up the cause, and to-day all join in acknowledg- 
ing the present advancement in church interest largely due 
to their efforts. On April 18, 1869, Mrs. Judd passed 
away, aged sixty-sis, having lived to see her family of five 



236 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



children grown to men and women, and all within the ark 
of safety for which end she had so untiringly labored. 
Thomas, born April 30, 1835, at Hartford, Conn., resides 
at Macosta, Mo. ; Jane M., born Sept. 19, 1838, at Rich- 
field, Genesee Co., Mich., wife of John Roman ; Edwin and 
Edward, born Sept. 1, 1840, at Richfield, each reside upon 
part of the old homestead; John, born Dec. 14, 1841, at 
Norwich, Conn., also resides on part of the old homestead. 
All the male members of the family served during the 
Rebellion for a period of three years each. Edwin was 
taken prisoner at Gettysburg, John was wounded at Fall- 



ing Waters, and Thomas at Murfreesboro', Tenn. All 
lived to return home. 

In 1879, Mr. Judd married Mrs. Nancy Reed, who 
resided in Montrose township, Genesee Co., an active mem- 
ber of society and a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, an early pioneer, and together they are journeying 
down the hill of life, surrounded by many friends. Mrs. 
Nancy Judd was born in 1816 in Lockport, Niagara Co., 
N. Y^. Her maiden name was Nancy Perry. She was 
previously married to Willard Pettie, and reared a large 
family, now all grown to man and womanhood. 





MRS. \V. \V. WAltNEK. 



W. \V. WARNER. 



W. W. WARNER. 



The family of Mr. Warner dates back to the early settle- 
ment of the English colonies. In this country his grand- 
father, Samuel Warner, resided at Hartford, Conn., follow- 
ing the occupation of miller, and was the fiither of five 
children. William H., a son, was born July 5, 1762, 
followed his father's occupation until of age, when he came 
as far West as Cortland Co., N. Y., and found employment 
at farming. Sept. 7, 1819, he married Polly Gill, by whom 
he had four children. Five years after this marriage they 
removed to Potter Co., Pa., where they spent the residue 
of their lives. W. W. Warner, whose portrait appears in 
this work, was born Aug. 11, 1824, at the first homo, and 
after his boyhood days followed the occupation of millwright, 
carpenter, and joiner. In 1850 he married Susan Latta, 
a native of Steuben Co., N. Y., whose family had removed 
to Potter Co., Pa., as early as 1836. In the fall of 1852 
he with his family journeyed West and located upon his 
present farm in Ilazcltou, then a wilderness, with but 
eiu'ht families residing in the township. From Flushing, 
Genesee Co., nothing but an Indian trail marked the way. 



Turning from this, they cut a passage for the ox-team which 
he had hired to haul material for a shanty ; this completed 
he returned to Flushing, where Mrs. Warner had tarried, 
and on Nov. 24, 1852, built their first fire upon their hearth, 
which has ever during the pioneer life burned bright in 
welcome to others seeking a home in the wilderness. Rut 
years have passed, and by iheir industry the forests have 
disappeared and blooming orchards and smiling fields of 
grain are the results. Years of hard labor arc recalled by 
many pleasant recollections and few regrets. To Mr. War- 
ner is attributed having sunk the first well and erected the 
second frame house in town. Not only in his own interests 
has he been a liiithful worker, but at the first town-meeting 
was elected to ofiBce, served as supervisor, and nearly all the 
years of his residence in the township has held some office 
of public trust with honor to himscU' and satisfaction to his 
townsmen. Their family consists of two sons, William L., 
born Aug. 10, 1854; George W., born Feb. 8, 1859, who 
studiously endeavor to assume the burden of labor endured 
by their parents to rear them to manhood. 



HAZELTON TOWNSHIP. 



237 





.lESSE anOADES. 



MRS. JESSE RUOADES. 



JESSE RHOADES. 



In the early settlement of Shiawas.see County came 
Jesse Rlioades and wife. A year previous he had pur- 
chased of R. Ewings ( a brother of Mrs. Rhoades, residing 
in Flushing), eighty acres on section 25, Ilazelton township. 
The facilities for obtaining the early history of the family are 
very meagre. They were natives of Vermont, removed to the 
State of New York, sojourned for a time, then with the tide of 
emigration came West to Geauga Co., Ohio, thence to their 
purchase as above, in the fall of 1852. The family consisted 
of nine children. The eldest, Allen, had married previous 
to his coming, locating on section 26, whore he lived until 
1862, when he enlisted in the Sixth Michigan Cavalry, 
participated in many engagements, was taken prisoner, and 
died in a rebel prison ; Clark, resides in Ilazelton ; Sarah, 
wife of John Harle, of Flu.shing, Genesee Co. ; Ransom, 
proprietor of the homestead ; Marshal, resides in Hazelton ; 
Harriet, wife of J. St. Johns, resides in Clayton, Genesee 
Co. ; Martha, wife of J. Gillett, of Saginaw ; Haskall, re- 



moved to Missouri, and enlisted in 1862 in the United 
States Army, and was killed in battle; Asa, when last heard 
from, was in California. Mr. Rhoades being in feeble health, 
the management of affairs devolved upon Ransom, and to 
him is due the peace and comfort of their declining days. 
The father died in the fall of 1868. The mother survived 
to the good old age of eighty-four, departing this life March 
24, 1876. 

Ransoiu, having the care of his aged parents resting 
upon him, did not enlist at the breaking out of the Rebel- 
lion, but feeling it his duty upon the last call of 1864, en- 
listed in the Ninth Michigan Infantry, and served till the 
close of the war. Soon after his return he married Miss 
Aliuira Sharp, whose parents lived in Flazelton. Two chil- 
dren have been born to them. In politics Mr. Rhoades is a 
Democrat, but is not a politician. In his domestic rela- 
tions he is a good husband, father, and friend, and in every 
sense a worthy citizen. 



JOHN ROMAN. 



John Roman was born April 18, 1831, in Bavaria, 
Germany, and traces his ancestry among the wealthy rep- 
resentative people of their time, and is the only member of 
that family who has adopted this country as a home, except- 
ing a nephew, Godfritz Hajip, who accompanied Mr. Bow- 
man on his return to America from a visit to his native 
land. At the breaking out of the German Rebellion, in 
1848, Mr. Roman was drafted to serve in King Ludwig's 
army of Bavaria for a period of six years. Soon after 
joining the command to which he was assigned, the entire 
regiment forsook the king's cause and joined the revolu- 
tionists. After a brief struggle they were compelled to 
seek safety in another land. Still following the fortunes of 
his leaders, Hecker, Carl Schurz, Sigel, and others more 
prominetitly known in this country, he came to America, 



arriving in New York, Aug. 1, 1850, a stranger in a strange 
land, with only one dollar, one-half the sum of his available 
po.ssession. He came to IJuttalo, N. Y., where he succeeded 
in finding employment at four dollars per month, and con- 
tinued in that vicinity for a period of four years, when with 
his accumulated wages he purclnwed eighty acres of his 
present property. 

The following year he came to Michigan, working at 
lumbering and also making sonic small improvements 
upon his farm. On July 19, 1857, he married Miss Jane 
M. Judd, the history of whoso family is given in this work. 
Together they began the labor of subduing the forest and 
establishing a home. We need not comment upon their 
success further than by calling attention to the view of their 
home presented in this work. In politics Mr. Bowman 



238 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



was Democratic, but at the breaking out of the Rebellion 
enlisted in the Second Michigan Cavalry, participating in 
several small engagements, and was discharged with the 
regiment, thoroughly convinced that the party and principle 
that had so successfully dosed the struggle should be sus- 
tained, and when elections occur a straight ticket can be 
counted upon from him. 

Mr. Roman is not a church member, but favors the 
Methodist Episcopal Society, of which Mrs. Roman is a 
member, and has been since her girlhood days. Together 
they have contributed largely to the building up and sus- 
taining that institution in their vicinity. The family con- 
sists of six children, — Louisa and Alice, dying in infancy ; 
Matilda, born Oct. 2, 1858, wife of A. Campbell, and re- 
sides in Saginaw ; Charlc.'s, burn Sept. 23, 18U7 ; Ida A., 
born April 9, 18G9 ; Jamie, born Dec. 8, 1877. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 
MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP.* 

Description — Tlie Pioneers of Middlebury — Additions to the Settle- 
ment — Township Org.anizntion and List of Oftieers — Township 
Roads — Wiiil Service in Middlebury — Burial-places — Keligious 
History of the Township — Schools — Middlebury Cheese-Factory. 

The township of Middlebury, lying upon the western 
border of Shiawassee County, contains but twenty-four full 
sections and six fractional sections. Fairfield townsliip 
bounds it on the north, Sciota on the south, Owosso on 
the east, and the Clinton County line on the west. 

Middlebury has always been entirely an agricultural 
town, and as such ranks high. The soil is very produc- 
tive, and the gently-rolling surface of the country, liberally 
embellished with fine farms and elegant farm-houses, is 
very attractive. Indeed, especial emphasis may justly be 
laid upon the subject of the homes of Middlebury, for 
they are upon every hand charming pictures in the land- 
scape, adorned in many cases at great expense and with 
refined taste. 

Six schools provide for the educational wants of the 
community ; but in the matter of churches the supply is 
confined to one church edifice, although that f;ict bespeaks 
by no means a lack of religious privileges, since places of 
public worship ai'e conveniently at hand in adjacent towns. 

THE PIONEERS OF MIDDLEBURY. 

In June, 1837, a pioneer family of six persons, com- 
prising Obed Hathaway, his wife, and four. children, travel- 
ing in a lumber-wagon drawn by oxen, reached the house 
of Henry Leach, in Sciota, and bargaining with him to 
mark a road for them through the woods to section 21 
in the next town north, pushed on. Hathaway, a New 
Yorker, had bought a tract of land in that town in 1836, 
and was going now with his family to make a settlement. 
No white man had preceded him into the territory whither 

* By David Schwartz. 



he was bound, and he proposed accordingly to make his 
home in the wide stretch of forest, — a solitary settler in 
a howling wilderness. 

Mr. Leach went forward and " blazed" the route, and 
the older Hathaway followed, cutting out the road for his 
team. A trip of five miles brought them to their destina- 
tion, and then their pioneer work began at once. Until he 
could build a cabin, Hathaway lodged his family in the 
wagon four weeks. When they came to the town they 
brought provisions enough to last them, as they supposed, 
until harvest. The supply gave out, however, before that 
time, and Hathaway set out to obtain a fresh supply, in- 
tending moreover to stop awhile elsewhere and work long 
enough to earn what money would be required for the 
purchase. He was absent six weeks, and during that time 
the folks at home rested their hopes upon a larder so lean 
that salt and dry bread was their principal diet for more 
than four weeks. 

The Hathaways struggled on as best they could until 
the approach of winter, when (no other settlers having 
come to town) they concluded to return to Washtenaw 
County and stop there until spring, since in their new 
home, there was no chance to winter their cattle, and al- 
most as poor a chance to winter themselves without serious 
discomfort, if not distress. Returning from Washtenaw 
County in tjie spring of 1838 they found the Slocums on 
section 35, where they had been since the preceding Jan- 
uary. When the Hathaways left the town the foil before 
they liad put by a good supply of vegetables, so that when 
they came back in the spring of 1838 they counted upon 
finding a good stock of provisions to start on. Unhappily 
for their calculations, some person or persons had raided the 
cabin and carried oS everything to be found in the way 
of eatables. The little they had brought with them of 
food soon disappeared, and for weeks they lived on pota- 
toes and leeks. 

The Slocums, to whom reference has been made, were, as 
remarked, the second family to settle in the town. George 
W. Slocum came from New York to Michigan in 1836 in 
search of land, and in the spring of that year located one 
hundred and sixty acres on section 35 in town 7 north, 
range 1 east. This was the first land-entry in that town, 
and in the same year — the year of the great emigration to 
Michigan — was followed by numerous others. Upon en- 
tering the land, Slocum went into Oakland County and there 
awaited the coming from New York of his father and 
family, and in that county they remained until the closing 
days of 1837, when it was decided to make a start for the 
new land-purchase in town 7, with a view to a permanent 
location. 

On the way they stopped at Leach's, in Sciota township, 
and while the women folks made shift to live there the elder 
Slocum and his sons George, Daniel, and John went over 
into Middlebury and put up a cabin, walking back and forth 
from Leach's each night and morning. It took them two 
weeks to get the cabin up, and then it boasted neither door 
nor window ; but time and needs were pressing, and as it 
was they moved into it. Their first night in that primitive 
structure was anything but a peaceful one, for wolves, at- 
tracted by the presence of human beings, gathered in packs 



MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP. 



239 



about the shanty and howled throut;li all the night, mucli 
to the terror ot" tlie women, who were morally cerlahi the 
vile beasts would tear through the blanketed openings and 
devour every member of the famiFy. 

When the Sloeums came to make their home in the 
woods there was no other family in the town now known 
as Middlebury, although the Hathaways had been in, and 
came back again directly afterwards. Of course, there 
were no roads in the Slocum neighborhood ; but roads were 
a vital necessity, especially in such a heavily-timbered coun- 
try, and among their first labois after housing the family 
the Sloeums cut out a thoroughfare. During the first year 
of their residence in the town they underbrushed a road 
from Leach's to their place, another one three miles east- 
ward from the latter point, and still another four miles 
towards thu northwest to the Hathaway settlement. 

No more fortunate in that particular than the Hathaways 
(who, when they first came, had to journey eighteen miles 
to mill and make a two days' trip of it), the Sloeums could 
find no mill conveniences nearer than the lloehester colony, 
which, although by no means so far distant in a straight line, 
required a twenty-mile jaunt over a zigzag course through 
the woods to reach, and forty-eight hours to do it in. The 
woods were full of bears, wolves, and deer, and bear hunts 
were as common as the ravages made by the bears them- 
selves upon the small stock of the settlers. Small pigs 
were the morsels towards which their inclination turned 
constantly. To preserve the inmates of pig-pens from the 
bears at night fires were built in the pens, and sometimes, 
indeed, bed-sheets were fiistened over the pen as a protest 
against the raids of the aggressive hog-stealers. One night 
Daniel Slocum was awakened from his slumbers by the cry 
of a hog, and knowing at once that a bear was at work in 
the pen, he .sprang out of bed, snatched a gun, and in his 
bare feet ran over the frozen ground towards the pen just in 
time to see an immense bear leap over a rail-fence with 
a pig in his paws. When Bruin saw Datjel and the gun 
he dropped the pig and ran away so rapidly that the bullet 
inis.sed him, and although Daniel and George (his brother) 
searched long and faithfully, they found no dead or disabled 
bear. 

George Slocum went out one morning before breakfast 
to hunt the cows, and straying from the beaten path came 
suddenly upon two bears. They, startled quite as much as 
he, climbled up a tree as quickly as they could, and he, 
hastening home for a gun and a companion, returned with 
both speedily, but the bears had meanwhile left the tree 
and disappeared, and although the youths hunted for hours 
they found them not. Daniel Slocum remembers distinctly 
that when he went to school in Sciota, to 0. B. Westcott, 
he was more than once followed by wolves all the way from 
home to school. 

As an illustration of what " going for a doctor" meant in 
those days, it may be recorded that when a physician was 
suddenly needed in Nathan Herrick's household, George 
Slocum was aroused at night and charged with the mission 
of riding horseback eleven miles to Owosso t()r the man of 
medicine. The night was dark, and the road was exceed- 
ingly uncertain, since it passed chiefly through the forest. 
Fre(juently young George would ride full tilt against the 



low branch of a tree, and in a twinkling would be swept 
from his .saddle ; but although he was unhorsed in that 
way a dozen times during the journey, and was much dis- 
couraged by darkne.ss and rough riding, he reached Owosso 
eventually, and in due season returned in triumph with the 
doctor. 

As regards the lack of roadways, Mr. Slocum relates 
how, in the spring of 1838, he agreed to make a trip with 
the Palmers to Owosso. They footed it through the woods, 
and finding Maple River very high, met with much difli- 
culty in crossing it ; but they were not the ones to let a 
river, big or little, stop them, and they got over, of course, 
and so on to Owo.sso. Coming back they had better luck 
in following the line of the surveyed Northern Railroad. 
This railway was never pushed to completion, but the road 
route was gladly used as a highway by the pioneers. Get- 
ting to market at Pontiac or Detroit was no slight under- 
taking, and then to consume a week over rough roads or 
no roads at all, to .sell wheat at forty or fifty cents, to take 
half the proceeds in trade, and to get home again with but 
little to show as the yield of the week's struggle, was among 
some of the disheartening features of pioneer existence. 

AUDITIONS TO THE SETTLEMENT. 

Following upon the return of the Hathaways, in the 
spring of 1838, the infant settlement received accessions in 
the families of John and AViiliam Palmer, who located re- 
spectively on sections 21 and 22. In the same spring 
Moses Clark, Jr., made a settlement upon the northeastern 
quarter of section 34 ; Elijah Potter, a bachelor, and his 
brother Silas (with family), on section 25. The Palmers ] 
came from Middlebury, N. Y., and when the town (now 
Middlebury, Mich.) was to be named they had the honor 
of christening it, just as their father, who migrated from ( 
Middlebury, Vt., to New York State, named Middlebury, 
N. Y. Moses Clark was a Baptist, and used once in awhile^ 
to preach sermons to the settlers. His father, who joined 
him some years afterwards, was likewise a preacher, and in 
that ofiice performed industrious and eiTective service. 

Adam J. Coons was one of the early comers, and at- 
tempted to make a settlement on section 26. He began 
to feel lonesome directly, and went over then to section 
28, where he squatted and said he would stay because in 
that ueighborhood there were people, while on his place in 
section 26 he was too far from human beings. Coons was 
noted for his disinclination to work, and would not lift a 
hand in labor unless absolutely forced to choose between 
working and starving. His invariable excuse for idleness 
was that he owned but one suit of clothes, and that he 
couldn't afford to ruin them by working in them. Coons 
was regarded, moreover, as by no means a brave man. 
When he heard of the burning of Glass' house, north of 
Duplain, and the loss therein of Glass' wife and children, 
he made up his mind that rascally Indians had burned the 
building and murdered the iimiates. Acting upon this 
idea, he resolved that no Indians should murder him with- 
out having at least to fight for it, and when he went to bed 
carried also each night an axe with him. A settler's wife, 
in discussing the subject with Coons' wife, gave it as her 



MO 



HISTOKY OK SUIAWASSKK COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



o|<iiiioii tliat till' iiiiiii was a torriblo I'owartl, ami aildcil, 
wittily, " Mary, vmi iiiado a bij; uii.stako wlu'ii you tivod 
tliiit Coon." 

Tlio iioitluMii iialf of tlio towii.-fliip wa.s allowed to ro- 
uiaiii uudistiirlu'd iiiitil tiio yoar 18;!!(, whon >laiiic,s Me- 
Carty, with liis .«oii .lohii, — both haviiif: tiuuilics, — voiiturod 
to sootion ;i. William Mi-Caiio and ,101111 Taylor t'ollowod 
him thitliora ti>\v yoars later, but Taylor returned about as 
i|uiekly as ho had oome, while Mel\uie, ath'r e!ioii|Miis; about 
oij;ht aeres on section 4, retired in a condition of hijih di.s- 
gust with the pioneer business, and declared afVcrwards that 
tlie wolves were so thick in the infernal eouMlrv that no 
white man could stop there. 

In that quarter settlements progressed slovvly until IStiO, 
when a strong tide of emigration .set that way, and 
although then the country thereabout was generally wild, 
it bocHUie within « sliort space an open fiirming region. In 
IStill.when Samuel Katoii tone of the pioneers of Oakland 
County) came to .section I, in Middlcbury, there had been 
very little done in thai vieinily in the way of clearing land. 
lie occupied a farm (lunv owned by liis son, A. M. Katon~) 
upon which not a stick had been cut except upon the few 
acres eloured years before by MeCane, but that patch was 
then choked with a second growth of timber. Brazil Mar- 
vin had come to section !) in ISot), cleared tlie fii-st year 
one hundred acres, and put it all into wheat. He paid five 
dollars per acre for four lots of eighty aeres each, and in 
something like ten years afVerwards sold the major portion 
of the land at one hundred dollare an acre. 

Ijyman llikox was among the early comers to section 3. 
In 185(!, D. W. Kelley e«me to settle on seotioii 4. H. C. 
Main lived then on section 1, but between his house and 
Kelley 's the country was all woods, although the iic.vt year 
D. L. Dodder came to seotion 10, and about tlien, too, into 
the northeast corner came the Munsils, the Heeds, Eddys, 
and others. 

In 184.'^, lloswell and Nathan llorriok settled near the 
Sloeums, and in 1852 Nathan moved to a jilaee on section 
28. In that portion of the town William Hideout had been 
living upon seotioii 27 since 1844, and in that year, upon 
his entrance. Hideout found John Flanagan on section 22, 
A.J. Coons on section 28, and Halhawav on 21. llircctlv 
afterwards James Kenney came in and put up his ejibin on 
section 22, and to section 21, on the day of Hideout's 
arrival, came William Hadgeivw. Hideout found on his 
land a number of Indian graves, and although nearly all 
have been plowed over there may yet be discovered in a 
piece of his woods a few mounds containing bones. 

Middlcbury 's pioneer blacksmith, and one of its early 
earpentei-s, was l>. F. Tobey, who came to Michigan in 
1835, and worked ton ycara aft«r that at niillwrighting. 
In 1848 he settled upon wild land in Middlcbury. and 
opened a blacksmith's shop. In 1849, Tobey jtssistcd in 
the orectiou of a school-house ou section 23. Middlcbury 
had no saw-uiill then, nor until some ycai-s afterwards, when 
Cook & Kline built one on section Iti, so that for lumber 
the builder in Middlcbury was compelled to go to Owosso 
until some time after the year 1850. Tobey 's neighbors 
on the cast he found to be James Kenney on section 22, 
Uarrisou Lounsbcrry on seution 23, and Bushrod Warren 



on the place in section 23 occupied in lS5t^ by Ij. F. Kings- 
ley, the present owner. Two yeai's previous to the coming 
of Kingsley, Peimis Hammond made a settlement upon a 
piece of wild land in section 20, and on .section 3(! Jere- 
iniali Howard made a clearing, whcie he died in 18t>i). 
In that neighborhood, in 1854, about the only other resi- 
dents were William Hathaway, the Sloeums, A. Sherman, 
and Hexter Proper. In 1851, also, Levi Hyde cut out a 
road for two miles to reach a place in .section 14, where 
he has made his homo since that time. North of him the 
town was a forest. Over at Clark's Corners IVrry Clark 
had cleared two or three acres, and west of him was Amos 
llilburii, who soon sold out tu H. 1'. Thompson. About 
the time of Hyde's arrival Sanford Mack located on seo- 
tion 11, and Henry .\ekerinan on section It, while in the 
following spring 11. C. Main and Uavid Smith penetrated 
the wilderness upon section 1, and W. A. Barnes came to 
section Iti. When, in 185('), L. F. Kingsley first occupied 
his present home on .section 23, his neighboi's on the east 
wore M. Wooden, Hollin Warren, and Charles Stimson ; on 
the west, John Webster, Oaniel and Hobert Hurkee ; on 
tbe south, Daniel Hearee ; and north, Levi Hyde and 
Stephen Kddy. Henry Mclu>wan was in section 13 upon 
a place owned soon afterwards by Charles Hose, and now 
occupied by his son, J. W. Uose. 

In 1848, when George II. and D. L. Warren came to 
the places they now occupy in section 33, the town-line 
road at that point had been chopped out but not cleared. 
I'iast of them on the town-line L. /. Stephenson made a 
settlement, in 1854, on section 34, where Charles Lock- 
wood had already chopped twenty acres. Over on section 
27, where he now lives, William Tubbs, of Oakland County, 
made a location in 1847; north of him ,). Marshall settled 
in 1854, G. W. Baboock ^a blacksmith) in 1857, and 
west, at later dates, V. S. Ledyard and J. Smith. 

The first white child born in Middlelniiy was Joseph, 
sou of Obed Hathaway. His birth oeeurred .lune, 1838, 
and since then his home has been in Michigan, his resi- 
deiiee at present being in Hennington township. The set- 
tlement was not visited with death until August, 1843, 
when Silas Potter died and was buried on his farm. Wil- 
liam I'almer died also at about that time, and was buried 
in the town cemetery. As to the fii-st marriage in the town 
it is difficult to fix it definitely. Careful invcstigiitiou has 
simply atl'orded the information that the marriages of Tru- 
man White to a sister of William Hideout, and Jeremiah 
Baker to a sister of Nathan llerrick, were among the 
earliest, perhaps the first two. 

Upon the assessment-ioll of 183!t, which gives the total 
assesficd value of the township at forty-seven thousand two 
hundred and one dollars, the resident tax-paycre, with 
amount of lands they owned, are thus given: 

Acres. 

ObeJ Hnthaway, sootion 21 SO 

.Tiiliii Viihnor, sei*tiv>ll '2\ 80 

NVilliiim I'lilmer, sootion 27 120 

Jlosis Olarli, .Ir., sootion 31 SO 

Silas Potior, sootion 25 SO 

Klijah Potior, sootion 2.=i 160 

Ooorgo W. Sloouui. sootion '^b 160 

The assessment-roll for 1842 shows the followiujr: 



MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP. 



241 



Acres. 

George W. Slocuiii, section 35 80 

Jolin Slocum, section .^5 80 

Silas Potter, section 25 120 

Elijah Potter, section 25 80 

A. J. Coons, section 26 160 

William Palmer, sections 22, 27 120 

Ohed Hathaway, section 21 80 

James McCarty, section 3 80 

•Joiin .McCarty, section 3 80 

John Palmer, section 21 80 

Tlie militia-roll of 1843, recording the names of all the 
white male inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and 
forty-five, bears the names of Nathan Ilerrick, D. D. Slo- 
cum, John Slocum, Jr., (jcorge W. Slocuni, Klijali Potter, 
John McCarty, Thomas M. Jenkins, Obed Hathaway, and 
Adam J. Coons. 

In 1889 the jurors drawn were Moses Clark, Jr., and 
John Palmer; in I HID, William Palmer and A. J. Coons. 
In 1845, John McCJarty and Roswell Herriek were on the 
list of petit jurors, and Nathan Herriek and Elijah Potter 
grand jurors. 

TOWN.'^IIII' dKOANIZATION AND LIST OF 

okficp:rs. 

A legislative act, approved March 21, 1839, organized 
towns 7 and 8 north, in range 1 east, as the township of 
Middlebury, the name being bestowed in pursuance of a 
suggestion ol' William I'alnicr, who came to Michigan from 
Middlebury, in the State of New York.' Jan. 4, 1854, the 
county supervisors set off town 8 and called it Fairfield, 
thus reducing Middlebury to its present limits. 

Middlebury's first town-meeting was held April 1, 1839, 
at the house of Moses Clark, Jr., who was chosen modera- 
tor. William Palmer, John Slocum, Elijaii Potter, and 
Silas Potter were chosen inspectors of election. Seven 
votes were cast, and naturally, there being but one ticket in 
the field, but little delay and no trouble was occasioned in 
reaching a result. Indeed, the trouble was not to find 
offices for men, but to find men for the offices, .since the 
latter so outnumbered the foiiner that two, three, and some- 
times four offices were forced upon one individual. William 
Palmer was elected Supervisor; Moses Clark, Jr., Clerk; 
John Slocum, Treasurer ; William Palmer, John Slocum, 
and Elijah Potter, Asse.s.sor8; William Palmer, Moses Clark, 
Jr., and John Palmer, School Inspectors; William Palmer 
and John Slocum, Directors of the Poor ; Silas Potter, Con- 
stable and Collector; John Slocum, Moses Clark, Jr., and 
John Palmer, Highway Commissioners; John Slocum, 
Elijah Potter, Moses Clark, Jr., and John Palmer, Justices 
of the Peace ; William Palmer, Overseer of Koad District 
No. 1. One hundred and fifty dollars was voted for town- 
ship incidental expenses, and the bonds of treasurer and 
collector were placed at five hundred dollars each. 

At a special election, April 28, 1839, George W. Slocum 
was chosen justice of the peace and commi.ssioner of high- 
ways to fill vacancies in tho.se offices, six votes being cast 
on that occasion. 

At a special election for county cotnmi.ssioner, July 15, 
1839, the voters present numbered nine, as follows; Henry 
Leach, John Slocum, Elijah Potter, Silas Potter, Gideon 
Cro.s8, Mo.ses Clark, Jr., John Palmer, George W. Slocum, 
William Palmer. At the general election in 1839 polls 
31 



were opened on two successive days at the houses of John 
Palmer and George W. Slocum. Eight votes were cast by 
William Palmer, Obcd Hathaway, John Slocum, George 
W. Slocum, Moses Clark, Jr., Silas Potter, George Nichols, 
and Elijah Potter. To inspect the election-it required five 
men, — Moses Clark, Jr., John Slocum, Elijah Potter, Silas 
Potter, and George W. Slocum, and of their number Moses 
Clark, Jr., was chosen to attend the county canvass. 

TllK VOTERS OF 1842, 184.3, 1844, ANU 1845. 

At the election in 1842 the voters were ten, and were 
named William Palmer, A. J. Coons, John Slocum, Elijah 
Potter, George W. Slocum, Silas Potter, Obcd Hathaway, 
John Slocum, John Palmer, John McCarty. 

In 1843 there were six, — John Slocuni, Jr., Elijah Pot- 
ter, Nathan Herriek, A. J. Coons, George W. Slocum, 
John McCarty. In April, 1844, llie voters were Nathan 
Herriek, George W. Slocum, William Palmer. John Slocum, 
Elijah Porter, Uoswell Herriek, John Slocum, Jr., John 
McCarty, Thomas M. Perkins, Chester L. Kemp. 

At the general election in November, 1844, eleven votes 
were cast by Nathan Herriek, John Slocum, Nicholas 
Flanagan, A. J. Coons, Obed Hathaway, AVilliam Badge- 
row, John Slocum, Jr., Elijah Pott<!r, Constantine Yerkes, 
William Carpenter, Roswell Herriek. 

In November, 1 845, there were twelve, as follows : Nathan 
Hc^rrick, John Slocum, George W. Slocum, Roswell Her- 
riek, James McCarty, Osier George, William Hideout, 
Nicholas Flanagan, Jesse Badgerow, James Kenney, James 
M. Curtis, William Badgerow. 

The. following is a list of the names of the persons chosen 
annually from 1840 to 1880 to serve as supervisor, clerk, 
treasurer, and justice of the peace of the township : 



Year. Supc-n'ifior. 


Clerk. 


Treasurer. 


Justice. 


184U. John Slucniii. 


J. Palmer. 


E. Potter. 


A. J. Coons. 


1841. " " 


William Palmer. 


J. Slocum. 


J. Palmer. 


1842. John Palmer. 


A. J. Coons, 


W. Palmer. 


G. W. Slocum. 


1«13. 0. W. Slocuni. 


" " 


J. Slocum. 


E. Poller. 


1S44. " 


" 


F,. Potter. 


J. Slocum. 


1845. " 


W. Palmer. 


" 




1840. " 


W. Ui.lcout. 


N. Herriek. 


W. Kideoul. 


1847. " 


J. Kenney. 


W. Kideout. 


0. W. .Slocum. 


1848. " 


N. Ilerrick. 


J. Kenney. 


C. Simpson. 


1849. " 


K. W. .Sykea. 


T. White. 


N. Herriek. 


1850. C. T. Post. 


V. D. Slocum. 


J. Kenney. 


G. It. Ivonnsberry 


1851. G. W. Slocum. 


B. F. Tobey. 


li. F. Tobey. 


B. Warren. 


1852. " 


N. Herriek. 


T. White. 


J. M. Curtis. 


186:i. J. Konniy. 


J, Hathaway. 


G. K, Loiinsberry 


G. W. Slocum. 


1864. 


" 


" " 


J. Hathaway. 


1856. H. Warren. 


N. Herriek. 


C. T. Post. 


B. Warren. 


1856. C. T. Post. 


W. A. Barnes. 


W. T. Voorhles. 


11. Ackemiatt. 


1857. 0. W. Slocum. 


L. F. Kingslcy. 


1). L. Warren. 


H. McGowan. 


1858. D. S. Uurkee. 


" " 


B. Marvin. 


J. Hathaway. 


18.% J. Hathaway. 


" " 


" 


R. W. Diirkee. 


ISCO. 


" 


J. Marsliall. 


G. II. Warren. 


18CI. J. Margliall. 


.. » 


M. Wooden. 


B. Payne. 


1862. S. fjiloii. 


B. Payne. 


'• 


h. C. Van Dyne. 


186.5. 


M, Wooden. 


J. Marshall. 


C. D. Slimson. 


1864. J. Manihall. 


L. J. Kenney. 


N, Herriek. 


S. fiitou. 


1805. J. Hatiiaway. 


I.. F. Klngsley. 


" 


J. Manihall. 


1806. 


" " 


C. Leach. 


I.. C. Van Dyne. 


1807. 


I.. .1. Kenney. 


" 


L. F. KIngsley. 


1808. S. Eaton. 


" 


W. Hathaway. 


8. Baton. 


1809. J. Hathaway. 


" " 


G. A. Winana. 


S. II. Williams. 


1870. 


" " 


" " 


W. U. Vandevero 


1871. 


" " 


" " 


M. Wooden. 


1872. 


" " 


" •< 


S. Eaton. 


187.1. " 


0. A. 11 un toon. 


8. B. Sonthworth 


T. G. Challln. 


1874. 


" " 


" '• 


W. H. Vandevere 


I K75. " 


" " 


E. G. Croswcll. 


JI. Wooden. 


1S76. H. P. Thompson 


" 


" 


S. Ejl«n. 



242 



HISTOllY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Yoar. Suiiervlsor. Clerk. Treivswror. Justloe. 

1S77. n. r. Tlunniwun. 15. A. Uuulouii. L. ]?. Kiiigsluy. N. 0. Giirritioii. 

1S76. J. Hathaway. " " " " W. H. Vandovoro. 

1879. A. M. tjiton. " " D. M. Moreboilse. M. Wooden. 

1880. " " " " " " S. Eaton. 



TOWNSHIP ROADS. 

The want of jniblic liii^liways was a serious diffieulty in 
the early days in MidiUebury, aud it was iu pursuance of 
a general desire to further the construction of township 
roads that the organization of the township was urged at a 
time when there were seareely a liall'-dozeu families therein. 

Among the roads laiil out at an early period the first 
one recorded appeal's to have been surveyed by Daniel 
Gould, May 14, 1S39. The road eommeneed on the south 
line of section 34, at a point " where the road in the town of 
Woodhull intersects said line," and ran thence north fifteen 
degrees west sixty-tive chains; thence north fil\y chains 
and tifty links ; thence seventy-three aud a half degrees 
west five chains ; thence north sixty-eight and three-quarter 
degrees west twenty chains twenty-three links to the west 
line of section 27 ; thence north on said line eighty-three 
chains, thirty-two links, to the centre of the highway run- 
ning from the village of Owgsso to the village of iMajileton, 
in the county of Clinton. 

July S, 1839, a road was laid commencing on the merid- 
ian line between sections 20 and 29, running thence east 
two miles and ten chains; thence south two miles to the 
town-line. On the same day a road was laid out from the 
corner-post of sections 21, 22, 27, and 28, running due 
south one mile ; thence three miles east to the town-line. 
March 24, 1840, highway eommissiouei-s George W. 
Slooum aud John Palmer divided the town into districts as 
follows: District No. 1 to contain sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 
13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 2G, 35, 30, iu town 7, and sections 1, 
2, 3, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 36, in 
town S ; No. 2, to include sections 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 15, 
16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 27, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, in town 7, and 
sections 4, 5, 8, 9, 16, 17, 20, 21, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34*, 
in town 8. No. 1 was ordered to build a road from the 
town-line north of the quarter stake between sections 34 
and 35 in town 7, and No. 2 to commence a road at the 
quarter stake aud run north as fiir as Moses Clark's. 

A town road was laid out Oct. 5, 1839, commencing at 
the southeast corner of town 7, and running west on the 
town-line between towns 6 aud 7 tweuty-oue chains, tifty 
links west of the southwest corner of section 35, in town 7. 
Nov. 18, 1845, a road was laid from a stake thirty-one 
chains and seventy-four links south of the northeast corner 
of section 24, running thence south eighty-five and a half 
degrees west one hundred and thirty-seven chains, nine 
links; theuce south eighty-seven and a half degrees west 
one hundred and eighty chains, twenty-nine links, to the 
southwest corner of section 20 on the county-line. Feb- 
ruary 17, 1840, a road beginning at a stake on the MeCarty 
and JIason road, running thence north on the section-line 
one hundred and twenty-five chains to the southeast corner 
of section 35. 

June 12, 1840, a road wtis laid out to begin at a stake due 
uorth of Palmer's Cornei-s, running on the old Colony road 
as far as the section-line west from sjiid stake ; thence due 



iiurlh on the section-line to the corners of sections 4, 5, 8, 
9 ; thence due cast one mile to the corners of sections 3, 
4, 9, and 10. Jan. 11, 1842, a road was laid out to begin 
at the cornei-s of sections 5 and 8, running thence east on 
the section-line one hundred and sixty-six chains, ninety- 
one links ; thence south sixty-five degrees east one hundred 
and fifty-four chains, fifty links ; thence south seventy-two 
degrees etist thirty-six chains ; thence north eighty-eight 
and a half degrees east thirteen chains, to the town-line. 
A road was laid out iu March, 1842, beginning at the north 
quarter-post of section 26 ; thence south on the quarter- 
line thirty-eight chains, seventy-eight links ; thence north 
eighty-seven degrees cast thirty-eight chains, sixty-two 
links, to the east quarter stake of section 26. A road, 
April 4, 1842, commencing at a stake north of Palmer's 
Cornel's, on the Colony road, running thence north on the 
section-line to the south corners of sections 3 and 4. 

Oct. 12, 1842, a road was laid to begin in the centre of 
the Colony road at a certain stake, running thence south 
sixty-four chains, eighteen links, to the section-line fourteen 
chains, fifty-seven links east of the northwest corner of 
section 26. 

The laying out of certain early roads is shown by the 
following transcripts from the records of the township : 

" At a meeting of the majority of the Commissioners of 
Highways of the Township of Middlebury, Dee. 11, 1846, 
it w;is ordered and determined that said Township be di- 
vided into three road Districts, to be Numbered one. Two, 

6 three, and embrace the following lands (viz.) : District 
No. one, to be composed of Sec. No. 25, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 
34, 35, 36, and the south half of 27 in T. 7 N., of 11. 1 E., 
and Sec. No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, U, 12, in Town S N., 
of K. 1 E. 

" District No. Two to contain Sec. No. 13, 14, 15, 10, 
17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and the north half of 27, in Town 

7 N., of R. 1 E., and Sec. No. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, in 
Town 8 N., of R. 1 E. 

" District No. Three to contain See. No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 
9, 10, 11, 12, in Town 7 N., of R. 1 E., and Sec. No. 21, 
22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, in Town 

8 N., of R. 1 E." 

" At A Meeting of the Majority of Highway Commis- 
sioners of the Township of Middlebury, Oct. 21, 1848, it 
was ordered that A Road be laid out or Public highway be 
recorded. To wit : Heginning at the southwest Corner of 
Section Twenty-two, theuce Running South 2 degrees and 
twenty minutes, Ea.-:t 70 chains and 05 links, thence South 
39 degrees West 10 chains, thence South 77 degrees West 
7 chains and 65 links, thence South 21 i Degrees West 8 
chains, tlienec south 4 degrees East 14 chains and 28 links, 
thence South 85i Degrees E:ist 17 chains and 40 links, 
theuce South 2 degrees and 20 minutes East 47 chains and 
60 links to the Southwest Corner of Section 27, Town 7 
North, Range 1 East. Also Rcginning at the south qr. 
Post of Section 27, thence Running North 2 degrees and 
20 minutes West 79 chains and forty-seven links to the 
North qr. Post of Section 27, iu the above Town."' 

'■ At a Meeting of a majority of the Commissioners of 
Highways of the Township of Middlebury, May 11, 1850, 
it was Determined and ordei-ed that a public Highway 



G 
o 






I 



m 
to 
<; 

3) 



5: 




MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP. 



243 



should be laid out, Coiumeuciug at the North Bast Corner 
of Section two, on Town Line, thence llunninj^ West on 
Section Line to the South East corner ut" Section thirty- 
five, in Town Eight North, Range one East ; thenue North 
to the North East corner of section thirty-five, tlience South 
Eighty-seven and half West Two hundred and fifty-four 
chains and twenty links to the North West corner of sec- 
tion thirty-two, on the Meridian Line, thence North two 
and half West on said Line twenty chains and fifty-six links 
to the South East corner of section twenty -four on Meridian 
Line in Clinton County. Also a Road Beginning at the 
South East corner of Section twenty-four in Town Eight 
North, of Range one West, thence Running South two and 
half East twenty chains and fifty-six Links to the North 
corner of Section thirty-two on the Meridian Line in Shia- 
wassee County, Middlebury." 

MAIL SEKVICE IN MIDDLEBURY. 

Middlebury had at one time two post-offices, but now it 
has none. In the days of the town's earliest settlement 
the people received their letters at Laingsburg. In 18-15, 
however, George W. Slocum succeeded in having the Middle- 
burgh post-office established in Middlebury, — named Mid- 
dleburgh because there was already a Middlebury post-office 
in the State. Mail was received at the office once a week 
over the route between Owosso and Ionia. Mr. Slocum 
was appointed postmaster, and retained the office until the 
creation of the Ovid office, in 1857, when Jliddleburgh 
post-office was discontinued. 

Maple Valley post-office was established at Ira Stimson's 
house about 1850. Mr. Stimson was the postmaster until 
1854, when Horton Warren received the appointment and 
moved the office to his place, on section 21. He was the 
incumbent until the office was abolished, in 1857. Upon 
the Warren place one may see the building used in part as 
a post-office, — now a barn, — and still bearing the faded 
legend of " Post-Office." 

BURIAL-PLACES. 

On the 24th of May, 1840, the town accepted from 
Moses Clark, Jr., one acre of land on the southeast corner 
of his fi»rm, to be devoted to the uses of a burying-ground, 
but on the 24th of August following reconsidered that 
determination, and decided to have two burying-grounds, — 
No. 1, to contain one acre and to be on Elijah Potter's 
land; No. 2, to be on section 21, to contain one acre, and 
to be located on Obed Hathaway's land. The chopping, 
clearing, and fencing of both grounds were to be let at 
auction, but for some reason neither burial-place was ever 
laid out. Indeed, no public grave-yard was laid out until 
in 1849, when William Tubbs, while visiting Elder Clark 
one day and deploring the lack of school as well as burying- 
ground, declared there ought to be some effort looking to 
the securing of both for the town. The result was that 
Tubbs and Clark moved actively in the matter and obtained 
both school and cemetery. The latter was laid out in sec- 
tion 27, and included a spot in which there lay already 
buried a child of Osier George and a daughter of John 
McCarty. That burial-place is the only one the town lixs 
ever had. 



RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIP. 

Among the early preachers in Middlebury the pioneer 
was, doubtless, Rev. Mr. Whiting, of the Rochester colony, 
who, in the summer of 1839, undertook to break twenty 
acres of ground for William Palmer, and during his stay 
in Middlebury preached Methodist sermons in the houses of 
George Slocum and William Palmer. Elder Allen, a Free- 
Will Baptist minister of Duplain, was one of the early 
preachers in Middlebury, and organized a church of that 
denomination in the town. Elder Clark, father of Moses 
Clark, Jr., preached occasional Baptist sermons, as did also 
his son Moses. Residents in the southern portion of the 
town generally went into Sciota to attend public religious 
worship. 

Occasional and irregular Methodist preaching only was 
held in Middlebury until about 1860, when Rev. Mr. • 
Wright came on and organized the Warren Methodist 
Episcopal class in a log school-house on section 34. The 
organizing members of the class numbered eight, viz., 

Geo. H. Warren, David L. Warren, Balcom, and 

De Haven, with their wives, D. L. Warren being 

chosen class-leader. Prom that time on regular services 
were held once every two weeks. 

In 1872 the Warren class and Sciota class joined in the 
erection of a handsome church edifice upon section 34, and 
in it both classes have since then worshiped together. D. 
L. Warren has been leader of the Warren class continuously 
since 1860. John C. Putnam is the leader of the Sciota 
class. Both classes have a membership of upwards of sixty 
and meet for worship every Sunday, the pastor being Rev. 
Mr. Mcintosh, in charge of the Laingsburg Circuit. The 
church trustees are George H. Warren, D. L. Warren, 
George W. Slocum, James Van Dyne, and Willard Ryan. 
The class-stewards are Willard Ryan, James Van Dyne, 
and John Sherman. The recording steward is William 
E. Warren. The Sunday-school is in charge of A. D. Sher- 
man, and has an average attendance of sixty scholars. 

PROTESTANT METHODISTS. 

A Methodist Episcopal class was organized in the Mc- 
Carty school-house about 1860, by the preacher in charge 
of the Owosso Circuit. It struggled feebly for existence 
during the ensuing ten years, and met in various places 
for worship. About 1870 the class became Protestant 
Methodist, and since then has met pretty regularly at the 
Mead school-house. It is now on the Owosso Circuit, in 
charge of the Rev. Mr. Mills. It has a small membership 
and has preaching once in two weeks, Nelson Ackerman 
being class-leader. 

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, 

which worships now in the school-house on section 24, was 
organized in 1872 by John A. Maverty and Elias Silas, 
evangelists. Among the members were L. F. Kingsley, 
Samuel A. Merrill, M. Wooden, and Barney Banghart, 
with their wives. L. F. Kingsley and S. A. Merrill were 
chosen elders, B. Banghart and M. Wooden deacons. Mr. 
Maverty preached once a month for a year, and then came 
J. La Grange, W. A. Streator, G. J. Massey, and Judson 
Brown. The church is now without a pastor, but is in ex- 



244 



HISTOIU' OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



peotiUioii of boiiij; sHjipliiul soon. The iiioniboi'sliii), which 
was lit first iibout thirty, is now somewhat loss. L. F. 
Kingsley and William A. Morrill are the ciders, B. Vi>s- 
biii-g aud John Do Witt the deacons. 

SCHOOLS. 

Although the township wius ors;anizod in 18;>;>, there 
Wiis no ors;iinized school district until 1S45, lor tlie very 
good rciison, doubtless, tliat there Wiis no occlusion therefor, 
since there were in the town at that time scareely any chil- 
dren of school as;c. District No. 1 was ori;^auizcd May US, 
1S45, and included the south half of seotiou 3, the south 
half of section 4, the whole of sections 9, 10, 1.5, U!, 21, 
and 22, and the north halves of sections 27 and 2S. 

Before tlie orgiuiization of District No. I, (.\irtis Staf- 
ford taught a sub.^crijiliiin seiiool in 1S43, in an abandoned 
log cabin u|ion William Talnicr's place, and in thai .school- 
house Mary Doane taught a short time after Stafford left. 
Although a district was organizinl in 1S45, there is no evi- 
dence to show that a sehool-housc was built or district 
school taught until 1S49. The school-house was built by 
William Bidcout on section 2S, aud in it tlie first school 
was taught by Mary Sherman, wlutse term of service was 
three months. 

District No. I seems trom the records to have been re- 
organized in 1S4J), and it is likely that the di.stiict had no 
operative existence until then. The reorganization gave to 
the district sections 27, 2S, 29, 32, 33, the south halves of 
sections 20, 21, aud 22, the southwest quaiter of section 
23, the northwest quarter of seotiou 2t>. and the west half 
of section 34. 

School reports dated June 10, 1852, set forth that the 
number of seholai-s in district No. 1 between the ages of 
four and eighteen was twenty-four, and that Esther Doane 
had t^iught the school three months at the wages of oue 
dollar and seventy-five cents per week. In district No. 2 
there were likewise twenty-four scholars, whose teacher, 
Aeh.<;\h Blood, received one dollar and fifty cents per week. 
In 18o3, Sarah E. Sykt.>s taught twenty-four scholars in 
district No. 2, aud for thirteen weeks received one dollar 
aud fifty cents per week. 

Dec. 5, 1S53, Ann Brooks aud Sarah Salisbury were ap- 
pointed to teach school at two dollars per week. During 
the year 18t">3 the children attending school in district No. 
1 numbered tjventy-tluec, and belonged to families as fol- 
lows : William Kidcout, 1 ; William Tubbs, 1 ; G. Mc- 
Carty, 3 ; Alan.son Seely, 4 ; Truman White. 1 ; William 
White, 1; Obed Hathaway, 3; W L. Olark, 3; Sarah C. 
Sykes, 1 ; Nathan Herrick, 3 ; Stephen Taylor, 2. 

For the year 1S54 the amount of school money appor- 
tioned to the two school districts was thirty-four dollars. 
The annual report from district No. 1 for 1854 gave the 
number of school-children as thirty-four ; the number that 
attended school, forty-three ; the teachers as Ann Brooks 
and Harriet J. Fitch ; and the list of .*chool-books as Saun- 
ders' Series of Readei-s, Birkan's Grammar, Smith's Geog- 
raphy, Mitchell's, Adams', and Thom^won's Aritlimctics, 
Elenientivry and Saunders" Speller. 

The annual school report for 1879 presented the follow- 
ing statistics of the sevei-al districts of the township : 



Numlwr of soliool ilistriotsi (wlioli-, S; trnotional, 3)... ti 

Number of si-luihu's of soliool iigo 271 

Value of sohool iiiopovt.v $.'!(I50 

Toaohors' wages $76.'> 

The school directors for 1879 were James Baldwin, Wil- 
liam T. Vaughn, D. Snyder, liUther Ryan, W. B. Hubbell, 
and G. W. Davidson. 

U IDDLEBUKY CHKKSE-FACTORY. 
Middlebury has had since June, 1S79, a cheese-factory 

that appears to be a flourishing institution. Ion McCon- 
nell, the owner, built it at the time named, aud during the 
first season made ton thousand pounds of cheese. The 
yield was one pound of chee.se for nine and three-quartei-s 
pounds of milk, and according to Mr. MeConnell's estimate 
patrons of the fiiotory gjtined from thirty dollars to thirty- 
five dollars per cow during that sea.son. 



HlOURAPHirAL SKKTCHES. 

GEOHGK W. SLOOUM. 
Around the name and memory of the first .settlers of a 
town, county, or State there will always cliug a peculiar iu- 
tcrest.an interest felt for no other class of men. Who was 
the first settler of the town ? why did ho come in here 
alone? what must have been his feelings wlioii he knew 
that for miles around there was no other white man ? will 
be the (jueries in after-years. Such a man was George W. 
Slocum, who was born in Manlius, Onondaga Co., N. Y., 
Dec. 11, 1810. His father was born in Dutchesis Co., 
N. Y., from whence he emigrated, after bis marriage, to 
.Manlius, where he became the owner of a small farm, and 
where George grew to manhood, receiving only a common- 
school education. In early life he worked out by the 
month, working most of the time for a Mr. Ives, who iu 
1834 took a job on the ship-canal from New Orleans to 
Lake Pontchartrain. He sent Mr. Slocum to take charge 
of a gang of men. which kept him about six months. He 
then returned to New York, and in the spring of 183t) he 
started West to look for a home in a new country. • He 
came to Detroit, and from there went on foot to Pontiac. 
Arrived there, he was informed that desirable land could be 
had in Lapeer Co., Mich. In company with others he at 
once went to that county, where they made selections. He 
then went on foot to Detroit to enter his land, but found that 
some one had got ahead of him. He next selected some land 
in Shiawassee aud agsiin went to Detroit, again to be dis;»p- 
pointed, — it was just taken. Nowise daunted, he ag-ain 
made a selection, — -this time in Owosso township, now Mid- 
dlebury, in Shiawassee Co., — this time successfully. There 
had then been no land entered in Middlebury township, 
and there was no white man living within its boundaries, 
and Mr. Slocum and his father's family were its first per- 
manent settlers. His nearest neighbor east was twenty- 
two miles away. He made his entry June 12, 1S3G, it 
being the soutlieast ((uartcr of section 35, township 7 north, 
of range 1 east. After entering his land he returned to 
C)akland County, where for a time he worked by the mouth. 
In the summer of 1837 he took a piece of land to clejir 



MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP, 



245 




GEORGE W. SLOCUM. 



and cnip, ■.'(jtlin^ five flullarn per ucTc, and tlie fipMt croj) for 
cleariii;;. In the Call and early winter he worked on (he 
Pontiac and Detroit Ilailroad. In January, IHIJS, he wan 
joined hy his parents, and they at once eatue to the land 
Belected by Mr. Slocuni. A log shanty wa.s built, its roof 
being of bark and its floor of split plank, with but one 
window, which they had brought from Pontiac, and for 
weeks with only a blanket for a door, around which the 
wolves made night hideous by their bowlings. Their 
means by this time were all expended, and they saw very 
hard times. But by dint of hard work arid the most rigid 
economy hunger was avoided until the wlieat he had sown 
in Oakland County was harvested, when a team, wagon, and 
cow were bought, and more prosperous days began to dawn. 
With the energy and perseverance for which the American 
pioneer is noted, Mr. Slocum applied himself to clearing 
up and improving his land, which is now a well-arranged 
and productive farm of two hundred acres, while he has 
given his son eighty acres. A fine house, surrounded by 
large and commodious outbuildings, has taken the place of 
the log shanty first built, while everything indicates the 
luxurious home of the well to-do American farmer. 

On the 2d day of May, 184'J, Mr. Slocum was joined 
in marriage to .Miss Emily A. Holdridge, daughter of 
Darius and Rebecca (Bi.shopJ Holdridge. She was born 
in Niagara Co., N. Y., Sept. 14, 1824. Their children are 
as follows: Cass H., born April 28, 1851 ; Mary A., Oct. 
5, 1852; Ella, April 3, 1854; and George L., Oct. 18, 
1857. In politics Mr. Slocum is a Democrat of the old 
school, and has been elected to nearly all the offices in the 
gift of his fellow-townsmen. At the first town-meeting he 
was elected justice of the peace and highway commiRsioner; 
the next year supervisor, which office he has many times 



held. He has also been treasurer and clerk, and has been 
postmaster many years, and has been one term an associate 
judge of Shiawassee County, — all of which offices were filled 
with ability and credit, making for Mr. Slocum a record of 
which his descendants may well be proud. 



GEORGE H. WARREN. 

The family of Warrens is of English descent, and their 
ancestry is identical with that of Gen. Joseph Warren of 
Revolutionary fame. The groat-grandfather of the subject 
of this biography was an early emigrant from the shores of 
Great Britain, though the date of his arrival is not a mat- 
ter of record. His son Samuel, the grandfather of George 
H., was born in New Jersey, Sept. 18, 175::!, and was mar- 
ried to Miss Sarah Rainier, who was born Dec. 1, 1757. 
This marriage occurred about the year 1775, and soon 
after New Jersey became their home, during which time 
Mr. Warren served in the war of the Revolution, and sur- 
vived until his seventy-ninth year. His wife lived to be 
ninety years of age. Their children were John, born July 
4th, during the year American independence was declared; 
William, whose birth occurred Aug. 9,1778; Susanna, 
born Sept. 3, 1780; Samuel, Aug. 20, 1782; Ach.sah, 
April 24, 1789 ; Ann, Dec. 31, 1792 ; Job, May 12, 1790 ; 
Gamaliel, March 14, 1799 ; Thomas, Feb. 12, 1802 ; and 
two whose record is not preserved. 

The father of the subject fjf this biography was William, 
whose birth has been already stated, and who was married 
in 1810 to Miss Mary Horn, who was born in Haddonfield, 
Camden Co., N. J. Her fathiT was a native of Germany, 
and her mother of Wales. They first located in Newtown, 



246 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Gloiicostor Co., and from thence roiuoved to a liome ad- 
jacent to Egg Harbor, from wliicli place tliey repaired in 
the fail of 181(! to New York State, and settled in Onta- 
rio County, their worldly possession.s at this time embracing 
the contents of a one-horse wagon, so moderate wore their 
circumstances. Their son, George H., was born Dec. 1, 
1S27, and emigrated with his parents to Michigan when 
but three years of age, locating three miles IVuiu Tontiac, 
Oakland Co., on a new farm of eighty acres. At the 
age of five years he was afflicted by the death of his father, 
who left a wife and family of si.x children in iiuligont cir- 
cumstimccs. Mrs. Warren sought employment in the vil- 
lage of I'ontiae as a means of support, and was a second 
time married to Jt)sepli Hathaway, with whom the lad 
George resided. They soon after roiiiovod to Salem, Wash- 
tenaw Co., where George remained until iiis ,si.\(ociitli 
year, when he found employment as a farm-hand, working 
for seven dollars per month, ftt March, 18-17, when twenty 
years of age, he settled upon eighty acres of land in the 
township of Middiobury, his brother David locating upon 
an adjacent farm of equal size, and with whom George 
made his home for two years, his brother having married 
Miss Mary IngersoU in 1847. At that time Mr. Warren's 
nearest neighbor resided a mile and a half from his farm. 
No permanent roads had yet been laid out, and in order to 
attend church Mr. Warren traveled with an ox-team from 
three to five miles. The first twenty bushels of wheat sold 
from the farm were convoyed by Mr. ^Varren to Owosso, 
performing a portion of the journey with three yoke of 
oxen. Arrived at his destination, the wheat was dispo.sed 
of at the rate of forty-five cents per bushel, making the 
total receipts nine dollars, which amount Mr. Warren upon 
his return divided eijually with his brother David. Upon 
the occasion of this trip to Owosso, Mr. Warren carried 
his lunch with him as well !is hay for the use of his oxen. 
The difficulties and privations of these early pioneers may 
well teach a lesson of contentment to those who at the ])rcs- 
ent day are raising the cry of " hard times." 

March 17, 1851, lie married Jliss Almira Thayer, who 
was born March 9, 1831, in Oakland Co., Mich. They 
have four children living, — Albert II., born in 185(), and 
married April 17, 1879, to Miss Jennie Welch, of Steuben 
Co., N. Y. The birth of Elmer K. occurred in 1861. 
Emery D. was born in 1869, and George F. in 1874. 
Tliey are also the parents of two daughters, both of whom 
are deceaspd. Mr. Warren is a Kepublicun in politics, and 
has .served the township in various official positions, includ- 
ing those of justice of the peace, highway commissioner, 
and school inspector. 

Hoth Mr. and Mrs. Warren are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and have been for a period of thirty 
years actively engaged in church labor. 



Gates, in what was then the county of Genesee, now Mon- 
roe. Ho bought a large farm, which for that time was well 
improved. On this farm the family resided until three 
years after the death of the elder Mr. Kingsley, which oc- 
curred in 1818. The family then moved on to a fiirm near 
Rochester, then but a small village. This was the home of 
Leonard until he reached manhood, although ho was there 



LEONARD F. KINGSLKY. 

Among the leading men of Middlebury township we find 
the name of Leonard F. Kingsley, who was born in the 
town of Scipio, Cayuga Co., N. Y., June 2, 1811. When 
he was six years old his father moved iuto the town of 




LEONARD p. KINGSLEY. 

but little, as he was obliged to work out by the month and 
earn his own living. On the 26th day of December, 1833, 
he was married to Mi.ss (.!andacc Bartlett, daughter of Elli- 
ott and Waity (Lewis) Bartlett. She was born Dec. 9, 
1810, in New Hampshire. After his marriage Mr. Kings- 
ley worked a farm one year. Then, in October, 1835, they 
came to Pontiac, Mich., where they liad eighty acres of 
wild land, on which he made a small improvement ; then 
traded it ibr one hundred and .sixty acres in Bennington, 
which he soon sold, and then bought a farm near what is 
now the village of Owosso. After a couple of years they 
again sold out, and returned to Rochester, where they 
resided sixteen years. During this time Mr. Kingsley w.is 
constable, deputy sheriff, and collector. In 1856 they again 
returned to Shiawas.see County and settled in Middlebury, 
where they bought one hundred and sixty acres of land, part 
of which they have improved, and on which they still reside. 
In polities Mr. Kingsley is a stalwart Republican, and was a^ 
delegate to the convention which organized the Republican 
party in New York. When Mr. Kingsley came to Middle- 
bury the town was and had ever been Democratic, but the 
following year gave, as it has .since done, a Republican ma- 
jority, and to Mr. Kingsley a large share of credit was given 
for bringing it about. He has for ten years or more been 
townshi]! i^lerk, also for some time treasurer. He has been 
a notary public twenty years, and has done a great deal of 
conveyancing and r«al estate business. He has also beeu 
school inspector, and has many times beeu requested to take 
the supervisor's office, but refused. For forty-five years he 
has been a member of the Church of the Disciples. Mr. 
and Mrs. Kingsley have had but one child, viz., Louisa 
Almeda, born Oct. 14, 1834; died May 26, 1859. 





MRS. JAMES KKNNEY. 



JAMES KENNEV. 



JAMES KENNEY. 



To record and pfcserve for the coming generations the names 
and deeds of the hardy first settlers of Michigan is indeed a 
pleasure. Coming as they did from the old and long-settled 
Eastern States, and plunging at once into the almost unhroken 
wilderne.ss, with no guides but Indian trails and the moss on 
tlie trees, erecting and living for years in rude shanties, clear- 
ing and improving tlie lands that have since become the beau- 
tiful homes and farms of the State of Michigan, they are 
deserving of monuments which shall last longer than those of 
marble or granite. Among those we record the name of James 
Kenney, who was born in the town of Northampton, Mont- 
gomery Co., N. Y., April 21, 1800. He is of Scotch descent, 
his grandfather on his mother's side having been born in the 
Highlands of Scotland, from whence he emigrated to New 
York and settled in Montgomery County. His grandfather, 
Theodore Kenney, was a native of Connecticut, and was a 
soldier in the patriot army during the war for Indei)cndence, 
in which he was wounded. Elijah, the father of James, was 
born in Montgomery County, where he grew to manhood and 
was married. 

When James was ten years old his father's family moved to 
the town of Sparta, in Livingston County, where his boyhood 
days were passed, and where he obtained a limited education. 
He remained with his father until he was twenty-six years old, 
when he started out in life on his own account. He first 
worked a year for a Mr. Purchase, receiving the then large 
salary of two hundred dollars per year. Becoming satisfied 
that in an old country a poor man stood but a slight chance 
of obtaining a position in life, he in 1835 started for Michigan, 
coming to Detroit bj- steamer, and from there on foot to Sagi- 
naw, stoi}]iing in Flint long enougli to help rai.se the first 
framed building erected there. At that time the only struct- 
ure marking the present site of Saginaw was a hotel kept in 
the old fort, and the Williams Brother's Indian trading-post. 
On his arrival Mr. Kenney found himself the possessor of 
twenty-two dollars, and with health, strength, and a will- 
ingness to work, which have ever been the foundation of 
prosjierity and wealth. His first work was clearing the land 
where the city of Saginaw now stands. During the first 
two years he worked at chopping, clearing land, and run- 



ning a .scow on the Saginaw Uiver, and whatever ho could get 
to do. 

On the 16th day of June, 1840, Mr. Kenney married Miss 
Rosella Bruno, daughter of John and Mary (Blanchard) 
Bruno. She was born in Canada, sixty miles north of Mon- 
treal, Aug. 3, 1817. Her parents were French, and Mrs. 
Kenney could only speak that language up to her tenth year, 
when her parents moved to Vermont, from whence they went 
to Saginaw in 1830. There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Kenney the following children, viz. : Lester J., born May 23, 
1842; Susan, Dec. 20, 1843; Martha, May 23, 1852; and 
Lucy Ann, July 18, 18.>'?. After his marriage Mr. Kenney 
bought a farm on Cass River, but being unfortunate in having 
his house burned was compelled to allow the land to revert 
to its former owner. In the fall of 1841 he was elected sheritl' 
of Saginaw County on the Whig ticket, although that party 
was largely in the minority, he having been the second to 
adopt its princijiles. In 1843 he was again elected, filling the 
office so satisfactorily that when, after the expiration of his 
second terra, he came to Middlebury, men of both parties 
asked him to stay and again take the office as soon as the statute 
of limitation would permit. In April, 1840, having met with 
financial losses through the failure of others, ho moved to the 
town of Middlebury, where he had previously purchased and 
run in debt for three lots of wild land on section 22. There 
were then but few inhabitants in the town, and but two houses 
between his fann and Owosso. In two weeks' time a log house 
was built, into which the family immediately moved. The 
old house has been torn away, and in its stead has been erected 
one of the fine homes of Middlebur}', while the wilderness 
has given place to a large and well-improved farm of two 
hundred acres. Mr. Kennej' did nuuh towards changing the 
politics of his town, which is now liopublican by a large ma- 
jorit}', of which party he is one of the most earnest supporters. 
He has held nearly all of the town and school offices, including 
those of supervisor, treasurer, and clerk ; he has also been 
notary i>ublic several years; and now in the seventy-fourth 
year of his age, respected and esteemed by all, he is passing 
the even-time of life in the enjoyment of more than a com- 
petency. 




ficSioeNce OF HORACEC. MA/N^ Middlebury, Mich. 



MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP. 



247 




WILLIAM TUBES. 



The Tubb.s family is of English origin, two brothers, 
Seth and Samuel, having emigrated from England to the 
New World, and settled in Massachusetts prior to the 
Revolutionary war. At that time and for many years they 
were the only ones of the name known to be in this country. 
They were young unmarried men, and came to America to 
make for themselves a home. When the war broke out 
they were married and had families, but both enlisted and 
served during the war, Samuel coming home a colonel. 
Seth had previously served in the French war, and was with 
Gen. Wolfe, at Quebec, when that general was killed. After 
the war, Seth, of whose family.we shall write, returned to 
his home in Massachusetts, where he resided until his 
death. His son, also named Seth, was born in Massachu- 
setts, from whence he emigrated in January, 1800, to 
Western New York, locating in the town of Pitts, now 
Richmond, Ontario Co., where he bought fifty acres of wild 
land. The country was new and there were then but few 
families in the town, and they were scattered over a large 
scope of country. Wild animals were very numerous, 
making it almost impossible for Jlr. Tubbs to keep sheep 
and stock. He was very poor, but was industrious, and 
soon made for himself and family a comfortable home. He 
added to his farm until at his death he was the owner of 
a large and valuable property. Mr. Tubbs was in Shays' Re- 
bellion, acting with Shays in liberating prisoners who had 
been for many years in prison at Northampton for debt. 
He was a man respected by his neighbors, and ultimately 
became a leading citizen of his town. He lived to a ripe 
old age, and passed away in 1858. His son William, the 
third of nine children, and the subject of this sketch, was 
born June 28, 1800, on the new farm in Ontario County, 



where his father had but recently settled. Thus William 
was born and grew to manhood in a new country amidst 
the privations and dangers incident to the lives of the 
pioneers of that time. During the war of 1812 the news 
reached them that the British were making a raid which 
threatened Rochester and the .surrounding country. Wil- 
liam and his father both volunteered and started for the 
scene of operations, but saw no active service, as the alarm 
proved a fal.se one. During the famine of 1815 and 1816 
they saw hard times but never went hungry, as William's 
father was a mechanic and earned good wages, and could 
buy when others could not. William received only a com- 
mon-school education, but was early taught that work was 
one of the first laws made for man's guidance. He remained 
on his father's farm until he was twenty-four years of age, 
when he started out in life for himself, working at the 
cooper's trade. In 1838, wishing to get a home in a new 
country, he came to Oakland Co., Mich., and bought a farm 
in Novi township which was partly improved, and on which 
he and his son lived and kept bachelors' hall, he working 
at his trade while his son worked on the farm. Mr. Tubbs 
remained on the Oakland County farm untill 1847, when 
he sold out and came to Middlobury, in Shiawassee County, 
and bought eighty acres of wild land, on which he built a 
log house, and with his family commenced life in the wil- 
derness. Here Mr. Tubbs has lived for many years, and 
now in the even-time of life is enjoying the results of a 
long life of industry and economy. He has cleared and 
improved a farm, and has done his share towards making 
Shiawassee the fine county it is to-day. In politics he is 
and has ever been a Democrat of the Jackson type, and has 
been several times elected to oflices in his township. He 



248 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



has been justice of the peace two terms, and highway com- 
missioner two terms. In February, 1824, he was married 
to Rebecca Bray, daughter of Andrew and Mary (Yanger) 
Bray. There were born to them Betsey, June 1, 1825 ; 
Ann, June 1, 1827; Seth A., July 28, 1829; Mary, Jan. 

13, 1831 ; Jerusha, ; Martha, ; William 

B., March 3, 1837 ; James B., June 6, 1840. 

For his second wife he married Catherine Van Dyne, 
born April 29, 1811, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Van 
Dyne. Their union was blessed with one son, Samuel T., 
born April 19, 1851. He still remains on the old farm 
with his father, and manages the business of the family. 
Mrs. Catherine Tubbs died Feb. 26, 1875. 



HORACE C. MAIN. 

Theodore Main was born in Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y., 
Juno G, 1806. When he was four years old his father 
emigrated to Clarendon, Orleans Co., same State, where he 
was an early settler. Theodore married Amanda M. Put- 
nam. In Clarendon he lived until his death, July 13, 
1852, surviving his wife but a month and two days. His 
son, Horace C. Main, was born in Clarendon, Sept. 27, 1834. 
After the death of his father, Horace was sent to the Brock- 
port Collegiate Institute to complete his education ; but he 
only remained eighteen months, when he went to Rochester 
and became steward of the Eagle Hotel, then a first-class 
house, and in which he remained until he was of age. On 
the 5th day of June, 1854, he was married to Miss Dian- 
tha S. Howe, daughter of George and Iluldah (Fuller) 
Howe. She was born in Bennington, Vt., June 5, 1832. 
Her people were early settlers in Palermo, Oswego Co., 
N. Y., where her father and grandfather both died. Mr. 
and Mrs. Main have never had children, but have an adop- 
ted daughter, Lydia, who was born Aug. 16, 1867, — one 
loved by them as though she was their own. In the fall of 
1855 Mr. Main and his wife came to Michigan, and settled 
in Middlebury, Shiawassee Co., where he had previously 
bought the west half of the northwest quarter of section 1. 
The land was in its wild state, not a stick cut, and no roads 
to or near it. Game of all kinds was plenty, it being noth- 
ing strange to see bears near their house, while the wolves 
were sometimes heard at night. Many of the roads in their 
part of the county were surveyed and helped to be cleared 
by Mr. Main. A log house was built in which they lived 
thirteen years, then moved into their present neat and 
pleasant home, a view of which adorns another page of this 
work. Mr. Main now owns one hundred and eighty acres 
of land, of which one hundred and five acres are well 
improved. In politics he is a Republican, and has filled 
with credit to himself and his county the oflfice of surveyor, 
and the more difficult one of county drain commissioner. 
He was deputy surveyor many years, and principal four 
years, and commissioner sis years. He has also held town 
offices, and has taken a deep interest in the schools of his 
neighborhood, having himself taught school, and served 
fourteen years in succession as director of his district. He 
has been for years agent for the Davenport lands, and sold 
farms to nearly fifty persons in this part of the county. Mr- 



Main is highly spoken of by men of both parties as a man 
of sterling worth and integrity. 

Sept. 24, 1864, Mr. Main was drafted into the army, but 
furnished a substitute, who served to the end of the war. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 
NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP.* 

Descripl.ion — Original Land-Purchases — Settlement and Settlers — 
Township Organization and Civil List — Early Highways — iSchools 
— Church History — Village of West Haven. 

New Haven was among the earliest of the townships 
of Shiawassee County in point of settlement, and was 
probably, in 1837, the extreme northern limit of civiliza- 
tion in the valley of the Shiawassee. It is described in 
the government survey as township 8 north, of range 3 
east, and joins Saginaw County on the north, Caledonia on 
the .south, Hazelton on the east, and the township of Rush 
on the west. 

The surface of New Haven is generally level, with very 
little rolling land. An exception to this is, however, ob- 
served in the immediate vicinity of the hamlet of West 
Haven, where some elevations vary the scene and greatly 
enhance its picturesque beauty. An extensive tamarack 
swamp formerly existed in the township, but careful drain- 
age has converted this into the most fertile land found 
within its limits. The soil may be generally described as 
a clay loam mixed with gravel. To the north and west 
sand prevails to some extent, while clay predominates in 
the south and on the eastern border. The former marshy 
land in the north and east is now well cultivated and very 
productive. The soil yields a good quality of wheat, while 
grass is always a prolific crop, and corn well repays the 
labor of the farmer. The report of farm products for 
1874 gives the number of acres of wheat harvested in 
1873 as ten hundred and fifteen, which produced fifteen 
thousand nine hundred and forty bushels, while the yield 
of corn fi'om five hundred and forty-two acres was seven- 
teen thousand four hundred and ninety-two bushels. Of 
other grains, nineteen thousand two hundred and twenty- 
five bushels were harvested, and fifteen hundred and fifty 
tons of hay were cut. The yield of latter years is greatly 
in excess of this, as a result of the improvement of much 
of the land of the township. 

Fruits find here a congenial soil, though the apple is the 
staple product of the orchards. Peaches are grown, as are 
al.so plums and cherries, but not in great abundance. The 
prevailing timber is elm, beech, maple, and oak, some 
specimens of which attain an unusual size. 

The Shiawassee River flows through the northwest por- 
tion of the township, and affords excellent water-power, 
which is utilized at West Haven for manufacturing. Six- 
Mile Creek, a considerable stream, enters the township at 
section 33, and flowing northwest pours its waters into the 

« By E. 0. Wagner. 



NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP. 



249 



river on section 18. Another stream of some magnitude 
waters the eastern border of the township. 

ORIGINAL LAND-PUKCHASKS. 

The lands embraced in township No. 8 north of range 3 
east were entered from the government or purchased from 
the State by tlio following individuals : 

SECTION 1. 

L. U. Parsons (State), 1854, 1855 687.09 

SECTION 2. 

C. 8. Kimbciley (State), 1855 506.B9 

Margaret E. Kimberley, 1855 87.4:) 

SECTION 3. 

Hannah Wade (State), 1852 84.57 

Alpheus Oliver (State), 1849 160 

C. S. Kimberley, 1849 87.43 

M. E. Kimberley, 1854 160 

E. W. Algin, 1854 80 

Albert Ganeon, 1855 80 

SECTION 4. 

Joseph Barry, 1836 811 

Nelson Thomas, 1855 76.01 

L. II. Pcirsons (State), 1849 .322.26 

C. S. Kimberley fState), 1853 80 

E. F. Wade (State), 1853 40 

S. W. Stout (State), 1851 40 

SECTION 5. 

R. MeHenry, 1836 80 

llollcnrv, llealy. Smith, and Kerchcval, 1836 80 

John L. "Ireland, 1836 399.28 

(iiileon Scott, 1836 78.30 

('. S. Kimberley, 1858 411 

Franklin Clark, 1858 40 

SECTION 6. 

Ladd and Little, 1835 161.4(1 

Cornelius Bergen, 1836 129.10 

.McHeiuv, Kercheval, Smith, and Healy, 1836 234.20 

John Ro"bins, 1836 76.84 

SECTION 7. 

Cornelius Bergen, 1836 271.50 

Mcllcnry, Kercheval A Co., 1836 322.56 

SECTION 8. 

McHcnry, Kercheval A Co., 1836 160 

J. h. Ireland, 1836 240 

John McGowan, 1836 160 

Wm. Marshall, 1854 SO 

SECTION 9. 

William Durkee, Jr., 1836 80 

William Washburn, 1836 160 

E. H. Marsh, 18.36 80 

William Bloodworth, IS36 80 

George Judson, 1836 80 

E. II. Marsh, 1836 80 

J. C. Heminway, 1854 80 

SECTION 10. 

E. F. Wade, 1850 320 

L. II. Parsone, 1849 320 

SECTION U. 

Thomas Durfee, 1837 80 

L. U. Parsons (State), 1849, 1854 400 

C. S. Kimberley, 1855 160 

SECTION 12. 

Thomas Durfee, 1837 240 

C. S. Kimberley (State), 1855 320 

L. H. Parsons (State), 1854 80 

SECTION 13. 

William Durfee, 18.37 320 

M. R. DimiDock, 1854 80 

C. S. Kimberley (State), 1855 240 

32 



SECTION 14. 

Acres. 

William Durfee, 1837 320 

Milton Sutliff (State), 1850 320 

SECTION 15. 

William Durkee, Jr., 1836 160 

Marcus Beldcn, 1836 160 

H. B. Young, 1853 40 

Daniel Young, Jr., 1854 80 

M. E. Conklin, 1864 40 

C. BraiiKird, 1849 160 

SECTION 16. 

School lands 640 

SECTION 17. 

John L. Ireland, 1836 640 

SECTION 18. 

Trumbull Gary, 1835 605.61 

SECTION 19. 

John L. Ireland, 1836 640.25 

SECTION 20. 

Ira A. White, 1836 160 

A.L.Williams, 1836 80 

Peter Reid, 1836 400 

SECTION 21. 

C. M. Boutwell, 1836 320 

Peter Reid, 1836 320 

SECTION 22. 

P. A. Palmer, 1836 80 

James Roberts, 1836 40 

Norman Burgess, 1836 80 

William Kellogg. 1836 160 

John N. Garner, 1854 40 

E. F. Frary, 1854 120 

Mary E. Conklin, 1854 120 

SECTION 23. 

Horace Hart, 1836 160 

C. S. Kimberley (State), 1855 160 

L. H. Parsons (State), 1854 320 

SECTION 24. 

William Durfee, 1837 80 

Silas R. Pierce, 1854 80 

L. H. Parsons (State), 1849 .320 

C. H. Kimberley (State), 1855 160 

SECTION 25. 

Hezekiah Rowley, 1837 80 

C. S. Kimberley (State), 1852, 1855 560 

SECTION 26. 

Ira Walker, 1836 160 

James Dunton, 1836 80 

David Davis, 1836 160 

Consider Arms, 1836 160 

Joel A. Hart, 1830 80 

SECTION 27. 

Peter A. Palmer, 1836 160 

Ira Walker, 1836 160 

James Dunton, 1836 80 

S. B. Ansley, 1836 240 

SECTION 28. 

Richard K. Oliver, 1836 80 

Peter Reid, 1836 80 

William Brannan, 1836 80 

Pell Teed, Jr., 1836 160 

Samuel Goodham, 1836 200 

Czardus Clark, 1851 40 

SECTION 29. 

Ira A. White, 1836 160 

Margaret Ilardenburgb, 1836 80 

E. D. Shollwino, 1836 80 

William Durkee, Jr., 1836 160 

William Brannan, 1836 120 

William Durkee, Jr., 1836 40 



250 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SECTION 30. 

Arros. 

John Jones, 1836 80 

James Jones, 1836 80 

A. L. Williams, 1836 78. J8 

Lot Clark and Stephen Warren, 18.'i6 155.31 

SECTION 31. 

E. R. Kearsley, 1836 67.32 

E. Jones, 1S36 160 

Daniel Odell, 1S."U 231.60 

M. Robinson (Slate), 1850 160 

SECTION 32. 

George Fluck, 1836 80 

D. P. Sturdevant, 1836 80 

Benjamin Cotherin, 1836 129 

AVilliam Durkee, Jr., 1836 40 

S. C. Hall, 1849 160 

P. J. Kinney, 1849 160 

SECTION 33. 

John Sturdevant, 1836 SO 

Benjamin Cotherin, 1836 1(50 

William Eames, 1836 80 

SECTION 34. 

John Sturdevant. 1836 80 

Willi.am E.ames. 1836 SO 

R. C. Hart. 1836 80 

B. N. Johnson, 1836 80 

S. B. Anslcy, 1836 40 

James Vase, 1837 SO 

Michael Gibbons, 1854 120 

Col. Thomas Gorton, 1855 40 

Eliza N. Clark, 1855 40 

SECTION 35. 

James Dunton, 1836 40 

Birdsall N. Johnson, 1836 80 

Horace Hart, 1836 IfiO 

Daniel Prentice, 1837 80 

Alonzo Barber, 1837 160 

James Vase, 1837 80 

John Lingo, 1855 40 

SECTION 36. 

Horace Hart, 1S36 160 

Daniel Prentice, 1837 SO 

Charles S. Kimberley, 1855 4on 



SETTLEMENT AND SETTLERS. 

The earliest settler who iuvaded the forests of New Haven 
was Horace Hart. Not a white man had yet penetrated this 
dense wilderness with a view to making a permanent home 
within its boundaries. Mr. Hart came from Monroe Co , 
Mich., in 1836, accompanied by four sons, — Lewis, Robert 
C, Joel A., and Joseph W., — all of whom located in the 
township. He entered four hundred and eighty acres of 
land on various sections of the township, and gave each of 
his sons eighty acres, retaining himself one hundred and 
sixty on section 35, upon which ho settled. He placed his 
family on their arrival, in Owosso, while he, with his sons, 
proceeded to the tract on the latter section and built a 
cabin, which one of the sons, with his wife, occupied until 
the family a few months later removed to it. Mr. Hart, 
with the abundant aid which his family afforded, made 
rapid progress in the labor of clearing, and at the expira- 
tion of the first year had improved ten acres, a portion of 
which was sown with wheat. He was for some time com- 
paratively isolated, the nearest neighbor being four miles 
distant. At his home was celebrated the earliest nuptials 
in New Haven, Miss Nancy Hart, his daughter, having 
been united to Mr. Thomas R. Young. In this family 
also occurred the first death, that of his son Robert C, in 
1848. Mr. Hart himself survived to an advanced age, and 



died in 1867 at the home of his son, Joseph W. Hart, who 
located in the cast portion of the town.ship, and later on 
section 19, where he improved the land and remained until 
his death in 1870. The homestead is now occupied by his 
son William, who is one of the most enterprising farmers 
in New Haven. Lewis Hart lived upon the same section. 
Joel A. Hart removed to Caledonia, where he died in 1862. 

In 1837 occurred an incident which for a brief time 
caused some consternation in the neighborhood immediately 
adjacent. Mi.ss Nancy Hart and a younger sister, aged five 
years, while strolling in tlie woods lost their way, and from 
Sabbath morning until the following evening no trace of 
the wanderers could be discovered. The settlers for miles 
around joined in the search, and they were at last discov- 
ered two and a half miles from the paternal roof, nearly 
exhausted with hunger and fright. 

The .second of the earlier pioneers who found a home in 
New Haven was Richard Freeman, an Englishman by 
birth, who came to Michigan very soon after his arrival 
from the shores of Great Britain. Peter Reid, a resident 
of the city of New York, purcha.sed one hundred and sixty 
acres on section 20, upon which he placed Mr. Freeman, 
who began at once the work of clearing, the township at 
that time being totally destitute of any suggestions of civ- 
ilization other than were indicated by the small opening 
made by Horace Hart. Mr. Freeman effected a consid- 
erable improvement upon this place, but ultimately removed 
to one hundred and sixty acres which he purchased on 
section 21. He afterwards became a resident of the town- 
ship of Rush, and is now located upon section 30 in New 
Haven. 

At the house of Richard Freeman was held the earliest 
township-meeting, the voters on that occasion being Horace 
Hart, Lewis Hart, William Durkee, Humphrey Wheeler, 
Richard Freeman, John Dunlap, and Spencer W. Stout. 
Mr. Freeman has been during his residence in the town- 
ship active in its interests, and is esteemed as a most excel- 
lent citizen. 

Humphrey Wheeler may be mentioned as the third set- 
tler in point of arrival. He had been a former resident of 
Chenango Co., N. Y., from whence he emigrated to Oak- 
land County in 1836, and to New Haven in the spring of 
1838. He removed to and settled on eighty acres section 
15, which had been given Mrs. Wheeler by her father. 
A cabin twelve by sixteen feet in dimensions was imme- 
diately constructed, covered with troughs and having a 
floor made of hewn logs. The box of a sled was dismem- 
bered and did duty as a door after some remodeling. During 
the construction of this modest dwelling Richard Freeman 
extended the family a cordial hospitality. The family of 
Mr. WJieeler were victims to chills and fever, which pre- 
vented the accomplishment of a large clearing the first 
year. At this time a pilgrimage of four miles was neces- 
sary to procure water for household use. Indians were 
frequent visitors, and boars caused much consternation 
among the cattle. The following incident is given by John 
N. Ingeisoll in " Sketches of Shiawassee County :" " As 
an illustration of the trouble which the pioneer settlers en- 
countered from the close visita of these ' varmints,' James 
B. Wheeler, Esq., relates to us the fact that when his father, 



NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP. 



251 



Humphrey Wheeler, came into the county, in 1838, settling 
ill what is now New Haven, he drove with him from Pon- 
tiac three good-sized hogs ; and on the second night after 
his arrival the entire family were roused from their slum- 
bers by the excessive squealing of one of the porkers, and 
on going out to discover the cause found a wolf in close 
contact witli the hog, the latter evidently getting the worst 
of it. The wolf made ils escape and the hog was saved, 
only, however, to be carried oiF the next night by a bear, — 
the last of his pigship. This same bear, a bold and plucky 
fellow, was just afterwards supposed to have been captured 
by baiting and a spring rifle, set for him by the renowned 
John Pope. It was on a Saturday night, and early next 
morning John was seen wending his way to Corunna, with 
the carcass of old Bruin and two significant jugs, loaded on 
a ' stone boat,' drawn by oxen of ' Pharaoh's lean kine.' " 
In 1855, Mr. Wheeler erected the spacious hotel familiarly 
known as " Wheeler's Tavern," in which he became well 
known as the genial host until his death, in June, 1860. 
He was the earliest supervisor of the township, and filled 
other important civil oflttces. 

Spencer W. Stout was a pioneer of 1839 from the Em- 
pire State, and made a location upon eighty acres on section 
4. Mr. Wheeler received him hospitably on his arrival, 
and entertained him until a house could bo built upon his 
land. He made a small clearing, but finding the solitary 
life of a bachelor monotonous very speedily obtained the 
consent of Miss llosanna Hart to become his wife. This 
was the second marriage in the township. Mr. Stout in 
1868 removed to Tennessee, but later resumed his residence 
in Michigan. 

John Dunlap was the earliest settler of the year 1840, 
when he purcliased eighty acres on section 33, remaining 
at Owo.-^so while making the preliminary improvements 
upon the land. His progress was not rapid, but a pro- 
ductive clearing ultimately took the place of the wilderness 
that greeted his arrival. Mr. Dunlap remained upon this 
farm until his death. He was one of the earliest inspectors 
of election, and filled other offices of importance. 

William Uurkee, a previous resident of Oakland County, 
was also a pioneer of 1840. He located upon two hundred 
acres on section 29, and bought an additional forty on sec- 
tion 32, which had been entered by him in 1836. He re- 
mained with Mr. Wheeler (whose brother-in-law he was) 
until a shelter for his family was completed, and on their 
removal he at once began clearing. Mr. Durkee made 
some progress in his improvements, but found the soil of 
New Haven less suited to his ideas than that of Oakland 
County, to which he returned in 1850. 

Peter Ueid, whose name has previously been associated 
with that of Richard Freeman, was a resident of New York 
City, and entered land in tliis township in 1836. He was 
for a while a settler, and afterwards came for .short periods, 
at one time remaining for two consecutive years. He can- 
not, however, be spoken of as a permanent resident. 

Roswell Shipman, a pioneer of 1842, came from Mon- 
roe Co., Mich., and located upon eighty acres on section 23. 
The land was entirely unimproved on his arrival. He 
erected a structure of logs to which the family removed, 
and Mr. Shipman began the labor of underbrushing and 



clearing. He was dependent upon his own exertions, and 
found industry and perseverance indispensable qualities to 
his success. Mr. Shipman afterwards removed to Caledonia, 
where his death occurred. Several of his grandchildren 
are still residents of New Haven. 

Czardus Clark, a former resident of Chautauqua Co., 
N. Y., located in 1843 upon eighty acres on section 29, 
which was a dense forest with no indication of civilization 
near. John Dunlap was living, and had a small clearing, 
on section 33, to which he and his family were welcomed 
while building a cabin of logs. Mr. Clark found ready 
employment in the fulling of trees and clearing of brush. 
Deer were readily shot from the dooryard or supplied by 
the Indians, who traversed the forest on fishing and hunt- 
ing expeditions. Wolves were also occasional vi.sitors, 
though not .so obtrusive as in other portions of the town- 
ship. Mr. Clark survived until 1875, when he died in 
New Haven. His sons, Lorenzo and Ashley D., came at 
the same date, both of whom located upon .section 29. The 
former is decea.sed, and the latter now resides upon section 
28. Three other sons, Czardus, J. Franklin, and Charles 
B., are all farmers on section 28. 

Jesse B. Amidon removed from Oakland County and 
selected land upon section 21. John Dunlap, a relative of 
Mrs. Amidon, welcomed them on their arrival. There was 
no highway other than the State road, and some difficulty 
was experienced in reaching his purchase. There was not 
a saw-mill in the township, Owosso and Corunna being de- 
pended on to supply the lumber for building purposes. 
Mr. Amidon found a journey of sixty miles to Pontiac 
necessary to obtain flour and other supplies. He did not 
long submit to these privations, but removed from the town- 
ship. In 1859 he became a resident of Hazelton, his 
present home. 

Francis R. Pease came from New York State to Living- 
ston County in 1838, and to New Haven in 1843. He 
first located upon section 18, and later upon section 21, 
where he had forty acres, Mr. Amidon having formerly 
occupied the place and built a log hou.se to which he re- 
moved. During the winter of his arrival there occurred 
the heaviest snow-.storm remembered, which so obstructed 
the roads as to make travel very diSicult. Snow or deep 
water as a consequence of defective drainage cover«d the 
highways. At the house of Mr. Pease very early religious 
services were held, being conducted by Elder Pattison. Mr. 
Pease died in 1856, and his widow still occupies the home- 
stead. 

Walter II. Seymour removed from Caledonia to this 
township in 1842, and located upon eighty acres, entered 
by Trumbull ("ary, on section 18, later purchased by Lewis 
Finley. He built a log hou.se upon this land, which was 
improved, and occupied until his death. His widow still 
survives, and is the present owner of the place. Mr. Sey- 
mour was prominent in the earlier interests of the township 
and held several town oflices. 

Isaac W. Rush purchased of C. M. Boutwell eighty 
acres on .section 21, upon which he settled in 1844. He 
remained but a brief time and removed to New York State, 
where he died. 

The names of settlers who had come to the township 



252 



HISTOEY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



prior to 1844 are approximately shown by the following 
list, which embraces the resident tax-payers in New Haven 
for that year, with the section on which the land is located 
and number of acres : 

AcreB. 

Spencer W. Stout, section 4 80 

Humphrey Wheeler, section 15 SO 

Walter R. Seymour, section IS SO 

Richard Freeman, section 21 IfiO 

Isaac W. Rush, section 21 80 

Jesse B. Amidou, section 21 40 

Joseph W. Hart, section 2:! SO 

Roswell Shipman, section 23 80 

William Durkee, sections 9,29, 32 360 

Dwight Dimmock, section 28 120 

John Dunlap, section 33 80 

Lewis Hart, section 34 80 

Joel A. Hart, section 26 SO 

Horace Hart, sections 35, 36 240 

Robert C. Hart, section 36 80 

John B. Burns, section 36 240 

Richard Freeman, section 20 80 

Peter Reid, section 20 80 

Robert Ireland Personal. 

F. R. Pease 

D. W. Wheeler " 

Dwight Dimmock came from Owosso to New Haven in 
1844, and located upon one hundred and twenty acr'es on 
section 28, which is at present occupied by C. B. Clark. 
He began a clearing and improved a few acres, but finding 
his labors uncongenial, returned again to his former resi- 
dence. 

John Pope, a somewhat eccentric character, came to 
New Haven in 1844, and bought land on section 19. He 
afterwards removed to section 34, upon the Lewis Hart 
farm, and, after a somewhat migratory life, settled in Owosso, 
where he died, in 1866. 

Lewis Finley purchased, in 1845, the whole of section 
18, which was entered in 1835 by Trumbull Cary. A 
portion of this he located upon and improved. On his 
death it was inherited by his sons Auron and Nathan, 
who now occupy it. The Dumond family, consisting of 
father and sons, made their advent in 1849, having been 
former residents of the State of New York. They im- 
proved a farm on section 29. Some members of the family 
are still residents of the township. 

George Ott came from New York State to Monroe 
County in 1847, and purchased meanwhile, in the town- 
ship of New Haven, two hundred and forty acres on sec- 
tion 19. He employed other parties to do the clearing, 
and erected on Six- Mile Creek the first saw-mill in the 
township, which for several years was run profitably. He 
afterwards divided the early purchase among his children 
and purchased a farm of ninety acres on section 18, the site 
of his present residence. 

Daniel Young, a pioneer from Wayne Co., N. Y., located, 
in 1852, upon forty acres on section 15, which he subse- 
quently increased to eighty, and upon which he erected a 
substantial residence. At this date there were no roads 
intersecting the State road, and no family had located 
within a distance of twenty miles north. Humphrey 
Wheeler — one mile distant — was the nearest neighbor. 
He offered the family hospitality for a period of six weeks, 
while Mr. Young obtained employment in the harvest- 
fields. He built a house of boards, which afforded him a 
comfortable home for fourteen years, after which his pres- 
ent dwelliu" was erected. Indians of tiie Fisher tribe were 



frequent visitors. They were great beggars, and did not 
maintain the established reputation of the race for honesty. 
Mr. Young has two children residing in the township, to 
whom he gave each forty acres on the same section. 

Rev. William Cochran removed from Buffalo, N. Y., to 
Washtenaw County in 1837, and to the township of New 
Haven in 1852, where he purchased of Warren Hart the 
east half of the northwest quarter of section 23. Some 
improvements had been made on the land and a log house 
erected, though few settlers had yet arrived. He devoted 
much time to the cultivation of this farm, and also became 
familiar to the residents in the exercise of his sacred call- 
ing, having been one of the earliest preachers in New 
Haven. Mr. and Mrs. Cochran now reside in Corunna, the 
latter having been a very early pioneer in Washtenaw County. 

Phineas Burch came in 1854 from Niagara Co., N. Y., 
and made a home upon eighty acres on section 16, upon 
which there were no improvements. The State road having 
passed his farm afforded him advantages of travel not en- 
joyed by many of his neighbors. He built a log cabin on 
his arrival and effected a clearing of three acres the first 
year. His trade of carpenter and joiner, however, occu- 
pied much of his time. The farm is still his home, which 
by cultivation has been made very productive. 

Chester Cram, who preceded Mr. Burch by one year, 
came from Oakland County, whence he removed from New 
York State. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres 
on section 27, together with an additional eighty which he 
sold on arrival. On the remainder he located and erected 
a house of logs, meanwhile availing himself of the tem- 
porary abode offered by Roswell Shipman. Mr. Cram 
cleared ten acres the first year, and continued improving 
the land until his death in 1866. His two sons, Horace 
and Levi, live upon sections 27 and 22, respectively, and 
with them their mother alternately resides. 

James H. Desbrough removed from Ann Arbor to New 
Haven in 1855, having come direct from England to the 
former place in 1852. He located upon eighty acres on 
section 26, which was entirely uncleared. He remained 
with William Cochran while building a temporary home, 
and soon after had effected a considerable clearing. Mr. 
Desbrough erected a substantial residence in 1869, but 
lived only one year to enjoy it. His widow now occupies 
the farm. 

S. H. and J. Alliton came with their grandfather, Ros- 
well Shipman, to the township in 1855. They engaged in 
daily labor until the opening of the war, when they entered 
the army. After their terms of service had expired, each 
purchased a farm on section 33. This land was uncleared, 
but has since been rendered by careful labor among the 
mo.st valuable farms in New Haven, and upon each is 
erected a substantial residence. 

Samuel P. Conklin came from Rockland Co., N. Y., in 
1857, and located upon forty acres on section 22. In the 
midst of the forest which covered this land a frame house 
was standing that had been erected by J. J. Garner, a 
circuit preacher, of whom he purchased the property. In 
1869, Mr. Conklin removed to his present farm of eighty 
acres on section 28. Daniel Conklin preceded him one 
year, and located upon section 22, where he still resides. 



NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP. 



253 



Patrick Riley came from Flint to this township in 1857, 
having purchased eighty acres on section 24. He remained 
with Jesse D. Hanford on section 26 while building, and 
immediately after began chopping. A clearing of ten acres 
was the re.sult of his first year's labor. In the spring a fine 
crop covered this land. He has been successful in his 
farming pursuits, and now has two hundred acres on sec- 
tion 26 and eighty on an adjoining section. 

Edward Murray came at the same time as bis friend 
Riley, with whom he remained until a house had been 
erected on section 25, where he owned eighty acres. He 
still resides upon this land, where he has a well-improved 
farm. 

Michael Hart, who was formerly employed upon the 
Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, purcha.sed one hundred 
and sixty acres on section 36 in 1860. It had been for- 
merly occupied and some improvements had been made 
upon the land. He is rapidly cultivating this farm, having 
nearly half of it now covered by growing crops. 

Christopher Roehm come to the township in 1861, and 
remained for a year at Six-Mile Creek, now West Haven. 
He meanwhile purchased eighty acres on section 32, and 
while building upon it remained upon the Dunlap farm. 
He has greatly improved this land, and still resides upon 
it. His son, William H., is the present clerk of the 
township. 

Among other names that may with propriety be men- 
tioned on the roll of pioneers are those of Oliver Hopkins, 
John Desbrough, H. W. Wheeler, Lewis Rowe, P. B. Soule, 
John T. Shepard, Willis Taylor, Ira Root, J. R. Knight, 
William M. Lindsey, A. D. Whitney, H. J. Hopkins, and 
0. C. Gaylord. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

New Haven was erected a separate civil township by an 
act of the State Legislature approved March 20, 1841, which 
provided " That all that part of the county of Shiawassee 
designated as township number eight north, of ranges 
number three and four east, be and the same is hereby set 
off and organized into a separate township by the name of 
New Haven, and the first township-meeting shall be held at 
the dwelling-house of Richard Freeman in said township." 
The eastern half of the township so erected and described 
was taken off and erected into the township of Hazelton by 
act of March 25, 1850, thus reducing New Haven to its 
present limits. 

Pursuant to the provisions of the act erecting New 
Haven, the electors of the township met on the first Monday 
in April, 1841, at the house of Richard Freeman, for the 
purpose of choosing town.ship officers. Humphrey Wheeler 
was chosen Moderator; Horace Hart, Joel A. Hart, John 
Dunlap, and William Durkee, Jr., Inspectors of Elections ; 
Peter Reid, Clerk ; and Lewis Hart, Assistant Clerk. The 
officers elected for the year were Superviisor, Humphrey 
Wheeler; Township Clerk, Joel A. Hart; Treasurer, Lewis 
Hart; As.sessors, H. Wheeler, William Durkee, Horace 
Hart; School Inspectors, Horace Hart, H. Wheeler, Peter 
Reid ; Directors of Poor, Richard Freeman, Joel A. Hart ; 
Highway Commissioners, Peter Reid, John Dunlap ; Justices 



of the Peace, H. Hart, H. Wheeler, Peter Reid, William 

Durkee ; Constable, Robert C. Hart. 

The following list embraces the civil officers elected in 

the township of New Haven from 1843 to the present 

time, viz. : 

1843. — Supervisor, Humphrey Wheeler; Township Clerk, 
William Durkee ; Treasurer, J. A. Hart ; Asses- 
sors, Horace Hart, William Durkee ; School 
Inspectors, H. Wheeler, Horace Hart ; Highway 
Commissioners, Walter Seymour, H. Wheeler ; 
Justice, F. W. Stout ; Directors of Poor, Walter 
Seymour, H. Wheeler ; Constables, J. W. Hart, 
J. B. Amidon. 

1844. — Supervisor, Horace Hart; Township Clerk, Dwight 
Dimmock ; Treasurer, J. B. Amidon ; Justice, 
Roswell Shipman ; Assessors, Lewis Hart, F. R. 
Pea.se; Highway Commissioners, I. W. Rush, 
W. Seymour ; School Inspector, Joel A. Hart ; 
Director of Poor, Walter Seymour ; Constable, 
J. W. Hart. 

1845. — Supervisor, Horace Hart ; Township Clerk, H. 
Wheeler ; Assessor, Lewis Finley ; Treasurer, 
Lewis Hart ; Director of Poor, S. W. Stout ; 
Highway Commissioner, F. R. Pease ; Justices, 
Lewis Finley, Horace Stout ; Constables, J. W. 
Hart, D. W. Wheeler. 

1846. — Supervisor, Joel A. Hart ; Town.ship Clerk, H. 
Wheeler ; Justice, Horace Hart ; Highway Com- 
missioners, Richard Freeman, J. A. Hart ; Di- 
rectors of Poor, S. W. Stout, R. C. Hart; 
As.sessors, L. Finley, Horace Hart ; School In- 
spectors, J. A. Hart, Lewis Finley ; Constable, 
R. C. Hart. 

1847. — Supervisor, J. A. Hart ; Township Clerk, H. 
Wheeler; Treasurer, Lewis Hart; Justice, S. 
W. Stout ; Assessors, Joseph W. Hart, Lewis 
Finley ; School Inspector, Lewis Finley ; High- 
way Commissioners, Horace Hart, Richard Free- 
man ; Directors of Poor, S. W. Stout, Robert 
C. Hart ; Constables, R. C. Hart, Josiah Dunlap. 

1848. — Supervisor, Lewis Finley; Township Clerk, H. 
Wheeler ; Treasurer, D. W. Wheeler ; Assessor, 
Horace Hart ; Highway Commissioner, W. R. 
Seymour ; School Inspector, Lewis Finley ; Di- 
rectors of Poor, Lewis Finley, J. W. Hart ; 
Constables, Josiah Dunlap, D. W. Wheeler. 

1849. — Supervisor, Czardus Clark; Township Clerk, H. 
Wheeler; Treasurer, D. W. Wheeler; School 
Inspector, Czardus Clark ; Directors of Poor, 
S. W. Stout, F. R. Pease; Assessors, W. R. 
Seymour, H. Wheeler; Highway Commissioner, 
Czardus Clark ; Justice, Lewis Hart; Constables, 
Josiah Dunlap, D. W. Wheeler. 

1850. — Supervisor, Lewis Hart; Town.ship Clerk, Horace 
Hart ; Treasurer, Peter Duniond ; Directors of 
Poor, John Dunlap, W. R. Seymour ; School 
Inspector, Levi Rowe ; Assessors, F. R. Pease, 
J. R. Hart ; Highway Commissioner, J. W. 
Diamond ; Justices, W. V. Dumond, F. R. 
Pease ; Constables, Peter Dumond, Peter Soule. 



254 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1851. — Supervisor, Lewis Hart; Township Clerk, Horace 
Hart ; Treasurer, George Ott ; Higiiway Com- 
missiouer, W. R. Seymour ; Sehool Inspector, 
John T. Shepard; Justice, John T. Sliepard ; 
Assessor, Lewis Rowe ; Director of Poor, John 
Dunlap; Constables, Peter Dumond, M. R. 
Finley. 

1852. — Supervisor, H. Wheeler; Township ('lerk, David 
Wheeler ; Treasurer, George Ott ; School In- 
spector, Horace Hart; Director of Poor, John 
Dunlap ; Assessor, Avery French ; Justices, F. R. 
Pease, P. B. Soule ; Highway Commissioner, 
W. M. Linzey; Constables, H. Dumond, D. W. 
Wheeler. 

1S53. — Supervisor, Humphrey Wheeler; Township Clerk, 
Horace Hart ; Treasurer, George Ott ; School 
Inspector, Daniel Youug ; Director of Poor, 
John Dunlap ; Assessors, Lewis Hart, F. R. 
Pease ; Justices, Lewis Hart, William Cochran ; 
Highway Commissioner, J. T. Shepard ; Con- 
stables, E. H. Wheeler, J. G. Ott, Josiah Duulap. 

1854.^Supervisor, Lewis Hart; Township Clerk, Horace 
Hart; Treasurer, Seymour Shipman ; Highway 
Commissioner, W. R. Seymour; Justice, William 
Cochran ; School Inspector, H. Wheeler ; Direc- 
tor of Poor, John Dunlap ; Constables, P. Du- 
mond, P. B. Soule, John Mansberger ; Assessor, 
Lewis Hart. 

1855. — Supervisor, Phineas Burch ; Township Clerk, 
Humphrey Wheeler ; Treasurer, S. Shipman ; 
Justices, A. B. (Clarke, ^^'illis Taylor; Highway 
Commissioner, William Linzey ; School Inspec- 
tor, Daniel Young, Jr. ; A.ssessor, H. Wheeler ; 
Director of Poor, F. R. Pease ; Constables, 
Joseph Ott, P. Dumond. 

185C. — Supervisor, P. Burch; Town.ship Clerk, H. 
Wheeler; Treasurer, Daniel Y'^oung, Jr. ; Justice, 
Ira Root; Highway Commissioner, Asa Whit- 
ney ; School Inspector, H. J. Hopkins ; Director 
of Poor; William Cochran. 

1857. — ^Supervisor, P. Burch ; Township Clerk, H. Wheeler ; 
Treasurer, Daniel Y'^oung, Jr. ; Justice, Lewis 
Hart; Highway Commissioner, Walter R. Sey- 
mour ; School Inspector, Daniel Young, Jr. ; 
Director of Poor, Czardus Clark ; Constables, 
Joseph Ott, J. R. Knight. 

1858. — Supervisor, Lewis Hart; Township Clerk, Sey- 
mour Shipman ; Treasurer, Wm. Shankland ; 
Justice, 0. C. Gaylord ; School Inspector, H. J. 
Hopkins; Highway Commissioner, J. R. Knight; 
Director of Poor, H. Wheeler; ('onstables, 
Warren Ladd, L. M. Newall, A. D. Whitney, 
G. A. Wallace. 

1859. — Supervisor, P. Burch ; Township Clerk, H.Wheeler; 
Treasurer, A. D. Wheeler; Justices, Wm. Moore, 
C. Clark ; Highway Commissioner, William M. 
Linzey ; School Inspector, Daniel Young, Jr. ; 
Director of Poor, J. R. Knight ; Constables, J. 
II. Wortman, W. II. Shankland, Patrick Riley. 

1860. — Supervisor, Phineas Burch; Township Clerk, H. 



1861 
1871 



1872 



1878 



1874 



1875 



1876 



1877 



1878.. 



1879 



Wheeler; Treasurer, H. J. Hopkins; Justice, 
P. Burch ; School Inspectors, H. J. Hopkins, 
0. C. Gaylord ; Constables, H. J. Hopkins, 
Isaiah Ott. 

-70. — Not obtainable. 

— Supervisor, Phineas Burch ; Township Clerk, J. F. 
Parkhurst ; Treasurer, J. P. Jones ; Highway 
ComniLssioner, W. Underwood ; School Inspec- 
tor, J. P. Jones ; Constable, J. P. Jones. 

— Supervisor, A. D. Whitney ; Township Clerk, S. 
H. Alliton ; Treasurer, J. P. Jones; Highway 
Commissioner, George Ireland ; School Inspector, 
Thomas Jenkinson. 

— -Supervisor, A. D. Whitney ; Township Clerk, J. 
H. Alliton ; Treasurer, C. S. Dickenson ; School 
Inspectors, R. H. Angel, Thomas Jenkin.son ; 
Drain Commissioner, Charles Houghton ; High- 
way Commissioner, Charles B. Linzey ; Justices, 
M. H. Ridley, Seymour Hart ; Constable, Thos. 
E. Hanson. 

— Supervisor, A. D. Whitney ; Township Clerk, S. 
H. Alliton ; Treasurer, C. S. Dickenson ; Justice, 
L. W. Pray ; Highway Commissioner, Thomas 
Jenkinson ; Drain Commissioner, A. E. Herring- 
ton ; School Inspector, Thomas Jenkinson. 

— Supervisor, A. D. Whitney ; Township Clerk, S. 
H. Alliton ; Treasurer, C. S. Dickenson ; Jus- 
tices, T. E. Hanson, G. E. Hurd ; Superin- 
tendent of Schools, M. A. Taylor; Drain Com- 
missioner, Ellis Ott ; Highway Commissioner, 
Geo. Ireland ; School Inspector, Thomas Jenkin- 
son ; Constable, W. F. Williams. 

— Supervisor, C. S. Dickenson ; Township Clerk, S. 
R. Chamberlain ; Treasurer, Ellis Ott ; Justice, 
Chas. B. Linzey ; Superintendent of Schools, 
L. W. Pray; Drain Commissioner, Urius Smith; 
Highway Commissioner, Edward Gorman; School 
Inspector, M. H. Ridley ; Constables, W. F. 
Williams, R. H. Vanhorn, L. H. Smith. 

— Supervisor, C. S. Dickenson ; Township Clerk, 
Wm. H. Ream ; Treasurer, S. H. Alliton ; Jus- 
tice, L. W. Pray ; Highway Commissioner, A. 
D. Whitney ; Superintendent of Schools, L. VV. 
Pray ; School Inspector, S. J.Y^oung ; Constables, 
W. F. Williams, Van. V. E. Ridley, William 
Dumond. 

— Supervisor, C. S. Dickenson ; Township Clerk, W. 
H. Ream ; Treasurer, S. 11. Alliton ; Justice, 
M. Hotchkins; Superintendent of Schools, L. W. 
Pray ; Highway Commissioner, A. D. Whitney; 
Drain Commissioner, W. F. Williams; School 
Inspector, J. W. Clark ; Constables, D. M. Pease, 
S. H. Alliton, Wm. W. Hart. 
Supervisor. Nathaniel Ball ; Township Clerk, W. 
H. Ream ; Treasurer, S. H. Alliton ; Justice, 
T. W. Hinion ; Highway Commissioner, W. D. 
Underwood ; Superintendent of Schools, S. J. 
Young ; School Inspector, J. W. Clark ; Con- 
stables, W. W. Hart, D. M. Pease, Ralph Wil- 
liams, S. H. Alliton. 



NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP. 



255 



1880.— Supervisor, Nathaniel Ball ; Township Clerk, W. 
H. Beam ; Treasurer, W. C. Underwood ; High- 
way Commissioner, E. Penebaker ; Justices, 
Sidney McCready, Oliver Hopson ; Drain Com- 
missioner, J. W. Fairbanks; Superintendent of 
Schools, S. J. Young ; School Inspector, J. W. 
Clark ; Constables, J. C. Fox, T. E. Hastings, 
W. D. Underwood. 

EARLY HIGHWAYS. 

The earliest highway in New Haven was laid out by the 
State, and known as the " State Road." It ran north and 
south, entering the township on section 33, and following' a 
northerly course to section 21, then angled to the east, but 
again took a direct north course on the section line between 
sections 15, 16, 9, 10, 3, and 4, and passed out of the town- 
ship. The date of this survey is not a matter of township 
record. The earliest recorded road in New Haven began at 
a stake on the north bank of Six-Mile Creek, in the centre 
of the road running north through the i^uutheast quarter of 
section 18, and pursuing a northerly course, terminated at 
a stake on the north line of the township, east of the quar- 
ter post on the south line of section 31. The date of 
survey is not given, though jobs for clearing the route of 
this road were awarded August 19, 1843, by Humphrey 
Wheeler, Horace Hart, and Walter R. Seymour, then com- 
missioners of highways. 

The next recorded road was surveyed by Andrew Hug- 
gins, June 10, 1847, and is entitled a " Road from Dun- 
lap's west to Town Line." Beginning at the corners of 
sections 28, 29, and 33, and running south eighty-nine 
degrees and fifty-six minutes west on the section-line thirty- 
nine chains and ninety-six links to the quarter post stand- 
ing on the south side of section 29 ; thence south eighty- 
nine degrees and fifty minutes west forty chains to the 
corners of sections 29, 30, 31, and 32 ; thence south eighty- 
nine degrees and twenty minutes west thirty-nine chains 
and ninety links to the quarter post on the south side 
of section 30 ; thence south eighty-eight degrees fifty-three 
minutes west thirty-five chains and five links to the south- 
west corner of section 30. 

The township was originally divided into seven highway 
districts. 

SCHOOLS. 

The township, though first settled in 183(3, was without 
educational advantages until 1843. During the year a 
school-house of logs was erected on land owned by F. R. 
Pease, on the south section-line of section 21. Ira W. 
Rush was the early teacher who taught the rudiments to 
the rising youth of New Haven. The log structure was 
later superseded by a frame one, familiarly known as the 
" old red school-house." It still remains as one of the land- 
marks of the olden time, though age has sadly impaired the 
symmetry of its proportions and the brightness of its color 
has departed. Early religious services were held in the 
original log building by Noah Pettus, who divided with folder 
Patterson the honor nf having been the earliest messenger 
of gospel tidings. 

The territory of New Haven is now divided into seven 
whole and two fractional school-districts, under supervision 



of the following-named board of directors : Uriah Smith, 
Frederick Sehantz, George Ott, Horace B. Cram, P. P. 
Beswick, J. II. Alliton, Cornelius Knight, J. M. Bishop, 
John Hanna. 

Three hundred and twenty-five children received instruc- 
tion during the past year, of whom nineteen were non-res- 
idents. They were under charge of four male and fifteen 
female teachers. The total value of school property in the 
township is $5350, and its total resources for the year for 
educational purposes 82953.91, of which $197.28 is de- 
rived from the primarj'-school fund. 

CHURCH HISTORY. 
WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. 

The finst society of this denomination was organized in 
1851 by the Rev. William Cochran, of Corunna. After 
a brief career the church was reorganized at the " old red 
schoiil-house" as the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

In the winter of 1871, Rev. Mr. McGee collected the 
scattered members of the former body, and at the same 
school-hou.se formed another church. During the season 
another class was organized at the school building known as 
the Desbrough school-house. Rev. Mr. McGee remained 
for two years as pastor of these churches (which were and . 
are a part of the Shiawassee Circuit), and was succeeded by 
Rev. Mr. Lyon, who remained for one year, when Rev. Mr. 
McGee returned to the charge. Rev. William Waterman 
became pastor in 1874, and under his labors the member- 
ship was greatly increased. In 1875, Rev. Harvey Johnson 
was called to preside over the charge, and in 1877 he or- 
ganized the Underwood Wesleyan Methodist Church with 
the following membership : Edmund Underwood, Mrs. 
Underwood, Eva Morse, Charles Morse, Orlando Morse, 
Mary E. Morse, Squire Williams, Daniel Young, Catharine 
Young, Martha E. Dutcher, Robert Dutcher, Harvey John- 
son, Martha Johnson, Melissa J. Young. The present 
class-leader is Charles Morse, and the stewards are Edmund 
Underwood, Orlando Morse, and Robert Dutcher. The 
clerk is Daniel Young. Rev. L. E. Jessop became pastor 
in 1877, and was succeeded in 1879 by Rev. William Daven- 
port, who still ministers to the congregation, and has been 
signally blessed in his labors. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The church of the Methodist Episcopal denomination in 
New Haven was organized in April, 1859, as a part of the 
Corunna Circuit, in the Owosso district. The Rev. L. C. 
York was the first pastor. In 1868 it was transferred to 
the Chesaning charge, while under the ministrations of Rev. 
A. B. Clough. 

The pastors in succession since that time have been as 
follows: in 1870, Rev. T. G. Omans, who was in 1871 
followed by Rev. D. B. Miller. In 1872, Rev. A. Allen 
was pastor in charge, and in 1875, Rev. C. P. Kellerman 
succeeded. Rev. J. W. Crippin ministered to the church 
in 1877, and the present pastor, Rev. II. W. Hicks, was 
installed in 1879. Services are held in the school-house 
semi-monthly, though the erection of a church edifice is 
but a matter of time. Phincas Burch has been for many 
years class-leader. 



■^b6 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



GERMAN EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 

This organization was formed in 1860 by Rev. Christo- 
pher Roehm, with a membership of thirty. Services had 
been early lield at the house of Frederick Steiner, with 
Godfrey Schontz as class-leader. In 1875 the society be- 
cjime sufficiently strong to begin the erection of a church 
edi6ce, which was completed at a cost of twelve hundred 
dollars, the debt having been wholly liquidated. The loca- 
tion of the church building is on the southeast quarter of 
section 19. 

The pastor is Rev. Mr. Brumm, who resides in Owosso, 
the church at New Haven being a part of the Owosso Cir- 
cuit. The trustees are Fred Yenkcl, Christian Cooley, 
Fred Kirn, Jr., Godfrey Schontz. 

CHURCH OF THE DLSCIPLES. 

A society under the discipline of tlie dciioniiuatiou above 
mentioned was organized in 1875, by Elder Houghton. It 
grew in numbers and influence during the two succeeding 
years, and in 1877 measures were taken for the erection of 
a house of worship, ground having been secured for the 
purpose on section 3. The building was soon after com- 
pleted, and .services are held on each alternate Sabbath. 

VILLAGE OF WEST HAVEN. 

The village of West Haven is described in its survey as 
situated on the north part of the northwest fractional quar- 
ter of section No. 18, in township No. 8 north, of range 
No. 3 east, and was surveyed Nov. 4, 5, and 6, 1869, for 
E. E. White and D. M. Estey, by Ezra Mason. The land 
was originally entered from government by Trumbull Cary, 
in 1835, and later owned by Lewis Finley. After some 
transfers a portion of it came into the possession of George 
Wallace, who disposed of forty acres to Jlessre. Estey and 
White, as did also Seymour Goodell a smaller tract which 
he owned. 

The water-power was first improved by Mr. Quackenbush, 
who built a dam upon Six-Mile Creek and erected a saw- 
mill. It was run successfully for a number of years, but 
finally went to decay. Mr. E. E. White became a resi- 
dent in 1868, and in 1869, D. M. Estey came and erected 
upon the Shiawassee River an extensive factory for the 
manufacture of furniture, under the name of the Estey 
Manufiicturing Company. This establishment, which by 
its magnitude and the employment it aflords, makes the 
village a point of some business interest, is propelled by 
water-power furnished by the Shiawassee River, and ob- 
tains its material exclusively from the adjacent country. 
It is at present chiefly devoted to the manufacture of bed- 
steads, of which are produced twelve hundred per month. 
For these a market is found in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, 
Illinois, Minnesota, and the large cities of the East. D. 
M. Estey is president and treasurer of the company, and 
Charles E. Rigley vice-president and secretary. 

The earliest store in West Haven was built by Joseph 
Gibbs, who placed in it a stock of goods, but did not long 
remain a resident. He was followed by Abrara Mott, who 
■ erected a spacious store, whicli was later purchased by Messrs. 
Estey & Tooley. It was subse(|uently controlled by the 
Estey Manufacturing Company, who are at present proprie- 



tors, and employ J. W. Angell as general manager of their 
mercantile interests. He is also the postmaster of West 
Haven. The village contains a blacksmith-shop, which is 
carried on by Anson Kimball, and a wagon-shop owned by 
Frank Thill. 

In point of location West Haven has many natural ad- 
vantages. It possesses an excellent water-power, is sur- 
rounded by a productive farming country, and has one of 
the most picturesque and attractive sites in the county for 
a growing village. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



JACOB WIEDMAN. 

John and Mary ( Fry) Wiedman were natives of Wur- 
temberg, Germany, and reared a family of four boys and 
two girls. Three are residents of this country, — John, Jr., 
at Ann Arbor, Frederick in Pike Co., 111., and Jacob, the 
subject of this sketch, who was born Jan. 1, 1834. His 
earliest recollections are of stories told of a land across 
the waters where each could build up their possessions as 
unlimited as their desires or capacity would wish. At nine- 
teen, after having passed through their rigid school disci- 
pline, he borrowed sufficient money of an elder brother to pay 
his passage, and set out upon a voyage to the New World. 
Most of his fellow-passengers had decided upon Michigan 
as their future home, and from New York City he came 
with them to Ann Arbor. He obtained employment for 
two months at ten dollars per mouth upon a farm. With 
his first pay he canceled the debt with his brother, and so 
faithfully did he serve his employer that he remained eight 
years. During this time, in I860, he purchased seventy- 
one acres on section 19, New Haven township, their present 
home. On Feb. 4, 1862, he married Elizabeth, daughter 
of Abraham and Sally (Koons) Stefie, natives of Penn.syl- 
vania, who removed to Ann Arbor in 1856, and followed 
farming until the family was broken up by the death of 
Mr. SteSe, on April 5, 1876. The mother now resides 
with a daughter in Washtenaw County. The day follow- 
ing their marriage, Jacob and wife set out upon a journey 
to their new home with a yoke of oxen and wagon to con- 
vey them and their worldly effects. The first year proved 
the most discouraging ever experienced by them. Their 
only marketable commodity was wood, which Mr. Wied- 
man cut and hauled to Owosso, receiving six shillings in 
store pay per cord. With the following year came a more 
plentiful harvest. Each succeeding year has showered 
upon them the fruits of industry and frugality. Their 
children number three, — Reuben, born in 1862; Jessie, 
born Feb. 22, 1865 ; John, born Oct. 1, 1867. Mr. Wied- 
man is one of nature's noblemen, preferring to devote his 
time and energies to the improvement of his possessions 
and surrounding himself and family with the comforts of 
life to following the empty baubles of political popularity. 






I 



3: 







I 



1 









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m 

VJ 

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NEW HAVEN TOWNSHIP. 



257 





MRS. PHINEAS BURCII. 



PI1INE.\S liORCII. 



PHINEAS BUIICH. 



Jonathan and Polly (St. Clair) Burch were natives of 
Royalston, Vt., and after uniting their destinies by mar- 
riage the first five years .were spent at Montreal, Canada. 
In 1817 they moved to Niagara Co., N. Y., purchasing a 
farm, where they lived to see a family of seven children pass 
from the parental home to begin life's labor for themselves. 
Mrs. Burch lived to the age of seventy-two, for fifty-four 
years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, thus 
exemplifying the many good womanly qualities possessed 
by her. Mr. Burch spent the remainder of hi.s life with 
his son, living to the age of eighty-four, a consistent 
Christian. 

Pliineas Burch, a son, and to whom this sketch h.is par- 
ticular reference, was born Aug. 11, 1814. His years of mi- 
nority were passed at home on the farm. May 1, 183C, he 
married Mary A. Brown, and engaged in farming. Thus 
life passed pleasantly for a period of nineteen years, when 



death's summons came to Mrs. Burch, and she was laid to 
rest, leaving a family of six children. Three years later 
Mr. Burch found consolation, and his children a kind and 
indulgent parent, in Miss Adaline Bartholomew. They 
were married March 22, 1854. The offspring of this mar- 
riage was one child. In June following they journeyed 
West to Shiawassee County, settling upon section IG, New 
Haven township, where they have since resided. Mr. 
Burch has served his township and county in an official 
capacity almost incessantly as supervisor for fifteen consecu- 
tive years, — justice of the peace until obliged to decline to 
qualify on account of failing health. Through all the labors 
of pioneer life and public duties Mr. Rureli has been very 
efficiently aided by his good wife, making, as he affirms, an 
accurate accountant as township clerk. In politics he is a 
Republican, and buth have long been members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Cliureh. 



WELLMAN HART. 



Of the family history of Wellman Hart we have the fol- 
lowing record. Horace, with his third wife, came from 
Monroe Co., Mich., to Shiawassee County, and made the 
first settlement in the town of New Haven, said location 
being on section 36. Their family consisted of seven chil- 
dren, six by first marriage, — Robert, Joel, Lewis, Rosconna, 
Joseph W., and Nancy, — by the second, Josephine. In the 
course of human events the surviving children had departed 
the old home to establish their own. Joseph W. located 
eighty acres on section 19, with whom the parents lived 
and passed their closing days. Horace Hart was born June 
3, 1785 ; died in March, 1807. Mrs. Hart continued with 
them until Feb. 23, 1874. Of their family but one is now 
living, Mrs. Nancy Youngs, of Caledonia. Jo.seph W. mar- 
ried Miss Nancy Shipman, of Monroe Co., Mich., and to- 
33 



gethcr they pioneered the home wiiich, with their respected 
memories, was left a.s an inheritance to a family of nine 
children, that had grown to maturity under their parental 
care, viz. : Warner, resides in Saginaw; Martha (deceased); 
Wilson W., resides at Tahama, Cal. ; Wellman, Mrs. 
Miranda Marshall (deceased), William M., and Bottle, all 
of New Haven township. 

On Oct. 7, 1872, Wellman united in marriage with 
Mary J. ('amp, of the town of Rush. The improvements 
so untiringly prosecuted by his parents have been continued 
by them. To-day a beautiful home, surrounded by many 
conveniences, is theirs, as may be seen by the accompanying 
sketches of the old home and the new. They are the 
parents of two children,— Matilda, born Sept. 14, 1873, and 
Emerald B., born Ajjril 17, 1878. 



258 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 








MRS. DANIEL YOUNG. 




DANIEL YOUNG. 



DANIEL YOUNG. 



The Young family of whom we luive to 'write descended 
from Emanuel Young, of Germany, who having received 
the degree of M.D., emigrated to this country about the 
year 1735, and began the practice of medicine. Eventually 
we find him located in Montgomery Co., N. Y., surrounded 
by a family charactevLstio of the Germans. The next in 
line, Emanuel Young, Jr., joined in the struggle of 1777 for 
independence, how well, the wounds received, by the scars 
that remained bore testimony to his dying day. At the age 
of eighty-three he passed away, the latter portion of his 
life being spent with his children in Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
Daniel E. Young, the eldest of his family of six children, 
was born in Montgomery County, March IG, 1791. In 
his twenty-third year he united in marriage with Miss 
Martha Brown, also a native of Montgomery County, born 
Dec. 18, 1793. As was customary in those days, both 
labored to secure a competency, he as a clothier, she as a 
weaver; their final location being at Skaneateles, Onon- 
daga Co., N. Y. Their family consisted of Maria, deceased ; 
Halsey, residing in Auburn, N. Y. ; Harvey, at Corunna, 
Mich. ; Edwin, at Cayuga Co., N. Y. ; Daniel and Mrs. 
Louisa Stoner, at New Haven. Daniel was born at Skane- 
ateles, June 4, 1827. Being of a studious mind, at eighteen 
was qualified for school-teaching, which he followed until 
twenty-three. March 11, 1850, he married Miss Catherine 
Gurnee, a native of Rockland Co., N. Y., born June 4, 
1827. The year following he worked by the mouth upon 
a farm. In the fall of 1851 came West, and purchased of 
his brother Harvey, living in Genesee Co., Mich., forty acres 
of wild land on section 15, New Haven, Shiawassee Co., 
paying three dollars per acre, and returned home. May 19, 
1852, with his wife he departed upon their journey westward, 



via canal to Buffalo, lake to Detroit, arriving the evening 
of the 25th, where his brother was waiting to convey them 
to his home in Davidson, Genesee Co. W. W. Young, 
like most actual settlers in a new country, was not blessed 
with a plentiful supply of cash, and while carrying forward 
the work of erecting a home his family must be provided 
for. Leaving his family at his brother's, he went in ad- 
vance to his location, and began the work of erecting a 
house. On June 11th he removed hi.s family to a pioneer 
tavern near his location, kept by Mr. Wheeler. July 9th 
he went to Oakland County, and worked through harvest. 
With his wages he was enabled to complete his house, and 
on August 17th occupied their first home, where they con- 
tinued for fourteen years, clearing and improving sum- 
mers, teaching winters. In 1876 he completed a commo- 
dious farm-house, and other improvements in the way of 
farm-buildings have followed. To his first purchase he has 
added one hundred and twenty acres. Where the wilder- 
ness overshadowed all now smile green fields and fruit- 
laden orchards, emblematical of industry and prosperity. 
A due portion may be attributed to the good wife, whose 
watchword has ever been, " Economy is necessary to success." 
Their family consists of three children, — Sylvester J., born 
Jan. 6, 1851 ; Mrs. Martha E. Dutcher, born May 27, 1854 ; 
Melissa I., born Feb. 1, 18G3. Sylvester and Martha when 
of age received forty acres, with a portion under improve- 
ment, adjoining the old home. Mr. Young and wife have 
been church members since sixteen years of age, and for 
the past thsee years connected with the Wesleyan Methodist 
Episcopal Church of New Haven. They contributed liber- 
ally to secure a suitable church building, and are con- 
sistent Christians and a worthy couple in every respect. 



OWOSSO TOWNSHIP. 



259 





MRS. H. B. CRAM. 



H. B. CRAM. 



Chester Cram was born Feb. 2, 1813, in Essex Co., N. Y. 
While yet a lad the family removed to Chautauqua County, 
thence to Oakland County. In the spring of 1834, Chester, 
then of age, had accumulated sufficient means to purchase 
forty acres in O.^ford township. He put it under a good 
state of cultivation, when, being desirous of securing more 
land, he exchanged for one hundred and twenty acres of wild 
land, taking a deed for sixty acres and mortgage upon the 
balance, which he failed to have recorded. The first parties, 
finding the mortgage had not been recorded, .sold the prop- 
erty and left the country, thus depriving him of its benefits. 
In the fall of 1839 he took to himself a wife in the per- 
son of Miss Margaret Eldred, whose fliniily had removed 
from Steuben Co., N. Y., to Oakland County in 1835. In 
the spring of 1844, Mr. Cram again exchanged for one 
hutidred and sixty acres of wild land in New Haven town- 
shij), Shiawas,see Co., but did not remove thereto until the 
spring of 1849, where they continued to reside until his 
death, which occurred Aug. 8, 1866, leaving a widow and 
four children, — H. B. Cram, born May 7, 1844, resides in 
Bast Tennessee; H. B., born Dec. 19, 1852; Leroy, born 
May 18, 1855 ; Mrs. Maria Hop.son, resides in New Haven. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cram united with the Baptist Church soon 
after their marriage, and ever after lived a consistent Chris- 
tian life. The present proprietor of the old home, H. B. 
Cram, on Feb. 7, 1874, married Miss Louisa Butcher, 
whose family had removed from Oakland County to New 
Haven four years proviou.sly. The newly-wedded couple 
followed farming for a short period \ipon forty acres that 
had been given him by his father, when a desire to visit 
the gold field on the I'acific coast led him to rent his place, 
establishing his wife with her parents. He journeyed 
westward, visiting many places of interest; finally located 
at Prescott, Arizona, engaging in (juartz mining, which 
proved the royal road to success. Two years later he re- 
turned home, having sold his mining interest. He pur- 



H. B. CRAM. 

chased the heirship interest in the old home, and vigorously 
set to work making substantial improvements. They are 
parents of two children, — Edson B., born Oct. 19, 1879 ; 
Annie M., born Nov. 15, 1876. Mr. and Mrs. Cram are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in good 
standing. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 
OWOSSO TOWNSHIP.* 

Description and Original Surveys— First and other Land-Entries — 
Early Settlements — Civil and Political — Educational. 

This township, which originally embraced within its 
limits the northern half of Shiawassee County, now occu- 
pies the territory designated in the field-notes of the orig- 
inal survey as township No. 7 north, of range No. 2 east. 
It is one of the four interior divisions of the county, and 
is situated northwest of its geographical centre. 

Adjoining township organizations are Rush on the north, 
Caledonia on the east, Bennington on the south, and Mid- 
dlebury on the west. 

The .surface, although comparatively level, is .sufiiciently 
elevated above its water-courses to admit of good surface 
drainage, the higher portions being found in the eastern 
and central parts. Originally this was a heavily timbered 
township, beech, maple, oak, ash, cherry, hickory, butter- 
nut, black -walnut, and the many other varieties of deciduous 
trees common to this climate predominating. Pines of 
small size wore found scattered over various sections, and 
tamaracks and black ash in the swamps, of which there are 
many acres in the northern and northwest sections ; also 
along the margins of Maple River. 

The Shiawassee and Maple Rivers arc the principal water- 

* By John S. Schenck. 



260 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



courses. Tlie foi-mer enters tlie surveyed township near 
the centre of tlie east border, or witliin the corporate limits 
of the city of Owosso, and thenco sweeping rapidly to the 
northwest, affording excellent water-power privileges in the 
latter city, passes on in a general northerly course, and 
finally leaves the township by crossing the north border of 
section 1. Maple Iliver, in its sluggish flow to the north- 
west, drains the southwest corner of the township, inter- 
secting sections 34, 33, 28, 29, 30, and 19. Numerous 
springs and wells, whose waters are strongly impregnated 
with iron, are found in various portions, and, as a whole, 
Owosso township may be considered well watered. 

Doubtless coal, in large quantities, underlies a large por- 
tion of its surface, mines having already been developed 
in the city of Owosso, also in the adjoining township of 
Caledonia, at Corunna. 

The people are chiefly engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits, the cereals, dairy products, and wool being the 
principal articles produced. 

ORIGINAL SURVEYS. 

The history of Owosso as a township began in the year 
1823, when deputy United States Surveyors John Mullett, 
Joseph Wampler, and William Brookfield, in pursuance 
of contracts, and acting under instructions from Edward 
TiSin, Surveyor-General of the United States, led their 
separate surveying-parties into these wilds and began the 
toilsome work of mapping out townships. 

Joseph Wampler ran out the township boundary-lines in 
the summer or early autumn of 1823, designating the 
territory thus surveyed township No. 7 north, of range 
No. 2 east, and on Saturday, November 8th of the same 
year, William Brookfield, with his party, began the work 
of subdivision. 

Mr. Brookfield commenced in the southeast corner, sec- 
tion 36, and thence continued north until the eastern tier 
of sections were completed. Returning to section 35, he 
again worked to the northward, and thus repeated his move- 
ments until his task of running the sectional lines was 
completed in the northwest corner on section 6, Sunday 
evening, November 23d. On Monday, the 24th, he began 
meandering the Shiawassee River, commencing on the 
north boundary-line of the township, and on the left or 
west bank of the river ; thence up the stream. Arriving 
at the eastern line of section 24, on the evening of the 
same day, he found that the hickory post set by Mr. Wam- 
pler on the left bank of the stream had been destroyed by 
the Indians. "For," he remarked, "it is where their trail 
crosses the river, and where they have encamped." On the 
succeeding day he crossed the right bank of the river, and 
moving down its course to the northern boundary of sec- 
tion 1, finally completed the original survey in all its 
details Wednesday, Nov. 26, 1823. 

In running the sectional lines, Mr. Brookfield supple- 
mented his work by entering upon his field-book remarks 
regarding the surface, soil, water-courses, swamps, kinds of 
timber growing, etc. As his opinions of Owo.sso township 
in 1823 will be of interest to those who occupy the terri- 
tory at the present time, — fifty-seven years later, — we here 
notice a few of them. In running east, between sections 



13 and 24, and after crossing the Shiawassee River, he 
found " plains or oak-openings. Land, first rate ; good soil, 
no large timber, — it was long ago burnt oft". Undergrowth, 
white and prickly ash, thorns and briers; all in abundance." 

Going north between sections 13 and 14, the land was 
good, no timber. East, between sections 12 and 13, he 
again crossed the Shiawassee, and found " good and princi- 
pally high land ; timber been burnt off, new growth of all 
kinds springing up ; some thorns, hazel, ash, poplar, and 
briers." On Monday, November 10th, in going north, 
between sections 11 and 12, he adds, "waded river seven 
times to-day." Between sections 26 and 27 was " an In- 
dian sugar- orchard, and land first rate." Another " fine 
Indian sugar-orchard" was found on the line between sec- 
tions 21 and 22. In running north between sections 2 and 
3, November 13th, he says, "Three miles from camp, and 
just dark. All black-ash swamp ; two miles of such tim- 
ber." On reaching the north boundary-line of the town- 
ship, between sections 3 and 4, he noted, " I could find a 
tamarack to bear to every second on the compass." 

In accounting for the variation of east and west lines, 
especially west of a north and south line drawn through 
the central part of the township, he said, after running 
east between sections 28 and 33, " The compass has been 
attracted in running this line." On the succeeding day, in 
going north, between sections 32 and 33, he adds, " Again 
to see if a mistake was not made in the distance of ten 
chains, and found none. Run the easting also, and found by 
running from the east boundary to the west, that we made 
the same southing that we made northing. So that there 
can be no doubt that regular attraction affected the needle. 
Lost one half-day in this to ascertain our corrections." 

Again, in running east between sections 16 and 21, he 
said, '' There is evidently attraction of mineral in this 
vicinity; in my northing I have been drawn three chains 
and seventy-five links, and in my easting three chains and 
sixty-four links." On the line between sections 9 and 16 
ho found a white oak " fifty links in circumference seven 
feet from the ground, sixty feet to the limbs. It is sound, 
and we judged it would make one thousand rails." 

Thirty-two, in his opinion, for soil and timber, was the 
best section in the township. Running north, between sec- 
tions 7 and 8, he found time to say, " Wretched swamp ! 
Ash, alder, tamarack." But the height of his wretched- 
ness was reached when running the line west, between sec- 
tions 6 and 7, for here he ejaculated, " Land miserable ; 
not fit even for wolves to inhabit." 

FIRST AND OTHER EARLY LAND-ENTRIES. 

The brothers Alfred L. and Benjamin 0. Williams en- 
tered the first land in the town.ship on section 24, being 
the northeast fractional quarter, and the southeast part of 
the northeast fractional quarter, Aug. 2, 1833. November 
13th following they purchased on section 13 the southeast 
part of the southeast fractional quarter, and the west part 
of the southeast fractional quarter. No other entries were 
made until the year 1835, when Trumbull Gary, William 
Rood, James Tillson, Kilburn Bedell, Lewis Findley, Elias 
Comstock, A. L. and B. 0. Williams, Abel Millington, 
and a few others bought land on various sections. 



OWOSSO TOWNSHIP. 



261 



Following, however, is a list of those who purchased 
from the general government lauds situated in this town- 
ship : 

SECTION I. 

Trumbull Cary, (Jeucsee Co., N. Y., October, 18;i5. 
AU'xanilcr MeFiirran, Wayne Co., Mich., January, ISIiO. 
Jonathan Kearsley, Wayne Co., Mich., February, ls;i(j. 
Van Dyke ami McCIure, Wayne Co., Mich., February, ISoO. 
Benjamin L. Breton, Wayne Co., Alich., March, ISoO. 

SECTION 2. 
WiMiaiu Rood, Montsomery Co., N. Y., October, 1S35. 
Cornelius Bergen, New York City, January, 1S."J6. 
Sylvauus P. Jormaiu, Albany, N. Y., April, 1836. 
George Dickinson, Franklin Co., Mass., June, 1836. 
B. Lovemau, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1855. 

SECTION 3. 
State of Michigan, November, 1842. 

SECTION 4. 
Ransom R. Bclding, Oakland Co., Mich., May, 1837. 

SECTION 5. 
John Comstock, Oakland Co., Mich., May, 1837. 
Joshua W. Waterman, Wayne Co., Mich., July, 1853. 
Martin Walron, Shiawivssee Co., Mich., 1854. 

SECTION 6. 
Sebra and Charles Howard, Wayne Co., ]\Iicli., April, 1854. 

SECTION 7. 
James K. Guernsey, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

SECTION 8. 
Ezra L. Mason, Monroe Co., N. T., December, 1836. 
Martin S. Norton, Monroe Co., N. Y., December, 1836. 
Raymond Barnum, Putnam Co., N. Y^., December, 1 836. 
Abijah B. Dunlap, Seneca Co., N. Y., December, 1836. 
Alexander W. Shaft, Shiawassee Co., Mich., October, 1851. 
Lucretia M. Gailford, Shiawassee Co., Mich., August, 1852. 
Joshua W. Waterman, Wayne Co., Mich., July, 1853. 
Albert B. Mason, Shiawassee Co., Mich., November, 1854. 

SECTION 9. 
Francis G. Maey, Eric Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
George Talbot, Monroe Co., N. Y., December, 1836. 
John McNiol, Boston, Mass., December, 18.'i6. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, January, 1837. 

SECTION 10. 
James K. Guernsey, Monroe Co., N. Y., Juno, 1836. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, January, 1837. 

SECTION 11. 
James Tillson, Wayne Co., Mich., December, 1835. 
Jarcd II. Randall, Niagara Co., N. Y., May, 1836. 
John F. Bli.<s, Genesee Co., N. Y., Jan. 8, 1836. 
George Dickinson, Franklin Co., Ma.s3., June, 1836. 

SECTION 12. 
Kilburn Bedell, Oakland Co., Mich., June, 1835. 
William Rood, Montgomery Co., N. Y., October, 1835. 
Trumbull Cary, Genesee Co., N. Y., October, 1S35. 
Lewis Fiudlcy, Wayne Co., Mieh., January, 1S36. 
Mathew Kcarsloy, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Henry Dwight, Ontario Co., N. Y., February, 1836. 

SECTION 13. 
Benjamin 0. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 13, 183.3. 
A. L. and B. 0. Williams. Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 13, 1833. 
Lewis Findley, Oakland Co., Mich., Juno 6, 1835. 
Elina Comstoek, Oakland Co., Mich.. June 18, 1835. 
Lewis Findley, Oakland Co., Mich., June 20, 1835. 



A. L. and B. 0. Williams, Shiawassee Co., Mich., July, 1835. 
Abel Millington, Washtenaw Co., Mich., October, 1835. 
Trumbull Cary, (Jeucsee Co., N. Y., November, 1835. 

SECTION 14. 
Trumbull Cary, Genesee Co., N. Y., October, 1835. 
Abel Millington, Washtenaw Co., Mieh., October, 1835. 
Atla E. Mather, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Joseph Pitcairn, New York City, February, 1836. 
Mary Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., March, 1836. 
Daniel D. Waggoner, Easton, Pa., June, 1836. 

SECTION 15. 
Mary Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., March, 1836. 
.John F. Bliss, (lenesce Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Uonry Miller, Saratoga Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
George Dickin.'^on, Frnnklin Co., Mass., June, 1836. 
Samuel L. Scott, Saratoga Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

SECTION 16. 

School lands. 

SECTION 17. 
Gideon Leo, Now York City, May, 1836. 
John F. Bliss, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Henry Miller, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Juno, 1836. 
James K. Guernsey, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

SECTION 18. 
Dudley F. Scott, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Juno, 1836. 
Henry Miller, Saratoga Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
James K. Pulling, Saratoga Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Ebenezer Conklin, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Dudley F. Scott, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Juno, 1836. 

SECTION 19. 
Gideon Lee, Now York City, May, 1836. 
Ebenezer Conklin, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Josiah B. Park, Shiawassee Co., Mich., April, 1854. 
Cary and Kimberley, Shiawassee Co., Mich., April, 1854. 

SECTION 20. 
John F. Bliss, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
George Dickinson, Franklin Co., Mass., June, 1836. 
Oliver Atherton, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Lcdyard Frink, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
John MoNiel, Boston, Mass., December, 1836. 

SECTION 21. 
Jacob Wilkinson, Shiawassee Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
Reuben Griggs, Oakland Co., Mich., Juno, 1836. 
John F. Bliss, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Aug. F. Rose, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Gideon Cobb, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Ira Washburn, Monroe Co., N. Y., Juno, 1836. 
Samuol S. Scott, Saratoga Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

SECTION 22. 
Atla E. Mather, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, May, 1836. 
Abraham T. Wilkinson, Oakland Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
David D. Wagoner, Easton, Pa., June, 1836. 

SECTION 23. 
Trumbull Cary, Genesee Co., N. Y., October, 1835. 
James G. Crane, Wayne Co., Mich., January, 1S36. 
Johnson Nilcs, Oakland Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Atla E. Mather, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1836. 
Reuben Griggs, Oakland Co., Mich., Juno, 1836. 
George Dickinson, Franklin Co., Mass., June, 1836. 

SECTION 24. 
A. L. and B. 0. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., Aug. 2, 1833. 
Elias Comstock, Oakl.and Co., Mich., June 18, 1835. 
Peter A. Coudcry, New York City, October, 1835. 
E. Comstock and Sclh Beach, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 



262 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Henry Dwight, Ontario Co., N. Y., February, 183B. 
Silas and Daniel Ball, Monroe Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 

SECTION 25. 
Joseph Pitcairn, New York City, February, 1836. 

Silas and Baniel Ball, Monroe Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 

SECTION 26. 
Marcus Culver, Oakland Co., Mich., March, 1836. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, April, 1836. 
Newbold Lawrence, New York City, May, 1836. 
A. L. and B. 0. Williams, Shiawassee Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
Harriet L. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., June, 1836. 
Catherine Brown, Shiawassee Co., Mich., September, 1836. 
Ira Merell, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1851. 
William Ingersol!, Shiawassee Co., Mich., October, 1851. 

SECTION 27. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, April, 1836. 
David P. Bunnell, Washington Co., N. Y., June, 183B. 
Kalph R. Smith, Genesee Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Davi.l D. Scott, Seneca Co., N. Y., Juuo, 1836. 

SECTION 28. 
Damiel Scott, Seneca Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

James M. , Ontario Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Beebe Truesdoll, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

Abraham F. McCarthy, Shiawassee Co., Mich., April, 1854. 

SECTION 29. 
Abigail Dewey, Oakland Co., Mich., December, 1835. 
Hamlet Harris, Oakland Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, April, 1836. 
Aaron B. Patterson, Monroe Co., N. Y., July, 1838. 
Lucius G. Hammond, Shiawassee Co., Mich., July, iSlO. 
George Galloway, Shiawassee Co., Mich., September, 1842. 

SECTION 30. 
George W. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., January, 1836. 
Gideon Leo, New York City, April, 1836. 
Daniel Hand, Augusta, Ga., April, 1836. 
Calvin Wiokham, Oakland Co., Mich., October, 1836. 
Ezra P. Blackman, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1836. 
Chauncey F. Shepherd, Shiawassee Co., Mich., March, 1836. 
James Aitkin, Genesee Co., N. Y., October, 1854. 

SECTION 31. 
Gideon Lee, New York City (whole section), December, 1836. 

SECTION 32. 
Abijah Dewey, Oakland Co., Mich., December, 1835. 
Hamlet Harris, Oaklaml Co., Mich., April, 1836. 
Gideon Lee, New York City, April, 1836. 
James B. Hunt, Oakland Co., Mich., June, 1836. 

SECTION 33. 
Apollos Dewey, Jr., Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
Abijah* Dewey, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
Abner Davis, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
Charles C. Hascall, Oakland Co., Mich., November, 1835. 
William Garrison, Oakland Co., Mich., June, 1836. 

SECTION 34. 
Lemuel Castle, Oakland Co., Mich., December, 1835. 
Hiram A. Caswell, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
William S. Brown, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Beebe Truesdell, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
Herman K. Ilowlett, Monroe Co., N. Y., July, 1836. 
George W. Williams, Oakland Co., Mich., March, 1837. 

SECTION 35. 
Newbold Lawrence, New York City, May, 1836. 
William I. Hanford, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

* Perhaps Abigail. 



John Hagaman, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 
E.and B. Fisher, Monroe Co., N. Y., June, 1836. 

SECTION 36. 
Benjamin F. Lamed, Wayne Co., Mich., March, 1836. 
Silas and Daniel Ball, Monroe Co., N. Y., March, 1836. 
Newbold Lawrence, New York City, May, 1836. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

The first settlement in the township of Owosso, outside 
of the village, was made by Reuben Griggs and Abram T. 
Wilkinson, in June, 1836. They were brothers-in-law, 
and came from Henderson, Jefferson Co., N. Y. Mr. 
Griggs' family consisted of himself, wife, and three children, 
named Ezra, Lucelia, and Lucretia, an adopted daughter. 
Mr. Wilkinson's, of himself, wife, and children, — Annette 
and Alfred. These families traveled with their own con- 
veyance from Henderson to Oswego. At the latter place 
the horses and wagon were sold, and the remainder of the 
journey to Detroit was accomplished via the Erie Canal 
and Lake Erie. They then hired a conveyance to take 
them to Novi, in Oakland County, where they remained 
about one week, meantime purchasing from the general 
government the lands in Owosso township upon which they 
finally settled. 

From Novi another man was hired to bring them here, 
and iu traveling to their wilderness homes they cut out the 
first road leading west from the present city of Owosso. 
In July, 1836, Mr. Griggs hired an ox-team and returned 
to Detroit for the purpose of bringing out his household 
goods. The trip consumed one week's time. Both fami- 
lies occupied the same building the first winter, and at 
that time their nearest neighbors to the westward were the 
people composing the " Rochester Colony," sixteen miles 
distant. During that winter Mr, Griggs hired another ox- 
team and traveled sixty miles in going to and returning 
from mill. Mr. Wilkinson died about sixteen years ago. 
Deacon Griggs still resides upon the land he first began 
improving in 1836. 

Apollos Dewey, a native of Vermont, seems to have 
been the next settler in the rural part of Owosso township. 
He removed from Chili, Monroe Co., N. Y., to Bloomfield, 
Oakland Co., Mich., iu 1821, thus becoming one of the 
earliest settlers in what was then termed the interior of 
Michigan Territory. He purchased lands situated in the 
southwest part of this township iu 1835, but did not settle 
here until the spring of 1839. He soon became one of 
the most prominent and successful farmers iu Owosso. 
Not given to ofiioe-holding, he, however, served as an early 
justice of the peace and in various other positions accept- 
ably. 

His son, Thomas D. Dewey, now one of the most prom- 
inent and active citizens in the city of Owosso, was born iu 
Oakland County in 1823. He began his business career in 
1841, by engaging as a salesman in the store of Charles L. 
Goodhue, where he remained some five years. In 18-46, with 
John L. Goodhue as a partner, he began merchandising in 
the village of Owosso. This copartnership was dissolved 
by the death of Mr. Goodhue. In 1850 he started his 
present extensive milling interests in connection with John 
Stewart. The firm has been very successful. Besides 



OWOSSO TOWNSHIP. 



263 



their flouring and other mills, farming is carried on on a 
large scale, and they are also extensively engaged in breed- 
ing fine horses. Mr. Thomas D. Dewey has filled many 
positions in the gift of the people. (See list of township 
city, and county officers.) 

Ezra L. Ma.son, a native of Rochester, N. Y ., aecom- 
panied by his wife and two daughters, his brother, Albert 
B., and the latter's wife, arrived in Owosso in September, 
1839, settling upon lands on section 8 which had been 
purchased by him in December, 1836. He was the first 
settler in all the northwest quarter of the township, and 
does not remember that any families other than those 
already mentioned, viz., Messrs. Griggs, Wilkin.son, and 
Dewey, preceded him in the township proper. The broth- 
ers built a cabin of small poles, such as two men could 
handle, and this was occupied by Kzra L. for two years. 
A good substantial log house succeeded it, which in turn 
gave place to a commodious frame dwelling in 1854. An 
early frame barn was built by him in 1847, and possibly 
his .son Kzra, who.se' birth occurred Nov. U, 1839, was the 
first child born — outside the village — in the township. 

Mr. Mason was an experienced surveyor and performed 
much work of that character in the early days. He is now 
a resident of the city of Owosso, and relates that in 1839 
he paid thirty-two dollars to have a load of household 
goods hauled from Detroit to his home in Owosso. Conse- 
quently a barrel of salt worth two dollars in Detroit cost 
him eight dollars when delivered. Here, as elsewhere in 
the wilds of Michigan, bears were very troublesome, and 
if the many encounters had with them by the Mason broth- 
ers, Billy Scott, Calvin Hunt, and William Badgerow could 
be fully described, they would form a most amusing chapter. 

Samuel Shepard, from Monroe Co., N. Y., settled upon 
the premises now owned by his son, Francis M., in the fall 
of 1840, and among other settlers of that year were Francis 
Mittleberger, a tailor, upon section 28, Waterman Perkins, 
upon section 32, andperhaps otiiers. However, settlements 
were not made very rapidly, for we find that in 1844 those 
named as resident tax-payers in the present township were 
the following : 

AcreB. 

William Berry,* section I 80 

Williiiiu Badgerow, sections 14, 15 240 

James Boguc, section 25 25 

Aiiollos Dewey, sections 32, 33 4UII 

John W. Dewey, sections 29, 32 240 

Lewis Findley, section l.'i 160 

lleubon Griggs, sections 21, 2.'S 240 

William B. Hopkins, section 11 240 

Abel Lamunion, secti<in 21 SO 

Francis Mittleberger, section 28 160 

Ezra L. Mason, sections S, 17 255 

Albert B. Mason, section 8 40 

Waterman Perkins, section .'i2 80 

Sauniel Shepard, sections 17, 20 160 

Lewis Simpson, section 10 3H3 

\ Charles Stimpson, sections 14, 2li 160 

1^ Ira Stimpsou, personal 

Abraiii T. Wilkinson, section 22 160 

Samuel Wilkinson, section 28 80 

Uorton Warren, sections 28, 20 200 

Bushrod Warren, section 28 SO 

Henry Hunt 

William Jackson 

»^ Charles Stimpson 

The total tax levied on the town.ship and village during 
the same year was one thousand and twenty-one dollars and 

* The first colored man to reside in the township. 



thirty-nine cents, and the aggregate valuation of real and 
personal estate, including resident and non-resident lands, 
was forty-nine thousand four hundred and seventy-one 
dollars and twenty cents. 

In 1850, Bradford Bradley, Nathaniel Powell, Elisha 
B. Halstead, Frank McCarty, Franklin P. Guilford, Henry 
Crooks, Malcolm D. Bailey, Chas. Parker, Samuel Wheaton, 
Edward Wood, Henry Ackerman, Isaac Secord, Ezekiel 
Salisbury, and William M. Norris were additional residents. 
At this time, with the village, Owosso township contained 
but seventy-six dwelling-houses and three hundred and 
ninety-two inhabitants. 

In 1860, with that portion of the surveyed township 
now embraced within the corporate limits of the city of 
Owosso taken out, it had one hundred and twenty dwellings 
and five hundred and seventy-three inhabitants. Accord- 
ing to the last State enumeration (1874) it then had one 
thousand and fifty inhabitants. With three hundred and 
fifty voters, it has a present population of about seventeen 
hundred. 

The greater portion of the township was held as non- 
resident lands until within a period quite recent. This 
retarded population and improvements to such a degree tliat 
it is still comparatively a new township, susceptible of great 
changes for the better. 

Owosso, as village and city, having always been the chief 
trading-point for its inhabitants, the place where were es- 
tablished the first schools, stores, mills, post-office, etc., no 
other commercial centre has ever been attempted within its 
confines. Mungerville, a station on the line of the Detroit 
and Milwaukee Railroad, is situated near the west border of 
the township. Here was formed a Protestant Methodist 
church in March, 1880, of which, by the articles of incor- 
poration, Elihu VV. Mason, George T. Mason, Myron Big- 
nail, William Wright, and Nelson Ackerman were named 
as trustees. For much else of interest regarding the past 
history of Owosso township, the reader is referred to the 
history of Owosso City. 

CIVIL AND POLITICAL. 

By an act of the Stale Legislature, approved March 11, 
1837, the township of Owosso was formed from Shiavvas.see, 
and included the northern half of the present county of 
Shiawas.see. Section 8 of said act reads as follows : 

" All that portion of the county of Shiawassee known 
as townships seven and eight north, of ranges immbor one, 
two, three, and four east, be and the same is hereby set off 
and organized into a separate township by tlie name of 
Owosso; and the first township-meeting therein shall be 
held at the house of Daniel Ball in said township." 

Pursuant to the foregoing act the electors of the town- 
ship as.stuubled at the hou.sef of Daniel Ball, in the village 
of Owosso, on Monday, May 1, 1837, and organized by 
choosing Joel North moderator and Samuel N. Warren 
clerk, who, together with Elias Comstock, a justice of the 

f The township elcotion of \S3S was hold at Williams Bros, store; 
in 18.i«, at the office of Ball, Oreen A Co.; in 1840, at (Jould, Fish >t 
Co.'s store; and in 1841, at the school-house. 



264 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



peace, constituted the inspectors of the election. After 
these officers had taken the required oath, on motion the 
meeting was adjourned to the store of Daniel Ball, where 
balloting commenced. At its close, and after the canvass 
had been completed, the following officers were declared 
elected : Lewis Fiudley, Supervisor ; Alfred L. Williams, 
Township Clerk ; Daniel Ball, Samuel N. Warren, Abram T. 
Wilkinson, Assessors ; John B. Griswold, Henry S. Smith, 
Jehial Dunning, Highway Commissioners ; Daniel Ball, 
Elias Comstock, Alfred L. Williams, John Davids, Justices 
of the Peace ; Elias Comstock, Alfred L. Williams, Samuel 
N. Warren, School Inspectors ; Henry S. Smith, Jehial 
Dunning, Abram T. Wilkinson, Constables ; Henry S. 
Smith, Samuel Wilkinson, Lewis Findley, Poormasters. 

At the close of this meeting it was " Resolved, That 
the next annual township-meeting be held at the school- 
house in the village of Owosso, if there should be one at 
that time ; if not, then at the house of Daniel Ball, in said 
village." 

The highway commLssionors at their first mooting divided 
the township into two road districts, described as follows : 
" The Second District shall comprise all the land lying 
south of the River Shiawassee, and east of a north and 
south line drawn between sections nineteen and twenty, 
twenty-nine and thirty, and thirty-one and thirty-two in 
township number seven north, of range number three east. 
The First District shall include all the remaining lands of 
the township." 

Caledonia and Middlebury were formed as separate town- 
ships, in 1839; New Haven, in 1841; Venice, in 1843; 
Rush and Hazelton, in 1850 ; and Fairfield, in 1854 ; and 
all comprise territory which belonged to the old township of 
Owosso during the years 1837-38. 

In 1859 .sections 13 and 24, and the east half of sections 
14 and 23, were set ofi" and placed within the corporate 
limits of the city of Owosso. 

The following is a tabulated statement of the supervisors, 
township clerks, treasurers, highway commissioners, and 
justices of the peace elected* annually for the years from 
1838 to 1880 inclusive: 





Supomsoi-a. 


Township Clerks. 


Treasiirei-s. 


183S. 


Elias Comstock. 


Ebenezer Gould. 




1839. 


tt ft 


Sanford M. Green. 


Elias Comstock. 


1840. 


(t it 


David D. Fisli. 


it It 


1841. 


Lewis Fiudloy. 


it tt 


Austin Griffls. 


1842. 


Sanford M.(ireen.-| 


Daniel Gould. 


George Parkill. 


1843. 


Alfred L. ^yiIIiams. 


David D. Fish. 


Daniel McGilvra. 


1844. 


it tt 


Charles V. I'arkill. 


tt ti 


1846. 


Amos (Jould. 


" 


tt it 


1846. 


tt tt 


Thomas D, Dewey. 


Erastiis Barnes. 


1847. 


tt tt 


tt ti 


RIathew N.Tillotson 


1848. 


tt it 


it it 


tt tt 


1849. 


•' " 


Anson li. Chijiman. 


Dwight Diinniick. 


1.S50. 


it it 


Isaac M. Chipman. 


Lucius G. Hammond 


1851. 


" " 


Charles' L. Goodhue. 


Erastus Barnes. 


1852. 


Daniel Lyon. 


Anson M. Chipman. 


William A. Carr. 


1853. 


« « 


Joseph Hedges. 


tt it 


1854. 


David IngersoU. 


tt tt 


ti It 


1855. 


Alfred L. Williams. 


Jay L. Quackenbush 


David Gould. 



* All resignations, vacancies, and appointments arc not shown. 
t Resigned; A. L. Williams elected in Novemlior, 1812, lo fill va- 
cancy. 





Supervisors. 


Township Clerks. Treasurers. 


1856. 


Alfred L. Williams. 


Jay 


J. Quackenbush. Whitney A. Tillotson 


1857. 


A. B. Chipman. 


Randolph L. Stewart. Charles M. Moses. 


1858. 


it (1 


Jay 


L. Quackenbush. Daniel Lyon. 


1859. 


Ezra L. Mason. 


Gilbert G. Doano. George L. Hall. 


1860. 


tt it 


Will 


am H. C. Hall. 


1861. 


a it 


" 


*( it it 


1862. 


it a 


I. W 


. Burke. W. Love. 


1863. 


it tt 


it 


« .. 


1864. 


it tt 


Fran 


3is M. Waldron. " " 


1865. 


tt it 


n 


a <t i( 


1866. 


it it 


0. F. 


Wilkinson. George L. Hall. 


1867. 


Ira W. Rush. 


U. C 


McCarthy. John S. Gates. 


1868. 


it tt 


" 


n tt tt 


1869. 


tt it 


" 


G. W. Chase. 


1870. 


Ezra Mason. 


G.G 


Doane. T. M. Templeton. 


1871. 


it it 


" 


" 


1S72. 


tt it 


Wm. 


1'. Steadman. Elihu W. Miison. 


1873. 


It ' it 


it 


tt 


1874. 


Loren Hopkins. 


George T. Mason. Moses Mix. 


1875. 


Ezra Mason. 


" 


" .\ndrew Love. 


1870. 


tt 


" 


1. (( tt 


1877. 


it it 


Earl S. Hall. George T. Mason. 


1878. 


it it 


" 


ti tt it 


1879. 


it it 


it 


** Andrew Love. 


1880. 


Elihu W. Mason. 


P. M 


. Shepard. " " 




JUSTICES 


OF THE PEACE. 


1838. 


Elias Comstock. 




1859. Isaac G. Culver. 


1839. 


Daniel Gould. 




Harrison H. Carson. 




Apollos Dewey. 




1860. John S. Chase. 


1840. 


ApoUos Dewey. 




1861. Francis M. Waldron. 


1841. 


Sauford M. Green, 




Daniel Brooks. 


1842. 


Apollos Dewey. 




1862. Sidney S. Morse. 




Ezra L. Mason. 




Philander Munger. 




Ebenezer Gould. 




1803. Philander Monger. 


1843. 


Anson B. Chipman. 


1 864. Ira W. Rush. 




Benjamin 0. Williams. 


Lewis E. Rice. 


IS44. 


Ileubea Griggs. 




1865. No record. 


1845. 


Elias Comstock. 




1866. Thomas J. Jones. 


1846. 


Charles M. Moses. 




1867. T. M. Templeton. 


1847. 


Anson B. Chipmar 


. 


1868. D. S. Munger. 


1848. 


Samuel Shepard. 




1869. Gilbert G. Doane. 


1849. 


Ira Mcrell. 




1870-71. Erastus B. Knapp. 


1850. 


Mathew N. Tillotsun. 


1872. William B. Launstein. 


1S51. 


Jo^'eph Hedges. 




1873. Orlando F. Wilkinson. 




Thoma.s D. Dewey. 




1874. Erastus B. Knapp. 


1852 


Josiah B. Parks. 




1875. Ira W. Rush. 


1803. 


David IngersoU. 




1876. John W. Dewey. 


1854. 


Daniel Lyon. 




1877. Orlando F. Wilkinson. 


1855. 


Anson B. Chipmar 


. 


1878. Erastus B. Knapp. 


1850. 


Josiah B. Parks. 




Fr.ank P. Guilford. 


1857. 


John F. Miller. 




Isaac W. Burke. 




Ezra L. Mason. 




1879. Charles AV. W.adsworth. 


1858. 


John B. Van Doreu. 


ISSII. William Price. 


1859. 


Chauncey F. Shep 


ard. 






nraiiwAY 


COMMISSIONERS. . 


1838 


Daniel Gould. 




1844. Ira Stimpson. 




John B. Griswold. 




1845. Henry Rush. 




Henry S. Smith, 




Lewis Simpson. 


1839 


Austin Griffis. 




Apollos Dewey. 


1840 


Aj)ollos Dewey. 




1840. David F. Tyler. 




Benjamin 0. Williams. 


Henry Rush. 




Leonard F. Kiugsley. 


Benjamin 0. Williams. 


1841 


Apollos Dewey. 




1847. Ezra L. Mason. 




Benjamin 0. Williams. 


William B. Hopkins. 




Avery Thomas. 




Daniel Gould. 


1842 


Charles M. Moses. 




1848. Apollos Dewey. 


1843 


Sprague Perkins. 




Austin Griffis. 




Avery Thomas. 




Ezra L. Mason. 




Ezra L. Ma.son. 




1849. Robert Ireland. 


1844 


Sprague Perkins. 




Ezra L. Mason. 




Henry Rush. 




1850. Joseph Whitlock. 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



itiD 



1851. William II. Kejtes. 1S62. John Wiley. 
Winfield S. Ament. Edward C Brewer. 

1852. L. Mason. 1S6.3. John Wiley. 
Samuel Shepard. 1864. Ira AV. Kush. 

185.3. Thomas D. Dewey. 1865. No record. 

1S54. William H. Keytes. 1866. W. Davis. 

Horton Warren. 1867. F. M. Shepard. 

1855. Josiah B. Parks. 1868. H. II. Carson. 
IraMerell. 1869. Frank P. (Suilford. 

1856. Anson B. Chipmnn. 1870. John II. McCall. 

1857. William H. Keytes. 1871. T. M. Templeton. 
Gilbert (i. Doane. 1872. Ira \V. Rush. 

1858. M. W. Quackenbush. 1873. John II. McCall. 

1859. John S. Gales. 1874. Erastus B. Knapp. 
Franklin P. Guilford. 1875. William P. Steadman. 
Daniel Brooks. 1876. William J. Lewis. 

1860. Joseph I. Newman. 1877. William B. Launstein. 

1861. William C. Van Doren. 1878-80. John W. Dewey. 

1862. Earl S. Hall. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

For matters pertaining to the first school in the township 
in district No. 1, see history of city. School district No. 
2, the Griggs and Wilkinson neigliborhood, was organizi'd 
in 1843. From the fact that the early school inspectors' 
reports have not been preserved, and the failure of those 
living to remember, we cannot determine who taught the 
first school in the latter district. It seems that but two 
districts — 1 and 2 — had an active state of existence for 
ten or twelve yeare after the organization of tlie township. 
Since 1850 other districts have been formed, and the 
boundaries of all contracted or enlarged at various times. 
It is impossible to follow or describe their history. 

Among the early teachers mentioned as receiving cer- 
tificates were Charles P. Parkiil, May 4, 1844 ; Drusilla 
Cook, in 1847; Sarah Pratt and Drusilla Cook, 1848; J. 
W. C. Blades, F]uphrasia Parkiil, Clarissa Ingersoll, Sylvia 
Guilford, 1849 ; Amanda Guilford, Lucretia Griggs, 18.50 ; 
and Uretta Chase, Annette Wilkinson, C. F. Shepard, Miss 
R. Cook, in 1851. 

A summary from the school inspectors' report for the 
year ending Sept. 1, 1879, shows as follows: 

Number of districts (whole, 3 ; fractional, 3) 6 

" children of school age residing in the 

tc)wn.<bip 295 

** children .attending school during the 

year 256 

" frame school-houses fi 

Value of school ])roperty $4150 

Number of male to;ichers employed 3 

" female '• " 8 

Paid male teachers .$245 

" female " .?578.75 

Moneys received from all sourccsduring the year $1218.50 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
PERRY TOWNSHIP.* 

Ivocalinn, Boundaries, and Early Settlement — Township Orgnnizntion 
and List of Officers — .Schools of Perry — Old Perry Centre — Village 
of Morrice — Village of Perry. 

The township of Perry, designated in the United States 
survey as town 5 north, of range 2 west, is situated on the 
south border of Shiawassee County, and bounded on the 



* By G. A. McAl|>ine. 



we.st, north, and east respectively by the townships of 
Woodhull, Bennington, and Antrim. 

The first settlement in this township was made by Josiah 
Purdy in the fall of 1836, upon land which had been en- 
tered for him by a Sir. Howe, and described as the west 
half of the northwest quarter of section 13, and the west 
half of the southwest quarter of section 12. Upon the 
northern half of this land now stands the village of Morrice. 
While Mr. Purdy was building a cabin he left his family at 
the house of Alanson Ailing, in Antrim. The rude dwel- 
ling which he soon completed, and to which he soon after 
brought them, was the first built by a white man in the 
township of Perry. It stood just east of the school-hou.se 
now in the village of Morrice. An Indian trail, which to 
all appearances had been used for ages (for in places it was 
worn nearly a foot deep), passed near the door, and over it 
at times, in their peculiar single file, long lines of Indians 
would pass. They were at first totally oblivious to the 
presence of their new neighbors, but gradually became 
acquainted, and before leaving the township became very 
friendly. They would sometimes stop during a storm, or 
spend the night with him. At such times they would sleep 
on the floor of the little front room, which was often covered 
with them. Without a word of explanation they would 
sometimes go away, leaving their guns standing in one 
corner of the room, and be absent several weeks in succes- 
sion. As Mr. Purdy never touched them, or allowed any 
one to interfere with them, he gained the entire confidence of 
the Indians. In the spring of 1837, Mr. Purdy plowed a 
small piece of ground for a garden, and although in the 
mean time several other settlers had located in Perry, this, 
it is thought, was the first land plowed in the township. 
Mr. Purdy died in 1868. Mrs. Diantha Purdy, his wife, 
died in 1806. The son, who came with them to Perry, is 
living on the south part of the farm which his father en- 
tered. 

During the spring referred to many new settlers made 
their appearance, — some to buj' land and remain, but most 
of them soon became discouraged and returned to the older 
settlements. Among tho.se who remained were Horace 
Green and Joseph Roberts. The latter was a physician, 
the first in the township. They built a house and lived 
under the .same roof for three years. Mr. Green entered 
the southwest quarter of section 15. lie brought a wife 
and six children, some of whom still remain in the town- 
ship. He and his wife are now living in Kent Co., Mich. 

George Reed, Jesse Whitford, William Lemon, and Wil- 
liam Morrice came to Perry about the same time. Mr. 
Reed, who was a native of England, located one hundred 
and sixty acres on section 8, and with his wife remained in 
Perry until his death, which occurred a few years since. 

Jesse Whitford came to Perry in the latter part of 1837, 
and located the west half of the northwest quarter of sec- 
tion 3. He had a wife and five children. His daughter 
Minerva, born in 1838, is supposed to have been the first 
white child born in the township. William Lemon also 
came in 1837, and located the southwest quarter of section 
1. The next summer (1838) he married in Washtenaw 
County, and did not remain long afterwards in Perry. 

In March, 1837, William Morrice, from Aberdeenshire, 



34 



266 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Scotland, located with liis family on tlie southeast quarter 
of section 2. Ills biothers, John, George, and Alexander, 
came to the township the next year. George located the 
southwest quarter of section 2. Part of this land had been 
entered by a Mr. Patten. John Morrice located the east half 
of the northeast quarter of section 2. He died in 1848. 
Alexander did not remain in Perry, but went to Ionia 
County. The village of Morrice took its name from this 
family, a number of the members of which are still living 
in the vicinity. William Morrice died in 1873. His wife 
is yet living. 

Phineas Austin came to Perry in 1837, having previously 
entered the land on section 4, where his son now lives. 

Lyman Bennett settled on the northeast quarter of sec- 
tion 5. Levi Harmon, also one of the early settlers of 
Perr}', located on the south part of section 25. His daugh- 
ter Polly was married to Lewis Ward (whose fiiiher was 
a pioneer of Antrim) in September, 1831). This is said 
to have been the first marriage in the township. Ebenezer 
Turner came to Perry in 1837, and bought part of the 
northwest quarter of section 2. 

In 1839, John P. Shaft located three hundred and twenty 
acres of sections 19 and 29. The village of Shaftsburg, 
in Woodhull township, is situated upon land which he sub- 
sequently purchased in that township. 

In the following year John Spaulding, from New York, 
purchased a part of section 19 ; after building a house he 
returned to New York and married. He then came back 
to Perry. At the first town-meeting in this township Mr. 
Spaulding was elected assessor and justice of the peace. 

TOWNSHIP OKGANIZATION AND LIST OF 
OFFICEKS. 

An act of the Legislature of Michigan, approved March 
15, 1841, set off survey-township 6 north, of range 2 east, 
i'rom the territory of the township of Bennington, and 
erected the same into the separate civil township of Perry, 
with the provision that the first township-meeting be held 
at the house of Joseph P. Iloberts. 

In accordance with the last-named provision of the act, 
the electors of the township met at the place designated on 
the 15th of April, 1841, and organized the meeting by 
choice of Joseph P. Roberts as moderator, and Lyman 
Bennett as clerk for the day. " A coffee-pot and an old tea- 
kettle" were used as ballot boxes, and with these the elec- 
tion proceeded. The names of the township officers elected 
at that first meeting, as well as those who have been elected 
in subsequent years to the present time, are given in the 
following list, viz. : 

1841. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, J. P. Roberts; 
Treasurer, Lyman Bennett ; Assessors, John 
Spaulding, J. P. Roberts, Winfield S. Ament; 
School Inspectors, B. B. Brigham, J. P. Rob- 
erts, Lyman Bennett ; Highway Commissioners, 
Levi Harmon, J. P. Roberts, Lyman Bennett; 
Justices, J. P. Roberts, Levi Harmon, W. S. 
Anient, John Spaulding ; Collector, Horace 
Green ; Directors of the Poor, William P. Ste- 
vens, Josiah Purdy ; Constables, John P. Shaft, 
William Harmon, Horace Green, James Nichols. 



1842. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett ; Clerk, W. S. Anient; 
Treasurer, Levi Harmon ; Assessors, John 
Spaulding, James Cummin ; School Inspectors, 
J. P. Roberts, W. S. Ament, B. B. Brigham ; 
Directors of the Poor, W. F. Stevens, Phineas 
Austin ; Highway Commissioners, J. P. Shaft, 
William Harmon, Lyman Bennett; Justice, 
Orson S. Barker; Constables, J. P. Shaft, Wil- 
liam Harmon, Horace Green, James Nichols. 

1843. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, James Cum- 
min ; Treasurer, Levi Harmon ; Justices, John 
Spaulding, Phineas Austin ; Asscsssor, John 
Spaulding; Highway Commissioners, John 
Spaulding, Lyman Bennett ; School Inspectors, 
B. B. Brigham, James Cummin ; Directors of 
the Poor, Phineas Austin, Levi Harmon ; Con- 
stables, John P. Shaft, W. Harmon, James 
Nichols, John Whaley. 

1844. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, James Cum- 
min ; Treasurer, Levi Harmon ; Justice, Lyman 
Bennett; School Inspector, James H. Mills; 
Highway Commissioners, W. W. Dcnio, Lyman 
Bennett, John P. Shaft; Con.stablcs, W. W. 
Denio, J. P. Shaft, Horace Green. 

1845. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, James Cum- 
min ; Treasurer, Levi Harmon ; Justice, Jos. 
P. Roberts; Highway Commissioners, Levi 
Harmon, John Morrice, I'hineas Austin ; 
School Inspectors, Lyman Bennett, Oilman 
Warren ; Constables, Alanson Stevens, James 
Nichols, John P. Shaft, James Cummin ; Di- 
rectors of the Poor, Phineas Austin, W. F. 
Stevens. 

1846. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, John Spauld- 
ing; Treasurer, W. Holmes; Justices, James H. 
Mills, Charles Locke, William Morrice; School 
Inspector, James H. Mills; Highway Commis- 
sioners, Lyman Bennett, Joseph Macomber; 
Constables, E. Whaley, William Alsaver, An- 
drew Turner, Lewis Ward. 

1847. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, Norman Green ; 
Treasurer. P. Austin ; School Inspector, Lyman 
Bennett; Highway Commissioners, John 0. 
Hinkley, William Morrice ; Directors of the 
Poor, Phineas Austin, Levi Harmon ; Justice, 
Charles Locke; Constables, Andrew Turner, 
Johnson Treadway. 

1848. — Supervisor, Lyman Bennett; Clerk, Norman Green ; 
Treasurer, P. Austin ; Justices, John Dunning, 
Lyman Bennett; School Inspectors, James Mills, 
L. M. Stevens ; Highway Commissionei-s, John 
Spaulding, Levi Harmon ; Constables, Alanson 
Stevens, Joseph Macomber ; Directors of the 
Poor, Charles Locke, William Morrice. 

1849. — Supervisor, James Cummin ; Clerk, Norman Green; 
Treasurer, Charles Locke ; School Inspector, Wil- 
liam Wallace ; Justices, William Morrice, Ben- 
jamin Walker, Albert W. Rann, John Dunning ; 
Highway Commissioners, William Morrice, Phin- 
eas Austin ; Assessors, Charles Locke, Phineas 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



267 



Austin ; Constables, M. Stevens, Orin Bkincliard, 
James Nichols. 

1850. — Supervisor, James Cummin; Clerk, Norman 
Green ; Treasurer, Charles Locke ; School In- 
spectors, M. L Stevens, W. P. Laing; Highway 
Commissioners, W. W. Clement, Levi Harmon ; 
Justices, A. W. Raun, John Dunning ; Con- 
stables, Andrew Turner, Joseph Macomber, 
Johnson Treadway, M. L. Stevens ; Director of 
the Poor, Levi Harmon. 

1851. — Supervisor, John Spaulding; Clerk, Norman Green ; 
Treasurer, Levi Harmon ; Highway Commis- 
sioners, Charles Locke, William Holmes ; Jus- 
tices, Charles Locke, John Dunning ; Constables, 
W. P. Laing, Joseph Macomber, Johnson Tread- 
way, Alanson Stevens ; School Inspectors, Wil- 
liam Wallace, Gillman Warren ; Directors of the 
Poor, Horace Green, John Dunning. 

1852. — Supervisor, John Spaulding; Clerk, Norman Green ; 
Treasurer, W. P. Laing ; Justice, Benjamin 
Walker ; Highway Commissioners, Merrick 
Walker, Oscar Green ; School Inspector, Wil- 
liam Wallace ; Constables, Ira Turner, Joseph 
Macomber ; Directors of the Poor, William 
Tryon, William Morrice. 

1853. — Supervisor, John Spaulding; Clerk, Henry Bridger ; 
Treasurer, Artemas Howard ; Highway Com- 
missioners, Orin Blanchard, John Dunning; 
Justice, Alanson B. Stevens ; School Inspectors, 
Gillman Warren, James H. Mills ; Constables, 
Ira Turner, James Bridger, James H. Mills, W. 
H. Tryon ; Directors of tlie Poor, Phineas 
Austin, Levi Harmon. 

1854. — Supervisor, John Spaulding; Clerk, Henry Bridger ; 
Treasurer, Artemas Howard ; Justices, William 
Morrice, William Holmes ; School Inspectors, 
Giles Kilbourn, William Wallace ; Highway 
Commissioner, Harry Huntingdon ; Constables, 
Josiah C. Holmes, Albert W. Rann, George 
Tyler, Johnson Treadway. 

1855 — Supervisor, John Spaulding ; Clerk, Gilman War- 
ren ; Treasurer, Artemas Howard ; Highway 
Commissioners, Kdward Wallace, Phineas Aus- 
tin ; Justice.-!, John Dunning, Alonzo Spaulding, 
David P. Tyler; Constables, James Bridger, 
Artemas Howard, Harvey Roberts, W. H. 
Tryon ; Director of the Poor, William Morrice. 

1856. — Supervisor, Phineas Austin ; Clerk, Owen Dudley ; 
Treasurer, Artemas Howard; Justices, W. P. 
Laing, Ambrose W. Calkins ; School Inspector, 
Gillman Warren ; Commissioners of Highways, 
James C. Denio, William Morrice; Directors of 
the Poor, William P. Laing, Ambrose W. Cal- 
kins; Constables, Horace Green, Joseph Brown, 
James C. Denio, James Bridger. 

1857. — Supervisor, Phiueas Austin; Clerk, Orlando Flint; 
Treasurer, Justus Coy ; Justices, Charles Locke, 
Benjamin Walker, Orin Blanchard ; School In- 
spectors, David Gorton, W. Wallace, Henry 
McKnight ; Highway Commissioners, William 



Morrice, Harry Huntington ; Constables, Robert 
H. Titus, Artemas Howard, William Chipman, 
James C. Denio ; Directors of the Poor, William 
Holmes, James Nichols. 

1858. — Supervisor, Phineas Austin ; Clerk, Benjamin 
Walker ; Treasurer, Lorenzo C. Watkins ; Jus- 
tice, Elijah T. Smith ; Highway Commissioner, 
Orlando Flint ; School Inspector, William Wal- 
lace; Directors of the Poor, Elijah T. Smith, 
Alonzo Spaulding; Constables, Robert H. Titus, 
James 0. Walker, Orin Blanchard, W. R. Chip- 
man. 

1859. — Supervisor, Benjamin Walker ; Clerk, Harvey 
Roberts ; Treasurer, Lorenzo C. Watkins ; Jus- 
tice, Orin Blanchard ; School Inspector, James 
0. Walker; Highway Commissioner, William 
Blanchard ; Directors of the Poor, William 
Morrice, Horace Green ; Constables, Horace 
Dunning, Ananias Stafford, David C. Austin, 

E. Whaloy. 

1860. — Supervisor, Benjamin Walker; Clerk, Guy Toser; 
Treasurer, Charles H. Calkins; Justices, John 
Dunning, Benjamin Walker; Highway Com- 
missioners, William Morrice, John Cooper ; 
School Inspector, Horace Dunning; Constables, 
A. Stafford, R. H. Titus, James 0. Walker, 
Horace Dunning. 

18GI. — Supervisor, Orin Blanchard; Clerk, Gilman War- 
ren; Treasurer, James H. Milk; Justice, Charles 
Locke ; School Inspectors, William Wallace, 
Horace Dunning; Highway Commissioner, Guy 
Toser; Constables, George W. Tyler, Ananias 
Stafford, Samuel J. Southworth, Horace H. 
Dunning. 

1862. — Supervisor, Orin Blanchard ; Clerk, Charles P. 
Hill ; Treasurer, James H. Fravor ; Justice, 
William P. Laing; School Inspector, William 
Cooper ; Commissioner of Highways, William 
Blanchard ; Constables, John Green, A. S. Staf- 
ford, Calvin Locke, William Cooper. 

1863. — Supervisor, Orin Blanchard; Clerk, Charles Hill; 
Treasurer, Jepthah Cummins ; Justices, Orin 
Blanchard, J. B. Curtis; School Inspector, Mil- 
ton Hinkley ; Highway Commissioner, William 
Morrice ; Constables, J. O. Walker, A. S. Staf- 
ford, David Austin, James McCarn. 

1864. — Supervisor, Orin Blanchard ; Clerk, Benjamin 
Walker ; Treasurer, J. Cummin ; Justice, Ben- 
jamin Walker ; Highway Commissioner, John 
Cooper ; School Inspector, David D. Dunning ; 
Constables, R. H. Titus, William Walker, D. 

F. P. Burnett, Elias C. Maxon. 

1865. — Supervisor, John Spaulding; Clerk, A. A. Harper; 
Treasurer, James O. Walker ; Justice, W. 
Beardsley ; School Inspector, M. L. Hinkley ; 
Highway Commissioner, William Blanchard ; 
Constables, J. 0. Walker, James Nichols, Leon- 
ard C. Austin, Martin Britton. 

1866. — Supervisor, W. Beardsley; Clerk, A. A. Harper, 
Treasurer, James 0. Walker ; Justices, Joshua 



268 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Curtis, J. Cummin ; School Inspector, 1). D. 
Dunning ; Highway Commi.ssiouers, Charles 
Tyler, Edwaril A. McCarn ; Constables, J. 0. 
Walker, R. H. Titus, Edward A. McCarn, D. 
F. P. Burnett. 

1867. — Supervisor, W. Beardsley ; Clerk, A. A. Harper; 
Treasurer, R. H. Titus ; Justices, Orin Blanch- 
ard, David Virgil ; School Inspector, James W. 
McKnight ; Highway Commissioners, James O. 
Walker, James McCarn ; Constables, R. H. 
Titus, Horace PurUy, M. L. Stevens, Homer 
Dunning. 

1868.— Supervisor, James O. Walker ; Clerk, A. A. Har- 
per ; Treasurer, D. D. Dunning; Highway Com- 
missioner, J. McCan ; School Inspector, D. D. 
Dunning ; Justice, Benjamin Walker J Consta- 
bles, D. D. Dunning, R. H. Titus, James Tyler, 
D. V. Bennett. 

1869. — Supervisor, Orin Blancliard ; Clerk, Brayton 
Spaulding ; Treasurer, R. H. Titus ; Justices, 
David Virgil, John A. Morrice ; School In- 
spector, James N. McKnight, Jr. ; Highway 
Commissioners, A. A. Bennett, George D. 
Burkhart ; Constables, Robert H. Titus, W. 
Bark, James L. Tyler, William Britton. 

1870. — Supervisor, Orin Blanchard ; Clerk, W. Beards- 
ley ; Treasurer, Amasa A. Harper ; Justice, 
John A. Morrice ; Highway Commissioner, 
George D. Burkhart; School Inspector, David 
D. Dunning ; Constables, A. A. Harper, Oliver 
B. Halleck, James L. Tyler, George H. Smith. 

1871. — Supervisor, John Spaulding ; Clerk, Brayton 
Spaulding; Treasurer, A. A. Harper; Justice, 
J. W. McKnight; Highway Commissioner, Wil- 
liam Gillio; Constables, Charles Tyler, A. A. 
Harper, Anderson Bristol, Fernando Blanchard. 

1872. — Supervisor, J. D. Bennett ; Clerk, A. J. McCarn ; 
Treasurer, B. C. Spaulding ; Justice, B. Walker ; 
Highway Commissioner, Charles Tyler; School 
Inspector, D. D. Dunning ; Constables, Oliver 
M. Able, Krayton C. Spaulding, Andrew Bris- 
tol, Washington Bush. 

1873. — Supervisor, John D. Bennett ; Clerk, A. A. Har- 
per ; Treasurer, Brayton C. Spaulding ; Justice, 
A. J. McCarn ; School Inspector, James 0. 
Walker ; Highway Commissioner, George D. 
Burkhart; Drain Commissioner, Augustus Wil- 
cox ; Constables, Brayton Spaulding, Leonard 
Ferris, George S. Peck, Anson Bristol. 

187-i. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper; Clerk, James O. Wal- 
ker; Treasurer, Brayton C. Spaulding; Justices, 
John A. Morrice, B. F. Grout, John W. Ska- 
don, Alexander Spaulding; School Inspector, 
D. D. Dunning ; Highway Commissioner, Wil- 
liam Gillio ; Drain Commis.siouer, Augustus 
Wilcox ; Constables, Brayton C. Spaulding, An- 
derson Bristol, Coburn Blanchard, James O. 
Walker. 

1875. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper; Clerk, J. J. Walker; 
Treasurer, B. C. Spaulding; Justices, J. Cum- 



min, Thomas Sharp ; School Superintendent, 
D. D. Dunning ; School Inspector, G. R. Brandt; 
Highway Commissioner, Charles H. Calkins ; 
Drain Commissioner, Augustus Wilcox ; Con- 
stables, T. J. Walker, Brayton C. Spaulding, 
Hopkins Tryon, C. Blanchard. 

1876. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper; Clerk, J. J. Walker; 
Treasurer, Brayton C. Spaulding; Justice, Ben- 
jamin F. Rann ; Superintendent of Schools, D. 
D. Dunning ; School Inspector, William Cooper ; 
Highway Commissioner, Charles H. Calkins; 
Drain Commissioner, John Spaulding; Consta- 
bles, B. C. Spaulding, J. J. Walker, H. W. 
Cramer, J. 0. Walker. 

1877. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper ; Clerk, Joseph Walker ; 
Treasurer, B. C. Spaulding ; Justice, B. F. 
Grout ; School Superintendent, G. R. Brandt ; 
School Inspector, D. D. Dunning; Highway 
Commissioner, C. C. Calkins ; Constables, B. C. 
Spaulding, S. II. Davis, Henry Beckly, B. F. 
Elly. 

1878. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper ; Clerk, Charles F. Wing ; 
Treasurer, B. C. Spaulding ; Justice, W. P. 
Laing ; Superintendent Schools, G. R. Brandt ; 
School Inspector, David D. Dunning ; Highway 
Commissioner, Charles H. Calkins ; Drain Com- 
missioner, E. W. Wallace ; Constables, T. N. 
Boardman, B. C. Spaulding, John T. Crane, J. 
J. Walker. 

1879. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper; Clerk, Charles F. Wing; 
Treasurer, T. M. Templeton ; Justices, J. Cum- 
min, A. T. Bott ; Highway Commissioner, H. 
W. Wallace ; Superintendent Schools, Robert D. 
Marble; School Inspector, D. D. Dunning; 
Drain Commissioner, Orin Blanchard ; Consta- 
bles, Thomas Johnston, C. Blanchard, A. D. 
Smith, J. J. Walker. 

1880. — Supervisor, A. A. Harper ; Clerk, Charles T. 
Wing ; Treasurer, Charles Tyler ; School In- 
spector, George R. Brandt ; School Superinten- 
dent, Henry P. Halstead ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, William G. Morrice ; Justice, David D. 
Dunning; Drain Commissioner, Homer B. Dun- 
ning ; Constables, Thomas Johnston, John C. 
Crane, Charles Tyler, Samuel E. Lookingstill. 

As indicating the increase of the population of the town- 
ship the following figures are given, showing the number 
of votes cast in Perry for supervisor at the end of the sev- 
eral decades from the organization of the township to the 
present time, viz. : 

Votes. 

1S41 28 

18.')0 50 

186(1 137 

1870 144 

1880 348 

The total valuation of real estate and personal property, 
according to the assessment-rolls, was: 

Valiiutiun. 

1841 $63,978 

18C0 157,201 

1870 141,070 

187U 188,560 



PERllY TOWNSHIP. 



269 



The total tax levied for various purposes was : 

I860 $2117.93 

1870 3216.77 

1879 3S05.75 

In 1879 the amount of tax raised for various purposes 
was as follows : 

Statnta.t $1080.29 

Coiintv tax 1057.32 

.Sclnicl tax 1143.30 

Kijueted ta.\ 4.12 

Tontingent tax 200 00 

Highway and bridge tax 75.00 

Cemetery tax 50.00 

Pound tax 30.00 

Dog tax 1(13.00 

lligliway tax 69.27 

Excess of roll 3.45 

SCHOOLS OF PERRY. 

Nov. 1-i, 1837, the school comiiiis,sionersof the township 
of Shiawassee (at that time embracing wliat is now Shia- 
wa.ssee, Antrim, Perry, Woodhuli, Bennin<;ton, and Sciuta) 
met at the " Shiawassee Exchange" to divide the townships 
into school districts. Township 5 north, range 2 east (now 
Perry), was divided as follows : 

Sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 to form district 
No. 1. 

Sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36 to form 
district No. 2. 

Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, IS to form district No. 3. 

Sections 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 to form 
district No. 4. 

It is not known, however, that any of these districts ac- 
cording to this division were regularly organized at this 
time. 

The first school of which any information has been ob- 
tained was taught by Miss Julia Green, who is now the 
wife of M. L. Stevens, in the year 1839. An upper room 
of her father's house served as a school-room, where, during 
twelve weeks, she labored, with from seven to ten children 
as pupils. She received six dollars from the public-school 
fund, and it is believed that (contrary to the custom of 
those days) no tuition was paid her in addition by the 
scholars for this service. 

The same year Horace Green, her father, built a small 
log cabin for a shop. This was secured by tho.se desirous 
of having a school taught, and in the following winter it 
was used for that purpose. It stood on the west half of the 
northwest quarter of section 15. The place where it stood 
is now nearly indicated by the residence of Charles H. 
Calkins. The school-house was built by Deacon Phincas 
Austin and Horace Green. James Andrews and Henry 
Smith were among the first teachers in the district. 

The school-hou.se in the southeastern part of the town- 
ship, built by Charles Locke, and the one in the northern 
part, usually known as the Austin school-house, were built 
about the same time. This was probably about the year 
1840. The one built by Mr. Locke stood on the south end 
of the east half of the southeast quarter of section 24, on 
the farm now owned by Mrs. Brown. This was a frac- 
tional school district, and was composed of adjoining parts 
of the two townships. This building was used in that loca- 
tion until 1846, when a new school district being formed 
in that vicinity it was taken down and moved into the dis- 



trict now known as number four. It was placed on the 
site occupied by the .school-house now in use, and was re- 
paired and used a number of years. Miss Julia Green, 
before referred to as the first teacher in the township, also 
taught the first term in this school-house before it was 
moved. 

The same year Miss Jane Shaft taught a private school 
in her father's house. She is now living in Shaftsburg, the 
wife of Newton Bacon. After several terms of private 
school taught by Miss Shaft, Samanlha Norden, and Sarah 
Holmes, school district No. 3 was set ofl'. This was about 
the year 1843. The first school-meeting was held at the 
house of John P. Shaft, and the district oiScers were then 
elected. A vote decided on the building of a " log 
shanty, to be roofed with hollow basswood logs." It was 
built on the knoll now occupied by the house of Albert 
Durant. It was afterwards used as a blacksmith-shop. The 
first frame school-house in the township was built in this 
district. It cost three hundred and thirty dollars, and is 
still in use. The first school-meeting in district No. 4 
was held at the house of John B. Stevens, April 30, 
1846. Upon being called to order, Charles Locke was 
appointed chairman. District oflicers were then elected, as 
follows: Josiah B. Stevens, Moderator; J. Hinkley, As- 
sessor ; Charles Locke, Director. The site then selected 
upon which to build a school-house was near the southwest 
corner of the west half of the northwest quarter of section 
23. By a subsequent vote the school-house built by Mr. 
Locke, in the southeast fractional district, was moved to 
this site, as before stated. The scholars in this district 
were Stephen and Kmily Ward, George and Calvin Locke, 
Mary J. and Sarah M. Stevens, and Wesley and Milton 
Hinkley. 

On Dec. 10, 18.J8, the inhabitants of that portion of 
the township now in the vicinity of the village of Morrice 
petitioned the school board to be set off as a separate school 
district. In compliance with this petition school district 
No. 5 was formed. The first school-meeting in this district 
was held at the house of Benjamin F. Gale, February 16th 
following. There were then eighteen taxable inhabitants 
in the district. At this meeting Giles Kilbourn was elected 
Moderator; E. H. Calkins, Assessor; B. F. Gale, Director. 
They then voted to purchase one-quarter of an acre of laud 
from Josiah Purdy, described as the northwest corner of 
section 13. And although this motion at a subsequent 
meeting was rescinded, it was again passed, and after a 
number of meetings and votes pro and con, the house was 
finally erected in the latter part of November, 1862. Sev- 
eral small additions have been built to this house, one in 

1878 and another in 1879. It now has two rooms and 
employs two teachers. The amount of money received by 
each of the various school districts for the years 1 860 and 

1879 is given below : 

1860. 

District No. 1 S93.20 

'< " 3 57.56 

" " 4 92.52 

" " 1 — friiutioaul — (Perry and Buuningtou) 20.70 

" " 2 " " " 53.00 

" 5 " (Perry and Locke) 28.00 

" " 6 " " •' 50.55 

" " 2 " (I'lrry and .\r.trim) 11.26 

'< " 6 " " •' 14.44 



270 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY", MICHIGAN. 



1879. 

District No. 1 $320.12 

" " 3 10O.36 

" " 4 in.-i.go 

" " 5 412.58 

" " 7 56.11 

" ** 1 — fractional — (Perry and Bennington) 42.88 

tt II 2 tC It It 1g CO 

" " 5 " (Perry and Locke) 69.78 

" " 6 " " " 47.27 

" " 6 •' (Perry and Antrim) 30.10 

" " 8 " (Perry, Woodhull, and 

Locke) 26.32 

OLD PERRY CENTRE. 

In 1850, William P. Luin^ came to Ferry, and the fol- 
lowing year opened the fir.st store in the township. It was 
in a small building which he put up at what now is known 
as Old Perry Centre. The first in this place, however, was 
a log cabin built by James Titus. Richard Elliott, who 
came from Lansing some time after, rented a room of Mr. 
Laing, and opened a small stock of dry goods and groce- 
ries. He soon after built the large store building now 
standing vacant in the Old Centre. 

In 1852, Mr. Laing was appointed postmaster, a posi- 
tion which he filled several years. As he became " a little 
shaky" in his views, however, Johnson Treadway super- 
seded him. Mr. Laing was subsequently reappointed, but 
after a time resigned in favor of Robert Titus. He was 
followed by Dr. S. M. Marshall. Bradon C. Spaulding was 
appointed by President Hayes in 1877, and still fills the 
position. 

VILLAGE OF MORRICE. 

The thrifty village of Morrice, now having a population 
of about two hundred and fifty, was platted in the fall of 
1877 by Isaac Gale, who owned the west half of the south- 
west quarter of section 12. This land was .settled by Joshua 
Purdy, who is spoken of among the pioneers of Perry. At 
the time the Chicago and Port Huron Railroad was com- 
pleted Mr. Gale was vice-president of the company which 
controlled it, which fact probably accounts for the establish- 
ment of the railroad depot at Morrice. 

The village has a flouring-mill, a stave- and heading- 
factory, two good hotels, one hardware and agricultural 
implement store, one drug-store, a general store, and several 
smaller places of business. The flouring-mill was built by 
B. F. Rann in the fall of 1877. It has two run of stones. 
The stave- and heading-factory, which was built by J. F. 
Schultz in 1871), employs fourteen men and boys, and turns 
out from seven to nine thousand headings and six thousand 
staves per day. The saw-mill was built by Henry Horton 
in 1877. The business men of the town contributed six 
hundred dollars to the proprietor of the flouring-mill, one 
thousand dollars to Mr. Schultz, and three hundred dollars 
to Henry Horton, as inducements for these gentlemen to 
establish their business in Morrice. 

The Sager House was built by C. W. Sager in 1878. It 
is a well-furnished and coiumodious hotel, and is the most 
substantially-built structure in the village. The first store 
was opened by Frederick Cummins. The medical profession 
is represented by Henry P. Halstead and George 0. Austin. 

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF MORRICE. 
On Dec. 28, 1839, some of the friends of the Presby- 
terian Church in Bennington met at the house of William 



Howard, for the purpose of organizing into a religious soci- 
ety. The Rev. Mr. Geishorn, who presided then, entered 
the following names: William P. Stevens, Abigail Stevens, 
Smith Howard, Rebecca Howard, Milan Glover, Lydia M. 
Glover, Polly Fitch, Sarah Griswold, John Morrice, Mary 
Morrice, William MorricCj George Morrice, Archibald 
Purdy, Caroline Purdy, Winfield S. Anient. 

The society then adopted the name by which it was for 
many years known, the First Presbyterian Church of Ben- 
nington. The third resolution passed was to the effect 
" that this church be organized upon the principle of total 
abstinence from all intoxicating beverages, except for medi- 
cinal purposes." Archibald Purdy, John Morrice, and 
Milan Glover were chosen and ordained elders ; W. F. 
Stevens was chosen deacon. 

The society continued to hold meetings at the homes of 
various members, or after school-houses were built, in them. 
When the village of Morrice became a centre of some busi- 
ness importance, the society voted to change the name, and 
build a place of worship in that village. The name was 
accordingly changed to The First Presbyterian Church of 
Morrice, and its meeting-house was built in 1878. 

The Methodist and Baptist societies of Morrice contrib- 
uted liberally to the fund with which the church was built, 
and these societies, therefore, have had the u.se of it alter- 
nately since completion. 

It cost four thousand five hundred dollars, and is one of 
the finest church buildings in the county. Rev. Charles D. 
Ellis is the minister now in charge of the Presbyterian 
society, which numbers forty-three members. 

The Union Sabbath-school of Morrice is one of the most 
creditable and well conducted in this county. In this the 
members and children of the various denominations unite, 
and the best of feeling prevails. J. V. R. Wyckoff, Jr., 
is superintendent. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF MORRICE. 

The society of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of 
Morrice was organized at the school-house (then known as 
the Purdy school-house) in April, 18G5. Rev. J. R. Gordon 
had been holding a series of meetings which brought about 
the formation of a class, as above stated. The first meeting 
called for the purpose resulted in the names of the following 
persons being enrolled : Mr. and Mrs. H. A. McKnight, 
Mr. and Mrs. James Davis, Mr. and Mrs. Ely, and Mary 
Davis. The society now meets in the Presbyterian church. 

The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church was organized May 11, 1880. Mrs. 
M. McKnight was elected President ; Mrs. G. O. Austin, 
Secretary ; Mrs. Jennie Colby, Corresponding Secretary. 
The membership is thirty. 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF MORRICE. 

In October, 1877, several families which had been con- 
nected with the Baptist Society of Antrim and Perry met 
and organized the Society of the First Baptist Church of 
Perry. Elder Ilayden, of Perry, presided at this meeting. 
The names of those who were present and formed the so- 
ciety are as follows : Mr. and Mrs. Horace Purdy, Abraham 
Queick and wife and daughters, Anna and Eva, Mr. and 



PERRY TOWNSHIP. 



271 



Mrs. M. Setterly, Mr. and Mrs. Morgan Ormsby, Morris 
Ormsby and Miss Etta Ormsby, Mr. and Mrs. Anderson 
Bristol, and Mrs. Leonard Ferris. The society now has 
twenty-three members. 

FRATERNITIES. 

Several fraternities, composed of the citiy.ens of IMorrice 
and vicinity, hold their usual meetings in Sager's Hall, in 
that village. 

The charter granted to the lodge of Knights of Honor, 
No. 1519, at Morrice, is dated Oct. 9, 1879. 

The grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was organized 
in 1873. It soon declined and surrendered its charter, but 
was reorganized July 18, 1879. 

The Independent Order of Good Templars, No. 53, was 
organized Jan. 16, 1878. The order at this place is now 
in a flourishing condition. 

The charter of the Juvenile Templars bears date Jan. 
17, 1879, with the following names as officers: Jesse Ball, 
C. T. ; Etta Ormsby, V. T. ; Anna Goodburn, Rec. Sec; 
James Whaley, P. C. F. ; Altie Dickinson, Fin. Sec. ; 
Abbie Litchfield, T. 

VILLAGE OP PERRY. 

The village of Perry is situated upon land settled by 
Horace Green. When the railroad was completed through 
the township the company established the depot on or near 
a piece of land belonging to Mr. Isaac Gale. A majority 
of the inhabitants of the township were much dissatisfied. 
It had been understood that the station should be located 
where the railroad cros,sed the " Mason and Owosso State 
road," this location having been decided upon by a vote of 
the people of the township. With this understanding con- 
siderable contributions were made. Norman Green, with a 
proviso to that eifect, gave the company one thousand dol- 
lars, and five acres of ground for depot and yard purposes. 
After several private meetings had been held by some of 
the more prominent men in this part of the township it was 
determined to plat a village and build up a business at this 
point. The village was platted on the land owned by C. 
H. Calkins and William McKellops. The latter gentleman 
commenced at once to build a mill, and other business 
places wore opened in (juick succession, a number of build- 
ings being moved from the old centre. Still the railroad 
company would neither receive any freight for this point 
nor ship any from it. The people then petitioned the 
company, but without avail. They next petitioned the 
Legislature of the State. After various investigations and 
delays, by a special act of Assembly a committee was ap- 
pointed to investigate the case. The report made, favored 
the village, and resulted in compliance on the part of the 
railroad company. The people then donated ties for the 
.sidetrack, and contributed money to build the depot. 

The business interests of the village are continually en- 
larging, while it is steadily increasing in population and 
importance. There are two large flouring-mills, two general 
stores, a hotel, two hardware-stores, two drug-stores, two 
harness-shops, three blacksmith- and wagon-shops. The 
physicians now practicing medicine in Perry village are L. 
M. Marshall and S. Chapin. 



The Ferry Brick Mill was built by William McKellops, 
in 1877. It has four run of stones, and has a capacity of 
one hundred barrels per day. 

The Reliance Mill was built by 0. N. Parshall, in 1878. 
It has a capacity of one hundred barrels of flour in twenty- 
four hours. Its flour took the premium at the Michigan 
State Fair of 1879. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CiniRCH OF PERRY. 

The history of this society begins properly with the win- 
ter of 1838-39, when Flaviel Brittan held a series of re- 
vival-meetings in the house of Lyman Melvin, in Antrim 
township. A decided interest being manifested after the 
continuation of these exercises during a few weeks, at the 
first meeting called for the purpose, a cla.ss was formed com- 
posed of the following-named persons : Charles Locke, Har- 
vey Harmon, Levi Harmon and wife, John Ward and wife, 
Josiah Stevens and wife. 

The society at first held its meetings in Antrim town- 
ship, but the place of worship was subsequently changed to 
the house of Josiah B. Stevens, in Perry township. In 
after-years, when the clnss in Antrim was formed, a part of 
the members residing in that township withdrew from the 
society in Perry, and united themselves with it. 

When the class was first formed the territory now com- 
prised in the Perry Circuit was part of what was termed 
the Shiawassee Mission, spoken of more fully in the his- 
tory of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Byron. In 
1845 the Bennington Circuit was formed, which included 
the appointments in Perry and Antrim. The first quar- 
terly conference of this circuit convened in Bennington, 
Nov. 29, 1845. Horace Hall was the preacher in charge, 
assisted by G. W. Alexander, a local preacher. At one of 
these meetings it is recorded that M. L. Stevens, of Perry, 
after making some remarks to the conference, offered the 
following resolution, which was adopted : " Re.solved, that we 
consider American slavery necessarily an evil." Although 
his proposition received the approval of the conference, it 
would probably have been ignominiously defeated had it 
been submitted to the people at that time. 

Perry was next included in Antrim Circuit, which was 
formed in 1855. The first quarterly conference of this 
circuit was held at the Beard school-hou.se in Antrim, Oct. 
27, 1855. The first board of stewards was then elected 
as follows, viz. : David D. Adams, Seth Johnson, Charles 
Locke, James C. Dennis, John P. Shaft, and William 
Wright. In 1857 the name of the circuit was changed 
and " Perry Circuit" adopted. Lyman H. Dean was the 
first minister in charge. 

At a meeting of the society for the purpose of discuss- 
ing the propriety of building a church, Charles Locke was 
appointed chairman of a building committee. The other 
members were J. W. Brown and M. S. Hinkley. The 
building was completed in 1868, at a cost of eleven hundred 
dollars. The society has now a membership of eighty. 

BAPTIST CHURCH OF PERRY. 

On May 19, 1838, the .society of the Baptist Church of 
Bennington was formed at the house of William F. Stevens. 
After the township of Bennington was divided and Perry 



272 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



formed, the society reorgani«ed and adopted its present 
nauio and title. The names enrolled at this mooting were 
Horaoe B. Flint, Hannah Flint, Thinoas Austin, Angeline 
Austin, Josso Whilford, Pi.intha Purdy, Tolly Green, 
Cyuthia Hill. B. B. Bri<rham was the first elder in 
oharge. Cyrus Barnes, John Martin, and F. W. Colbe 
aro also among the pioneer proaohors of this sooioty. The 
usual place of meeting wsis the " Tamarack School-house," 
now known as the "Austin Sohool-honso," until the build- 
ing of their meeting-house in the village of Perry. At a 
mooting held in the " Green School-house" two committees 
which had been appointeil ropiirtotl to raise a bnilding-fund. 
It was then found that the committee soleotod to work in 
the village of Perry and vicinity had secured nine hundred 
dollars. A site for the church was then selecteil by a 
ballot, which resulted in locating it where it now stands. 
A building coiumittiH; was then appointed, composed of 
Charles Calkins, \V. P. Laing, H. A. Roberts, to act in 
conjunction with the trustees of the church. The meeting- 
house was complotod in 1S77 (, while Elder R. H. Haydeu 
piVhidod\ and was dcuicated in December of that year. 

.M. 11. De Witt is the present pjistor, and the society 
now has a membei-ship of seventy-two. 

THE FIRST CONGREG.\TrOJIAL CHURCII OF PERRY 
was organized in December, 1S7J), the Rev. Leroy Warren 
officiating. The names of fifteen persons wore placed on 
the record of the church at the first meeting. The number 
has since been increased to thirty-four. 

The society now meets in the Methodist Episwipal church, 
and is under the charge of Rev. James Verney. 

A LODGE OF THE I. 0. 0. F. 
was instituted at Perry by Piist Grand Master B. W. 
Dennis, May 13, 1873, with the following-named persons 
as charter members, viz.: D. F. Burnett, A.J. MoCarn, 
J. W. Brown, D. D. Dunning, Eugene Hiown, W. S. 
Mortice, S. Chapin. 

The encampment of the order was establislied here in 
1875, since which time the lodge has erected a hall build- 
ing costing fourteen hundred dollars. The lower floor is 
used as a store-room. The hall is twenty-two by forty-four 
feet, with proper reception- and ante-rooms attached. In 
loss than two years from the time of its organiaition the 
society numbered sixty members in good stiuiding, and is 
now in a prosperous condition. 

PEUlh' LODGE, F. AND A. M.. 
was instituted under a dispensation granted by Right Wor- 
shipful Master John Finch. Grand Master of the State of 
Michigan. The first meeting was held May 10, 1878. The 
charter members of the lodge were as follows: T. S. Wright, 
W. M. ; William Cooper, S. W. ; C. S. Stackhouse, J. W. ] 
A. A. Harper, Sec. ; C. W. Halleck, Act. Treas. ; George 
Goff, Act. S. D. ; Joseph Keene, J. D. ; Thomas Sharp, 
Tiler ; Henry W. Cramer. 

The charter was granted to the lodge Jan. 2'.), 1879. 
The first election under the charter was held iMarch 7, 
1880, when the following persons were elected to the 
various offices: T. S. Wright, W. M. ; William Cooper, 



S.W.; C. S. Stackhouse, J. W. ; 0. Halleck, Treas,; A. 
A. Harper, Sec. ; L. L. Suttorly, S. D. ; James 0. Walker, 
J. D. ; Thomas Sharp, Tiler. 



Cll A I'TKK XX\ IX. 
RUSH TOWNSHIP.* 

Loonlioii. To|n>grii|ih.v, iiiul Oa(mbilitio8 of tho Township— Original 

Liin.l-Euliics — .^ittleuicnt of tbo Townsl>i|i — Early lligliwivvs 

Orgnnitntion nn.l Tivil List— Hondorsonville — Oliurohos— i>oluuils. 

The township of Rush is one of the mast progressive in 
the county. The earliest settler first broke its stubborn 
soil in 1830, but it was not until 1850 that emigration 
aflootinl matenally its population and development. Since 
that time its advani^ has been steady and rapid, and the 
industry and enterprise of its fanning population aro placing 
it among the forenu>st of the sixtoon townsliips of Shia- 
wassee County. It is designated in the United States sur- 
vey as township No. 8 north, of range No. 2 east, and is 
bounded on the north by Siiginaw County ; south, by 
Owosso; east, by New Haven; and west, by Fairfield. 
The soil of the township may be described as a oond>ina- 
tion of clay and sand and rich muck. Gravel predomi- 
nates in the north and northeast, while in other portions, 
more especially on section 2, sand prevails. A strong day is 
found in the nortliwest, which presents some obstacles to 
cultivation. Near the centre is an extensive marsh, which 
will prove the most productive soil in Rush when thor- 
oughly drained. The township has already made applica- 
tion to the State for an appropriation to this end. The 
soil is admirably adapted to wheat and corn, while grass is 
usually a prolific crop. The agricultural returns for the 
year 1873 give one thou.siind and seventy-seven acres of 
wheat as harvostod, which produced fourteen thousand one 
hundred and thirty-five bushels of that grain, while four 
hundred and sixty acres of corn yielded a crop of olovon 
thousiuid nine hundred and ninety bushels. Twelve hun- 
dred and fifty tons of hay were cut in the same year. Of 
other cereals than wheat, the yield was fourteen thousand 
and forty-three bushels. The prevailing timber of Rush 
is ash, beech, maple, basswood, and elm. A limited quan- 
tity of black-walnut and butternut has been cut, but these 
woods are not abundant in Rush. A dense growth of 
tamarack formerly prevailed, but skillful drainage has since 
rendered the land tillable, and much of the tamarack has 
disappeared. The dark waters of the Shiawassee River 
flow through the southeast portion of the township, enter- 
ing at section 3t), and following a circuitous course to the 
northwartl. At section 13 they pass into the township of 
New Haven. 

The Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw division of the 
Michigan Central Railroad passes thmugh the east and 
northeast sections of Rush, and has a station at llondei-son. 
This i-ailway oflers many advantages to fanners in the ship- 
ment of their produce. 

* !!>• E. 0. AVagner. 



RUSH TOWNSHIP. 



273 



OKIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

The lands of Iliwh were entered from the government or 
purc}ia«cd of the State by the following p:irtie8 : 

8ECTI0.V I. 

Tnirnbiill i ;irv, \'^'.',:> l.'(Z.7.'i 

Oi'leori l^<:, IS.'iti :'.2II 

A. J. lloliii.:*, IS.vi «6.33 

B. O.llini! (Kute;, tHfJ 40 

Ifiuu: Van, " 1852 40 

SECTION 2. 

Pliili|. Micklo, (State), 1819 52.19 

Jon. Turner, " 1849 80 

n. L. lilake, •' 1851 160 

P. (,■. IJliM, " 1848 80 

Z. I'.frry, " 185.7 80 

.M. li. ire«i!, " 1849 80 

O. W. Btow<r, " 1849 40 

Ira A. L<.'«, " 1851 40 

SECTION 3. 

PA. IlajiiM, I8,i4 100 

.1. li. Curiii', 1855 40 

('. W. liutlcr (KlaU;;, 1855 S7..v7 

.lolmCox, " 1849 120 

M. liAtitinfon, " 

A. (Joul'I, " 18«9 47.25 

David VVccdcn, " 40 

SECTION 4. 

J. li. Burni, 1854 IBO 

.1. K. I'oiil (State), 1859 148.4.-! 

P. li. \afi[., " 80 

C. W. Dutlfir (Stat<!j, 1855 51.72 

llyer Wo.,.|, " 1850 80 

J. F. Chil.J», " 1850 80 

George llawkiai (Stole), 1849 80 

SECTION 5. 

Gideon Lw, 1836 240 

(jeiirifi- Hawkins (Statej, 1849 80 

Smiili Wil../,x, " 1852 80 

Jamc« liriggB, " 1850 80 

Sila« Clark, " 1849 55.58 

Kd. Cauif,, " 1858 58.97 

SECTION 6. 

Gideon Lee, 18.3« 240 

I'eler .MoniroM-, 1854 174.23 

Jam<f« WaUf'.n (Stale) 20.51 

H. IJ. Vouhg, " 144.80 

SECTION 7. 

Squire Woo.1, 1853 225 

F. W. Fowlir, 1855 40 

l,iillj.-r .Marble (Slate), 1868 80 

Wrii. Knincy, " 62.12 

I,. Fowler, " 40 

Nd«..n Farley, " 80 

Jarnc'K iJarids, " 40 

SilaH Clark, " 80 

F. W. Fowler, " .30.74 

F. W. Fowler, " 1869 30.74 

S. Ilunyan, " 40 

SECTION 8. 

C. S. GriUin, 18.54 210 

M. A. Grimley (State), 1850 120 

H. .1. Gilkcy, " 1850 40 

C. WcMott, " 1850 80 

Dvcr Ww.d, " 1850 40 

Kalph Sulliir, " 1850 40 

Jolin Kuiaell, •' 1850 80 

SECTION 9. 

Inaac Van (State), 1849 180 

A. llarter, " 1850 320 

Jon. Lo.-kwood (State), 1850 40 

C. L. Sh<(iard, " 1852 40 

M. W. (iardncr, " 1850 10 

ChaK. W<-«",tt, " 1850 160 

Horton Wilcox, " 1850 80 

35 



SECTION 10. 

Acrei. 

William n. Gill»ert (State), 1851 160 

Edwin Wliiw, " 18,00 80 

William llicke, " 18.v0 „ 80 

S.W.Crittenden, " 1850 80 

Edward liutlcr, " 1850 80 

W. T. Gilkcy, " 1S49 160 

SECTION 11. 

.Jameii Turner (State), 1849 160 

C. W. Butler, " 18.M 80 

N. G. Cheesbro, " 1855 40 

.T. W. .Vorrii, " 1855 120 

N.Taylor, 1 850 40 

.1. 0. Hardy, 1850 40 

M. liobinron, 1852 160 

SECTION 12. 

W.M. Coplin (State), 1848 160 

A. W. Sprague, " 1848 160 

J. M. Tower, " 1819 80 

M. Kobitihon, " 1850 40 

T.O.Potter, " 1849 40 

H. 0. Ch<!e«bro, " 1850 80 

Henry Woodard, " 1851 _ 80 

SECTION 1.3. 

Trumbull Cary, 18.35 151.98 

CiitukWw. Bergen, 1836 116.1 5 

.lauieii WailKwartb, 1836 320 

SECTION 14. 

Gide/.n I>ee, 1836 80 

J. li. Siraonnon, 1836 160 

Gideon Lee, 1836 240 

H. fi. Hayne, 1854 40 

J. 0. Hardy (State;, 1850 40 

leaa-; Varj, " 1849 40 

Tbomae Mattbiaa (State), 1848 VI 

SECTION IS. 

Samuel Shatter, 1854 160 

Henry Bowen (Stole), 1849 80 

Clark Bccbe, " 1849 40 

W. F. Smith, " 1849..-. 4« 

Moyd Clark, " 1819 80 

M. B. lle-«, 1S49 40 

C. S. Kimberley, 1855 160 

Ezra Joncfi, 1857 40 

SECTION 16. 
School land«. 

SECTION 17. 

C. S. Griffin, 1854 80 

J. J. Oarnee, 1855 80 

G. F. (raiiiber (Stale), 1866 80 

Swamp land , 320 

Eli -Vorll, f. State) 

SECTION 18. 

Swamp land 270 

W. C. Ilawk« (State), 80 

Samuel Kuuyan, '* 40 

P. L. .Skult, " 70.85 

J. D. Kichmond 80 

Abraham Skull 62.40 

SECTION 19. 

Charle« Howard, 1854 320 

G. C. MeComb (Stale), 1868 80 

Charln,' Howard, 1854 205.28 

SECTION 20. 

Charlee Conner (State) 80 

Swampland, ** 120 

Charlei- Angle, " 1866 40 

CharlcH Howard, 1854 320 

J. J. Garnee, 1855 80 

SECTION 21. 

I,. H. Parsoni, 1854 160 

Charles Angle (Slate) 40 

Jl. B. Young, " 1869 80 

S. tjoodalc, " 1859 40 

John Gallagher, " 1858 40 

Alvin Ballin, " 1858 44 



274 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SECTION 22. 

Acr«B. 

Ford unci Patlorson, 18,')2 80 

D. S. Coiitre, 1854 120 

Fniiicis Wiilclroii, lSa4 40 

Alvin IJiiUin (Sutc),lS5.S 40 

D. S. Center (State), 185S 120 

John Giiilngher (Stnlo), 1858 80 

Henry I'attison (State), IS5:! 80 

Charle.-! S. Kimberley (State), 1855 80 

SECTION 2.-!. 

John B. Willison, 1849 S(i 

Trumbull Carv, IS.'io MO. 10 

C. Bergan, 1830 186.40 

Gideon Lee, 18.">fi 80 

John I'ar.shall, lS:iO 80 

Albert Burrell, 1836 80 

SECTION 24. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 1.86 

C. Borgan, 1835 6.40 

Joseph Pilcairn, 1836 141.40 

Gideon Lee, 1836 SO 

John F. IJlifs, 1836 80 

F. C. Macy, 1836 73.28 

Henry Kush, 1836 240 

SECTION 25. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 300.29 

Cornelius ISorgan, 1836 92.90 

Mellonry, Kercheval and Uealy, 183B 260 

SECTION 26. 

I. B. Simnnson, 1836 80 

Otis Judson 320 

J. h. Curry, 1849 80 

W. B. Gilbert, 1851 160 

SECTION 27. 

Thomas Carmody (State), 1852 160 

Miehael Carmody (State), 1853 80 

William Burges,s'(Statc), l«iO 120 

James Grant (State), 1852 40 

John Gallagher (Stale), 1858 80 

Goodwin and Dimmock, 184(t 40 

.Sandy Patterson. 1854 80 

William King, 1855 80 

SECTION 28. 

Williams and McGilvra, 1846 40 

Charles Howard, 1854 411 

John Gallagher (State) 4011 

Edwin Ayres. 1868 120 

William Smith, 1858 40 

SECTION 29. 

John (iallagher (State), 1858 3211 

Charles Howard, 1854 120 

Daniel Trowbridge, 1854 40 

A. T. Foss, 1854 80 

T. F. Sheldon, 1853 80 

SECTION 30. 

Charles Howard, 1854 141.76 

J. II. Park, 1854 80 

William Scolt, 1854 141.96 

Daniel Trowbridge, 1854 SO 

John Gallagher (State), 1858 80 

Cyrus White, 1806 80 

SECTION 31. 

Cyrus White (State), 1866 100 

F. A. Barber (Stale), 1858 40 

John Gallagher (St;itc;, 1858 160 

Caleb Everts, 1854 191.70 

Charles Howard, 1854 65 

SECTION 32. 

John Gallagher (State), 1858 600 

Benjamin Craven, 1855 40 

.SECTION 33. 
John Gallagher (State), 1858 640 



SECTION .34. 

A(TP«. 

John Gallagher (State), 1858 320 

J. V. Shalt, 1853 411 

C. W. Butler (Stale). 1808 40 

Jeremiah Coughlin (Slate), 1858 411 

Walter Love (State), 1860 80 

Augustus Broekel (State), 1860 40 

SECTION 35. 

F. Middleberger, 1836 320 

Calvin liose, 1836 160 

Theodore Kolibins, 1854 80 

Jacob Newman (State), 1858 SO 

SECTION 36. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 ;.. 297.77 

Cornelius Bergan, 1830 90 

Ale.x McFarren, 1836 108.80 

George Kiltridge, 1836 111.30 

SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHTP. 

Though one of the latest of the townships of the county 
in its organization, Rush chiinis among its present resi- 
dents but few survivors among the number of those who 
entered it when a wilderness, and in its clearing and early 
development bore tlie heat and burden of the day. TJie 
first white settler within its boundaries was Ransom Wiiite, 
who arrived in 1839, and purchased of E. C. Kimberly 
(who controlled the land as agent for Trumbull Cary, of 
New York) ninety acres on section 26. He erected upon 
it a cabin and devoted some time to clearing, after which 
he took up his residence in Owosso. He later returned to 
his purchase, where several years were devoted to the labors 
incident to pioneer life. Mr. White was not, however, 
successful in his early agricultural efforts, and allowing the 
land to revert, he changed his residence and chose a home 
in Barry County. 

The .second arrival in Rush was that of Avery Thomas, 
who came with liis family in 1842. He was a former resi- 
dent of Cayuga Co., N. Y., and first located in Oakland 
Co., Mich., but having been attracted by the superior ad- 
vantages of the county of Shiawassee, soon after selected 
a home in Rush. There were no roads at this time, and 
as a necessity the family of Mr. Thomas embarked in scows, 
and were floated down the Shiawassee River to their desti- 
nation. On their arrival there were no settlers, Mr. White 
having left for Owosso. While Jlr. Thomas was erecting 
a frame house of spacious proportions the family were com- 
fortably (|uartered at Owosso. This house is still standing, 
and was occupied until a more pretentious and elegant resi- 
dence was recently erected by Avery Thomas, Jr., on the 
adjacent ground. Mrs. Thomas died the year after their 
arrival, and hers was the earliest death in the township. 
The domestic economy of the family having been sadly de- 
ranged by the lo.ss of this wife and mother, Mr. Thomas 
before the year had expired was married a second time, to 
Mrs. Sarah A. Sampson, who still survives and resides on 
the homestead. This was undoubtedly the earliest marriage 
ceremony performed in the township. The question of 
the earliest birth in Rush may not be easily decided. It 
is po.ssible that it was in the family of Mr. Thomas, though 
the claims in behalf of the household of Mr. Henry Rush 
are equally well founded. 

The above-named gentleman with his family arrived in 
1843, and entered one hundred and sixty acres on section 



RUSH TOWNSHIP. 



275 



24. It was first cleared by his .son, Jacob Hush, who re- 
moved to the hiiid soon after and built a shelter of logs 
which ho occupied. His father arrived some time later, 
and for a while made it hi.s residence, but subsequently re- 
moved to Pennsylvania. The closing years of his life were 
spent in the township, where he died, as did also iiis son. 
Through the influence of friends the township boars the 
family name, though many of the older settlers entered tlieir 
quiet protest, and regarded this mark of deference as hav- 
ing been justly due the earliest pioneer, Mr. Ransom White. 

Robert Irland arrived in 1843, and purchased eighty 
acres, one-half of which was upon section 24 and the re- 
mainder in the present township of New Haven. This 
was entirely destitute of improvement on his arrival. There 
were no roads and Pontiac was the nearest milling point, 
involving a tedious journey, with the Indian trail as the 
only guide. Mr. Irland built the usual house of logs, 
which was afterwards supplanted by a more modern frame 
dwelling. He died many years since, and the widow and 
a son now occupy the farm. 

William Goss, formerly of Monroe Co., N. Y., arrived 
in the same year, and settled upon one hundred acres 
on section 25. His brother, Samuel Goss, purchased the 
same number of acres adjacent to his own. The latter, not 
having been greatly impressed with the advantages of 
Michigan, returned again to the Empire State. William 
erected upon his purchase a log cabin, finding, meanwhile, 
a temporary abiding-place with Avery Thomas. He cleared 
ten acres the first year, and continued his labors until the 
forest was transformed into a productive farm. Mr. Goss 
died in 1863. Mrs. Goss still survives, and, with her son, 
occupies the land. 

Jonas Robbins came from New Jersey among the earliest 
of the township pioneers. The date of his arrival is not 
remembered with exactness by either himself or family. 
He experienced some vicissitudes during the first years of 
his residence in the county, and having been directed to 
a tract of land not iiis own, was obliged to vacate. He 
finally located upon eighty acres on section 26, where he 
still resides. 

Walter Graham and Silas Clark were each pioneers from 
Lenawee County to the township of Rush, where they 
located upon section 5. The former purchased eighty 
acres, while Mr. Clark made a clearing and b^iilt a log 
house upon forty-one acres. Mr. Graham al.so erected a 
primitive abode of logs and began the clearing of his land, 
which, by constant labor, he rendered very productive. 
Both are now dead, and the properties have passed into the 
hands of other parties. 

R. A. Sutliff was another settler who found the attrac- 
tions of Shiawassee County superior to those of Lenawee 
County and located a farm of forty acres upon section 8, 
having, at a later date, added twenty to it. He found an 
ample field fur the exercise of industry in the unfelled woods 
which covered the land. He made a considerable clearing, 
but ultimately removed to Saginaw County. Benjamin 
Washburn became the subsequent owner of the land, and 
Levi Clark is its present occupant. 

Michael Rourke came from Massachu.setis to Ru.sh in 
1851, and purchased of William B. Hurd, who had already 



been located .some time upon it, forty acres on .section 20. 
Upon this tract four acres had been cleared and a log house 
built, to which he removed. Mr. llourke found still much 
labor to perform, and devoted himself with a will to the 
task before him. At the expiration of the first year eiglit 
additional acres had been chopped and partially im|)roved. 
Jonas Robbins was the nearest settler, and the township 
had as yet attracted but few individuals from the vast tide 
of emigration then pouring into the State. But seven 
voters assembled at the polls the previous spring. Indians 
frequently cho.sc Mr. Rourke's land for their camping- 
ground. Deer were abundant, wolves made night hideous 
with their howling, and bears would, under cover of the 
darkness, visit tlie sheepfold in search of a victim. Mr. 
llourke has greatly improved his farm, which now embraces 
one hundred and eighty-five acres. 

William Sawyer came with his father from the shores of 
England in 1851, and removed to Oakland County. William 
having, meanwhile, earned sufficient means, purchased, in 
1853, forty acres of land upon section 2, in the township of 
Rush, upon which the family removed. As he was but 
seventeen years of age, the father was made custodian of 
the property. After a residence of sixteen years upon the 
original purchase Mr. Sawyer removed to section 36, 
where he has three hundred and fifty acres, of which two 
hundred are improved. 

He found his land on section 2 uncleared, and at 
once set about the erection of a habitation. While engaged 
at this work he camped in the wilderness a portion of the 
time, and labored the whole of one night to construct a roof 
for the cabin, which had been built some time and was 
greatly dilapidated. William Sawyer, Sr., remained upon 
the original purchase until his death. 

The venerable Richard Freeman, for many years a resi- 
dent of New Haven, and one of its foremost pioneers, 
became a settler in Rush in 1854, having purchased ninety- 
eight acres on section 25, which he improved and re- 
mained upon for many years. He still survives, and may 
with propriety be considered a resident of both New Ha- 
ven and Rush, as his time is equally divided between 
his children, with whom he ever finds a cordial welcome. 
Patrick Rourke and William Noonan each located upon 
eighty acres on section 2G. This land was in its original 
condition of forest and brush on their arrival, but has been 
by their industry transformed into luxuriant grain-fields. 
They have erected for themselves comfortable houses upon 
these farms, in which they now reside. 

Curtis Devoe, a former resident of New York State, 
was among the pioneers of 1854, and located upon eighty 
acres on section 12 which he found unimproved on his 
arrival, and no roads to make the land accessible from adja- 
cent points. He- at once erected a log building and began 
the process of clearing. Upon this land he remained until 
his death in 1877, wJien his son Theodore became possessor, 
and now occupies the farm together with the log house 
already built. 

George Sawyer came with his father and brother William 
in 1853, and succeeded to the original home on section 2, 
which ho purcha.scd of the latter in 1871 and upon which 
he now resides. 



27(5 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Samuel Sinister was a former resident of Ohio, and in 

1854 became a settler in Rush, having secured one hundred 
and sixty acres on section 15. He found the land uujm- 
proved, and was able on his arrival to do but little towards 
clearing, his time having been entirely occupied in labor for 
his support. While building he found a welcome to the 
home of Josiah Isham, who then had a farm of eighty 
acres on section 23 and later returned to Ohio. Mr. 
Shuster afterwards increased the dimensions of his farm to 
two hundred and forty acres, upon which he is erecting a 
substantial residence. 

Samuel Ayres, who lived upon one hundred and sixty 
acres on section 21, was also from Ohio, and a near neighbor 
of Mr. Sinister, as was William Hughes, who purchased 
eighty-eight acres north of his land on section 10. At 
this date there was but one school building erected in the 
township, located on section 25, very limited educational 
advantages having been enjoyed by tlie youth of Rush at 
an early day. 

Benjamin Washburn removed from Ingham County to 
this township in 1854, and located upon eighty acres on 
section 12. Curtis Devoe, who came the same year, pur- 
chased a farm near him, and the two pioneers materially 
assisted each other in the early labors of the settler. Mr. 
Washburn and his family remained one night with Robert 
Irland, and the following day Mr. Devoe with his team 
brought their household goods to his own home, where 
they remained until a hou.se was built. Mr. Washburn was 
advanced in years and made little progress. He remained 
upon the farm until his death in 1869, after which Joseph 
Hoffman became the owner. One son, Charles C. Wash- 
burn, now resides upon forty acres on section 1. 

G. Whitfield Drown became a settler soon afterwards 
upon section 36, where he cleared a farm, and subsequently 
sold to John R. Bush, who remained for several years and 
disposed of the property in 1860 to G. W. Essig, the 
present occupant. The land is well improved, and em- 
braces one hundred and seventeen acres. 

Among others who became residents of Rush between 
the years 1850 and 1855 are William Berger, who located 
upon one hundred and twenty acres on section 27 ; D. S. 
Center, who purcha.sed sevenly-one acres on section 36, and 
an additional one hundred and twenty on section 22 ; 
Patrick and Michael Carmody, each having farms on section 
27 ; Solomon Horn, who owned eighty acres on section 
26 ; John Russell, residing upon sixty acres on section 8 ; 
William F. Stearns, who became a settler on section 24 ; 
Daniel Whitman, who cleared a farm of eighty acres on 
section 5 ; William Scott, whose pioneer oxpeiiences in the 
township began on section 30, where he had one hundred 
and forty acres ; Andrew Simons, on section 25 ; and 
Samuel Wood, on section 7. These settlers all performed 
much of the early labor incident to clearing the wilderness 
of Rush, and are equally deserving of credit. 

The following lists show the names of the resident tax- 
payers in the township of Rush in the years 185U and 

1 855 : 

ISaO. 

AtTCB. 

Robert Irland, section 24 40 

Jacob Hush, section 2.*) 'A^ 

Henry Kush, section.s 24, 25 220 



Acres. 

Jane Goss, section 25 5 

Jonns Robbins, sections 26, 36 151 

William B. Hurd, section 26 80 

Avery Tbomas, section 36 103 

1855. 

Samuel Ayres, section 21 160 

William Berger, section 27 120 

D. S. Center, sections 36, 22 191 

Patrick Carmody, section 27 60 

Michael Carmody, section 27 80 

Silas Clark, section 5 41 

Curtis Devoe, section 12 80 

Richard Freeman, section 25 98 

Jane Goss, section 25 100 

AValter Graham, section 5 

Solomon Horn, section 26 80 

AVilliain Hughes, section 10 ■... 80 

Josiah Isham, sections 2.3, 24 86.80 

Cyrus Isham, section 2.*' 56.40 

Robert Irland, section 24 40 

John-McCIure. section 35 40 

AVilliam Noonan, section 26 80 

Jacob Rush, section 25 20 

Patrick Rourke, section 26 80 

Jonas Robbins, section 26 80 

Michael Rourke, section 26 160 

John Russel, section 8 60 

John Robinson, section 2 40 

R. A. Sutliff, section 8 60 

AVilliam Savtyer, section 2 92.19 

Anson Simons, section 25 92.54 

William Stearns, sections 24, 25 93.12 

Samuel Shuster, section 15 160 

William Scott, section 30 141 

Avery Tliomas, section 36 102 

Benjamin Washburn, section 12 80 

San.uel Wood, section 7 40 

Daniel Whitman, section 5 80 



EARLY HIGHWAYS. 

Roads were early opened by the first settlers in the town- 
ship to afford them means of egress from their lands, but no 
official record of highways in the township of Rush ap- 
pears earlier than 1845, when Nelson Ferry, on the 23d 
and 24th of January of that year, surveyed the following 
road : " Commencing on the southwest corner of section nine- 
teen, township eight north, of range three east, and following 
a northerly course to the quarter post on the line of section 
one in township eight north, of range two east ; thence north 
thirty-four minutes, east thirty-nine chains and ninety-two 
links, to the northwest corner of the township of New 
Haven." 

This road was not officially recorded until Nov. 7, 1850. 

A road was surveyed in April, 1850, by Ezra Mason, 
" beginning at the southeast corner of section twenty-six in 
township eight north, of range two east ; thence running 
'west eighty-eight degrees, east, on section line, sixteen chains 
and ninety-two links; thence west fifty-two degrees, east 
three chains and twenty-eight links ; thence west seventy-four 
and a half degrees, east two chains and seventy-seven links ; 
thence south nine and a quarter degrees, east two chains 
and sixty-three and a half links; thence west eighty-nine 
and a quarter degrees, east six chains and forty-five links ; 
thence south fifty-seven and three-quarter degrees, east 
three chains and sixty-eight links ; thence south eighty-six 
and a half degrees, east four chains and nineteen links to a 
stake in the centre of the highway." 

Jobs for the chopping, causewaying, and ditching of the 
above road were let by the commissioners of highways. 
May 15, 1850, on the ground described. The successful 
bidders were Francis R. Pease, Robert Irland, Richard 
Freeman, Avery Thomas, Thomas Irland, and C. S. Kim- 
berly. Other roads followed as necessity demanded them. 



RUSH TOWNSHIP. 



277 



ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

The exterior lines of the township of Rush were sur- 
veyed by Joseph Wampler, though no official record of the 
date of survey appeals. The subdivision lines were run by 
William Brookfield in 1823. The township was erected 
by act of Legislature, approved March 28, 1850, which de- 
clared "That township eight north, of range two east, in 
the county of Shiawassee, be and the same is hereby set off 
from township seven north, of range two east, in said county, 
and organized into a separate township by the name of Rush, 
and the first township-meeting therein shall be held at the 
hou.se now occupied by Henry Rush, in said township." 

Pursuant to the requirement of the organizing act, the 
first township-meeting was held at the place designated, on 
the 1st of April, 1850. At the meeting Henry Rush was 
chosen moderator, William Goss township clerk, and Robert 
Irland and William B. Hurd inspectors of election. The 
officers elected for the year were ; Supervisor, Avery Thomas ; 
Township Clerk, William Goss; Treasurer, Robert Irland ; 
Justices of the Peace, William Goss, Avery Thomas, Robert 
Irland ; Highway Commissioners, William B. Hurd, Jonas 
Bobbins, Robert Irland ; Directors of the Poor, Henry 
Rush, Richard Freeman ; School Inspector, Avery Thomas; 
Constable, Jacob Rush. 

The following list embraces the succession of township 
officers annually elected in succeeding years to the present, 
viz. : 

SUPERVISORS. 



1851. \\'illiiim Goss. 
I8y2-55. Avcry Thomas. 
1856. William Goss. 
1857-68. James E. Crane. 
1859-60. Thomas C. Crane. 
1861. G.W.Love. 
1802. E. P. Bliss. 
1863-66. George W. Love. 
1867. R. F. Uuteher. 
1.SC8. (!. W. Love. 

TOWNSHIP CLERKS 



1869-70. John Henderson. 

1871. E. P. Bliss. 

1872. Peter Henilriek. 

1873. John Henderson. 
187-t. AVilliam H. Dean. 

1875. Charles Freeman. 

1876. Alfred Crane. 

1877. Charles Freeman. 
1878-80. A. B. Crane. 



1851. Ebenezer Whaley. 
1852-53. William Goss. 
1854-55. Jacob Rush. 
1856-57. P. 11. Doolittlc. 
1858-59. E. P. Bliss. 
1860. Avery Thomas. 
1861-03. James A. Ilayt. 

1864. E. P. Bliss. 

1865. John Henderson. 



1851. Robert Irland. 

1852. Riciiard Freeman. 

1853. Anson Simons. 
1854-56. Richard Freeman. 
1302. R. S. Haines. 
1805. John Freeman. 
1866-67. R. S. Haines. 
1868. John Henderson. 



1866. John King. 
1807-09. A. B. Allen. 

1870. Charles 0. Lapham. 

1871. A. B. Crane. 

1872. A. B. Allen. 
1873-75. John Skelton. 
1870-79. Thomas Corcoran. 
1880. Byrun C. Pierce. 

TREASURERS. 

1809-71. Charles Freeman. 
1872-73. William H. Dean. 

1874. Edwin E. Bunting. 

1875. A. B. Cninc. 
1870. John Skelton. 
1877-78. James A. Ilayt. 
1879-80. William H. Dean. 



JUSTICES OP THE PEACE. 

1851. Richard Freeman. 1857. James A. Hoyt. 

1852. J. V. Shaft. 1858. Benjamin Washburn. 

1853. William Goss. Avery Thomas. 

1854. R. C. Sutlitr. 1859. Robert F. Dutcher. 

1855. Richard Freeman. 1860. James E. Crane. 
Avery Thomas. 1861. Jamc* A. Ilayt. 

1856. R. S. Haines. 1862. A. li. Allen. 

1857. Thomas C. Crane. Solomon Horn. 



1863. 


E. P. Bliss. 


1871. 


K. Freeman. 


1864. 


Solomon Horn. 


1872. 


John Goodwin. 


1865. 


John Hcnilerson. 




Myron Bignall. 




John Stack. 


1873. 


William Caldwell. 


1 800. 


George W. Love. 




George D. Palmer. 




A. B. Allen. 


1874. 


M. W. Willoughby 


1807. 


W. M. Case. 




John Goodwin. 




William Cook. 


1875. 


A. B.Allen. 


1868. 


J. A. Hayt. 


1876. 


B. C. Pierce. 




John Henderson. 




Myron Bigtiall. 


1809. 


0. A. Pease. 


1877. 


John Henderson. 


1870. 


William Caldwell. 


1878. 


M. F. Goodhue. 




AVilliam Cook. 


1879. 


Myron Bignall. 




R. Freeman. 


ISSO. 


A. L. Fowler. 



SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



1851. 


Avery Thomas. 


1805. 


George AV. Love. 


1852. 


Avery Thomas. 


1800. 


John Henderson. 




J. V. Shaft. 




G. W. Love. 


1853. 


William Go^s. 


1807. 


James A. Iloyt. 


1854. 


Benjamin Washburn. 


1808. 


John Henderson. 




J. V. Shaft. 


1809. 


J. A. Hayt. 


1855. 


Anson Simons. 


1871. 


Charles Freeman. 


1856. 


James E. Craiic. 




John Henderson. 


1857. 


T. C. Crane. 




Charles Wa.shburn. 


1858. 


John W. Thorn. 


1872. 


Lorenzo Hayt. 


1859. 


R. F. Dutcher. 




M3"ron Bignall. 




T. C. Crane. 


1873. 


Lorenzo Hayt. 


1800. 


T. C. Crane. 




C. E. Bunting. 


1861. 


E. P. Bliss. 


1874 


C. E. Bunting. 


1802. 


Willi,am Cook. 




A. B. Crane. 


1863. 


E. P. Bliss. 


1875- 


70. James A. Hayt. 


1804. 


John Henderson. 


1877- 


-79. Byron C. Pierce 




James A. Hayt. 


1880. 


F. C. Pierce. 



HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 



1851. 


Jonas Robbins. 


1805. 


Samuel Shuster. 


1852. 


William Goss. 


1806. 


Major Smith. 


1853. 


AVilliam Burgess. 


1867. 


James A. Hayt. 


1854. 


Curtis Devoe. 




AVilliam Sawyer. 


1855. 


Samuel Shuster. 


1868. 


Peter Doolittle. 


1850. 


William Burgess. 


1869. 


Peter Hendrick. 


1857. 


Richard Freeman, 




Orlo A. Pease. 


1858. 


William Burgess. 


1871. 


Thomas Carmody. 


1859. 


William W. Curtiss. 




George Sawyer. 


1800. 


Humphrey Scott. 


1872. 


Perry Cuinstock. 


1861. 


George W . Love. 


1873. 


Thomas Carmoily. 


1802. 


John Shuster. 


1874. 


George AV. AVebb. 




William Cook. 


1875- 


78. Thomas Carmody 


1S63. 


William Burgess. 


1879. 


Hiram Davis. 


1864. 


William Cook. 


1880. 


Myron Bignall. 



DIRECTORS OF THE POOR. 



1851. 


AVilliam Goss. 


1855. 


Richard Freeman. 


1852. 


William <»os8. 




Solomon Horn. 




Aden Jacobs. 


1856. 


Stephen D. Crane. 


1853. 


AVilliam Goss. 




Solomon Horn. 




Avery Thomas. 


1857- 


-58. Richard Freeman 


1854. 


Robert Irland. 




Joseph W. Webber. 




Avery Thomas. 


1859. 


Robert Irland. 
Avery Thomas. 



DRAIN COMMISSIONERS. 



1872-74. Ale.v. M. Skelton. 

1875. George Sawyer. 

1876. John Goodwin. 



1878. George Sawyer. 
1880. Alex. M. Skelton. 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS. 

1878-80. AVilliam Caldwell. 



1876-77. M. AV. AVilloughby. 
O. D. Palmer. 



278 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1851. 

1862. 
185.3. 

1854. 

1855. 

1856. 

1857. 
1858. 
1859. 
1860. 
1861. 
1862. 

1863. 
1864. 
1865. 



1867. 



1868. 



J. Robbins. 
E. AVhaley. 
Theo. Robbins. 
William Burgess. 
Theo. Robbins. 
Solomon Horn. 
Jobn Robinson. 
Willi.Tm A. Simons. 
William A. Simons. 
D. S. Center. 
William A. Simons. 
John Russell. 
William A. Simons. 
William Sawyer. 
William A. Simons. 
Cyrel Drown. 
Joseph W. Webber. 
William W. Curtis. 
James Carmody. 
George Irland. 
Cyrel Drown. 
Riley Punches. 
Henry Shuster. 
John Henderson. 
John Stack. 
R. Punches. 
J. Robbins. 
John Henderson. 
John Shuster. 
William Cook. 
R. S. Haines. 
Charles Freeman. 
Patrick Carmody. 
James Carmody. 
Grove Pratt. 
Charles H. Allen. 
James Carmody. 
Thomas Carmody. 
Charles Wjishburn. 
James Rctan. 
James Carmody. 
Charles H. Allen. 
Martin Ilourke. 
John Arnold. 
Truman Bailey. 



CONSTABLES. 

1868. Myron Washburn. 
C. H. Allen. 

1869. Truman Bailey. 
Lorenzo Hayt. 
Jobn W. Hudson. 
E. Pease. 

1870. C. 0. Lapham. 
Truman Bailey. 
E. Hendricks. 
John King. 

1871. Truman Bailey. 
AVilli.am Sawyer. 
Samuel Shuster. 
Jonathan Betts. 
M. W. Dr,ake. 
Truman Bailey. 
R. F. Dutcher. 
E. P. Bliss. 
(No record). 

1874. John Stack. 
Cyrus Isham. 
C. 0. Lapham. 
C. C. Washburn. 

C. Carmody. 
Truman Bailey. 
John Henderson. 
J. D. Reiff. 
L. D. Hayt. 

D. Henderson. 
Henry Robbins. 

1877. Truman Bailey. 
H. W. Horn. 
D. Henderson. 
John Carmody. 

1878. D. S. Henderson. 
William Cady. 
T. Bailey. 
P. Carmody, 
J. D. Keiff. 
John Crane. 
A. Pollard. 
A. G. Peck. 
Charles Burgess. 
Samuel Runyon. 
J. D. Keiff. 



1872. 



1873. 



1875. 



1876. 



1879: 



1880. 



HENDERSONVILLE. 

The ground upon wliich the village of Hendersonviile is- 
located embraces the north part of the northeast fractional 
quarter of section 23, and was surveyed April 7 and 8, 
1879, for A. Henderson, by Ezra Mason. The land was 
originally entered by Gideon Lee, of New York City, April 
7, ISrJl). It was by him sold to Josiah Isham, from 
whom it was purchased by Andrew Henderson, who came 
from Ohio to this county in 1858 and removed to his pur- 
chase, upon which a log house had been previously built by 
Isham. Mr. Henderson began the improvement of this 
land, on which very little had been previously accomplished 
by the previous occupant, and soon after built near the 
bank of the river another and a more commodious dwellin". 
William Cook came soon after from Wayne Co., N. Y., 
and located on forty acres adjoining, on the same section. 
The first building in the hamlet was erected by John Hen- 
derson, son of the original purcha.ser of the plat, in 1868. 
In it he placed a stock of groceries and conducted the 
business for two weeks, when it was purchased by C. 0. 
Lapham, formerly of Seneca Co , Ohio. I. Brierly after- 
wards built a blacksmith-shop and remained one year. 



after which he removed to the western portion of the State. 
John Henderson erected another store, which he conducted 
for a brief period. John D. Palmer was an arrival of 
1872. He constructed a steam saw-mill for Palmer, Det- 
wiler & Co., which was sub.sequently consumed by fire, 
when another mill was erected double the size of the first. 
A large building was at the same time devoted to the com- 
forts of the laborers employed in the mill. The store 
which Mr. Henderson had built was consumed by fire, but 
another speedily replaced it. William Detwiler arrived 
from Ohio in 1874, and commenced the grocery trade on 
an extensive scale, having now one of the most completely 
appointed stores in the county. In 1875, John Henderson 
erected a spacious hotel, and is now its landlord. Dr. J. S. 
Bare arrived the same year as the first resident physician of 
Hendersonviile. Isaac Peck came soon after, and suc- 
ceeded to the mercantile enterprise of John Henderson. 
The business of the village now embraces two general 
stores, owned respectively by William Detwiler & Son and 
Isaac Peck (the latter of whom confines himself principally 
to groceries) ; one wagon- and blacksmith-shop, owned by M. 
F. Goodhue ; a boot- and shoe-shop, kept by Charles Shaw ; 
and a hardware-store. 

The first post-office was established in 186(5, and Wil- 
liam Cook received the commission as postmaster, having 
the ofiBoe at his residence. The present postmaster is 
George N. Detwiler, and the mail is dispensed from the store 
of Detwiler & Sou. Thomas Corcoran has charge of the 
public school located at the village. The Jackson, Lansing 
and Saginaw division of the Michigan Central llailroad has 
a station at Hendersonviile, with George N. Detwiler as 
station-agent. 

The Flourhig- Mills (if Geo. D. Palmer were established 
by the proprietor in 1878, for the purpose of engaging in 
an exclusive custom trade. They have two run of stones, 
and are furnished with steam-power from an engine of forty- 
five horsepower. The mill is equipped with the modern 
improvements in machinery for manufacturing flour of a 
superior quality. The mills have a capacity of four hun- 
dred bushels per day, and enjoy a large patronage from 
residents of the surrounding country. 

CUUKCHES. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Preaching was early held in the various school-hou.ses of 
the township, and services were conducted first by llev. 
John Gillam, and later by Rev. Mr. Kellerman and Rev. 
Mr. Crippen. It was not, however, until 1879 that an or- 
ganization was effected under Rev. W. II. Hicks. During 
the year a church edifice was begun, the ground upon 
which it stands being located on the Henderson plat. This 
building, which, when finished, will be complete in all its 
appointments, will cost, when ready for occupation, fifteen 
hundred dollars. The building committee were John 
Goodwin, H. W. Hicks, G. N. Detwiler. A Sabbath- 
school is connected with the church, in which the Society 
of the Di.sciples unite with the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
About fifty .scholars are enrolled. RL P. Gardner is super- 
intendent. 




Residence Of JOHN WHALEV. SHiAWASSeeTp. Shiawassee Co. Mich. 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 



279 



ciiuncii OP TUB disciples. 

This society was or;;anized in the year 1879, under the 
auspices of Elder Masscy, tlic earliest meetings liaving been 
held in January, 1878, at the .school-house in Henderson. 
A series of revival-meetings had previously been lield, on 
which occasion twenty-one persons were baptized. 

Elder Hurd was for several months the pastor of the so- 
ciety. Since his departure the church lias been witliout 
regular ministrations, though services are occasionally held 
at the school-house. A pa.stor will doubtless soon be in- 
stalled in connection with the New Haven charge. The 
trustees are William Dean, Jo.seph HofTuian, Edward Bunt- 
ing, John Lytle. The church-roll embraces sixty members. 

The Society of the United Brethren al.so have an organi- 
zation in the township. 

SCHOOLS. 

The information obtained regarding the earliest schools 
of the township is vague and incomijlete. The first school- 
house in Hush was erected in the Go.ss neighborhood on 
section 25, in 1850, and known a.s the Goss school-house. 
Miss Amanda Shepard was an early teacher, but probably 
not the earliest. The second .school-house was located on 
section 6, and known as the Wa.shburn school-house, hav- 
ing been built some years later. The divi.sion of the town- 
ship into school territory embraces five whole and two frac- 
tional districts. The board of directors is composed of the 
following-named gentlemen : J. A. Maycrlioflfer, C. W. 
Hall, E. E. Banberry, A. L. Fowler, Humphrey Scott, 
William S. Lewis. The corps of teachers embraces seven 
males and six females. They have under their superin- 
tendence three hundred and twenty-three children, of 
whom eleven are non-residents. One log and six frame 
school-houses have been erected for their use, a portion of 
which number are spacious and of modern architecture. 



CHAPTEll XL. 
SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP.* 

Loc:ilion nnd Natural Features — Original Land- Entries — Settlements 
and Settlers — Township *>rgani7,ation and Civil List — Early High- 
ways — .Shiawassee E.\changc — Kurly Suhouls — Church History— 
Sbiawasseetown — Newburg — Fremont — Village of Bancroft. 

TnK town.ship of Shiawa.ssec, iii the priority of its settle- 
ment, takes precedence of all the other townships of the 
county. Its foresta yielded to the enterprise of the pioneer 
nearly a score of years before .some town.ships of the county 
of Shiawas-see were affected by the presence of tlie settler, 
and much of the early business enterprise of this portion 
of the Territory was at one time concentrated within its 
limits. From the advent of the earliest pioneers within its 
boundaries in 18;j1, and the development of its resources 
which followed, until the present, its progress has been 
steady and rapid. 

Geographically, it may be described as located .southeast of 
the centre of the county, with its northwestern corner nearly 

• By E. 0. Wagner. 



on the territorial centre. It is bounded by Caledonia on the 
north and Antrim on the .south, while Vernon joins it on the 
east and the township of Bennington bounds its western line. 
Several small villages contribute to its business activity, 
chief among which is Bancroft, in the southeast, whose 
marvelous growtli, resulting from the opening 6f the Chi- 
cago and Northeastern Railroad, has made the township one 
of the prominent centres of commercial activity. The Sliia- 
wa.ssee River, entering at section 25, on the eastern side, 
pursues a devious course to the northward, and curving 
again to the cast makes its exit at section 1. Looking- 
Glass Kiver flows acio.ss the southwestern corner, and 
Maple River takes its ri.se in a marsh iKjrth of the centre 
of the township, and fhjws north and west, passing through 
section C into Bennington. The surface of the township is 
sufficiently rolling to relieve it from monotony and to render 
the scene picturesque and in many localities exceedingly 
beautiful. The soil may be described as a combination of 
clay, sand, and vegetable mould. The latter prevails in the 
timbered land along the northern boundary, while sand 
enters largely into the composition of the soil in the .south. 
Gravel, though occasionally found, is not abundant. South 
of the centre still remain traces of marshy land, though 
much of it has been modified by draining. Wheat, corn, 
and oats are among the staple products, the average yield 
of the former being twenty bushels to the acre, while oats 
and corn produced a crop of fifty bushels to the acre. 

The prevailing woods are beech, elm, maple, basswood, 
and black-walnut, though the latter is not abundant. Oak- 
openings are occasionally seen, and invariably accompanied 
by sandy soil. Pine prevails in certain localities, though 
not properly included with the prevailing timber of the 
township. 

ORIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

The lands of Shiawassee township were entered from the 

United States government or purchased of the State by the 

following persons : 

SECTION 1. 

Acres. 

Augustus Riggs, 1831 86.76 

li. U. Worthing, 1831 77.86 

William Blac:k, 1832 132.75 

(ieorge Kittridgc, 1836 211.0.28 , 

I'eck, Nimocks and Hooker, 1836 2O.0.16 

SECTION 2. 

S. W. Denton, 1821 3.27 

S. T. Coolcy, 1831 69.12 

J!. D.Worthing, 1831 79.42 

Joseph I'iti-iirn, 1836 80 

.lerrv Hillman, 1836 201.92 

C. M. Van Doren, 1838 204.52 

L. li. Wiznor, 1836 80 

SECTION 3. 

II. C. Walker, I83B 123.84 

M. W. Cogswell, 1838 80 

Tho.na.sl5ucll, 1836 122.80 

Lydia Hornell, 1836 80 

W. li. lilanchard, 1836 40 

Silas Warntr, 1837 2110 

.Swainp-land, 18.'j0 80 

SECTION 4. 

Henry Dwight, 183C 123.28 

M. U. Patterson, 1836 202.64 

L. Van Wornicr, 1838 40 

N. I! Overton, 1838 40 

I). Van Wornier, 1838 40 

J. and O. Mitchell, 1850 80 



280 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Acres. 

Swamii-laiul. ISSn 200 

0. C. jMuorc{8t!ite), 1865 40 

S. T. I'ai-sons (State), ISOS 80 

0. K. AVost (Shite), ISOU 40 

James Ashton (State), ISOO 40 

SECTION f). 

P. OoMsniith (State). ISoS 40 

H. W. Williams, ls;iG 160 

0. Co.ik, ISSi; 40 

Il-aD!iven)iorl, I8:!li 124.20 

Herman Cam]), ISiiC) 125.64 

Dennis Kelly, IS:i6 SO 

N. It. Overtcin, 1S:)9 40 

J. anil O. Mitchell, 1S5I1 80 

B. C. Thorn, 1854 40 

SECTION 6. 

Isaac Castle, 1R35 240 

G. W. Williams, 1S3G 48.'!. 7G 

SECTION 7. 

Isaau Castle 80 

Ora Cook, 18:i6 2;)3.88 

Oi-a S|invgue, ISIill 2:!:i.56 

iM.vron Murdoek, ISiiO Sll 

SECTION 8. 

Seneea UeynoKls, ISi>(> 160 

Ora Spiajjiie, 1836 240 

Newbold Lawrence, 1S36 240 

SECTION 9. 

Ballnnl linll, 1836 320 

S. F. Henry, 1836 320 

SECTION 10. 

N. Taylor, 1835 80 

Eloctus Haekus, 1835 SO 

Sanuu-1 IMooro, 1835 240 

E. R. Kearslcy, 1835 240 

SECTION 11. 

S. W. Dexter, 1S24 416.82 

E. Kavnale, 1831 107.40 

B.C. Matthews, 1833 80.75 

SECTION 12. 

Hosca Baker, 1833 SO 

John Kent, 1834 40 

Trumliull Cary. 1835 80 

Cheslcy lilake, 1836 SO 

LotCliuk and Stephen Warren, 1836 200 

Enoeh .hmcs, 1836 SO 

Martin I'ost, 1836 80 

SECTION 13. 

llosoa liakor, 1833 9.08 

Joseph Holmes, 1834 62.83 

E|iluium Wri|,'ht, 1835 560 

SECTION 14. 

S. W. Dexter, 1824 9.3.92 

Ho.sea Baker, 1833, 1834 359.88 

Oliver Wilson, 1835 160 

SECTION 15. 

N. Taylor, 1835 80 

Jchial Parmly, 1835 160 

Trumhnll Cary, 1835 160 

Alvah Ewers, 1836 80 

E. A. Kcarsley, 1836 160 

SECTION 16. 

Hcnrv Goodrich (State), 1853 240 

Tiniulhv Clerv (State). 1865 40 

Thomas E. Clery (State), 1805 40 

John t:lery (State), 1853 40 

Florin Baker (Stiite), 1853 40 

.1. F. KIsworth (Stiite), 18.54 SO 

M. R. Mead (State), 1853 40 

W. It. Elsworth (Stale), 1853 40 

Mary Jane Doty (State), 1853 80 



SECTION 17. 

Acres. 

Milton Phelps, 1835 80 

B. WiK-ht, 1836 80 

Isaac Secord, 1835 80 

Newbold Lawrence, 1835 400 

SECTION 18. 

Trumliull Cary, 1835 153.16 

B. W'i;,'ht, 1836 160 

Isaac Secord. 1836 80 

Newbold Lawrence, 1836 233.36 

SECTION 19. 

Trumbull Carv, 1835 153.04 

Abel Millington, 1835 160 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 160 

Peter Runcinuin, 1835 152.92 

SECTION 20. 

Abel Millington, 1835 240 

Trumbull dry, 1835 80 

James Plwlps, 1835 120 

Seidell Phelps, 1835 10 

Rachel Town, 1836 80 

Abel Milliugton, 1835 80 

SECTION 21. 

Trumbull dry, 1835 320 

Bcthuel Noyeii. 1836 80 

A. and A. G. Dow. 1836 SO 

T. W. llnsmcr, 1836 120 

Horad Martin, 1830 40 

SECTION 22. 

Orin Very, 1835 160 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 1611 

Alva Ewers, 1836 320 

SECTION 23. 

Ilosea Baker, 1833 80 

William Black, 1834 80 

S. S. Seymour, 1835 160 

Consider Warner, 1835 160 

William Black, 1835 SO 

Ilosea Baker, 1835 40 

Martin Post, 1835 40 

SECTION 24. 

Ilosea Baker, 1833 92.09 

S. F. Durkee, 1833, 1834 167.04 

Abel Millington, 1835 155.65 

Cheslcy Blake, 1836 40 

Charles W. Penny, 1836 160 

SECTION 25. 

A. L. Williams, 1831 79.55 

Jasper Finish, 1832 217.69 

Trumbull Carv, 1835 80 

Abel Millington. 1835 136.78 

L. B. Wizner, 1836 80 

SECTION 26. 

A. J. D. and T. Bcaubcin, 1835 40 

Gabriel Bandi, 1835 40 

Isaac M. Banks. 1835 80 

Trumbull Carv. 1835 80 

II. Biopelle, 1835 40 

Peter Goill'rey, 1836 40 

Orange Skinner, 1836 40 

Henry llutchins, 1836 40 

Gustavus nines, 1836 40 

Thomas Boall, 1836 20 

SECTION 27. 

William Black, 1835 40 

Isaac M. Banks, 1835 40 

Orcn Very. 1835 40 

Elizabeth Sidway, 1836 40 

George Sidway, 1836 SO 

Thomas Curtis, 1837 SO 

S, S. Miithowson (State), 1S58 SO 

Stephen Sargi'Ut, " 1859 40 

J. 1). Ccuigrcve, " 40 

Hiruni Ilerrick, '* 40 

John Hcrrick, " 1859 40 





ISAAC SI. BANKS. 



MRS. ISAAC M. BANKS. 



ISAAC M. BANKS. 



Isaac M. Banks is of English descent, being a son 
of Artliur Banks, who was horn in England in 1756, 
and who came to America with Lord Admiral Howe 
during the Revolution. 

Arthur was a nephew of Sir Joseph Banks, of 
England, and married, in Middletown, Conn., Miss 
Sarah Loom is. 

Isaac was born in Albany Co., N. Y., June 27, 
1798, and at the age of eleven was apprenticed to 
John Hendric^k fn learn the coopers' trade. When 
fifteen years of age ho enlisted as a common sailor 
under Commodore Perry, to assist in the defense of 
his country. 

During his early life, when not engaged as betbre 
stated, lie was employed at farm work during the 
suinnier, and attended the inferior common schools 
of tli()se days in the winter, thus obtaining his edu- 
cation. 

He lived in Canada si.\' years, and then married 
Miss Hannah Herrick, and settled in Wilson, Ni- 
agara Co., N. Y., where he remained nine vears, re- 
moving in 18o5 to Michigan, and settling in Shia- 
wassee County, where he .still lives. His principal 



occupation has been farming, though for nearly 
twenty years he kept a hotel. 

Mr. Banks was afflicted by the loss of his wife, 
Aug. 10, 1838, leaving iiini with seven children. 
Nov. 25, 18o8, he married Mrs. Jjorena Shepherd, 
by which union he became the father of five children. 
Of this large family of twelve children eight are still 
living, — all married. June 7, 1870, Mr. Banks lost 
his .second wife, this being the sixth time death had 
entered his home; yet with head i)owed in sorrow, 
and the light seemingly shut out of his home and 
heart, he submitted to the chastisement, and though 
bitter the bereavement could only say, "Thy will be 
done." 

In politics Mr. Banks is a member of the Repub- 
lican party. He has never been connected with any 
Christian church, and, though having passed his 
fourscore years, is quite active, and enjoys the fruits 
of his industrious early life. Respected by all who 
know him, with an tmtarnished reputation, and being 
thoroughly familiar with its early history, no one 
more fittingly rei)resents the pioneers of Shiawa.ssee 
County. 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 



281 



SECTION 28. 

Aei-es. 

George Jones, 1S3" 80 

George Sudden (State), IS.'iS 80 

Martha P.' EdJv, " -1858 120 

E. S. Tillson, " 1858 -10 

P. and G. Caruthers, 1859 120 

C. W. Sager, 180B 40 

Thomas Mungcr, 1808 40 

Francis Ackcrly (State), 1858 40 

" " 1S58 80 

SECTION 20. 

James Phelps, 1836 40 

Samuel Chappel, 1837 80 

R. Hopkins, 1847 80 

Peter Strohe IfiO 

Charles Kimberley, 1854 llio 

John Whaley, 1855 120 

SECTION 30. 

M. C. Patterson, IS,3C 233.92 

D. R. Prindel, 1830 72.24 

Peter Ewers, 1836 240 

R. Uopkins, 1849 SO 

SECTION 31. 

M.C.Patterson, 1830 160 

Peter Coster. 1837 160 

Ale.xandcr Oliver, 1837 234.08 

John Lutkins, 1837 73.72 

SECTION 32. 

Peter Coster, 1836 80 

W. S. Hoard, 1837 40 

J. 0. Hmkley, 1837 120 

George Jones, 1837 80 

Hiram Uaight, 1839 40 

M. Glover, 1839 40 

J. H. Desiness, 1841 40 

M. C. Merrill, 1853 40 

E. S. Tillson, 1854 40 

E. P. McCollom, 1854 40 

Amos Racheldor, 1855 40 

SECTION .-a 

Charles F. Coles (State) 40 

E. S. Tillson, " 1858 40 

Henry Woolevcn, 1836 80 

William Hoard, 1837 80 

Austin Spaulding, 1837 160 

William Mason, 1854 160 

S. H. Hoard, 1854 80 

William Cochran, 1855 40 

SECTION 34. 

George Sidway, 1836 160 

Henry Woolevcn, 1836 80 

Thomas lieall, 1836 160 

Thomas Curtis, 1837 80 

John Q. Adams (State) 40 

G. W. Graves, " 40 

John Reach, " 1865 40 

SECTION .35. 

Joseph Varnet, 1836 40 

Henry Hatchings, 1836 160 

Court Hutehings, 1836 80 

Gustavus nines, IS36 40 

William M.Warren, 1836 120 

Peter Kobcrtson, 1836 80 

Lucius Reach, IS39 40 

N. P. Harder, 1841 40 

Calvin Sweet, 1854 40 

SECTION 36. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 160 

Mason Phelps, 1835 160 

Jose]ih Visger, 1835 80 

Joseph Veruiett. 1836 40 

M. R. Martin, 1836 160 

B. B. Brigham, 1836 40 

SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS. 

The curliest settlers within the limits of Shiawiussee 
township were Messrs. A' L- ""J H. 0. Williams, who 
3G 



made a tour of exploration through the county in 1829, 
and in Aujjust of 1831 became residents upon land on 
section 25, which had been entered l)y the foniiev in the 
same year. This point wa.s subsequently known as the 
Shiawassee Exchange, and was undoubtedly the earliest 
purchase of land with a view to permanent settlement. 
The Williams brothers came through from Grand Blanc, 
Genesee Co., and were obliged to cut the way for their ox- 
teams, no roads at that time having been broken. Their 
wagons were laden with household utensils and material 
for building, which greatly facilitated them in working for 
themselves a comfortable habitation. 

The brothers encountered .some unfriendly demonstrations 
from the Indian chief Wasso, but soon established them- 
selves as traders, and controlled extensive business inter- 
ests in the county. The advent of the Messrs. Williams, 
and their influence upon the early development of the 
county of Sliiawa.ssee, has already been fully mentioned in 
the general history of the county, and in the separate 
history of tlie city of Owosso, which renders a review of 
their career unnecessary liere. 

The earliest settler who came for the purpose of es- 
tablishing permanently and exclusively as a farmer in the 
township was John I. Tinkelpaugh, who arrived with his 
family in May, 1833, and located upon section 2-t, on the 
farm at present owned by C. D. Chalker. This land was 
not entered by Mr. Tinkelpaugh, and it is" probable that 
Hosea Baker made the original purchase and transferred it 
to the subsequent owner, who had previously built upon it 
a log house and made a small clearing. He plowed a por- 
tion of the land along the river-bottom, and thus became the 
pioneer in agricultural occupations in the county, no fur- 
rows having as yet been u])turnod within its limits. Mr. 
and Mrs. Tinkelpaugh afterwards removed to Clinton 
County, where, in a serene old age, they enjoyed the re- 
sults which years of industry had brought. Mr. Tinkel- 
paugh died there in the fall of 1879. 

Henry S. Smith and a partner named Cooley came in 
the previous year, and with a small stock of marketable 
wares attempted the establishment of a trading-post below 
Shiawasseetown. In June of the same year Mr. Smith 
brought his family to the township, and for a while pursued 
the calling of a blacksmith. Later he removed to Owos.so, 
and followed the same occupation. 

In August, 1833, Hosea Baker and his son, Ambrose 
Baker, arrived from Bradford Co., Pa., having in the pre- 
vious April come to the county on a prospecting tour, and 
entered land on section 14, upon which the former settled. 
He also purchased much laud in the township for other 
parties. Mr. Baker had previously engaged a man to break 
the ground and assist in the erection of a log house, which 
was constructed of basswood logs, with strips of elmbark 
in lieu of shingles. A portion of the furniture of this 
cabin was of primitive construction, especially the bedstead, 
which was made of poles placed in holes bored into the 
logs, and supported at the opposite end by posts. This 
was fastened with strips of elm-bark, and though primitive 
in construction, served the purpose well. No roads made 
the township accessible at this early date, and the Indian 
trail marked by blazed trees aflbrded thp traveler but an 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



uncertain guide through the wilderness. One of the 
dau<;hters of Mr. Baker brought apple-seeds from the East 
and planted them here, which afterwards resulted in the 
growth of the first orchard in the township. Later, Mr. 
Baker procured apple-scions from the East, and grafted 
them upon stocks taken from the old Indian orchards, and 
thus raised a superior quality of fruit. The ladies of the 
family frequently chased the wolves from the door with 
brands of fire when they became too obtrusive, and the 
large bounty offered by tlie State rendered their capture a 
source of considerable profit. Three of these animals 
caught in a trap brought Mr. Baker the sum of ninety 
dollars. 

Aaron Swain, also a Pennsylvanian, came with Mr. Baker 
in 18o3, and removed to eighty acres, adjacent to the farm 
of the latter, on section 23. In his family was born the 
first child in the township. Miss Julia Swain. 

Lsaac M. Banks came from Niagara County in 1834, 
and located upon one hundred and sixty acres on sections 
26 and 27, his log house having been erected on the latter 
section. There were no roads at this time, and settlers 
were largely dependent upon the Indians for supplies of 
food. Tiie milling was done at Pontiac or Dexter. This 
necessitated a journey of two or more weeks, and on one 
occasion a neighbor was absent forty-two days. 

Orin Vary had preceded Mr. Banks by two weeks, and 
located upon section 21. With him he remained until a 
suitable habitation was constructed upon his own land. He 
was followed by his former neighbors, Jordan Holcomb, 
Ninion Clark, Orange Skinner, and John Herrick, who 
purchased farms in the township. In 1853, Mr. Banks 
erected a spacious hotel at the hamlet of Fremont, and be- 
came one of the popular landlords of Shiawassee, in which 
occupation he continued until 1870. He is still the ven- 
erable and honored postmaster of the place, having lived to 
witness the sudden development and still more rapid decay 
of the village. 

William Johnson came from Wayne County in 1835, 
but it was not until 1837 that he purchased eighty acres of 
land of E. C. Kimberly, having previously been an inmate 
of tlie family of Ephraim Wright. He soon after married 
the daughter of Mr. Wright, and began the labor of 
clearing. He made little progress at first, but ultimately 
made a well-improved farm. Mr. Johnson was one of the 
earliest voters, and participated in the organization of the 
township. 

William Newberry came to the township from Ohio in 
1836. He was by occupation a carpenter and joiner, and 
was employed by the Shiawassee Company to assist them 
in building, having known the various members of the 
company in Ohio. He labored in this capacity for a year 
or more and then removed to Owosso, where the IMessrs. 
Williams gladly availed themselves of his services. Hero 
he assisted in the erection of the first frame house in the 
village. In 1831) he moved to a farm of eighty acres pur- 
chased of Ephraim Wright, an early pioneer who had 
located upon section 13. Mr. Newberry constructed a 
frame house 22 by 28 feet in dimensions, which was first 
occupied by the family in 1840. He afterwards erected a 
substantial residence on his farm, and considerably increa.sed 



its dimensions. Mr. Newberry has established a reputation 
as one of the most scientific farmers in the county, and 
avails himself of all the modern iippliances for enhancing 
the productiveness and value of his land. An excellent 
system of drainage involving a length of ten miles has been 
introduced on his farm. 

J]phraim Wright, above alluded to, came early in 1836, 
and entered nearly the whole of section 13, upon which he 
removed and partially cultivated, building upon it a sub- 
stantial house. Zimri Finch also purchased a farm near 
by, on which he located, and on which he bestowed much 
hard labor. 

Lsaac Secord, a former resident of Washtenaw County, 
secured one hundred and sixty acres on section 18 in 1836. - 
While building a cabin the family made themselves com- 
fortable under a shelter of bark, it having been the month 
of June. James Phillips and Orin Vary were near neigh- 
bors. Mr. Secord's family have since removed from the 
township. 

In the fall of 1836, William M. Warren left the attrac- 
tive city of Rochester, N. Y., for the township of Shia- 
wassee, where he purchased one hundred and twenty acres 
on section 35. Later he removed to section 36. The 
country was entirely uncleared, and as there were no bridges 
he was obliged to ford the river ahead of the teams, and 
an infiint child was carried by him from Detroit, a distance 
of sixty miles, in his arms or placed in a handkerchief 
which was suspended from his neck. He began the labor 
of clearing at once, and at the expiration of the year had 
built a log house and improved eight acres. A pilgrimage 
to Pontiac was made for supplies, and the prevailing prices 
were such as to appall the settler who did not boast a 
plethoric wallet. Pork was sold at fifty dollars per barrel, 
while flour brought fifteen dollars, and often more, per bar- 
rel. At a later period John Herrick and Covert and 
Henry Hutchings were among his near neighbors. Mr. 
Warren still resides upon section 26, surrounded by his 
children, upon whom he has liberally bestowed the accu- 
mulations of years of industrious effort. 

Lucius Beach, a pioneer from Norwalk, Ohio, came to 
Shiawas.seetown in 1838, having, through the influence of 
his brother-in-law, Moses Kimball, purchased an interest 
in the Shiawassee Company, for which he paid one thousand 
dollars. He became manager of the mills and also the 
host of the rising hamlet. Mr. Beach, with his attractive 
and energetic wife, rendered this the most popular hostelry 
of the time. The house was often crowded, and on some 
occasions the capacity of the building was unequal to the 
demands upon it. As many as forty travelers frequently 
sought its hospitality on a single night. There the Circuit 
Court of the county first convened, and the spacious parlor 
was early opened to accord the youth of the township op- 
portunities of education. Mr. Beach afterwards purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres on section 36, upon which he 
also erected another large hotel, of which he was for many 
years the landlord. The homestead is now occupied by 
N. G. Phillips, with whom the widow of Mr. Beach re- 
sides. 

John Herrick came from Niagara County in 1837, and 
settled upon section 35, where he had liirty acres. He 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 



283 



cleared and improved it, and remained several years, after 
which his location was changed to Fremont, where eighty 
acres afforded him a comfortable home until his death in 
1877. Six children and the widow are still residents of 
the township. 

A. Van Auken, one of the most successful of the agri- 
culturists of Shiawassee, emigrated from Monroe Co., N. Y., 
to Washtenaw County in 1835, and to this township in 
1839, when he purchased of Charles Penney, of Jackson, 
one hundred and sixty acres on sections 24 and 13. He 
was in debt the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars on his 
arrival, which claim with close application to the work 
before him was soon liquidated. A cabin had already 
been built, which was occupied until a more spacious log 
structure could be erected, and sixteen acres yielded to the 
labor devoted to their improvement, having been speedily 
covered by growing crops. On one occasion Mr. Van 
Auken started for Pontiac for the purpose of disposing of 
a pair of cattle, and having been succ&ssful was obliged to 
return on foot, a distance of forty-five miles. The roads 
on this occasion were so obscure that in the darkness of 
the night he could only be guided by the sense of touch. 
Wheat was at this time often drawn to Yp.silanti, a distance 
of sixty-eight miles, and brought but sixty-five cents per 
bushel. Mr. Van Auken has now two hundred and sixty- 
five acres under a high state of cultivation. One of his 
near neighbors was Sidney Seymour, who had eighty acres 
on section 23, which he cleared and improved. 

The clergymen best remembered at this time were Elders 
Blanchard and Brighara, who conducted the earliest ser- 
vices at the houses of the settlers. Dr. Pattison was the 
pioneer physician, who practiced as early as 1836. Next 
came Dr. Harder, who settled in Newburg. 

Jordan Holcomb, a former resident of Ontario Co., N. Y., 
became a settler of Bennington in 1836, and two years 
later removed to section 35 in this township, where he 
located eighty acres. On this land ho built a log house, 
which is still occupied by him. With him came Aaron 
and Henry Hutchings, who shared with him the humble 
quarters he had prepared until a later period enabled them 
to better their condition. Mr. Holcomb has converted his 
land into a productive farm, and is one of the few survivors 
among the very early settlers. 

The following list embodies all the tax-payers in the 
township of Shiawa.ssee for the year 1840, with section and 
number of acres : 

Acres. 

J. S. Tinkelpaugh, section 24 75 

Myron Muijook, section 7 80 

P. P. Ewer?, section 30 400 

Alcxjmder Oliver, section 31 lo4 

M. C. Patterson, section 31 IRO 

John Diivis. section 34 160 

Peter Robertson, section 3ij SO 

Josepii V.innattcr, .section 36 40 

Trumbull Cary, section 36 and elsewhere 80 

Joseph Visger, section 12 36 

Lydia Hornell, section 3 80 

M. C. Pattison, section 4 123 

Henry Dwij^ht, section 4 124 

Ira Davenport, section 5 124 

Ilinnian Camp, sections 125 

Asa Sprague, section 8 240 

N. Lawrence, section 8 240 

Asa Sprague. section 7 234 

Charlutte Henry, section '.I ;i20 

liallard Ball, section 320 

iSamuel Moore, section U) 240 



Acres. 

E. R. Kearsley, section 10 24U 

E. Bachus, section 10 80 

N. Taylor, section 10 80 

Morgan L. Drake, section 11 107 

John Lawrence, section 36 40 

Jonathan Melvin, section 17 15 

H. Wright, sections 17 and 18 240 

A. Millingtnn, sections 19, 21, and elsewhere 240 

B. Noyes,section 21 80 

Titus llosmcr, section 21 80 

Alvah Ewers, section 22 320 

Consider Warner, section 23 IGO 

Joseph Parish, section 25 215 

Stevens, section 22 120 

L. B. Misner, section 25 80 

Peter (loilfroy, section 26 40 

II. Riopelle, section 26 40 

G. Bond, section 26 40 

D. R. Pringle, section 30 72 

En<jeh Jones, section 12 80 

Thomas Curtis, sections 27 and 34 160 

Spaulding, section 33 80 

George Kittridge, section 1 125 

Allen Park and others, section 1 125 

Augustus Boyd, section 1 87 

Henry W. Elhnan, section 2 125 

B. Q. Worthing, section 2 80 

James Pitcairn, section 2 80 

H. C. Walker, section 3 124 

M. W. Cogswell, section 3 SO 

Silas "Waruer, section 3 160 

Jose])h Bedford, section 13 69 

0. Wilson, section 14 160 

N. Taylor, section 15 80 

Alvah Ewers, section 15 80 

N. Lawrence, section 17 400 

Chester Blake, section 24 40 

C. W. Van Dougan, section 2 » 125 

William Laing, section 36 80 

.lo.^eph S. Jackson 

Elijah Lansing 

N. P. Harder, section 23 

J. S. Harder came from Cayuga, N. Y., in lSt4, and 
bought eighty acres on section 22, which he purchased of 
E. C. Kimberly. A small cabin had been erected and a 
portion of the land improved on his arrival, having for a 
brief time been occupied by Lester Wright. Mr. Harder 
still resides on the place, where he has increased his posses- 
sions to two hundred acres, and erected a substantial resi- 
dence. 

John Lemon, who had been a former resident of Oak- 
land County, came in 1843. The boundaries of his ftirm 
embraced eighty acres of uncleared land, which was located 
on section 15. His son came the year previous and made 
such improvements as rendered the spot habitable, and was 
followed by Mr. Lemon, who resided upon it until his death 
in 1849. It is now occupied by Mrs. John Lemon, his 
daughter-in-law. 

D. N. Sabin came from Seneca, N. Y., to Oakland 
County, and moved to Shiawassee township in 1848, pur- 
chasing eighty acres on section 10. John Lemon offered 
him hospitality while building, after which the work of 
clearing was begun and five acres improved at an early date. 
His near neighbor was David Taylor, who located upon the 
same section, where he had eighty acres. The Indians who 
were encamped in Burns occasionally pas.sed through, and 
much in the way of barter was done with them. Mr. Sa- 
bin still resides upon the farm and in the house early con- 
structed by him. 

C. D. Chalker, a former resident of Seneca Falls, N. Y., 
removed to Vernon in 183G, aud in 1849, having been 
united in marriage to Miss Caroline Baker, chose a home 
for his bride on section 23, in tiie township, wliere he pur- 
chased one hundred and forty acres, partially improved, of 



284 



HISTOKY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGA"N. 



Mrs. Ambrose Baker. Newburg was already well popu- 
lated, and there were few remaining evidences of the orig- 
inal primitive condition of the country. The farm was 
associated with many early reminiscences, having been the 
first soil of Shiawas.see to yield to the labor of the settler. 
Mr. Chalker, though a successful farmer, is largely engaged 
in other business enterprises. Mrs. Chalker, who was a 
daughter of Hosea Baker, has afforded by her keen recol- 
lection of facts much valuable aid to the writer. Her 
sister. Miss Susan Baker, was early married to William 
Black, though this event cannot with truth be chronicled 
among the early annals of Shiawassee, as the marriage was 
celebrated out of the township. 

Mr. Joseph Parmenter, whose early history is intimately 
connected with the settlement of Vcruon, removed in the 
.spring of 1849 to one hundred and two acres on section 2, 
purchased of James McGuire. Twenty acres of this had 
been cleared and a house built upon it. John Wallace, of 
Livingston County, was a new settler upon .section 2, as 
were also John O'Niel and Michael Driscoll. On the farm 
of William Black, opposite that of Mr. Parmenter, was an 
old field of the Indians which had been abandoned and was 
covered with a spontaneous growth of wild turnips. Mr. 
Parmenter often went to Pontiac for purposes of trade, as 
also to avail himself of «the excellent mill there located. 
He still occupies the farm upon which he first located. 

0. C. Moore became a Michigan pioneer in 1851, iiaving 
formerly resided in Lewis Co., N. Y., and located on one 
hundred and eighty-eight acres on section 10. Martin Post 
lived near by, with whom shelter was found while building 
a house. He al.so had other improvements made before he 
became a permanent resident. Mr. Moore made rapid 
progress in the cultivation of iiis land, and in 1867 erected 
his present attractive home, — one of the most inviting in 
the township. 

David A. Lindley, formerly of Livingston County, first 
located in Deerfield, in that county, and later in Shiawa.ssee, 
where, in 1852, he purchased one hundred and forty acres 
on section 9. William Hicks, a former occupant, had 
built a house, to which he removed, and also improved five 
acres. Few highways other than the State road were found 
in the north portion of the township, though Shiawassee 
took precedence of the other townsliips of the county in 
the general aspect of civilization which pervaded it. Mr. 
Lindley still retains his original purchase and resides 
upon it. 

William B. Ellsworth, from Livingston County, settled 
in 1854 upon eighty acres on section 21, which were pur- 
chased of G. W. Whitney. Upon this stood a substantial 
frame house, and some land had been cleared. Richard 
Jackson was one of the nearest settlers, and had made con- 
siderable progress in the improvement of his farm. Mr. 
Ellsworth now has four hundred acres, upon which many 
evidences of labor and care are apparent. 

Among other foremost settlers were David Bush, a promi- 
nent lawyer of Shiawasseetown and an early supervisor, 
Daniel Hall, Avery Shipman, Dr. William Weir, William 
Collins, Milan Glover, and Nicholas P. Harder, of whom 
the last-named two were both early oflScers of the town- 
ship. 



TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 
The exterior lines of township No. G north, of range 
No. 3 west, were surveyed by John Mullett in 1823. The 
township was erected, to include the entire county of 
Shiawassee, by an act of the Legislature, approved March 
23, 1836. On the 11th of March an act of the State 
Legislature was pas.sed organizing the three townships 
of Owo.sso, Barns, and Vernon, Owosso embracing the 
entire north half of the county, including townships 
7 and 8 north, of ranges 1, 2, 3, and 4 east, Vernon 
township 6 north, of range 4 east, and Burns town.ship 5 
north, of range 4 east, thus leaving Shiawassee as townships 
5 and 6 north, of ranges 1, 2, and 3 east. By an act of the 
State Legislature, approved March 6, 1838, town,ship 5 
north, of range 3 east, was organized as Antrim, and town- 
ships 5 and 6 north, of range 2 east, as Bennington. By 
an act of the Legislature, approved April 2, 1838, town- 
ships 5 and 6 north, of range 1 east, became Woodhull, 
reducing Shiawas.see to its present limits. By the provis- 
ions of the act erecting the township, the house of Hosea 
Baker was designated as the place of holding the first 
township-meeting, which was accordingly held there in 
April, 1836; but as the earliest records uf the township 
are mLssing, the result of that first election cannot be 
given, nor can any complete list of township officers be 
given prior to the year 1854. A partial list of the super- 
visors is, however, appended. The first township-meeting 
having taken place at the house of Hosea Baker, that 
gentleman was chosen supervisor for the years 1836 and 
1837, and Thomas Beal in 1838. The county commis- 
sioners met at the house of Lucius Beach from 1839 to 
1842, during which latter year David Bush was chosen 
supervisor, and re-elected in 1843, '44, and '45. Milan 
Glover was chosen in 1846-47, Aaron Swain in 1848, 
and Nicholas P. Harder in 1849-53. The township 
officers from that time until the present have been as fol- 
lows : 

1854. — Supervisor, Isaac Castle; Township Clerk, John 
Lemon ; Treasurer, Josiah Fuller ; School In- 
spector, G. M. lleynolds ; Director of Poor, 
Isaac Castle ; Justices, Alonzo Howard, J. E. 
Chase; Constables, Theodore Barnes, Collins 
Sargent, Oison Post. 
1855. — Supervisor, Isaac Castle ; Township Clerk, J. Q. 
Van Valkenburg ; Treasurer, Theodore Barnes ; 
Justice, J. E. Chase ; Highway Commissioners, 
William Johnson, H. Humphrey; School In- 
spector, J. Q. Van Valkenburg ; Directors of 
Poor, J. Goodspeed, A. P. Greenman ; Consta- 
bles, Theodore Barnes, George Colt. 
1856. — Supervisor, C. H. Leach ; Township Clerk, John 
S. Harder; Treasurer, Theodore Barnes; Justice, 

B. F. Bush ; Highway Commissioner, G. N. 
Merrill ; Directors of Poor, J. Goodspeed, Wil- 
liam Newberry ; School Inspector, T. F. Shelton ; 
Constables, H. C. Woodward, Theodore Barnes, 

C. M. Sargent. 

1857. — Supervisor, N. P. Harder; Township Clerk, J. S. 
Harder ; Treasurer, Theodore Barnes ; Justice, 
Elisha Brewster ; School Inspector, W. II. Sel- 




^I*" 





MKS. A. P. GUEENMAN. 



A. P. GUEEXMAN. 



AUGUSTUS P. GREENMAN. 



Among the early settlers in the township of Shia- 
wassee, Augustus P. Greennian holds a conspicuous 
position, both by reason of his early association with 
the county and his deservedly high character as a 
citizen. His father, Augustus Greenmau, was a na- 
tive of Rhode Island, and his mother, Mary Ann 
Shepard, was horn in Massachusetts. Their son, 
Augustus P., was born in Augusta, Oneida Co., N. Y., 
April 9, 181<», where tiic family located at an early 
day. He was atilicted when quite young by the loss 
of his fiither, aud when he had attained sufficient 
age assumed the management of the farm, mean- 
while devoting himself during the wiuter to such in- 
struction as was afforded by the common schools of 
the time. At the age of thirty-three he purchased 
a small farm at Alexander, Genesee Co., N. Y., and 



in 1844 bought land in the State of Miciiigan, em- 
bracing eighty acres in Genesee County and one 
hundred and sixty at Fremont, Shiawassee town- 
ship. 

Mr. Greenman's health having proved une(jnal to 
tlu^ arduous labor of the farm, lie went to New York 
and sought in travel and change of scene the benefit 
he ultimately received. Returning again to Mich- 
igan, lie has since been engaged in agricultural pur- 
suits. He married. May 23, 1852, Mrs. Almira 
Curtis, daughter of Isaac Holmes, of New York. 
Two sons have been born to them, both of whom 
reside with their parents. Mr. Greenmau is a Re- 
publitian in his political seutimcnts, and in religion a 
consistent member and generous supporter of the 
Baptist Church. 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 



285 



hiiii ; Highway Commissioner, E. Eddy; Direc- 
tors of Poor, William Newberry, J. Goodspeed ; 
Constables, IT. C. Woodward, William Hart, 
Thomas Barnes. 

1858.— Supervisor, N. G. Phillips; Town.ship Clerk, F. E. 
Sheldon ; Treasurer, George N. Merrill ; Justice, 
Alonzo Howard ; Highway Commissioner, E. E. 
Sheldon ; School Inspector, John Lemon ; Direc- 
tors of Poor, A. P. Harder, J. L. Simonson ; 
Constables, Theodore Barnes, Levi Morris, J. L. 
Banks. 

1859. — Supervisor, 0. F. Greenman ; Township Clerk, F. 
E. Sheldon ; Treasurer, T. H. Lemon ; Justice, 
J. E. Chase ; Highway Commissioner, J. S. 
Harder; School Inspector, G. M. Reynolds; 
Directors of Poor, William Newberry, John L. 
Simonson ; Constables, J. L. Banks, Francis 
Ackley, Levi Morris. 

1860. — Supervisor, George Sugden ; Town.ship Clerk, F. 

E. Sheldon ; Treasurer, G. N. Merrill ; Justice, 
Henry Peace ; School Inspector, William E,. Sel- 
1am ; Highway Commissioner, Enoch Eddy ; 
Constables, M. C. Doty, J. L. Banks, W. H. 
Hadcock. 

1861. — Supervisor, George M. Reynolds; Township Clerk, 

F. E. Sheldon ; Treasurer, George N. Merrill ; 
School Inspectors, George M. Reynolds, Thomas 
L. Sheldon ; Commissioner of Highways, E. E. 
Sheldon ; Justices of the Peace, Elisha Brewster, 
Alonzo H. Crandall ; Constables, Henry C. 
Woodward, M. C. Doty, E. W. Drum. 

1862. — Supervisor, George Sugden ; Township Clerk, 
Charles A. Osborne; Trea.surer, George N. Mer- 
rill ; Justices of the Peace, Francis B. Ackley, 
Ambrose Baker; Commissioner of Highways, 
John S. Harder; School Inspectors, T. F. Shel- 
don, F. E. Sheldon ; Constables, M. P. Gardner, 
Alonzo Johnson, Levi Morris, James Vanderhoof. 

1863. — Supervisor, George Sugden ; Clerk, C. A. Osborne ; 
Treasurer, William Johnson ; Justice of the 
Peace, William J. Mo.sely ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, J. L. Gardner ; School Inspector, G. M. 
Reynolds ; Constables, M. P. Gardner, H. A. 
Hall, George Drum, John Q. Adams. 

1864. — Supervisor, Oscar F. Greenman; Clerk, Henry A. 
Hart ; Treasurer, William John.son ; Highway 
Commissioner, E. E. Sheldon ; Justices of the 
Peace, Oscar C. Moore, Perry Trim ; School 
Inspector, William G. Smith ; Constables, B. P. 
Lemon, R. H. B. Morris, E. Wheeler. 

1865. — Supervisor, Austin A. Baldwin ; Township Clerk, 
Fordyce F. Potter; Treasurer, Albert Bain- 
bridge ; Justices of the Peace, King W. Fenton, 
Harvey Adams ; School Inspector, Frank Grid- 
ley ; Highway Commissioners, W. W. Bartlett, 
Freeman Howard ; Constables, Geo. W. Warren, 
Theodore Barnes, Levi Morris, Newton Linley. 

1866.— Supervisor, N. G. Phillips; Clerk, Peter C. Caru- 
thers; Trea.surer, F. E. Sheldon; Justices of 
Peace, Harvey Adams, W. G. Smith ; Highway 



Commissioner, D. N. Sabin ; School Inspector, F. 
E. Sheldon ; Constables, Charles E. Devins, 
John L. Banks, Levi Morris, Truman See. 

1867. — Supervisor, E. E. Sheldon ; Clerk, Peter C. Caru- 
thers ; Treasurer, F. E. Sheldon ; Justices of the 
Peace, William J. Mosely, C. H. Powell ; School 
Inspector, Frank Gridley; Highway Commis- 
sioners, C. H. Powell, E. Eddy ; Constables, David 
Kittle, R. H. B. Morris, John L. Banks, Alfred 
Hunt. 

1868.— Supervisor, E. E. Sheldon; Clerk, H. A. Hart; 
Treasurer, J. M. Gorham ; Justice of the Peace, 
Levi Morris ; School In.?pectors, E. J. Cook, C. 
A. Osborn ; Highway Commissioner, Hiram 
Davis ; Constables, George Cram, J. Q. Adams, 
R. H. B. Morris. 

1869. — -Supervi.sor, E. E. Sheldon ; Township Clerk, H. A. 
Hart ; Treasurer, Bruce Haight ; Justice of the 
Peace, Caleb H. Powell; Highway Commissioner, 
William Gunderman ; School Inspectors, J. H. 
Hartwell, F. E. Sheldon ; Con.stables, R. H. B 
Morris, David Kittle, J. S. Matthews. 

1870.— Supervisor, E. E. Sheldon; Township Clerk, H. 

A. Hart; Treasurer, J. S. Harder; Justices of 
the Peace, William Johnson, James H. Hartwell ; 
Highway Commissioners, J. S. Alcott, H. R. 
Waldron ; School Inspector, Frank Whelan ; 
Constables, R. H. B. 3Iorris, E. O. Place, Wil- 
liam Merlin, J. L. Banks. 

1871.— Supervisor, E. E. Sheldon; Clerk, H. A. Hart; 
Treasurer, F. H. Potter; Justice of the Peace, 
P. V. Brake; Highway Commissioner, H. R. 
Waldron ; School Inspectors, F. E. Sheldon, 
James Heath ; Drain Commissioner, Harvey 
Adams; Constables, R. H. B. Morris, G. H. 
Crane, Joseph L. Morris, William 11. Van 
Otter. 

1872.— Supervisor, B. E. Sheldon; Clerk, H. A. Hart; 
Treasurer, F. II. Potter; Justice of the Peace, 
J. W. Forsyth; Highway Commissioners, Peter 
V. Brink, James Heath ; School Inspectors, F. 
E. Sheldon, Charles Watson ; Drain Commis- 
sioner, William S. Hodges ; Constables, R. H. 

B. Morris, William J. Kent, Sylvester Babcock, 
Edwin Place. 

1873 — Supervisor, E. E. Sheldon; Township Clerk, H. 
A. Hart; Treasurer, P. H. Potter; Justice of 
the Peace, P. C. Caruthers ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, F. E. Sheldon ; Drain Commissioners 
H. R. Waldron, 1'. B. Reynolds; Constables, 
II. S. Alien, Charles Launcy, George H. Berrin 
John L. Banks. 

1874. — Supervisor, C. S. Watson ; Township Clerk, A. F. 
Litchfield; Treasurer, F. H. Potter; Justice of 
the Peace, Charles Coleman ; Highway Commis- 
sioners, J. M. Harder, John Lemon ; School In- 
spectors, F. E. Sheldon, John W. For.syth • 
Drain Commissioner, F. E. Sheldon ; Con.stables 
E. W. Loouii.s, John L. Banks, J. \V. Morris 
S. D. Griffith. 



286 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1875. — Supervisor, Cliarles S. Watson ; Clerk, A. F. Litch- 
field ; Treasurer, F. H. Potter ; Justices of the 
Peace, 0. C. Moore, James H. Hartwell ; High- 
way Commissioner, 0. C. Moore ; Superin- 
tendent of Schools, A. F. Litchfield ; School 
Inspector, Frank Sergeant ; Drain Commissioner, 
Samuel S. Morris; Constables, J. W. Morris, 
Dexter Morris, Irwin W. Loomis, Aaron De 
Frize. 

1876. — Supervisor, Charles S. Watson ; Township Clerk, 

A. D. Topping; Treasurer, Fordyce H. Potter; 
Justices of the Peace, William J. Mosely, J. B. 
Curtis, John L. Banks ; Highway Commissioner, 
E. E. Sheldon ; Superintendent of Schools, 
George M. Reynolds ; School Inspector, Prank 
Sargent; Drain Commissioner, J. L. Bunks; 
Constables, William H. Van Otter, J. Q. Adams, 
E. W. Drum, A. D. Herrick. 

1877. — Supervisor, Charles S. Watson ; Clerk, J. H. De 
Hart ; Treasurer, F. H. Potter ; Justice of the 
Peace, William W.Moore; Highway Commis- 
sioner, William Johnson ; Superintendent of 
Schools, G. M. Reynolds ; School Inspector, 
Frank Sargent; Drain Commissioner, A. D. 
Herrick ; Constables, S. P. Smedley, Eiias 
Brannon, William H. Van Otter, Ebenezer 
Drum. 

1878. — Supervisor, Charles S. Watson; Township Clerk, 
J. H. De Hart; Treasurer, P. H. Potter; Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Peter C. Caruthers ; Highway 
Commissioner, Seth E. Sheldon ; Drain Commis- 
sioner, A. P. Greeuman ; Justice of the Peace, 
H. V. Manzer ; Superintendent of Schools, 
Charles S. Watson ; School Inspector, Frank 
Sargent; Constables, J. Q. Adams, P. C. Fer- 
guson, William H. Van Otter, George E. Mills. 

1879. — Supervisor, C. S. Watson ; Township Clerk, J. H. 
De Hart; Treasurer, P. H. Potter; Justices, J. 

B. Curtis, Albert D. Topping; Highway Com- 
missioner, E. 0. Place ; Drain Commissioner, 
J. B. Curtis; Superintendent of Schools, G. M. 
Reynolds ; School Inspector, F. Sargent ; Con- 
stables, George E. Mills, R. H. B. Morris, Wil- 
liam H. Van Otter, C. B. Hoard. 

1880. — Supervisor, Charles S. Watson ; Township Clerk, 
James J. Spence ; Treasurer, Charles A. Whe- 
lan ; Justice, William R. Sutton ; Highway 
Commissioner, P. H. Potter; Superintendent of 
Schools, F. C. Greenman ; School Inspector, 
Frank Sargent; Drain Commissioner, Henry 
Williams ; Constables, Henry Herrick, Leonard 
Morris, Chauueey Hoard, R. H. B. Morris. 

EARLY HIGUWAYS. 
The first road that traversed the township was known as 
the Ponliac and Grand River road. It was the chief 
thoroughfare of the day, and entered Shiawassee at the 
extreme southeast corner, passing in an oblique line to the 
centre of section 26 ; thence slightly deviating from a 
straight course, it ran (u the centre of the east section-lino 



of section 20 ; thence it pursued a westerly course with a 
slight variation to the south, and passed out of the town- 
ship on section 19. The earliest recorded road is without 
date, and no mention is made of the surveyor. It is de- 
scribed as beginning at the quarter stake on section 36, 
town 6 south, of range 3 east, and running north eighty- 
seven degrees east forty chains; thence north three degrees 
west fifty-one chains and twenty-five links ; thence north 
twelve degrees east eighteen chains twenty-five links; thence 
north fourteen and a half degrees east seven chains and 
fifty links; thence north three degrees east five chains; 
thence north sixteen and a half degrees east and seventy- 
five chains to its termination. 

The second recorded road began at the centre of the 
highway leading past N. W. Phelps' on the section-line, 
and pursued a northerly course to the village of Shiawassee. 
A road was surveyed under the direction of James Phelps 
and Ephraim Wright, highway commissioners, April 12, 
1837, " Beginning on the south line of the vilUge-line of 
Shiawasseetown at the centre of Chestnut Street; thence 
running south two and a half degrees east thirty-two chains 
fifty" links; thence north eighty-seven and a half degrees 
west thirty-one chains thirty-five links ; thence south two 
and a half degrees east one hundred and fifty-six chains ; 
thence south twenty and a half degrees east twenty-five 
chains fifty links ; thence south fourteen and a half degrees 
east fourteen chains twenty-five links ; thence south seven 
and a half degrees west thirty chains .seventy-five links ; 
thence north twenty-three degrees east seven chains ; thence 
south twenty-nine and a half degrees east thirteen chains 
seventy-five links ; thence running south two and a half 
degrees east ninety-five chains to the Red Cedar trail." 

THE SHIAWASSEE EXCHANGE. 

Soon after the coming of the brothers A. L. and B. 0. 
Williams a double log house was erected by them on the 
Shiawassee River, on, or near the cast township line. This 
building was in use as a trading-post, and in 1835 a 
dwelling was attached twenty by fifty feet in dimensions, 
which was occupied by A. L. Williams and wife as a resi- 
dence. It was in 1837 routed to and later purchased by 
Andrew Parsons and Lemuel Brown for a hotel, and was 
so occupied by them for several years, Levi Rowe having 
been the landlord, who was in turn succeeded by .others. 
Connected with this house was a frame barn built by Henry 
Leaoli, in 1835, the first in the county, the lumber for 
which was all drawn from Oakland County on wagons. 
Soon after its first occupancy as a public-house, Messrs. 
Morehouse, Bell, Toll, and others arrived from Ohio, and 
established a banking enterprise under the title of the " Six- 
change Bank of Shiawassee." By an act of the State 
Legislature passed Dec. 30, 1837, three bank commissioners 
were appointed, who were to begin their ofiicial duties on 
the 10th of January, 1838, the Shiawassee Exchange 
Bank having meanwhile based their business tran.sactions 
upon specie certificates then in use by them to the amount 
of twenty-seven thousand dollars. During a visit by the 
commissioners to the bank, and a consequent examination 
of their reserve, a small amount of paper and seven coppers 
were discovered, against which were bills in circulation to 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 



287 



the amount of twenty-two thousand two hundred and sixty- 
one dollars, thirty per cent, of the capital stock having 
been required by law. It will readily be seen that on the 
discovery of this fact the Exchange Bank sliared tlie fate 
of similar wildcat enterprises of the day, and ceased to 
exist. 

The " bank" having had its quarters in the building 
erected by A. L. Williams, that became known by the name 
of the bank itself, — " Shiawassee Exchange," and the 
designation was also applied to some extent to the locality 
as well as to the house. 

EARLY SCHOOLS. 

The earliest school in the township and in the county of 
Shiawassee was opened at the tavern of Lucius Beach, in 
Shiawassetown, in December, 1839. The county at that 
time ofi'ering no educational advantages, ]Mrs. Beach deter- 
mined to open her house for a school and secured the ser- 
vices of Mr. Wilcox, later familiarly known as Judge Wil- 
cox, who conducted the enterprise at a compensation of 
forty dollars per month for four months. The school opened 
with seven scholars, four of whom belonged to the family 
of Mr. Beach and three to William Hart. The second day 
the number was inereased to twenty-five, and the beginning 
of the second week enrolled a class of forty, many of whom 
rode a distance of several miles. 

A very early school was also taught at the house of 
Aaron Swain, on section 23, by Miss Mary Ann Post, and 
it is possible this may have antedated the one already men- 
tioned, though no date is given by which the fact can be 
determined. 

The tirst teachers examined and found qualitied to teach 
primary school, and who received certificates in 1844, were 
Miss Anna Lyman, Miss Esther L. Howe, Jliss Clarissa 
Pond, Miss Julia Ann Dorsey, and Charles D. Parkiil. 
In 1845, William Lovejoy, Irene H. Beach, Maria Wright, 
and Saniautha Chapin were also candidates. 

The State money of 1841, as apportioned on the Gtli of 
July, 1842, by the school inspectors, was as follows: 

District. Scliulais. Amount. 

No. 1 2G S8.a2 

" 2 24 7.68 

" 3 24 7.68 

" 4 30 9.60 

" 5 26 8.32 

•' 6 36 1U.88 

Totals 164 $52.48 

The library- fund for 1843 was divided, and books pur- 
chased as follows : 

District. Volumes. 

No. 1 7 

" 2 8 

" 3 8 

" 4 7 

" 5 7 

" 6 2 

Jacob S. Harder and William Kimball were school in- 
spectors at the time. 

On Nov. 14, 1837, the school inspeetuis convened for 
the puiposc of dividing the luwiiship of Shiawassee into 
school districts, it then having comprised township G north, 



of ranges 1, 2, 3 east, and townships 5 north, of ranges 1, 
2, 3 east. The present Shiawassee was divided as follows : 

District No. 1 embraced sections 1, 2, 11, 12. 

District No. 2, sections 13, 14, 23, 24. 

District No. 3, sections 25, 26, 35, 36. 

District No. 4, sections 15, 16, 21, 22, 27, 28, 33, 34. 

District No. 5, sections 9, 10, 34. 

District No. 6, sections 5, 6, 7, 8. 

District No. 7, sections 17, 18, 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, 32. 

The present school territory of the township is divided 
into five whole and five fractional districts, over which pre- 
side, as a board of directors, J. N. Morris, F. H. Potter, 
N. G. Phillips, H. H. Hart, Isaac T. Gould, I. C. Heath, 
J. B. Ellsworth, Charles S. Watson, W. S. Hodges, Wil- 
liam Hughes 

Five hundred and twenty-eight scholars received instruc- 
tion during the past year, of whom eleven were non resi- 
dents. Nine male and nineteen female teachers are em- 
ployed in the various districts. The school property of 
Shiawassee includes two brick and nine fi'ame buildings, 
some of which are of modern architecture and imposing 
proportions. 

CHURCH HISTORY. 

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 
on Maple River was organized July 13, 1839. Its con- 
stituent members were Deacon Ezekiel Cook, Isaac Castle, 
Bethuel Hayward, John D. Overton, Myron Murdock, 
Oisinus Doty, Barbara A. Cook.Ncana Cook, Ada Wellman, 
Harriet Castle, Anna Doty, Louisa Vanwoemer, and Eleanor 
Vanwoemer. 

A council of recognition met on Jan. 22-23, 1840, and 
extended the hand of fellowship to the church on behalf 
of the denomination. Elders James Eldridge, S. Barnes, 

John Martin, White, Delano, J. Gamball, 

Call, George Reynolds, E. E. Bayliss, and George Atchinson 
have officiated as its preachers and pastors. 

At first the church held its meetings in the school-house 
near its present house of worship. In the year 18GS the 
work of building an edifice was undertaken, and the structure 
was completed the following year at a cost of about two 
thousand seven bundled dollars. 

In reviewing the history of the society it is found that 
the summers and winters of church experience have alter- 
nated with pretty uniform regularity. Once, five years 
after its organization, a motion to dissolve the church was 
made and sustained ; but at a subsequent meeting it was 
rescinded. Since that time it has passed througli many 
seasons both of spiritual depression and spiritual elation 
and fervor. 

Several of the original standiird-bcarers are deceased ; 
others still have removed to neighboring churches. Only 
one — Deacon Ezekiel Cook — now remains a member. The 
growth of the church has been slow. Six years after its 
organization the number of its membership rose to forty- 
five. In 1852 it had decreased somewhat ; in 1863 sixty- 
four members were reported; in 1870, seventy-six; and in 
1880 it numbers ninety-one upon its roll. 

The members of the church and Sabbath-school sustain 
an efficient temperance organization. 



288 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



NEWBURG METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
A class was organized very early in Newburg, but the 
date of its formation has passed from the recollection of the 
present members. The present church edifice was erected 
in 1865 under the ministrations of Rev. Isaac Crawford, 
meetings having previously been held in the brick school- 
house of the hamlet. The pastors in succession since the 

departure of Rev. Mr. Crawford have been Rev. Shank, 

Rev. Whitcomb, Rev. May, Rev. Charles Aus- 



Richards, Rev. ■ 



— Howard, Rev. Pierce, 
Lang, and the present 



tin, Rev. ■ 

Rev. • Thompson, Rev. 

minister in charge, Rev. Fred. Strong. The trustees are 
J. S. Harder, J. L. Gardner, P. C. Caruthers, C. P. Dev- 
ereaux, and William Johnson. 

A Sabbath-school, with fifty scholars, is maintained, 
which convenes each Sabbath at the church, John S. 
Harder being the active superintendent. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church in Shiawassee was or- 
ganized in 1878, under the direction of Rev. Mr. Tedman, 
of Byron, who conducted services in the hall of the village 
hotel during the winter, and in tiie adjoining grove when 
the weather permitted. Meetings had been held the year 
previous, but the class was not regularly formed until 1878. 
Ground was eai'ly selected for a church, and arrangements 
with reference to the building of a church edifice partially 
perfected, but circumstances intervened to arrest the further 
progress of the work. In the year 1880 another site was 
chosen, and measures are now being taken for the erection 
of a building which will cost two thousand dollars when 
completed. The present pastor is Rev. R. C. Lanning, of 
Byron, and the board of trustees embraces the following 
gentlemen : Hiram Elton, J. S. Simonson, William War- 
ren, N. G. Phillips, John Warren, N. S. Van Tuyl, Charles 
Drum. 

SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH. 

The church of the Seventh-Day Adventists was early or- 
ganized in the township of Antrim by Elders S. Lawrence 
and Corliss, with the ibllowing membership : J. B. Trim, 
Elizabeth Trim, M. Banks, 0. F. Olmstead, Melissa 01m- 
stead, Laura Allison. Services were at first held at Hag- 
gerty's school-house, in the township of Antrim, and con- 
tinued until 1879, when a church edifice was erected in 
Bancroft, the organization having been removed to that 
place the year previous. The pastors in succession have 
been Elders Corliss, Miller, Stewart, Jones, and White. 
The trustees are 0. F. Olmstead, M. Banks, Edgar Rathbun. 

SHIAWASSEETOWN. 

The village of Shiawassectown may be said to have been 
originated by Charles Bacon, an adventurer who emanated 
from Huron Co., Ohio, and succeeded so far in iiisjiiring 
confidence in the minds of several of his acfjuaiutanees as 
to induce them to embark in the purchase of lands in 
Shiawassee township. A company was formed, embracing 
the following individuals: Simeon B. Sturgis, William D. 
Calvin, Charles Bacon, Moses Kimball, Tluiddeus B. Sturgis, 
and A. R. Hart. Mr. Bacon was clothed with power for 
the purchase of nearly six hundred acres of land in behalf 



of the company, whose acknowledged agent he was, and 
for which land he averred the sum of seventeen thousand 
dollars was paid. As the largest shareholder he took the 
lead in the preliminary labor of surveying, building, and 
improving, and the dense forests soon yielded to the pro- 
gressive spirit evinced by the founders of the prospective 
city. The survey of the land was made in 183G, and re- 
corded in Oakland County, with which Shiawassee was 
early associated for judicial purposes, and an extensive 
town was marked out, having two public squares and many 
broad streets, named after the leading cities of the Union. 

Marcus Bump, Joseph Jackson, and William Newberry 
came from Ohio in 1836, and engaged in the erection of a 
saw-mill, which was managed in the company's behalf by 
several parties in succession. A building was next erected, 
forty feet square and two stories high, to be used as a store. 
It was converted, however, in response to the popular need 
of the time, into a tavern, and Lucius Beach became the 
popular landlord, though Dr. W. Z. Blanohard had been 
its proprietor for a brief time at an earlier date. A card- 
ing-mill was soon after built, many smaller dwellings sprang 
up, and a store, which controlled an extensive trade, was 
opened in a log building erected for the purpose, and its 
busine.ss interests managed by Mr. Bacon. Elisha Brew- 
ster, the second sheriff elected in the county, became in- 
terested in the enterprise and took up his residence in the 
hamlet. The early courts were held on two occasions at 
Shiawasseetown, and justice was dispensed in the halls of 
Lucius Beach's tavern. Mr. Bacon was prodigal in his 
patronage, the town seemed destined to a rapid growth, 
especially with the chances for the removal of the State 
capital in its favor, and the stockholders were sanguine of 
the success of their enterprise when Mr. Brewster deemed 
it proper to summon Mr. Moses Kimball, one of the in- 
terested parties, to the scene of action. A subsequent in- 
vestigation of the company's books revealed the fact that 
Mr. Bacon had paid but seven thousand dollars for the 
lands on which the plat was located. Mr. Kimball re- 
mained to settle the aff"airs of the company, and after a 
varied and sad experience found himself a landed pro- 
prietor and owner of the village and adjoining lands, with 
the exception of eighty acres later known as the Drum 
farm and forty acres now in possession of William New- 
berry, formerly held by Mark Bump and Matthews re- 
spectively. 

Mr. Kimbull with his family took up his residence in 
the village, and his business talent was devoted to the 
restoration of confidence among the townspeople and the 
development of future enterprise at the place. In 1837, 
however, death cut short his labors, and with his departure 
ended the advancement of the attractive village of Shia- 
wa.sseetown. The beautiful maples along its streets are 
the only remaining landmarks of its spasmodic growth and 
untimely decadence. 

NEWBUliG. 

Hosca Baker having come to the township in 1833, and 
purchased the larger portion of the land between Shiawas- 
seetown and Newburg, may be regarded as the founder of 
the hamlet of that name. He erected the earliest lo^ house 



SHIAWASSEE TOWNSHIP. 



289 



and likewise the first frame house, and in 1836 built a 
saw-mill, which was the pioneer mill of the county. To 
the raising of this mill, settlers came for a distance of 
twenty miles, and were obliged to remain for the night to 
complete the labor. A melancholy accident occurred on 
this occasion in the death of an individual who volunteered 
his assistance: one of the heavy timbers having fallen upon 
him. llis name is not remembered, though this death is 
recalled as the first in the township. 

The first store in Newburg was erected by Ambrose 
Baker, aad later a flouring-mill was built which was subse- 
quently burned. 

Benjamin Lemon soon after built a store and became one 
of the merchants of the place, and a tavern was opened by 
Mr. Sheers. Henry Smith was a very early blacksmith, 
and for a long period monopolized that business in the vil- 
lage. 

A post-ofiBce was established at the hamlet, with John 
Grumley as postmaster, though the mail was not .so volumi- 
nous as to render his labors arduous. The present ofiicial 
is C. P. Devereaux. 

The church under the auspices of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Conference was built in 1865, in which services are 
regularly maintained. Newburg seems to have shared 
the fate of its neighbor Shiawasseetown in the decay of its 
business enterprise. Though not projected with the same 
pomp and circumstance, its present condition is but a rem- 
iniscence of the former early prosperity which it enjoyed. 

FREMONT. 

The hamlet of Fremont, originally platted as the village 
of Florence, was surveyed Nov. 24, 1841, by Nelson Ferry 
for John W. Gilbert and Isaac M. Banks, and the plat re- 
corded Jan. 6, 1842. It may be briefly described as situa- 
ted on the Grand Eiver road, on sections 26 and 27. It 
embraced sixteen blocks, which contained one hundred and 
twenty lots four rods by eight rods in dimensions, the 
streets having been four rods wide excepting outside streets, 
which were two rods wide. 

Mercantile enterpri.se was commenced soon after by the 
advent of two peddlers, whose names are not now recalled. 
Thay erected a large store and for two years conducted an 
extensive business which proved very luciative. At the 
expiration of that time, having desired to seek a fresh field 
for their enterprise, the business was sold to John Gilbert, 
who became purchaser of their stock and tlie leading mer- 
chant of the place. Stores were opened successively by 
Jeptha Gorham and Henry Hart, who were also among the 
active business men of the place. 

The prospects of the village were so flattering that very 
soon three taverns were erected by John W. Gilbert, Jotham 
Goodspeed, and Isaac M. Banks respectively, each one of 
whom became landlord of his own house. William Herrick, 
Charles Sidway, and George B. Whitney were blacksmiths, 
Mr. Sidway combining also the business of a wagon-maker. 

The Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad was opened in 
1856, and with its completion and the con.se(|uent diversion 
of the business of Fremont to other channels, the advance- 
ment and further development of the hamlet was ended. 
The village post-office, with the venerable Isaac M. Banks 
37 



as postmaster, is now the only centre of life and activity in 
this once promising locality. 

VILLAGE OF BANCROFT. 

The land upon which the village of Bancroft .stands was 
originally owned by N. G. Phillips and W. M. Warren, 
the first plat having been made by G. W. Warren, A. G. 
Warren, and N. G. Phillips. This plat was never recorded, 
and Mr. Phillips subsequently purchased the interest of the 
remaining parties, and employed Andrew Huggins to make 
a second plat, which was accomplished April 28, 1877, and 
recorded May 8th of the same year. A subdivision of a 
portion of this plat was made March, 1880, and recorded 
on the 18th day of the same month. 

The Hemenway addition to the village of Bancroft was 
surveyed Blarch, 1878, by Andrew Huggins for Hiram P. 
Hemenway, and recorded June 24, 1878. It may be de- 
scribed as embracing about ten acres lying south of the 
railroad and west of the original plat. 

The Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad, which had been 
previously projected and gave an impetus to the growth 
and development of the village, was completed in January, 
1877, and a depot established at Bancroft; but no agent 
was at first appointed to transact its business. N. S. Van 
Tuyl came in April of the same year, and erected a frame 
dwelling, the first on the plat (excepting, perhaps, two or 
three log huts). He embarked in lumbering interests, and 
was seriously inconvenienced by the absence of a railroad 
agent, which necessitated the payment of freight charges at 
Flint or Durand. Later, H. M. Billings acted as station 
agent, and is now also the village postmaster. Simeon 
Kent very soon after engaged in building, and J. L. Simon- 
son and Sweet each erected a store, having engaged 

in mercantile pursuits. At the same time N. G. Phillips 
and J. L. Roberts advanced the interests of the village by 
the erection of buildings. Mr. Phillips also, in 1878, con- 
structed of brick a spacious and very completely appointed 
hotel, which is one of the most imposing edifices in the 
place. The fall of 1877 witnessed the erection of a saw- 
mill, which was followed by two planing-mills, and later a 
flouring-mill. A school-house of extended proportions was 
erected in 1879, in which Philo Dexter and Miss Josie 
Purdy are the instructors. 

The physicians of the place are Drs. N. B. Knapp, W. 
B. Fox, Harvey, and Gates. 

Flouring- 31il/s. — The present building was originally con- 
structed by Thomas Copeland as an elevator in 1879, and 
by him converted in 1880 into a flouring-mill. A steam- 
engine of thirty-horse power is employed, which enables 
the mill to grind twelve bushels of wheat and thirty bushels 
of feed per hour. Two run of stones are used, which are 
principally engaged with custom-woik, though a fair patron- 
age is extended to the mill by the merchants of the village. 

Elevator of J. L. Roberts. — Tliis enterprise was begun 
in 1877, and the building erected with special reference to 
loading grain. A side-track has been extended which 
connects with the main line of the Chicago and North- 
eastern Railroad, enabling the proprietor to avail himself 
of superior advantages in the .shipment of grain. The 



290 



HISTOKY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



power is furnished by horses, and affords a capacity of two 
thousand bushels per day. Wool as well as grain is exten- 
sively dealt in, and both commodities are largely sliipped. 

Plaimig-jVi/h. — The mill at present owned by Messrs. 
Jackson & Tyler was originally constructed by John Lat- 
son, and by him sold to J. Athcrton, the present firm hav- 
ing become owners in 1880. The motive-power is supplied 
by an engine of fifteen-horse power, which affords the mill 
a capacity of twenty-five thousand feet of planing per 
day, and one thousand feet of moulding can be done p«r 
hour. The mill, which does custom-work almost exclusively, 
depends largely upon the adjacent country for its patronage. 
Messrs. Johnson & Symes also carry on an extensive saw- 
ing, planing, and moulding business, and find both material 
and market near. 

Elevator of Watson, Obert & Co. — This firm erected in 
1879 an extensive warehouse and elevator, which has a 
capacity of ten thousand bushels of grain, and is operated 
by horsepower. They are also large dealers in wool, lum- 
ber, flour, and country produce. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



WILLIAM NEWBERRY. 

Mr. Newberry may be regarded as a conspicuous example 
of the successful and self made man. Having been left 
entirely dependent upon his own industry, he has by saga- 
city, prudence, and application established himself as a 
strong influence in the community of formers resident in 
Shiawassee County, and one of the most successful and 
independent of their number. His father, John New- 
berry, was a farmer in Warwick, Orange Co., N. Y., and 
married, in 1811, Miss Sallie Fancher, who was a native of 
the State of Connecticut. Their son William, the eldest 
in a family of seven children, was born April 4, 1812, in 
Warwick, N. Y., where the family remained until 1827, 
when Ohio presented attractions and induced their removal, 
to Lorain County, a portion of the State familiarly known 
as the Western Reserve, where Mr. Newberry, the fother, 
died in 1 852, at the age of sixty-three years. The death 
of Mrs. Newberry occurred in 1876, at the advanced age 
of eighty-six years. 

Their son William availed himself of the limited advan- 
tages a district school afforded in his early youth, and later, 
when a respite from labor permitted, continued his studies. 
In the spring of 1863, at the age of twenty-one years, he 
acquired the trade of carpenter and joiner at the village of 
Huron, Ohio. Here he was sought by the agent of the 
Shiawassee County-Seat Company and induced to repair to 
Michigan to assist in the building of the prospective city 
to he located at Shiawasseetown. Mr. Newberry continued 
to follow his trade for a period of fifteen years, in which 
thorough knowledge combined with practice had made him 
skillful, meanwhile having purchased eighty acres of land 
in Shiawassee township and obtained credit for the larger 
portion of it. This land, which was unimproved, has by 



his energy been brought to a high state of cultivation. A 
careful system of drainage, many miles in extent, has ren- 
dered it very fruitful, while the annual yield is much in 
advance of that of other lands in the county, and thereby 
proves the wisdom of his judicious system of tillage. 
During the period that Mr. Newberry pursued his trade he 
was for a time a resident of Owosso, and assisted in the 
construction of the earliest buildings in that city. 

After erecting a frame dwelling on his land, he was in 
1839 united in marriage to Miss Mary Parmenter, of Ver- 
non, whose birth occurred in Vernon, Vt., July 24, 1814. 
Seven children were born to them, as follows : Sarah, now 
Mrs. John Wilkinson ; Harriet, now Mrs. C. S. Pratt, 
whose husband was killed by a painful accident ; Elizabeth, 
now Mrs. William S. Wilkinson; Rebecca A., now Mrs. C. 
A. Whelan ; James, who died Sept. 3, 1876, aged twenty- 
five years ; John and David, who both reside at home. 

Mr. Newberry's farm now embraces two hundred and 
thirty-seven acres, which is cultivated under his immediate 
supervision. He is in politics a strong Republican, and 
regards his allegiance as belonging to the party with which 
he affiliates. His vote, as a matter of principle, is there- 
fore always Republican. Both Mr. and Mrs. Newberry are 
worshipers with the Baptist congregation of their town- 
ship, the latter being an active member of the church. 



JOHN WHALEY. 



The subject of this brief sketch is a native of the old 
historic county of Saratoga, where he was born in Day 
township, Aug. 30, 1814, his father, P]benezer Whaley, 
being a resident of that county and a millwright by trade. 

In 1838, Mr. Whaley moved to Michigan, purchasing 
eighty acres of land in Perry township. He remained 
there two years, and then removed to Shiawassee, pur- 
chasing the farm upon which he now resides for one 
shilling per acre. It consists of one hundred and twenty 
acres, in a high state of cultivation. Mr. Whaley, being 
very much interested in the improvement of his neighbor- 
hood and township, gives much time and money to public 
improvements ; and was the first man to set on foot the 
making of roads and draining of lands in his section of the 
county. 

Nov. 30, 1845, he was united in marriage to Miss Clarissa 
Tenyberry, also a native of the State of New York, where 
she was born Sept. 12, 1826. Their family consists of the 
following-named children : Jerry, born Jan. 11, 1847 ; died 
in the hospital at Knoxville, Tenn., Feb. 20, 1865; Ca- 
milla, born Aug. 30, 1848; John, born April 20, 1850; 
Mason, born June 3, 1854 ; Isabella, born March 15, 1857; 
Esther, born May 9, 1860 ; Abraham, born Dec. 22, 1863 ; 
and R. T., born March 11, 1867. 



I 



.^ 

1 

to 



3: 




SCIOTA TOWNSHIP. 



291 



CHAPTER XLI. 
SCIOTA TOWNSHIP.* 

Description, and Settlement of the Township — Orgnnization and List 
of Officers — Early Township Roads— Schools — The Village of 
Laingsburg — Village Incorporation and Officers — Churches — Post- 
Offices — Bank— "-Secret Orders — Tragic Incidents, 

SciOTA township, numbered town 6 north, in range 1 
east, lies upon the western border of Shiawassee County, 
and has upon the north the town of Middlebury, upon the 
south the town of Woodhull, upon the east Bennington, 
and upon the west the Clinton County line. 

Sciota is a prosperous and productive agricultural town. 
It contains many fine farms and handsome residences, and 
is a region of much natural beauty. There is on the Jack- 
son, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad, which crosses the town- 
ship, a lively village called Laingsburg, containing about 
eight hundred people, and transacting a good deal of busi- 
ness with a wide tract of outlying country. Churches and 
schools are abundant, roads are more than ordinarily excel- 
lent, and township affairs generally are in a healthful con- 
dition. 

SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP. 

The first settler in Sciota did not live in the town long 
enough to make any extensive improvement or leave much 
of a mark as a pioneer. This was Samuel Carpenter, who 
came to the township in the spring of 1836, and upon sec- 
tion 26 put up a rude shanty in which he lived alone a few 
weeks while making a small clearing. During the summer 
he went to Detroit to get tliree pairs of oxen, preparatory to 
entering upon a vigorous campaign as a pioneer in Sciota. 
On the return journey he fell from his wagon, ten miles or 
so east of his clearing, the wheels passed over him, and he 
was found dead upon the spot the next day. This was the 
brief experience in the township, of Sciota's first settler. 
His place in Sciota is now occupied by M. S. Beardslee, 
whose father, Henry, located in Bennington in 1839, and 
lived there until his death, and who himself settled upon 
the Carpenter farm in 1850. Just before Carpenter's 
death. Dr. Peter Laing, William Laing, and Mason Phelps 
came to the town and founded Laingsburg village. Touch- 
ing that portion of Sciota's history the reader is referred to 
the history of Laingsburg, on succeeding pages. Mason 
Phelps and his twin brother, Milton A., had lived in Wash- 
tenaw County since 1832, — in which year their father, 
James Phelps, located there, — and in 1835 they located one 
hundred and twenty acres upon section 26, in Sciota, on 
the Grand River trail. Mason Phelps was a son-in-law of 
Dr. Laing, and after assisting the latter to start the tavern 
at Laingsburg, moved to his place upon section 26 in De- 
cember, 1836. His widow resides now in Laingsburg. His 
brother Milton lives upon the place which the two brothers 
entered in 1835. 

Cornelius Putnam located eighty acres in section 3 in the 
summer of 1836, and with Ephraim Pixley came to look at 
the land. Tliey found also Henry Leach looking at some 
land he had bought in the same locality. Putnam and 



* hy David Schwartz. 



Pixley went back, but Leach remained behind and rolled 
up the body of a log cabin on section 9, with the assistance 
of Gideon M. Cross, at that time himself on a land-looking 
tour. Having put up the house. Leach and Cross returned 
to Shiawasseetown, whence they had come, and where Leach 
had been located some little time. 

Meanwhile, Cornelius Putnam, having gathered his family 
and effects, was moving westward, and in October, 1836, 
landed in Sciota with a wife and five children. He started 
with an ox-team from New York State, sailed from Buffalo 
to Detroit in the steamer " North America," and at Detroit, 
resuming the ox-team, reached the place of his expected 
settlement three weeks and two days after the start from 
his New York home. The trip from Buffalo to Detroit 
was a hazardous one. The steamer had about five hundred 
people aboard, was crowded with wagons and Western sup- 
plies, and by reason of rough weather put three times into 
port for safety. After a tedious passage of eight days they 
reached Detroit. Barnet Putnam, then a lad of ten, and 
now living on the old farm, made the entire journey from 
New York to Sciota (except from Buffalo to Detroit) on 
foot. 

From Detroit, Cornelius Putnam followed the Grand 
River trail to a point within about six miles of his place, 
and then struck northward by a blazed-tree path to the 
Leach place. There he found the cabin which Leach and 
Cross had rolled up, and into it he placed his family. That 
done, he took an inventory of his worldly possessions, and 
found that he was ready to begin his pioneer life in 
Michigan with an ox-team and wagon, a wagon-load of 
household goods, one peck of potatoes, and six cents in 
money. His oldest child was Barnet, aged ten, and that 
he had got to fttce the stern reality of his position with 
all the courage and earnestness he owned was a proposition 
too plain to be mistaken. For three weeks his family lived 
in the Leach cabin without roof, floor, door, or window, 
and then having completed a bark shanty on his own place 
in section 3, Putnam moved them into that. Young Bar- 
net took upon himself what portion he could of the pioneer- 
ing labors, but he could not call to his aid the philosophy 
that gave his parents courage, and full many a time and 
oft shed burning tears of bitter regret and sorrow over the 
loss of the comforts of the old home in New York State. 
More than once, in searching for the cows, would he come 
upon wolf tracks, and tremble with fear lest the beasts 
should devour him before he could get home. For nine 
weeks Mrs. Putnam saw the face of no white woman after 
she came to Sciota, and during a week that her husband 
was absent at Elijah Carpenter's, where he was earning 
provisions which he had no money to buy, she lived with 
her children twenty-four hours on nothing but rutabaga 
soup. 

The year 1839 was a year of fever and ague infliction, 
and many people coming to the Western settlements to 
locate were frightened back by the deplorable condition of 
things caused by the disorder. Cornelius Putnam was ill 
and helpless with ague for nine months, and during that 
time Mrs. Putnam, besides the care of her household, un- 
dertook with her son Barnet (then in his fourteenth year) 



292 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



the cultivation of their farm, she driving the oxen and he 
holding the plow. During that time, for a period of six 
weeks, they had no other provisions in the house, and all 
lived on simply potatoes and lioncy. During the winter 
of 1836-37, Putnam set out for Washtenaw County to 
procure some wheat and meat, and left his famil}' in a cabin 
with blankets in the places of doors and windows. The 
wolves howled around that lonesome mother and little ones 
like demons, and brought the climax of misery to them 
when they bade good-by to their protector. After he began 
to raise crops Putnam used to go to market either to De- 
troit, where he could get seventy-five cents in cash for his 
wheat, or to Owosso, where he had to take half " trade," 
but most frequently he went to Detroit. For a time he 
had to go to Pontiac, a distance of seventy miles, to mill, 
and took a week or more for the trip. 

A few weeks after Cornelius Putnam had got domiciled 
upon his own place Henry Leach came with his family. 
Leach, as already observed, had been farming in Shiawassee- 
town, and when he came to Sciota he came well supplied 
with provisions and abundant conveniences for prosecuting 
his work. Indeed he not only made matters easy and 
moderately comfortable for himself, but out of his abundance 
was enabled to reach out a helping hand to his neighbors, 
and thus materially lightened their trials and privations. 
His settlement was made upon section 10, where S. N. 
Pierce now lives, and before his place passed what was 
known as the Colony road, reaching from the Grand River 
road to the Rochester Colony. There was considerable 
travel on that thoroughfiire, and Leach entertained such 
travelers as chose to ask for entertainment, but his favorite 
patrons were Indians, to whom he dispensed whisky as 
often as they could furnish an equivalent in trade; and from 
this source of revenue his profit was no trifle, although the 
whisky-drinking redskins did get villainously drunk and 
howl by night and by day while the influence of intoxica- 
tion remained upon them. Even in their drunken orgies, 
however, they refrained from aggressions, and confined their 
mischief to frightening women and children. Leach moved 
to California about 1851, and became a ranchman. One 
day he was knocked from his horse by the limb of a tree 
and killed. 

Simultaneously with Leach came also Gideon M. Cross, 
who made his home on section 9, in the spring of 1837, 
after living until that time with Henry Leach. Cross was 
by trade a shoemaker, and without delay prosecuted his 
shoemaking labors whenever occasion offered. His location 
was on the Colony road, and he kept a house of entertain- 
ment as well as a shoemaker's shop, by reason of which two 
departments of industry he was enabled to gain money 
enough to keep his family from starving while he cleared 
his land and awaited his first crop. 

The summer of 1837 saw the marsh on the Looking- 
Glass flats abundant with hay, and, like others. Leach and 
Cross went over there for a supply. They stopped there 
four weeks consecutively, and during that period Mrs. Cross 
spent an unhappy, lonesome time. II er cabin was furnished 
with blankets in the stead of doors and windows, and wolves 
howled about tlie place most ferociously. For four weeks 



she saw but one white person, and thankful enough she was 
to have her husband and neighbor back again. 

During the ague period of 1839 Mr. Cross started for 
Detroit to make the last payment on his land, and although 
he was more fit for bed than for a journey he had no alter- 
native but to push forward, since non-payment would be 
serious in its results. Towards the first night out he grew 
so ill that he could proceed no llirther, but unfortunately 
failed at four places where he applied to find lodging-room. 
His fifth efl'ort was at a miserable-looking roadside hut, 
which promised poor comfort, but sickness and exhaustion 
liad so prostrated him that any shelter was welcome. Push- 
ing open the cabin door he cast a hasty glance within, and 
thankfully exclaiming, " I know I can stay here," sank 
helpless upon the floor. Telling of the story of his trip, 
subsequently to tliose at home, he said, " I knew I could 
stay there, for when I looked in and saw how the woman of 
the house was moulding candles in a coffee-pot I said to 
myself, ' Surely people who can make shift after such a 
fashion will provide a shelter for me,' and I was right, too, 
for they took excellent care of me and did me a great deal 
of good." 

The first birth in Sciota was that of Charles, son of 
Gideon M. Cross, born March 5, 1837. Upon reaching 
manhood he became a preacher of the go.spel, and died in 
Livingston County in 18.'i8. That infant's cradle was sim- 
ply a hollowed log furnished with rude rockers. In that 
cradle he and his sister (now Mrs. A. D. Sherman, born 
May 15, 1839) were rocked, and when Ashbel Thompson, 
during one of his annual visits to the West, saw the babes 
thus bestowed he called them infants in a swell-box cradle. 
Apropos of infants, the first female child born in the town 
was Helen, daughter of Mason Phelps, born May 7, 1837, 
and now the wife of H. P. Dodge, of Laingsburg. 

Stories about wolves and bears are of course plentiful 
among those who deal in recollections of life in Sciota, and 
recollection concerns itself, moreover, with the exploits of 
some early settlers who were mighty hunters. Henry Leach 
was considered a wolf-hunter of skill, and within a space 
of about four years captured upwards of thirty wolves, for 
whose scalps he realized a handsome bounty. Barnet Put- 
nam achieved a wide notoriety as a bear-hunter, and claims 
to have killed no less than nine during twenty-two years of 
his residence in Sciota, his last victim having been dis- 
patched in 1871. He was a wonderfully successful deer- 
slayer. During the fourteen years preceding 1862 he 
slaughtered fully five hundred with an old reliable shot-gun, 
having in one autumn killed fifty-eight. 

It was in 1840 that tlie first bear was seen by any of the 
members of the Cross family. While Mrs. Cross sat 
braiding hats one night she saw Bruin approaching, and 
raising a sudden alarm she frightened him away. Intelli- 
gence of the bear's appearance being conveyed to the neigh- 
bors, they assembled the next night to capture him, but 
somehow his bearship was too cunning for them. They 
watched for him four nights, chased him one night and lost 
him, and then giving up the task of capturing him left him 
to roam at will. Mrs. A. D. Sherman tells how when she 
was but seven years old she and Ashbel Thompson " treed 



SCIOTA TOWNSHIP. 



293 



a bear." It was on a day when she was plodding through 
the woods towards William Swarthout's, when she en- 
countered Ashbel Thompson hurrying towards her and 
exclaiming as soon as he saw her, " Hurry over to Swart- 
hout's and tell him there are bears here." Frightened, she 
ran to give the alarm ; hunters quickly gathered, and the 
game was captured. " That's the way," she remarks, 
" Little Thompson and I treed a bear." 

Milton Phelps says it was common enough at his house 
to have wolves come about the doors at night, and go as far 
even as to peer into the windows at the inmates. 

Among those who came into the Putnam neighborhood 
in the winter of 1836 were Franklin Herrick, Abram 
Lewis, and Daniel Dennison to section 2, and S. B. Fuller 
to section 10, while early comers into the Leach settlement 
included Allen Smith and Reuben Rogers. In 1843, 
Godfrey Wert, accompanied by his family, George Joslyn, 
his son-in-law, and Stephen McCarty, came to the town. 
McCarty and Wert settled on the Grand River road, the 
former on section 26 and tlie latter on section 27. Joslyn 
continued on to Ovid. At that time there were in Sciota, 
on the Grand River road and near it, a number of settlers, 

including Mason Phelps, Moses Wallis, Smith, 

Hill, Sanford, and Mitchell Blood, the tavern-keeper. 

In 1845, John Scoutten, of Ohio, located on a farm near 
Laingsburg. Later, there came to the town Thomas J. 
Burt, Almeron Sherman, John N. Seely, A. J. Beeman, 
Thomas Simpson, M. S. Beardslee (a settler in Bennington 
in 1839), John Runciman, P. B. Ladue, P. Chant, W. R. 
Putnam (an Ovid pioneer in 1840), S. T. Headley, and 
George Parker. 

During the .summer of 1838 a smallpox epidemic broke 
out among the Chippewa Indians who lingered about Sciot* 
and Victor, and many died, including Chippewa, the chief, 
and one of his sons, named Jackson. There was great ter- 
ror and demoralization among the red-skins consequent upon 
the ravages of the disorder, and in many cases patients were 
left by tlieir fellows to die in the woods, where their bodies 
became food for wolves. Report has it that despite the 
fatality of the disea.sc among the Indians no white person 
took it, although contact with it was frequent, and report 
goes even further by saying the white people were not 
affected simply because smallpox cannot be transmitted to 
a white pereon from an Indian. 

Mrs. Gideon Cross obtained disfavor among the Indians 
because of her earnest and emphatic protests against the 
sale of whisky by Henry Leach to the natives, and the 
latter -sought by various means to show their dislike towards 
her. While the smallpox was raging, a squaw carried into 
Mrs. Cross' house a papoo.se sick with the disease, and 
placed it within the cradle occupied by Mrs. Cross' babe, 
hoping that the latter might be stricken. The scheme mis- 
carried, and the Cross child, although slightly affected 
afterwards, was not seriously troubled. Many Indians were 
buried about Laingsburg, atjd many upon the place now 
occupied by Ralph Swarthout, where indeed at this day 
several mounds are still to be seen. 

The first town burial-place was laid out in 1843. On 



April 3d of that year the town voted twenty-five dollars to 
purchase an acre of ground for a cemetery and to fence the 
same with a rail-fence. April 14, 1849, a committee was 
appointed to secure a burial-ground for Laingsburg. The 
first person buried in the town burial-ground was the wife 
of Elisha B. Smith. Previous to that Mrs. Walter Laing 
died in the town, but was buried in Bennington. The first 
burial in the town, however, was that of Samuel Carpenter, 
who, as has been told, was killed while driving homeward 
from Detroit. 

The progress which had been made in the settlement of 
Sciota prior to 1849 is pretty clearly shown by the follow- 
ing list of tax-payers resident in the township in that 
year, viz. : 

RESIDENT TAX-PAYEKS IN 1849. 

Niimes. Acres. 

Thomas J. Burt, section 22 80 

James Collins, section 28 100 

G. M. Cross, section 9 80 

li. F. ChilUs, section 25 120 

I). Dennison, section 2 80 

Stephen Finch, section 28 72 

S. 15. Fuller, sections 3, 10 400 

C. J. Fester, section 11 40 

John Fester, section 11 40 

iVI. B. Urilly, section 9 , 80 

J. Hill, Jr., section 25 120 

F. llerrick, section 2 113 

Henry Kinney, section 33 40 

1'. D. Lailue, section 27 120 

Henry J. each, sections 9, 10 149 

Walter l^aing, section 28 38 

Peter Laing, sections 21, 26, 28, 36 328 

John Miller, section 2fi fio 

Stephen McCarty, section 26 60 

Milton Phelps, section 26 78 

Silas Phelps, sections 26, 27 67 

Cornelius Putnam, section 3 , 80 

Barnet Putnam, section 3 40 

Allen Smith, section 9 160 

John Scoutten, section 28 74 

E. B. Smith, section 21 2 

Ralph Swarthout, section 17 93 

Swarthout and Reed, section 17 133 

Ephraim Trumbull, section 28 130 

Moses Wallis, section 27 23 

Godfrey Wert, section 27 120 

Stephen White, section 30 40 

Phelps, Laing & Co., section 28 33J 

James M. Blood, section 25 80 

Ashbel Thomp.son, a Philadelphia lawyer and extensive 
land-owner in Michigan, made purchases of something like 
fifteen hundred acres in the northwestern corner of Sciota 
at an early date. About 1850 he concluded to make an 
effort to sell it, for up to that time he had neither sold any 
of the tract, nor yet caused any improvement to be made 
upon it. Thompson used to come to the Michigan wilds 
every summer for recreation, and made his abiding-place on 
such occasions at the house of William Swarthout, in Ovid 
township. His visits continued usually during the sum- 
mer season, and were employed in forest rambles and hunt- 
ing and fishing excursions, of which pastimes he was ex- 
ceedingly fond. His visits began about 1839, and they 
have been repeated yearly since that time to the present, 
with the exception of but one year. His temporary home 
has been each summer with the Swarthouts, and more par- 
ticularly in the pioneer days was he known for miles 
around, and always welcomed as a genial companion. To 
distinguish him from another land-owning visitor, William 
Thompson by name, Ashbel was designated as " Little 



294 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Thompson," and as Little Thompson he became engrafted 
upon the pioneer history of Seiota and neighboring towns. 
During his visit in 1850 he resolved that to sell his land 
he must begin to clear it. To this end he determined lit- 
erally to clear it himself He bought an axe and attacked 
his first tree. Between early morning and the hour of 
noon he managed, by dint of most distressing labor, to sub- 
due the forest monarch, but alas ! the cost of his victory 
stood revealed in blistered hands, almost total exhaustion, 
and a general disgust with a woodman's life. Satisfied to 
end that experience then, he announced that he had an axe 
to sell, and that he wanted no more employment as a wood- 
chopper. Thereupon he engaged Barnet Putnam to clear 
and break some of the land for him, and proceeded east- 
ward. When he came out the next year he found that 
Swarthout's barn contained a crop of wheat gathered from 
the land Putnam had cleared ; and when Mrs. Swarthout 
asked him what he wished done with the wheat, he replied, 
" Give it to the first poor preacher who comes along." And 
sure enough, the first preacher to come along was made 
happy with the gift. 

In 1851, Thompson sold four hundred acres on sections 
4 and 5 to Charles Balcom and James Hills, and in 1852 
they came on and occupied their purchases. Theirs were 
the pioneer settlements in that corner of the town, and in 
1854 they were joined by S. A. Balcom and William H. 
Stanhope, who located on section 5. Following them came 
Orrin Blanchard to section 8, Luther llyon to section 4, 
Willard Ryon to section 4, and Samuel De Haven to sec- 
tion 3. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND LIST OF 
OFFICERS. 

Township 6 north, in range 1 east, was embraced in the 
township of WoodhuU until Feb. 16, 1842, when by act 
of Legislature it was given a separate organization and 
named Seiota, in accordance with the request of Oliver 
Westcott, one of the town's early settlers. The first town- 
meeting was held at the tavern of Cyrus Miller, in Laings- 
burg, April 4, 1842, when Mason Phelps, William P. 
Luing, James M. Blood, and Henry Leach were Inspectors 
of Election ; O. B. Westcott, Clerk ; and Cyrus Miller, 
Moderator. One hundred and fifty dollars was voted for 
contingent expenses, twenty-three dollars for the support of 
common schools, aud twelve dollars for the erection of a 
pound " near 0. B. Westcott's." Twenty-three votes were 
cast at the election of town oflicials, the result being as 
appended : 

SUPERVISOR. 

Mnson Phelps 10 

A. Smith* 12 

CLERK. 

0. B. Westcott 9 

Ilenrj Smith*' , 14 

TREASURER. 

S. B. Fuller* |2 

William P. Laing 10 

ASSESSORS. 

Levi McDaniels-^ 21 

C. Putnam* 12 

* Elected. 



J. M. Blood 5 

F. Ohilrls 4 

CjTus Miller 1 

HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 

Cyrus Miller 9 

Henry Leach 11 

A. C. Laing 10 

R. Williams* 12 

G. M. Cross* 12 

D. F. Randall* 12 

L. Mc Daniels 1 

Silas Phelps 1 

W. P. Laing 1 

M. Phelps 1 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

R. W. Williams* 13 

Cyrus Miller* 23 

B. F. Childs* 12 

A. Smith* 13 

William P. Laing 10 

F. ChilJs 7 

A. HoK^iml) 9 

S. M. Blood 1 

SCHOOL I^'SPECTORS. 

0. B. Westcott 9 

Henry Smith* 21 

William P. Laing 10 

A. P.Smith* 15 

S. B. Fuller* 12 

0. B. Westcott 1 

CONSTABLES. 

M. Wallis* 10 

D. F. Randall* 10 

Henry Leach it 

A. C. Laing* 10 

Harvey Randall 9 

h. McDaniels* 10 

William P. Laing 1 

OVERSEERS OF THE POOR. 

0. B. Westcolt 9 

Henry Leach 11 

A. Smith* 12 

G. M. Cross* 12 

S. Hill 1 



From 184.3 to 1880 the supervisors, clerks, treasurers, 
and justices of the peace elected annually have been the 
following-named persons: 





SUPERVISORS. 


184.1. M. Phelps. 


1862-64. J. M. C. Bennett 


1814. William P. Laing. 


1865. G. J. McClintock. 


1845-47. Peter Laing. 


1866. H. Carnahan. 


1S48-50. F. MeClintuuk. 


1867. G. J. McClintock. 


1851-54. L. Smith. 


1868-70. H. Carnahan. 


1855. G. J. McClintook. 


1871. G. A. White. 


1856. H. Carnahan. 


1872. M. Burt. 


1857-58. F. McClintock. 


1873. J. Lawler. 


1859-60. H. Carnahan. 


1874-80. S. H. Manzor. 


1861. S. Treat. 






CLERKS. 


1843-44. H. Smith. 


1863. A. Holmes. 


1845. P. McGannis. 


1864. G. J. McClintock. 


1840. 0. B. Westcott. 


1865. M. Burt. 


1847. E. B. Smith. 


1866. W. Levanway. 


1848-60. L. Smith. 


1867. J. G. Pope. 


1851. F. McClintock. 


1868-70. J Crum. 


1852-54. G.J. McClintock 


1871-72. G.L. Gibbs. 


1855. S. Treat. 


1873. G. D. Millspaugh. 


1856. M. Burt. 


1874. H. P. Dodge. 


1857. G. J. McClintock. 


1875. A. F. Place. 


1858. M. Burt. 


1876. L. B. Huntington. 


1859-60, James Lawler. 


1877-79. W. W. Levanway 


18r.l. M. Burt. 


1880. George S. Culver. 


1862. C. D. Harmon. 





SCIOTA TOWNSHIP. 



295 



TREASURERS. 



ISW. William P. Laing. 
1S44. M. Pbelps. 
1815. J. M. Blood. 
18-lf.-47. B. F. Childs. 
1S48. P. Laing. 

1849. E. B.Smith. 

1850. G. Wert. 

1851. E. B. Smith. 
1852-62. J. Runciman. 



1863-65. 11. S. Partridge. 

1866. J. Runciman. 

1867. S. Treat. 

1868. S. H. Manzer. 
1869-70. J. Runciman. 
1871-75. P. Bacon. 
1876. H. Rohrbacher. 
1877-79. P. Bacon. 
1880. S. N. Pierce. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



1843. 


A. Holcomb. 


1862. 


1844. 


U. Wert. 


1863. 


1845. 


Allen Smith. 


1864. 


1846. 


S. B. Fuller. 


1865. 


1847. 


Mason Phelps. 


1866. 


1848. 


J. Woodhull. 


1867. 


1849. 


H. Leach. 


1868. 


1850. 


T. J. Burt. 


1869. 


1851. 


M. Wall is. 


1870. 


1852. 


C. Putnam. 


1871. 


1853. 


E. B. Smith. 


1872. 


1854. 


J. Runciman. 


1873. 


1855. 


T. J. Burt. 


1874. 


1856. 


A. Sherman. 


1875. 


1857. 


H. S. Partridge. 


1876. 


1858. 


C. Hills. 


1877. 


1859. 


M. Phelps. 


1878. 


1860. 


A. Sherman. 


1879. 


1861. 


J. M. C. Bennett. 


1880. 



B. H. C. Howe. 
J. Runciman. 
B. J. Putnam. 
H. Camaban. 
D. D. Shannon. 
J. Runciman. 

F. McClintock. 
J. Lawler. 

D. Holly. 
H. P. Dodge. 
.T. Sherman. 
J. Mabin. 
D. R. Holly. 
H. P. Dodge. 
B. J. Putnam. 
J. Crum. 

G. M. Kinney. 
H. P. Dodge. 
J. D. Sherman. 



EARLY TOWNSHIP ROADS. 

March 15, 1843, the town was divided into five road dis- 
tricts, as follows : 

No. 1 to embrace sections 2, 3, 4, 5, and the north half 
of section 10. No. 2 to include sections 1, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 
14, 15, and 16, and the south half of section 10. No. 3 in- 
cluded sections 17, 20, 21, 28, 29, 32, 33. No. 4 included 
section 22, the west half of section 23, the north half of 
26, sections 27, 34, and the north half of section 35. No. 
5 embraced section 24, the east half of section 23, the 
south half of 26, sections 25 and 36, and the south half of 
section 35. 

The annual report of the highway commissioners, made 
April 1, 1843, presented the following details; 

AVhole amount of labor assessed $405.93 

Days worked 136.73 

Amount of improvements, eight miles cut out and fifty- 
five rods of causeway. 

Amount of labor under contract, eighty-five rods of cause- 
way. One mile under contract of chopping and clearing, 
four rods wide. 

The annual report made April 6, 1844, had the following : 
Number of days worked, 69 ; number of days worked and 
not assessed, 28. 

Amount of improvements : Four hundred and eighty- 
four rods cutting and clearing four rods wide ; one hundred 
and seventy six rods of causeway ; $46.31 worth of dig- 
ging, covering causeway, and leveling down hills. 

Amount of labor under contract : Leveling down hills, 
$72.12; amount of orders drawn on above, $227.09 ; money 
left last year, $96.19 ; county orders in hands of treasurer, 
$75. 



The annual report, March 21, 1849, was as follows: 
Number of days assessed for highway labor in 1848, 250. 

" The whole amount of resident highway tax has been 
performed ; no money drawn by order of the commissioners ; 
no commutations." 

A road was laid out June 7, 1843, beginning at a point 
where the Grand Kiver road intersects the line between 
sections 20 and 21, and running thence north to a stake 
2^lW chains due north of the southwestern corner of sec- 
tion 21 ; thence north 57 chains to a stake on the principal 
meridian. Dec. 23, 1843, a road was laid beginning at 
the quarter post on the east side of section 21, and running 
thence south on the meridian line 6-j?^^ chains ; thence south 
23-^jj chains ; thence north to Dr. Peter Laing's sign-post. 

SCHOOLS. 

Sciota's first school was taught in 1837 by the wife of 
Cornelius Putnam in her own house, and contained as 
pupils her own children and the children of Henry Leach. 
Mrs. Putnam had had experience as a school-teacher in 
New York, and was therefore happily enabled to undertake 
a renewal of that experience in Michigan with an intelli- 
gent assurance of success. 

The first board of school inspectors comprised Henry 
Smith, Allen Smith, and S. B. Fuller, but there is no 
record of their proceedings, for the reason, probably, that 
they performed no services. This view of the case would 
appear to be correct, since the school records certify that 
School District No. 1 was organized Sept. 15, 1843, and 
contained sections 26; 23, the east half of 27, and the east 
half of 22. That year a log school-house was built near 
Henry Leach's house, and in that school-house the first 
teacher was Oliver B. Westcott. District No. 2 was formed 
May, 1844, and in that district the first teacher was Mrs. 
M. A. Phelps. District No. 3 was organized May 22, 
1844, to include sections 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, and 15. 
The report of the inspectors, dated April 1, 1845, contains 
this: "Moneys received, $00; moneys expended, $00." 
How the schools were supported does not appear. 

District No. 4 was organized May 28, 1847, and included 
the west half of section 22, the west half of 27, the west 
half of 34, and the whole of sections 20, 21, 28, 29, and 
33. June 18, 1850, the school districts were reconstructed 
as follows : 

No. 1.— Sections 20, 21, 28, 29, 32, and 33 ; originally 
No. 4. 

No. 2.— Sections 22, 27, 34, the west half of 23, the 
west half of 26, and the west half of 35. 

No. 3.— Sections 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, and 15. 

No. 4. — East half of section 23, east half of 26, the east 
half of 35, and the whole of 24, 25, and 36 ; originally 
No. 2. 

No. 5 was organized in 1853, and embraced the west half 
of section 4, the whole of 5, the north half of 8, and the 
west half of the northwest quarter of 9. 

TEACHERS. 

From 1845 to 1857 teachers received certificates in 
Sciota as follows : 

Dolly Richards, May 3, 1845. 



296 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Cordelia Collins, Margaret Johnson, April 10, 1848. 
Frances Hill, June 15, 1848. 
Layton Swarthout, John Brunson, Dec. 5, 1848. 
Elisha Cook, Dec. 6, 1849. 
Lounsberry Swarthout, Dec. 17, 1849. 
George W. States, Nov. 4, 1850. 
Miss Achsah Blood, April 12, 1851. 
Miss Armina Pitts, April 23, 1851. 
Lewis Bennett, Nov. 5, 1853. 
Ann M. Aldrich, April 14, 1855. 
Margaret I. Johnson, Dec. 20, 1855. 
Caroline Phelps, Jan. 15, 1856. 
Clarissa Brewer, May 24, 1856. 
Miss C. Carnahan, May 23, 1857. 
Miles Burt, Nov. 7, 1857. 

The official school report for 1879 presents the following 
details : 

^- . T\- . I. ™ _^4- Average Viilvie of Teachers* 

Dist. Director. Enumeration. Attendance. Property. Wages. 

1. M. Burt 183* 180 $1U00 $891 

2. George Sherman 36 28 50 93.50 

3.t J. D. Sanderson 29 28 200 169 

5. F. Lee 38 31 400 144 

6. (Jeorge Dean 55 53 300 156 

7. W. T. Rifldale 22 21 50 84 

8. C. Crults 48 35 50 99 

9. L.J. Kemp 12 23 700 98 

THE VILLAGE OF LAINGSBURG. 

Laingsburg, a station on the Jackson, Lansing and Sagi- 
naw Railroad, is a prosperous village of about eight hundred 
people. Its manufacturing interests are limited, but as the 
centre of trade for a considerable ttact of rich farming 
country it carries on much profitable mercantile business, 
and rests its prospective improvement upon a very sub- 
.stantial and prosperous present. 

The village was founded in 1836, by Dr. Peter Laing, 
but was not platted until 1860, after which the con.«!truction 
of the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad gave the 
town a decided impetus, and led to its rapid development. 

Dr. Peter Laing, formerly of Saratoga Co., N. Y., located 
land upon the present site of Laingsburg in the summer of 
1836, and September 24th of that year came to the place 
for a permanent location, in company with his .son William, 
his son-in-law. Mason Phelps, and the wife of the latter. 
About thirty rods west of where the Cooper House now 
stands they put up as a temporary habitation a brush 
shanty, in which they lodged, and outside of which, at a 
log-heap fire, they did their cooking. As quickly as the 
work could be accomplished Mason Phelps built a log 
cabin, and Peter Laing (assisted by Mason Phelps and 
Barnet Putnam) a log structure which he intended for a 
tavern, both buildings being just west of the Cooper House 
lot. The great Indian trail between Pontiac and Grand 
Rapids passed that way, and, as travel over the route was 
at that time very brisk. Dr. Laing wisely judged that a 
tavern at that point would be not only a public convenience, 
but a profit to its landlord. In that conclusion subsequent 
events proved Dr. Laing to have been correct. The volume 
of travel increased materially with the opening of the Grand 
River road over the route of the trail, and for years Dr. 



* Laingsburg. 



t FractionaL 



Laing's tavern was a famous landmark and a place of 
popular resort. 

During the fall of 1836 the rush of land-lookers to 
Michigan was like a swarm of locusts, and the Grand River 
road was alive with wayfarers. Laing's tavern was insuf- 
ficient to accommodate the travelers who sought its shelter, 
but about it in the open air around log-heap tires there was 
always room, and there scores of people slept every night. 
A story now extant tells of a well-dressed traveler, who 
came to the tavern one night and requested lodgings. Dr. 
Laing took him out to a log-heap fire, and pointing to the 
sleepers about it said, " My friend, our house is running 
over with people ; there you see at that fire plenty of extra 
lodgers ; lie down and make yourself comfortable for the 
night." The traveler looked unhappy, but determined to 
make the best of it ; he pulled off his boots, turned his feet 
towards the fire, and was directly snoring in concert with 
about fifty others. In the morning when the traveler woke 
he failed to find his boots. " Landlord," cried he, " some- 
body has robbed me of my boots, and I look to you to re- 
place or return them." " Y^ou d — d fool," returned Dr. 
Laing, " don't you know better than to leave your boots 
outdoors all night in a country like this? The wolves ate 
your boots, and if you don't get away from here pretty 
quick they'll eat you, too." The unfortunate traveler 
could scarcely credit the story, but when he presently dis- 
covered mutilated remnants of his once handsome boots he 
shudderingly believed it, and made, indeed, all haste to get 
out of a country where stopping at a tavern meant a bed 
near a log-heap, and midnight visitations by wolves. 

Laing's tavern was the chief stopping-place on the Grand 
River road, in Sciota, when that road was the principal 
thoroughfare. It was, moreover, the town post-office loca- 
tion, and when a line of stages was put on the road, Laing's 
was made a stage-house. The mail was carried over the 
route at first on horseback, later, as the road got better, by 
buggy, and still later by the stages. 

About 1840, James M. Blood opened a temperance tav- 
ern on the Grand River road, about four miles east of 
Laingsburg, and at the same time Oliver B. Westcott es- 
tablished a similar place of entertainment '■ on the hill," in 
what is now Laingsburg village, June 3, 1844. The town 
board granted to Peter Laing a licen.se to keep tavern and 
retail ardent spirits on section 21, and charged him there- 
for six dollars and twenty-five cents. On the same day 
James M. Blood and 0. B. Westcott were granted licenses 
to keep taverns for sixty-two and a half cents each. June 
1, 1848, J. W. Putnam applied for a license " to keep pub- 
lic-house, with the privilege to sell spirituous liquors." The 
town board granted the license upon the payment of six 
dollars, " exclusive of fees," with the remark that " a public- 
house with the above-named privilege would promote the 
public good." Except at brief intervals, during which 
Cyrus Miller and others kept the place. Dr. Laing con- 
tinued to be the landlord of Laing's tavern until his death 
in 1865, after which it was kept no more as a public-house, 
but was not demolished until recently. 

The settlement at Laingsburg moved onward at an ex- 
ceedingly slow pace. Mason Phelps changed his residence 



SCIOTA TOWNSHIP. 



297 



in December, 1836, to his forest-farm on the Grand River 
road, and for a few years Dr. Laing was the only resident 
in the prospective village. About 1840, Oliver B. West- 
cott opened a tavern " on the bill," and near there Cyrus 
and Henry Wright located land and put up a log house. 
Meanwhile, Ephraim Trumbull had made a clearing at what 
is now known as McClintoek's Corners. In 1841, Henry 
Smith came and set up a store near Westcott's tavern, and 
one Gillilan, who afterwards took Westcott's tavern-stand, 
started a blacksmith's shop. Subsequently, Moses Smith 
was hired by Phelps & McCliiitock to carry on a smithy. 
Patrick McGannis, now a merchant in Detroit, built the 
first framed structure in Laingsburg about 1844, having 
hauled the lumber for it from Lewitt's mill in Bath. In 
the spring of 1846 the village contained the Laing tavern 
(then a stage-house), McGannis' store, K. B. Smith's store 
(Smith having bought out his son Henry), atid the West- 
cott tavern-stand. In that year E. B. Smitii sold out to 
Walter Laing, Mason Phelps, Freeman McClintock, and 
Josephus WoodhuU, and moved his store to the place now 
known as McClintoek's Corners. Laing & Co. enlarged 
the trade, establislied an ashery and blacksmith's shop, and 
made a considerable stir as merchants. By and by Hollis- 
ter & Kellogg built a grist- and saw-mill, which was, how- 
ever, burned after being used but one season. A new 
grist-mill was built by Hosley & Holmes in 18(53, and in 
1870 the property passed from White & Bartholomew to 
Place & Bros., and in July, 1879, to A. ¥. Place, the 
present owner. 

Laingsburg was platted in 1800 (when it was scarcely 
more than a cross-roads village), by Freeman McClintock 
and Amos Gould. Charles Weeks platted two additions, 
known respectively as Weeks' First and Second Additions. 
Dr. Laing platted an addition, but it was never recorded. 
After the village was kid out in 1860, the completion of 
the railway caused it to grow rapidly. 

VILLAGE INCORPORATION. 

During the session of the Legislature in 1 87 1 an act was 
passed (and approved April 8th) incorporating the village 
of Laingsburg. There was some objection to the incor- 
poration, but Dr. E. B. Ward, representative in the State 
Legislature, was determined to see the act carried into 
effect, and took steps to have a village election held. Just 
then it was discovered that the act of incorporation failed, 
through some oversight, to designate inspectors of election 
or a place for holding said election, llobert G. McKee, 
thinking he had as much right as anybody to appoint in- 
spectors and a polling-place, did so, and so also did Ward. 
It happened that McKee's inspectors were sworn in first, 
and they claimed, therefore, under tiiat circumstance, a 
slight advantage in the matter of legality for their election. 
Ward's inspectors were at first unmoved at this, and so 
both parties went on and opened the polls. 

Although there were but a half-dozen or .so of votes in 
the McKee party, the AV^ardites began presently to fear 
that McKee's election might be ultimately adjudged the 
legal one by reason of precedence in the matter of swearing 
in the inspectors, and so they, secure in their overwhelming 
majority, abandoned their election and marched over to the 
;!8 



McKee polls to cast their votes, not doubting for a moment 
that they could in that way elect their ticket. Much to 
their dismay, however, no sooner had they executed that 
intention than the McKee inspectors declared their election 
to be illegal ; and so not only was there no election but no 
further steps towards one that year, as the Wardites, seeing 
they were hopelessly beaten, deferred further agitation of 
the matter. 

But upon the assembling of the next Legislature the 
Ward party caused a new act of incorporation to be passed, 
and properly fortified this time, called the election at the 
American House, April 8, 1872. Upon that occasion H. 
P. Dodge and George L. Gibbs, inspectors of election, con- 
vened at the American House, and in the absence of G. J. 
McClintock (the third inspector) chose Miles Burt to act 
in his place. At this stage the hotel landlord declined to 
allow the election to be hold in his house, and adjournment 
was accordingly made to Burt's Hall. One hundred and 
twenty-nine votes were cast, with the appended result : 

PRESIDENT. 

Votea. 

II. S. Partridge* 65 

E. B. Wiird S.t 

D. Ward 1 

TRUSTEES {Two Veara). 

L. W. Fniino 41 

Daniel Lcbor 5-1 

.Tames McLcod» 77 

Philo Bacon-=^' 75 

(One Yc'ir.) 

S. II. Manzcr 60 

C. II. Ilartwcll® fi.-i 

J. A. Cri|ipen^-' G9 

P. 0. Sprague 59 

CLERK. 

G. .1. McClintock* 59 

II. P. Dodge... 59 

TREASURER. 

Charles Weeks 51 

A. F. Place* 71 

A. Place 2 

MARSHAL. 

William D. Gardner 57 

Henry Wlnslow^" G5 

William Gardner 1 

ASSESSOR. 
J. W. Scoutten 4S 

George Culon* 78 

After the election it was discovered that under the act 
no election could be held save at the American Hotel, and 
as the election had not been held at that place, it followed 
that the officials had not been legally elected. Nevertheless, 
the ofiicials qualified and had one session, at which they 
passed one ordinance ; but after-consideration seemed to 
point so clearly to the conclusion that the alleged village 
government could have no legal existence that the affair was 
by common con.sent abandoned. At the following Legis- 
lative session there was some effort looking to a renewal of 
the act, but there had meanwhile arisen a strong anti-incor- 
poration party, and so sturdily did they work against incor- 
poration that they succeeded in having the act repealed. 

* Elected. 



298 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Nothing further was done in the premises until the legis- 
lative session of 1877, when, the signs being propitious, 
Laingsbuig was reincorporated (by act of March 9th) to in- 
clude " all those tracts of land situate in Sciota township, 
Shiawassee Co., commencing at the northeast corner of tlie 
southeast quarter of section 21, running thence west to 
the meridian line ; thence south on the meridian line three 
hundred and twenty rods ; thence east to the southeast cor- 
ner of the northeast quarter of section 28; thence north 
three hundred and twenty rods to the place of beginning." 
The names of the chief village oflScers chosen from 1877 
to 1880 are here given : 
1877. — President, H. S. Partridge; Trustees (for two years), 

Miles Burt, John Crum, R. G. McKee (for one 

year), S. H. Manzer, Charles Weeks, F. McClin- 

tock ; Clerk, H. P. Dodge; Treasurer, Charles 

H. Fraine ; Assessor, Philo Bacon. 
1878.— President, J. S. Lord ; Trustees, F. McClintock, J. 

H. Rohrabacher, and James Lawlor; Clerk, H. 

P. Dodge; Treasurer, C. H. Fraine; Assessor, 

S. H. Manzer. 
1879.— J. S. Lord; Trustees, H. S. Partridge, William 

Fraine, A. F. Peace; Clerk, H. P. Dodge; 

Treasurer, C. H. Fraine; Assessor, Miles Burt. 
1880.— President, F. McClintock ; Trustees, S. H. Manzer, 

Philo Bacon, Wui. J. Tillotson ; Clerk, H. P. 

Dodge ; Treasurer, C. H. Fraine ; Assessor, 

James Lawler. 



CHURCHES. 
LAINGSBURG METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The settlement of Sciota township was less than two years 
advanced when the voice of the Methodist missionary was 
heard in the neighborhood where Leach and Cross and 
Smith had built their rude cabins. Rev. Mr. Blowers 
preached there in 1838, in the houses of the settlers, about 
once a month, and the next year Rev. Washington Jack- 
son, with another minister, made periodical visits. Blowers 
had organized a class in 1838 consisting of six persons, 
viz. : John Slocum and wife, Cornelius Putnam and wife, 
and Gideon Cross and wife. In 1839, Wm. Palmer, John 
Palmer, and Allen Smith, with their wives, joined the class, 
Wm. Palmer being the first class-leader. In that year, too, 
Isaac Bennett, the presiding elder of the district, visited 
Sciota settlement and preached to the class. As soon as a 
district school-house was built it was occupied by the class, 
and in that locality worship was continued about twenty 
years. At the end of that time the class was divided, a part 
going to Blood's in Victor, and the residue to the Putnam 
school-house in Sciota, whence they were transferred to the 
Middlebury Methodist Episcopal Church. 

There was Methodist Episcopal preaching at Laings- 
burg as early as 1842 by the Revs. Bigelow and Cole, and 
after them by Rev. Mr. Hall. The Sciota class, organized 
in 1857, w;is a point on the Middlebury Circuit which in- 
cluded the Ovid, Warren, Mungerville, Howard, Sciota, 
and Middlebury cla.sses. Rev. Elisha Wright was appointed 
to the charge in 1857, when it contained fifty -seven mem- 
bers and twenty-three probationers. When the parsonage 



at Laingsburg was completed, October, 1866, the charge 
embraced one hundred members and twenty probationers. 

The name of the circuit was changed in 1868 to Laings- 
burg, and in 1871 the church at Laingsburg was built. The 
pastor is Rev. J. H. Mcintosh, who preaches to the Laings- 
burg class every Sunday. The class membership is forty, 
and the attendance at Sunday-school (in charge of F. 
Thompson) thirty. The society trustees are Charles Weeks, 
William Fraine, M. Deitrich, and C. S. Noyes. 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF LAINGSBURG. 

Elder Barnes, who organized a Baptist Church in Wood- 
hull about 1840, preached also at Laingsburg, and after 
him Baptist worship was conducted with more or less reg- 
ularity at the latter point for some years by Elders Martin 
and MeLeod. After a time Baptist worship ceased in that 
locality, and was not revived in anything like a permanent 
form until the autumn of 1864. October 15th of that 
year a few Baptists met at the house of J. M. McLeod for 
conference and prayer. After consultation it was agreed to 
meet again October 29th, to consider the expediency of 
forming a church, public services having previously been 
held October 16th, by Elder G. M. Reynolds. October 29th 
a covenant was adopted and signed by Moses Smith, William 
Place, Josephus WoodhuU, M. A. Phelps, Charles R. Mc- 
Kee, Frances Phelps, Catherine Hudson, Fanny McKee, 
Catherine Carnahan, and Mary A. McKee. Josephus 
Woodhull and Moses Smith were chosen deacons, and 
Charles R. McKee clerk. The first communion was held 
March 26, 1865, and May 20, 1865, a chnrch society was 
organized, with Moses T. Headley, M. A. Phelps, Josephus 
Woodhull, Charles R. McKee, Henry Osterhout, and Ma- 
son Phelps as trustees. Directly after that the society be- 
gan the erection of a church edifice, which was not, however, 
completed until 1868. Elder Reynolds, who organized the 
church, was the first pastor, aud preached some years, after 
which Elder James McLeod entered upon the charge. The 
presept pastor is Elder Hicks, of Bath, who preaches every 
Sunday. The deacons are C. L. Kinney and Moses Smith. 
The Sunday-school, which is in charge of the pastor, has 
an average attendance of about thirty scholars, while the 
church membership is fifty. 

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

At a meeting held in Laingsburg, July 24, 1864, the 
First Congregational Church of Laingsburg was organized 
by the following-named thirteen persons : Rev. James Ross, 
Mrs. Frances Ross, Isaac T. Hollister, Ellen C. HoUister, 
Rev. George C. Fox, Cynthia B. Fox, Nancy Clark, Eme- 
line Partridge, Elizabeth A. Ward, Mary L. Drake, Zylpha 
I. Trowbridge, Nellie P. McClintock, Phoebe A. Hudson. 
Aug. 7, 1864, at a second meeting. Rev. H. A. Reed, 
general agent of the American Home Missionary Society, 
was present, and after delivering an address formally re- 
cognized the church, being assisted in council by the First 
Congregational Church of Victor. Rev. G. C. Fox was 
chosen the pastor and I. T. Hollister the deacon. Mr. Fox 
served the church until his death. May 29, 1866. His 
successor, Rev. William P. Mulder, began his labors in 
July, 1866, and was succeeded by Rev. J. R. Stevenson, 




fiff NELLIE. M9CLINT0CK. 




l^p.^— _ y 



M/SS- ACTA B. M<:CLINTOCK. 







/fes/DsA,c£ OfT M^^s NELLIE^ f Wl^ QLI NTOCK . LAiNCSBURe StiiAWASsee Co Mich. 



SCIOTA TOWNSHIP. 



299 



who took charge in July, 1875. Rev. J. C. Thompson 
became the pastor in 1877, and after him came Rev. Fayette 
Hurd, the present pastor. 

Since the organization the church has received eighty- 
five members, of whom sixty-three yet remain. Meetings 
are now held in a fine church edifice at Laingsburg, first 
occupied in the fall of 1871. The deacons are now Wil- 
liam Ballentine and I. T. Hollister; the trustees are Philo 
Bacon, Sydney Manzer, and Charles E. Hollister. The 
Sunday-school, which has an average attendance of seventy, 
is in charge of Sydney Manzer. 

LAINGSBURG POST-OFFICE. 

The only post-ofiSce in Sciota is at Laingsburg, although 
there was for a time, about 1846, a post-office called Sciota, 
at Mitchell Blood's tavern on the Grand River road. The 
Laingsburg post-office was established in 1837 or 1838 
through the efforts of Dr. Peter Laing, who was appointed 
postmaster. He retained the office until about 1851, when 
he gave way to Henry Smith and he to Loren Smith, who 
caused the name of the office to be changed to Nebraska. 
That name it retained through the succeeding administra- 
tions of E. B. Smith and Freeman McClintock, the latter 
beginning in 1857 and continuing to 1861. M. T. Headley 
followed McClintock, and during his term the name of the 
office was changed in 1863 back to Laingsburg, which it 
has since retained. J. M. C. Bennett was for a short time 
the incumbent after Headley, and after him Horace P. 
Dodge from 1863 to 1865, Samuel Treat to 1866, G. J. 
McClintock to 1869, and Philo Bacon from 1869 to the 
present time. The business of the Laingsburg post-office 
during the three months ending April 1, 1880, represented 
sales of stamps, stamped envelopes, etc., to the amount of 
two hundred and forty-six dollars and forty cents, money- 
orders issued in the sum of twelve hundred and ten dol- 
lars and sixty cents, and money-orders paid to the amount 
of four hundred and fifty-nine dollars and thirty-two cents. 

LAINGSBURG'S LAWYERS. 

Laingsburg has had but three lawyers. About 1860, J. 
M. Pulver set up in practice at the village as the pioneer 
lawyer, and after his departure came H. H. Pulver. The 
third to be named is J. B. Wilkins, who has been prac- 
ticing in the village since 1877. 

BANK. 

The Exchange Bank of Laingsburg, a private banking 
corporation now doing business in the village, was estab- 
lished by W. H. Card in 1875, and by him the business is 
still continued. 

SECRET ORDERS. 

LAINGSBUllO LOD(JE, Nd. 230, F. A\D A. M., 
was organized Jan. 9, 1868, in the second story of M. T. 
Headley's store. The organizing members were E. B. 
Ward, W. M. ; J. M. Short, S. W. ; G. J. McClintock, J. 
W. ; M. T. Headley, M. Burt, J. G. Marsh, B. J. Putnam, 
Rev. J. G. Morgan. E. B. Ward has been Master of the 
lodge every year since 1868, except for the year 1877, when 
G. J. McClintock served. The membership is now fifty. 
The official list is E. B. Ward, W. M. ; H. P. Dodge, S. 



W. ; Philo Bacon, J. AV. ; G. J. McClintock, Sec. ; L. B. 
Huntington, Treas. ; E. K. Burke, S. D. ; N. N. Phillips, 
J. D. ; W. 0. Furey, Tiler. 

LAINGSBURG LODGE, No. 110, I. 0. 0. F., 

was organized Jan. 17, 1868. The charter members were 
named R. L. Case, R. Williams, G. B. Pitts, H. P. Martin, 
J. B. Case, W. H. Martin, W. J. Armitage, L. L. TuUer, 
J. W. Scoutten, W. N. Lewis, A. Holmes. The lodge has 
a membership of forty, and officers as follows : William H. 
Martin, N. G. ; William Taylor, V. G. ; N. P. Phillips, P. 
Sec. ; H. Howe, Rec. Sec. ; L. B. Huntington, Treas. 

LAINGSBURG GRANGE, No. 228, 

was organized June, 1873, with a membership of about 
thirty. Norman Tucker was chosen Master, L. J. Taylor, 
Overseer, and George M. Kinney, Sec. In January, 1874, 

A. F. Place was chosen Master, and served four years. 
The next Master was F. M. Randall, who, in 1879, was 
succeeded by D. D. Culver. Culver resigned, and F. M. 
Randall was chosen in his stead. G. M. Kinney has been 
the grange secretary continuously since the grange organ- 
ization. The grange has continued to flourish from the 
outset, and has now a membership of sixty. Weekly 
Saturday meetings are held, and upon these occasions in- 
teresting and profitable discussions engage much earnest 
attention at the liands of the members. The officers of the 
grange are now F. M. Randall, M. ; S. T. Headley, 0. ; A. 
F. Place, L. ; P. Taylor, Chaplain ; George M. Kinney, 
Sec. ; Mrs. George M. Kinney, Treas. 

SCIOTA LODGE, No. 1581, KNIGHTS OF HONOR, 

was instituted April 25, 1879, with twenty members, and 
has at present that number increased by eight. The officers 
for 1880 are L. J. Taylor, D. ; V. A. James, V. D. ; E. 

B. Ward, P. D. ; James Kyte, A. D. ; L. B. Huntington, 

Treas.; D. D. Shannon, F. R. ; Rev. J. H. Mcintosh, 

Chaplain. 

BABCOCKS' MILLS. 

One of the most important industries of the town is 
carried on at Babcocks' steam saw-mill, on the Jackson, 
Lansing and Saginaw Railroad, about two miles east of 
Laingsburg. E. F. & N. Babcock established the mill in 
1866, and directly afterwards purchased tracts of timber 
land aggregating seven hundred acres. The mill employs 
from ten to twenty men, has a capacity of ten thousand 
feet daily, and is confined almost exclusively to the manu- 
facture of car and railway timber for Eastern shipment. 

TRAGIC INCIDENTS. 

The first fatal accident recorded in the history of Sciota 
resulted in Francis Scoutten's death, in 1846. Scoutten 
was employed at the time in breaking land for Allen Smith. 
Failing to return from his labors at the accustomed hour, 
he was searched for, and w;ls found lying dead upon the 
ground beside his team. How he came to his death was, 
and has always remained, a mystery. In 1856 a young 
Englishman was accidentally killed at a raising on the 
Jones place, and about 1870 a Canadian, while logging for 
D. L. Warren, was crushed by a log and instantly killed. 



300 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUiNTY, MICHIGAN. 



In 1872 a young man employed upon W. R. Putnam's 
farm committed suicide by throwing himself beneath a 
train on the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw road. The 
cause of this suicide was never satisfactorily understood. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



MRS. NELLIE P. McCLINTOCK. 

Mrs. Nellie P. McClintock, daughter of Dr. Peter 
Laing, the founder of Laingsburg, and one of the earliest 
settlers in Sciota township, was born in the town of Wil- 
ton, Saratoga Co., N. ¥., March 1, 1824. Her mother, 
Mary (Calkins) Laing, was born in Saratoga Co., N. Y., 
1791. Her father. Dr. Peter Laing, was born in Saratoga 
County, 1789, and in 1833 joined the army of pioneers 
who were populating Washtenaw Co., Mich. Dr. Laing 
pursued the practice of the medical profession at Ann 
Arbor until 1836, where Mrs. Laing died in 1835, when, 
coming farther westward, he made a new location in Sciota 
town.ship, Shiawassee Co., and called into existence the 
present thriving village of Laingsburg. He was a man of 
mark, and for many years kept one of the most famous of 
roadside taverns on the Grand River road. He was, more- 
over, an extensive land-owner, and a man of wide influence 
upon the time and the community in which he lived. 
Nellie, his daughter, came westward with her fother in 
1833, and in Ann Arbor spent the ensuing seven years at 
school. In 1840 she joined her father's family at Laings- 
burg, and in 1844, on the 11th of April, she was married 
at the house of William Laing, her brother, to John Le- 
witt, of Woodhull, where he was among the early settlers, 
having come to America from Leicester, England. From 
1844 to 1846, Mr. and Mrs. Lewitt lived on a farm in 
Woodhull. October, 1846, they moved to Ann Arbor, 
where Mr. Lewitt was called to take the position of taxi- 
dermist in the University museum. While engaged in that 
work, he died Jan. 21, 1847. Upon her husband's death 
his widow returned to Laingsburg, where in June, 1851, 
she was married to Dr. Freeman McClintock. Leaving the 
following November for California, Mr. and Mrs. McClin- 
tock remained there until 1856, when they returned east- 
ward, and in that year resumed their residence in Sciota. 
In 1870, Mr. and Mrs. McClintock agreed to a mutual 
separation, and since that period Mrs. McClintock has been 
living in Laingsburg upon the estate left her by her first 
husband, John Lewitt. Her living children are three in 
number: Alfred L., born April 20, 1852, now a resident of 
Laingsburg; Elva A., born Oct. 21, 1854, and now Mrs. 
Oren Phelps, of California; Alta Belle, born Sept. 16, 
1862, and now residing with her mother. 



WILLARD RYON. 

Willard Ryon, the eldest in a family embracing eight 
children, was born in Monroe Co., N. Y., in 1836. His 
father, also a native of the same county, was of Irish de- 



scent, and by trade a cooper. His mother, formerly Miss 
Mahala Stanhope, was a native of Wyoming County, New 
York. At the age of ten years, Willard, with his parents, 
emigrated to the wilds of Michigan, where a farm in 
Calhoun County afforded them a home for ten years, when 
with their earnings they were able to purchase a small 
farm in Middlebury. Willard meanwhile sought employ- 
ment with his neighbor, George H. Warren, with whom he 
remained two years and then became an inmate of the family 
of Nathan Herrick. He in 1861 enlLstcd in Company D 
of the First Michigan Cavalry, was taken prisoner, paroled, 
and discharged. In the meanwhile with the proceeds of his 
earnings he authorized his father to purchase for him the 
farm of one hundred acres which he now occupies. On the 
3d of July, 1866, he was married to Miss Marian C. Her- 
rick, daughter of Nathan Herrick, one of the early settlers 
in Middlebury, where her birth occurred. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ryon have one child, Sylva, born March 10, 1872. Their 
home, represented in- the accompanying sketch, was a score 
of .years since wholly unimproved, but has since, by their 
industry, been brought to a high degree of cultivation. In 
politics Mr. Ryon is a staunch Republican. Both himself 
and wife are exemplary members of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 



CHAPTER XLIL 
VERNON TOWNSHIP,* 

Location and Topography — Original Laml-Entries — Seltlcments and 
Settlers — Township Organization and Civil List — Early Highways 
— Early Schools — "N'illage of Durand — Vernon Village — Church 
History — Greenwood Cemetery. 

The township of Vernon lies on the eastern county-line 
of Shiawassee Count}', and is bounded on the north by 
Venice, south by Burns, east by the county of Genesee, 
and west by Shiawassee. It was in point of settlement the 
second of the townships of the county, having been entered 
by pioneers as early as 1833. It has other claims to prece- 
dence in that its lands, which were originally superior in 
quality, have by careful and judicious tillage been brought 
to an unusual degree of productiveness, and that within its 
borders is one of the oldest and most thriving of the vil- 
lages of the county. 

The Shiawassee River flows across the southwest corner 
of the town.ship, and following a tortuous course through 
Shiawassee township, returns again to Vernon to water sec- 
tions 6 and 7. It is here fed by a considerable stream 
which rises in the south and flowing north through the 
centre of the township diverges to the west and joins the 
river on section 7. Other smaller water-courses, of no 
special importance, are found elsewhere in the township. 

The surface of Vernon is varied. A pleasing variation 
is apparent without sudden or abrupt changes, and the pre- 
dominance of level land renders it easy of tillage. The 
composition of the soil embraces clay and sandy loam. Clay 
prevails on the timbered land and in the openings, which 

* By E. 0. Wivgner. 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



301 



are found principally on the soutliern border. Sand is quite 
generally distributed and is not excessive in any locality. 
The land is not all drained, though groat improvement has 
been witnessed in this particular within recent years. Wheat 
and corn are the staple products of Vernon, the average 
yield of the former being at least twenty bushels to the 
acre, though some localities produce a crop greatly in excess 
of this. 

The prevailing timber of the township is oak, maple, 
beech, ash, and walnut, maple being especially thrifty in its 
growth and prolific in its yield of sap. The Chicago and 
Lake Huron Railroad and the Detroit and Milwaukee Rail- 
road traverse the township, the latter having a station at 
Vernon and one at Durand. The former road has a station 
at Durand only. 

ORIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

Following is a list of those persons who entered from 
government, or purchased of the State, the lands composing 
the township of Vernon : 

SECTION 1. 

Acres. 

L. G. Gordon and J. Cook, 1S36 185.24 

Jasper Parish, 183B 346.63 

Joel C.Sawyer, 1854 160 

SECTION 2. 

Joseph L. Peters, 1836 94.34 

L. G. Gordon and J. Cook, 1836 160 

John Kheinfrank, 1836 80 

Jasper Parish, 183B 80 

Samuel E. Peters, 1836 80 

William H. Sessions, 1837 40 

Willi.Tm S. Clark, 1839 53 

SECTION 3. 

William E. Peters, 1S3G 160 

John Cook, Alexander McArthur, and Chauncey 

llurlbut, 1836 190.99 

Edwin B. Gregory and John Cook, 1836 160 

Joseph L. Peters, 183B 190.47 

SECTION 4. 

Bbenezer Brown (.3d). 1835 SO 

Caleb Curtis, 1835....' 155.83 

Edwin B. Gregory and John Cook, 1836 160 

James Lawrence, 1836 80 

Sanlord Clark, 1836 80 

Ben.iiiniin Brown, 1836 112.71 

J.-xs|ier Parish, 1836 40 

SECTION 5. 

Jacob Wilkinson, 1833 40 

Samuel N. Whitcomb, 1835 40 

Charles Wilkinson, 1835 61.77 

Abraham O.Newman, 1835 80 

John W. Newman, 1S35 240 

Samuel N. Whitcomb, 1835 59.24 

John Burtis, 1836 80 

James Lawrence, 1836 61.77 

James B. Scott, 1836 59.24 

SECTION 6. 

Henry Leach, 1833 95.75 

James Wilkinson, 1833 178 

Jacob Wilkinson, 1833 113.70 

Edward E. Perry, 1834 88.34 

Joseph Parmenter, 1835 54.47 

George Kittridge, 1836 102.18 

SECTION 7. 

Chesley Blake, 1836 48 

Edwin B. Gregory and John Cook, 1836 80 

Enoch Jams, 1836 47.18 

Koyal H. Waller, 1836 80 



Acres. 

Sally Holly, 1836 40 

William Barker, 1836 160 

Orson Barker, 1S36 80 

Dexter Clark, 1839 40 

SECTION 8. 

Ransom W.HolIey, 1836 160 

Sally Holley, 1836 40 

Walter Lawrence, 1836 80 

Almon Isham. 1836 40 

Jabez Clark, 1836 40 

S.avina Hopkins, 1836 40 

Sarnh Clark, 1836 80 

William Garrison, 1836 40 

Mary B. Miller, 1836 80 

John Long (State), 1859 40 

SECTION 9. 

James Lawrence, 1836 160 

AValter Lawrence, 1836 80 

L. G. Gordon and J. Cook, 1836 80 

Hervey Miller, 1836 80 

Asa F. Chalker, 1854 SO 

J. I!. Miller (State), 1858 120 

A. J. Van Osman (State), 1864 40 

SECTION 10. 

James Lawrence, 1836 160 

Josiah F. Fowler, 1836 120 

Jasper Parish, 1836 40 

John Snyder, 1855 80 

James F. Vincent (State) 40 

Luther Dennison, " 1859 40 

Cortland B. Stebbins," 1858 40 

Josiah Brown, Jr., " 1869 80 

Alex. W. Jackson, " 1865 40 

SECTION U. 

James Billington, 1836 40 

Jabez Clark, 1836 80 

Dri E. Howell, 1836 40 

Daniel Curtis, 1836 80 

John Burns, 1851 160 

Stephen Loomis, 1851 40 

Caleb Curtis, 1854 40 

Alpheus Stiles (Stale), 1864 40 

Solomon Brown, " 1868 40 

Joel Vincent, " 1864 40 

George Brown, " 1869 40 

SECTION 12. 

George Brown (Shite), 1869 40 

Jonathan Stevens," 1868 40 

William Brown, " 1869 40 

Thomas Munger, " 1868 80 

Joseph Cobb, 1838 40 

Avery Guest, 1851 160 

James Larue, 1851 160 

SECTION 13. 

Nicholas Bouck, J. G. Gebhardt, and David Dictz, 

1836 320 

Elihu Ward. 1836 80 

B. W. Farnham, 1836 240 

SECTION 14. 

Solomon F. Cook, 1836 80 

William J.'Pease, 183ff 80 

B. W. Farnham, 1S36 240 

Ralph Wright, 1836 160 

Benjamin I'ellagoon, 1852 40 

James Smith, 1854 40 

SECTION 15. 

Henry B. Young (Stoto), 1869 40 

C. W. Jlillor, 1836 40 

T. A. Fowler, 1836 120 

William Young, 1836 160 

E. Van Wormer, 1836 120 

Hiram Cornish, 1844 40 

B. P. Mayward, 1845 40 

Janus Davis, 1847 40 

Hiram Cornish, 1853 40 



302 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SECTION 16. 

Acres. 

School section 640 

SECTION 17. 

James Adams, 18;^6 80 

Moses Wolfer, 1836 80 

Reuben West, 18.36 SO 

William K. Reed, 18.36 80 

Isaiic Harker, 1836 240 

Austin Depue, 1836 40 

James Collins, 1836 40 

SECTION 18. 

Benjamin Williams, 1836 120 

Enoch Jones 120.60 

B. Y. Barker 126.32 

J. Thompson and Lyon 200 

SECTION 19. 

Joseph Baker, 1836 40 

Levi Frost, 1836 80 

James Pennell, 1836 80 

E. I'. Hastings, 1836 46.12 

Enos Welch, 1836 80 

Joel Tuttle, 1836 40 

Edmund Foster, 1836 80 

N. H. Johnson, 1836 40 

Levi Cook, 1836 45.92 

A. B. Webster, 1836 40 

SECTION 20. 

Joseph Heath, 1836 80 

James Pennell, 1836 80 

James Adams, 1836 160 

Henry Van Wormer, 1836 80 

James T. Chittenden, 1836 80 

George Jasperrood, 1836 80 

Mary Van Wormer, 1836 40 

Daniel Van Wormer, 1836 40 

SECTION 21. 

Aaron Swain, 1836 40 

SylvanusEwell, 1836 160 

Alanson Foster 40 

Samuel Leonard, 1836 80 

Peter Desnoyers 80 

George W. Armstrong 40 

Benoni Morion, 1836 40 

Jesse and Wettley Irons 80 

Jasper Parish 40 

Mary B. Miller, 1836 40 

SECTION 22. 

James A. Young, 1836 40 

John D. Flower, 1836 40 

John Young, 1836 40 

Joshua Coomer, 1836 80 

Chauncey Hammond, 1836 80 

Ralph Wright, 1836 360 

SECTION 23. 

William H.ay, 1836 480 

Ralph Wright, 1836 160 

SECTION 24. 

William Thompson, 1836 320 

L. G. Gordon and J. Cook, 1836 160 

S. Bliss and S. Graves, 1836 160 

SECTION 25. 

Trumbull Gary, 1835 80 

George Kissam, 1836 80 

William H. H. Sheldon, 1836 80 

Samuel W. Harding, 1836 80 

W. and J. llopkirk, 1836 160 

S. Bliss and S. Graves, 1836 160 

SECTION 20. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 80 

Aljel Millington. 1836 80 

Edward Chase, 1836 80 

Martin M. Farn.s, 1836 80 

William A. Gilbert, 1836 80 

Beebe Truesdell, 1836 240 



SECTION 27. 

Acres. 

Noah Bovier, 1834 40 

Abel Millington, 1835 80 

Stephen J. Durkee, 1836 40 

Sarah G. Moore, 1836 80 

Samuel W. Harding, 1836 80 

William A. Gilbert, 1836 80 

L. G. Gordon and J. Cook, 1836 160 

James Hoiton, 1836 80 

SECTION 28. 

James Rutan, 1834 40 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 80 

Alanson Foster, 1836 160 

Linus K. Minor, 1836 280 

John R.Martin, 1836 40 

S. Bliss and S. Graves, 1836 40 

SECTION 29. 

John Smedlev, 1834 40 

Samuel W. Harding, 1836 80 

Loren Baldwin, 1836 80 

Asa Pierce, 1836 , 40 

Josiah Pierce, 1836 40 

8. Bliss and S. Graves, 1836 280 

John Shepherd, 1836 80 

SECTION 30. 

Josiah Pierce, 1833 74.65 

Alfred L. and Benjamin 0. WillLams, 1833 42.63 

William Black, 1834 76.30 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 80 

Cornelius W. Miller, 1836 135.64 

Loren Baldwin, 1836 160 

SECTION 31. 

Nathaniel G. Phillips, 1853 390.78 

Joseph Grace, 1853 40 

John A. Loomis, 1853 80 

Nathaniel G. Phillips, 1854 90 

SECTION 32. 

Nathaniel G. Phillips, 1853 12.40 

Selh Frost, 1853 80 

Thomas H.ad, 1853 19.20 

Luke P. Smedley, 1853 36 

N. G. Phillips, 1853 18.20 

Henry J. Cartough, 1863 40 

Jacob Hiller, 1853 217.30 

Henry R. Dean, 1853 120 

James M. Devon, 1853 80 

SECTION 33. 

Uriah Dubois, 1835 80 

John Rutan, 1836 40 

Samuel W. Harding, 1836 80 

Linus K. Minor, 1836 160 

S. Bliss and S. Graves, 1836 280 

SECTION 34. 

Mary Castle, 1835 160 

Abel Millington, 1835 80 

Uriah Dubois, 1835 80 

George Dowles, 1835 80 

Uriah Dubois, 1836 40 

Abel Millington, 1836 160 

Eli Shattuok, 1847 40 

SECTION 35. 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 80 

A. Millington, 1835 80 

Edward Chase, 1836 80 

Martin M. Earns, 1836 80 

Lucinthe Chase, 1836 40 

Randolph Manning, 1836 80 

William Merrill, 1836 200 

SECTION 36. 

Elisha P. Davis, 1836 160 

Trumbull Cary, 1835 80 

George Kissam, 1836 80 

Samuel W. H.arding, 1836 160 

John Sturdevant, 1836 160 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



303 



SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS. 

The 3'ear 1833 witnessed the advent of the earliest set- 
tler within the present boundaries of Vernon. Henry 
Leach came during the summer of that year, having aban- 
doned the attractions of the city of Detroit for the life of 
a pioneer. He entered about one hundred acres on section 
6, and began at once the process of underbrushing and 
clearing. Tinkelpaugh, Swain, Smith, and Baker were 
already located in Shiawassee, and it is probable that with 
one of these families Mr. Leach found hospitable shelter 
while erecting his log cabin. Not a settler had yet broken 
ground in Vernon, and very little land had been entered. 
He remained three years and accomplished an improvement 
embracing twenty acres, after which he removed to Sciota. 
The isolated life he led seemed disturbed by the presence of 
settlers, and their arrival became the signal for his depar- 
ture. He ultimately removed to California, where his 
death occurred. A daughter, born in 1836, was the first 
birth in the township. A squatter named Lathrop arrived 
from JeflFerson Co., N. Y., and located also upon section 6 
the same year, where he built a bark shanty. He assumed 
to be a surveyor, and had with him some evidences of the 
statement in various implements of the craft. He, how- 
ever, cleared no land, and manifested no energy either in 
agricultural or profe.ssional labor, and soon after made his 
exit. 

Jacob Wilkinson, in 1833, entered forty acres on section 
6, and may practically be regarded as the second settler in 
order of arrival. He found Leach occupying his rude 
shanty and making progress in his pioneer labor. 

The township was a dense forest, and deer, bears, and 
wolves were the unmolested possessors of the soil. As 
aggressive as were the latter animals, the most formidable 
foes appeared in the mosquitoes and gnats, which made life 
a burden to the invader of their domain. 

In 1835, Samuel N. Whitcomb left Oakland County and 
entered a fractional eighth of section 5, upon which he 
built a log hou.se and immediately commenced the labor of 
chopping. He found Indians numerous, and though not 
aggressive, often annoying by the frequency of their visits. 
Mr. Whitcomb remained for several years in the township, 
and made much progress in the improvement of his pos- 
sessions, but finding the picturesque and rolling lands of 
Livingston County more attractive than his home, ex- 
changed with Cyrus R. Angel, and became a resident of 
the latter county. Mr. Angel remained a resident of the 
township until his death. 

James Rutan, who afterwards attained a judicial position 
in the county, entered in 1834 forty acres on section 34, 
and became a settler in 1835. He found but few indica- 
tions of progress, and devoted himself to hard labor and 
various neighborly acts to later comers during the early 
years of his life. At a subsequent period he became im- 
mersed in professional duties, which absorbed his time. 

John Smedley entered, in 1834, forty acres on section 
29, upon which he located two years later. He erected a 
log structure for his family, and devoted his energies at 
once to the conversion of this forest into a productive farm, 
which he continued to cultivate and improve until his 
death. The homestead is now occupied by ihe widow and 



one son, while his sons, L. I. and JeflFerson Smedley, reside 
on sections 1 and 33, respectively. 

Josiah Pierce entered about seventy-five acres of land on 
section 30 in 1833, and an additional forty on section 29 
in 1836. He located the same year upon the latter, and 
began his pioneer labor of chopping, erecting a log house, 
and sowing wheat. He soon after engaged in the county 
politics, and was chosen as the first county treasurer. 

Noah Bovier also arrived in 1 836, and located east of 
Mr. Smedley on section 27, where he entered forty acres in 
1834; but later he removed to forty acres upon section 31. 
He became involved in some complications connected with 
the administration of the business of the county, and did 
not long remain a resident in the township. 

William K. Reed, formerly a resident of Tompkins 
.Co., N. Y., entered in 1836 eighty acres on section 17, 
which at the date of purchase was entirely uncleared. 
With him came six sons, who aided in cutting the road 
from the Shiawassee Exchange to their land, which was as 
yet unopened. On arriving at section 19 the family en- 
camped in the forest from Friday until the following Mon- 
day, improvising such rude shelter as was possible with the 
material at hand. Abram Rulan was then employed to 
convey the household wares on an ox-sled to their destina- 
tion. A hut of sheets and boughs was constructed, and 
underneath it a bed was spread in which all slumbered 
peacefully. A few days later a log cabin was completed, 
and soon after a small clearing was effected and sown with 
wheat. Mr. Reed resided upon this farm until his death 
in March, 1868, when his son, George W., became owner of 
the homestead. His other sons, five in number, are also 
residents of Vernon, Andrew W. having one hundred and 
twenty acres on section 17 ; Abner G., the same number of 
acres on section 7 ; Rasselas, ninety on section 17 ; William 
J., forty on section 16 ; and John, one hundred and fifty- 
seven on section 7. 

Joseph Parment«r emigrated from Madison Co., N. Y., 
and purchased fifty-four acres on section 6 in 1835. But 
few settlers had arrived, and Vernon was yet a wilderness. 
He remained with William Black in Shiawassee until a 
house was built, to which the family soon after removed. 
The labor of chopping was at once begun, and with the aid 
of his father Mr. Parmenter improved five acres the first 
year, which was soon after covered with crops. He was 
actively identified with the interests of Vernon until 1849, 
when he removed to his present home in Shiawassee. 

Another pioneer from Oakland County was Jabez Clark, 
who arrived in 1836 and entered forty acres of land on 
section 8. He remained with William K. Reed while 
erecting a home, after which he proceeded to the improve- 
ment of the farm he had purchased. Mr. Reed and Moses 
AVolfen were his nearest neighbors. Mr. Clark left the 
township for a short time, but returned and remained for 
years upon the place, though his death occurred at the 
house of his daughter, Mrs. A. D. Herrington. 

Moses Wolfen, a former resident of Tompkins County, 
in the Empire State, came to the county of Oakland in 
1834, and to Vernon in 1836. He entered eighty acres on 
section 17, and built a log cabin, finding a temporary abode 
meanwhile with John Reed on section 7. With the assist- 



304 



HISTORY OP SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



ance of his son he made an extensive improvement soon 
after his arrival, and continued to reside upon the farm 
until declining j'ears found him enjoying the protecting 
care of his daughter, Mrs. Reuben West, where he died in 
1871. At Mr. Wolfeu's house occurred the earliest mar- 
riage, — that of Moses Melvine to Catharine Wolfen in 
1838. 

Henry Miller removed from Oakland County in 1836, 
and entered eighty acres on section 9 the same year. 
Ephraim Wright, of Shiawassee, a brother-in-law of Mr. 
Miller, had preceded him, and with him he found a cordial 
greeting on his arrival. Ho did much to make the farm 
productive, and chose it as his dwelling-place until his later 
removal to Durand, where he died. 

Reuben West, a son-in-law of Mr. Moses Wolfen, re- 
moved from Cortland County in 1836, and settled on sec- 
tion 17, where he entered eighty acres. He was no excep- 
tion to his neighbors in the routine of labor he pursued, 
having first exercised his skill in the construction of a house 
of logs, and later replaced it by a frame dwelling of more 
extended proportions. The land, under his skillful manipu- 
tion, rapidly became productive, and won for Mr. West the 
reputation, which he still enjoys, of being one of the most 
thorough farmers in Vernon. 

Nathaniel Chalker, formerly of Seneca Co., N. Y., pur- 
chased of John Cook a farm entered by him on section 3. 
This purchase of one hundred and thirty-six acres was made 
in 1837, and the land having been mortgaged, necessitated 
a double payment from Mr. Chalker. Two sons accompa- 
nied him, and the trio remained with Benjamin Brown, 
who had earlier, during the same year, entered one hundred 
and thirteen acres on section 4. After the completion of 
their log structure and the sowing of wheat to aflFord sub- 
sistence for the following year, which embraced a field of 
five acres, their attention was directed to the reception of 
the family, who arrived the following fall. Mr. Chalker 
brought with him cooking-utensils, and expected to have 
boarded himself, but having found a family near by, aban- 
doned the project. Two sons of Mr. Chalker still reside 
in the township, — Calvin C, who has one hundred acres on 
section 1, and Chandler B., whose residence is located upon 
one hundred and six acres on section 3. The latter gentle- 
man has been many times elected to the ofiice of supervisor 
of Vernon. 

George Hcrrington, another emigrant of 1836, purchased 
a farm of eighty acres upon section 20. He was a former 
resident of the Empire State, and fully imbued with the 
spirit of enterprise and perseverance peculiar to the pioneers 
of that early day. This laud he cleared and cultivated, and 
resided upon it until his death. The farm is now occupied 
by M. O. Herrington. 

John K. Smith, a former resident of Pontiac, Oakland 
Co., arrived in this township in February, 1837. He lo- 
cated upon eighty acres on section 25, and was assi.sted in 
the work of clearing by his two sons, Nathan M. and B. 
F. Smith, the latter of whom gave his life in battle for the 
cause of freedom. Nathan M. is still a resident of Vernon, 
where he has eighty acres on section 27. In 1840, Mr. 
Smith, having been elected to the office of county clerk, 
changed his residence to Corunna, and on the expiration of 



his term of office removed to California, but returned again 
to the county-seat, and died in 1861. 

Ezekiel Van Wormer came from Monroe Co., N. Y., in 
1837, and located upon one hundred and twenty acres, 
which he had entered the year previous, on section 15, 
the farm being now occupied by M. V. Russell. It was 
entirely uncleared on his arrival, and during the time re- 
quired to erect a comfortable habitation he remained at 
the log house of George Herrington. He cleared the land ' 
and afterwards erected a second log house, more capacious 
than the first, in which he lived until his death, in 1861. 
Two sons are now residents of the township, — A. J. having 
eighty acres on section 16, and an additional forty on sec- 
tion 9, upon which he has built a substantial residence. 
The farm of Abel Van Wormer lies on sections 11 and 14, 
and is well improved, with a modern dwelling upon it. 

James Van Auken preceded Mr. Herrington by one 
year, and purchased the farm formerly owned by Henry 
Leach, on section 6, together with other lands adjacent. 
He made very considerable improvements on this farm, 
upon which he lived until his death. It is now occupied 
by his son, H. J. Van Auken. 

William Garrison removed from New Jersey to Oakland 
County in 1836, and to the township of Vernon in the 
spring of 1838, purchasing of Almon Isham forty acres on 
section 8. He had previously entered (in 183G) forty 
acres on the same section. On the former land had been 
erected a small cabin, and a few acres bore some slight evi- 
dence of improvement. Mr. Garrison devoted his energies 
entirely to farming pursuits, and occupied the land until his 
death, in 1858. Four sons accompanied him to Michigan, 
two of whom died on the farm. The remaining two are 
actively engaged in business pursuits in the village of 
Vernon. 

Lewis Sayre settled upon section 24, having left New 
York State in 1839. The land was on his arrival still in 
its original condition of forest. Mrs. Sayre was equal to 
her husband in the ambition she evinced, and together 
they cleared and cultivated the farm. Their log house was 
afterwards superseded by a spacious frame residence, which 
is still occupied, and which, with the competency that labor 
has brought, they are now able to enjoy. Their sons, 
Charles and Daniel Sayre, are owners of the extensive 
saw-mill on section 25, familiarly known to the towns- 
people. 

The earliest death in Vernon, so far as remembered, oc- 
curred in 1838, at the house of S. N. Whitcomb. It was 
that of a settler named Howell, who had been engaged in 
clearing land for Mr. Whitcomb, and had been for many 
weeks in feeble health. Dr. Weir, of Shiawassee, and Dr. 
Pattison, of Owosso, were the earliest physicians in Vernon. 
Elder- B. B. Brigham, of Shiawasseetown, conducted the 
first religious services. 

In 1840, Mr. Sickles came to the township and located 
upon section 25, where he purchased eighty acres of land. 
He found no improvements, and the excellent farm later 
owned was wholly the result of his own industry. His 
death occurred upon the homestead, which is now occu- 
pied by his son Emery, while John and James, the other 
sons, have well-improved farms in the township. 



VERNON TOAVNSHIP. 



305 



Following is a list of the tax-payers of Vernon township 



in 1840 : 
Geori^e Kissam. 
Ti-umbuU Gary. 
John Stuidevant. 
Thomas Bentley. 
Loiiii Baldwin. 
Gordon and Cook. 
Stephen F. Drake. 
John B. Morton. 
Bliss and Graves. 
John Shepherd. 
Mark Norris. 

A. L. & B. 0. Williams. 
William Sayre. 

Abel Millington. 
Edward Chase. 
Cynthia Chase. 
William Merrill. 
Daniel Van Wormer. 
Chauncey Hammond. 
Randolph Manning. 
James Smith. 
Paul SpoflFord. 
Mortimer Wadhams. 
Henry Catelazer. 
Augustus Crane. 
H. V. R. Hawkins. 
John P. Clark. 
William P. Patrick. 
Saunders and Kittredge. 
Lansing B. Mizner. 
Clark and Warren. 
Z. B. Webb. 
Calvin P. Austin. 
Henry C. Walker. 
Samuel Wilkinson. 
Daniel R. Carpenter. 
Squire Adams. 
David Sutton. 
Alpha Carr. 
Christopher Colson. 
George W. Wells. 
John Thomas. 
Crane and Freeborn. 
Henry Miller. 
Edward G. Faile. 
Charles West. 
Artemas Spoor. 
H. Richardson. 
Walter Lawrence. 
Enoch James. 
Dexter Clark. 
William Barker. 
Daniel Curtis. 
James Billingtou. 
Nicholas Bouck. 

B. W. Farnow. 
Elias Ward. 

S. ¥. Cook. 
39 



William Pease. 
Theron A. Flowers. 
William Young. 
Isaac Barker. 
Thompson & Lyon. 
Benjamin Barker. 
E. P. Hastings. 
Levi Cook. 
N. H. Johnson. 
William A. Beers. 
Enos Welch. 
M. Holmes. 
Jasper Parrish. 
Samuel E. Peters. 
John Reinfraub. 
Joseph L. Peters. 
William E. Peters. 

Gilbert. 

Cook & Gregory. 
John Burtis. 
John W. Newman. 
Daniel Johnson. 
George Kittridge. 
Royal W. Walker. 
Orson Barker. 
George Jasperson. 
George W. Armstrong. 
Samuel Leonard. 
Joshua Cooman. 
William J. Hopwich. 
Herman Van Vicht. 
James H. Jerome. 
John Cogan. 
Samuel A. Goddard. 
Isaac Smith. 
Jacob L. Larvalien. 
George Horner. 
Jacob Woodruff. 
Edward G. Faile. 
T. F. Burns. 
Charles Taylor. 
Nathaniel C. Peckham. 
Charles Hillsbury. 
N. R. Randolph. 
Jabez Williams. 
John A. Weeks. 
Edwin Randolph. 
Lester Catlin. 
C. C. Hascall. 
J. S. Bagg. 
Rowland Sprague. 
Lorenzo Bankman. 
Thomas Bigfrid. 
David Halstead. 
Samuel Meagre. 
John F. Bliss. 
David Halstead. 
Almon Mack. 



Charles Taylor. 
Abram Boekhover. 
Gideon Lee. 
James C. Goodell. 
Lanson Lacy. 
Benjamin Dutton, Jr. 
H. G. Bills. 
Frank Taylor. 



John F. Bliss. 
John B. Valce. 
Jacob B. Reed. 
Louisa Cronk. 
Benjamin Bradley. 
Manson Taber. 
Jacob B. Bird. 



William Lovejoy, formerly of Lyons, N. Y., settled 
upon section 27 in 1844, having purchased eighty acres. 
Marvin Wilcox, who had preceded him and settled upon 
section 35, was the nearest resident. Samuel Harding was 
located upon section 34 when Mr. Lovejoy came to Vernon 
the year previous on a prospecting tour, but died during 
the interval before returning. A brother of Mr. Lovejoy 
occupied the place for a year, and effected a clearing of ten 
acres, after which he removed to Ingham County, and its 
purchaser continued the improvements already begun. In 
1878 he removed to Durand and erected a convenient 
dwelling, which is his present residence. Daniel McCoUom, 
one of the numerous pionee.rs from Monroe Co., N. Y., 
arrived in 1846, and purchased of the State some years 
later a farm on section 16, known as school lands. He had 
previously been employed in various portions of the town- 
ship, and found his services much in demand. A log house 
was built and five acres improved the first year, after which 
steady progress was made in the clearing and cultivating of 
the land. In 1876 a spacious residence was erected, which 
is now the family home. 

Thomas Smith came in 1847, and purchased the farm on 
sections 33 and 34 which had been partially cleared by 
Samuel Harding. He continued the improvements already 
begun, and rendered the farm very productive. Mr. Smith 
is still a resident of Vernon, as are also his sons, Albert and 
M. S. Smith, both being located on section 34. 

Samuel Patchel emigrated from New Jersey in 1848, and 
settled upon eighty acres on section 9. William Grunsley, 
who had located on the same section, offered him hospitality 
while erecting the log house, to which he removed on its 
completion. He chopped but little at first, but ultimately 
cleared a productive farm. In 1866, Mr. Patchel erected 
his present substantial house and abandoned his primitive 
abode. Caleb Conrad preceded Mr. Patchel, moving to the 
township from Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. He purchased 
eighty acres of uncleared land on section 5, upon which he 
did the first chopping. A log cabin was first erected, 
which was later replaced by a comfortable dwelling, his 
present home. 

Edward Holmes, formerly of Madison Co., N. Y., set- 
tled in ISIS upon eighty acres on section 19, which were 
wholly uncleared. Roads had been surveyed but not im- 
proved, and travel was much impeded by the obstruc- 
tions encountered. Hampton Bentley had already made a 
considerable clearing on section 20, and was the nearest 
settler. With hiui Mr. Holmes remained while construct- 
ing a temporary abode. He cultivated this farm, and in 
1874 erected his present home. He is still actively engaged 
in farming. 

With Mr. I^olmes canje Q. F. Perry, who settled on forty 



306 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



acres on section 17, which was unimproved. He occupied 
this farm for several years and then removed to his present 
estate of eighty acres on section 19. 

Horace Hovey, a pioneer from Ohio, purchased an ex- 
tensive tract of land on section 20 in 1850, and resided 
upon this land until his death. His widow, now in ad- 
vanced years, occupies the family residence, her sons being 
located near her in the township. 

John Jewell, formerly of Genesee County, purchased, in 

1854, eighty acres on section 22, upon which a small clear- 
ing had been made by a settler named Hammond, who en- 
tered the land and liquidated the indebtedness upon it by 
the sale of maple-sugar. It was subsequently owned by 
Horace Pratt, of whom it was purchased by Mr. Jewell. 
He occupied the log house and labored upon the farm until 
his death in 1869, after which it came into the possession 
of its present owner, Dr. J. M. Shaw. Three sons of Mr. 
Jewell are residents of the township, two of whom are car- 
penters and the third a wagon-maker in Durand, where he 
is a considerable owner of land adjacent to the village. 

Peter Randolph removed from Tioga County, N. Y., in 

1855, and purchased of William Hammond eighty acres on 
section 7, the latter having erected a log house and partially 
improved the land. Some years later he removed one mile 
east on the same section, where he at present resides. His 
son, H. W. Randolph, has been a resident of Vernon vil- 
lage since 1864. Many other residents of Vernon have 
been active in advancing its interests and added greatly to 
its development, but the time of their settlement does not 
place them among its pioneers. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

The township of Vernon was originally embraced in the 
township of Shiawassee, and was erected a separate town- 
ship by an act of the Legislature (approved March 11, 
1837), which provided and declared "That all that portion 
of the county of Shiawassee designated in the United 
States survey as township 6 north, of range 4 east, be and 
the same is hereby set off and organized as a township by 
the name of Vernon, and the first township-meeting shall 
be held at the house of William H. Reed." 

Afterwards Vernon included township 7 north, of range 
4 east, which became a part of Vernon March 21, 1839, 
by legislative enactment of that date. In 1843 it was de- 
tached and became the township of Venice, reducing Ver- 
non to its present limits. 

The first township-meeting of Vernon was held, in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of the organizing act, at the 
house of William H. Reed, on the third day of April, 
1837. R. W. Holley was chosen moderator and James Ru- 
tan clerk, and the following-named officers were elected for 
the year 1837 : Supervisor, Ransom W. Holley ; Township 
Clerk, James Rutan ; Justices, R. W. Holley, James Van 
Auken ; Highway Commissioners, John Smedley, R. W. 
Holley, C. W. Miller ; Assessors, Noah Power, Marvin 
Wilcox, Joseph Parmenter ; Collector, S. N. Whitcomb ; 
School Inspectors, James Rutan, R. W. Holley, James Van 
Auken ; Constables, Noah Eovier, S. N. Whitcomb. 

During succeeding years, from 1838 to 1880 inclusive, 



the following-named township ofiScers have been elected in 

Vernon, viz. : 

SUPERVISORS. 



1838. James Rutan. 
18.39-40. John H. Smith. 

1841. George Ilerrington. 

1842. R. W. Holley. 

1843. John F. Swain. 
1844-45. R.W. Holley. 
1846-48. JoelB. Goss. 
1849-53. R. W. Holley. 
1854-55. J. S. Bentley. 
1856. R.W. Holley. 



1857-59. R. Reed. 

1860. L. D. Jones. 

1861. R. Reed. 
1862-68. L. D. Jones. 

1869. G. W. Allison. 

1870. Chandler B. Chalker. 

1871. Perry B. Swain. 
1872-77. C. B. Chalker. 
1878. R. Reed. 
1879-80. John Patchell. 



TOWNSHIP CLERKS. 



1838. 


C. B. Chalker. 


1861. 


Horace F. Miner. 


1839- 


40. James Rutan. 


1862- 


63. A. F. Westcott. 


1841. 


R. W. Holley. 


1864. 


W. L.Tilden. 


1842. 


Nelson Ferry. 


1865. 


A. McCurcher. 


1843. 


William Lovejoy. 


1866. 


W. S. Pinney. 


1844. 


Samuel Lovejoy. 


1867. 


A. McKercher. 


1845. 


George B. Runyan. 


1868. 


Milo Ilerrington. 


1846. 


Sylvanus Easell. 


1869. 


Charles Herriman. 


18.47- 


48. William Lovejoy. 


1870- 


71. Milo Herrington. 


1849. 


L. D. Jones. 


1872. 


Henry Clark. 


1850. 


Monroe Holley. 


1873. 


William R. Campbell. 


1851. 


Milo Herrington. 


1874. 


William Livermore. 


1852- 


54. R. Reed. 


1875. 


Amos B. Bliss. 


1855. 


M. S. Angel. 


1876. 


Richard Holinan. 


1856. 


L. D, Jones. 


1877- 


78. W. H. Putnam. 


1857- 


59. James Garrison. 


1879- 


80. I. J. Kellogg. 


1860. 


Michael Bennett. 








TREASURERS. 


1838- 


40. R. W. Holley. 


1853- 


54. Milo Herrington, 


1841. 


P. G. Eggleston. 


1855. 


Chester Herrington. 


1842- 


43. William Garrison. 


1856. 


George W. Goss. 


1844. 


John Young. 


1857- 


60. Henry T. Wceden. 


1845. 


John F. Swain. 


1861- 


63. William L. Tilden. 


1846. 


William Lovejoy. 


1864- 


-65. Charles S. Clark. 


1847. 


Milo Herrington. 


1866- 


69. T. J. Winans. 


1848. 


William Garrison. 


1870. 


Peter Patchell. 


1849- 


50. Milo Herrington. 


1871- 


78. Charles P. Weeden 


1851- 


52. William Garrison. 


1879- 


80. M. H. Reed. 




HIGHWAY 


COMMISSIONERS. 


1838 


E. Brown. 


1847. 


James Baird. 




John Smedley. 




John Smedley. 




Samuel W. Harding. 




Benjamin Brown. 


1839 


John Youngs. 


1848. 


Marvin Wilcox. 




William K. Reed. 


1849. 


George Herrington, 




C. B. Chalker. 


1850. 


James Scougale. 


1840 


Noah Bovier. 


1851. 


George Herrington, 




H. Herrington. 


1852. 


Jacob Wilkinson. 




Nelson Ferry. 


1853. 


James Scougale. 


1841. 


Heman Herrington. 


1854. 


George Herrington. 




Marvin Wilcox. 


1855. 


C. B. Chalker. 




Nelson Ferry. 


1856. 


James Scougale. 


1842 


Marvin Wilcox. 


1857. 


Marvin Wilcox. 




Heman Herrington. 


1858. 


John Reed. 




Daniel I. Lipe. 


1859. 


Monroe Holley. 


1843 


W. B. Barker. 


1860. 


Ephraim Andrews. 




H. Ilerrington, 


1861. 


Charles S. Clark. 




Marvin Wilcox. 




William D. Garrison. 


1844 


C. B. Chalker. 


1862. 


James M. McLean. 




Marvin Wilcox. 


1863. 


Ephraim Andrews. 




Nicholas Huff. 


1864. 


William W. Livermore 


1845 


Nicholas Hutf. 


1865. 


James McLean. 




William B. Barker. 


1866- 


-67. John Reed. 




Jacob Wilkinson. 


1868 


A. W. Angel. 


1846 


G. B. Runyan. 


1809 


Henry T. Weeden. 




William Lovejoy. 




Charles Herriman. 




Benjamin Brown. 


1870 


C. C. Chalker. 




William K. Reed, father of the subject of our sketch, 
was born in Trenton, N. J., in 1794, and Uved several years be- 
yond the allotted existence of man, experiencing all the hard- 
ships and fascinations of a Michigan pioneer life ; and in his 
declining years, having escaped mentally the withering influ- 
ence of age, he brightened his fireside by many pleasing 
reminiscences from his own life. Among the early memories 
was the soldier life of 1812, to which he always reverted 
with a degree of pleasure only excelled by that of recalling 
the day when he was married to Miss Minerva Woolcot, 
with whom he spent fifty years of his life. 

In 1822 or 1823 he removed to Dryden, Tompkins Co., 
N. Y., where he resided about fourteen years. In 1836 
we find him and his family en route for Michigan, traveling 
by Cayuga Lake from Ithaca, thence by the Erie Canal to 
Buffalo, where they took a boat for Detroit. July 25, 
1836, he came to Shiawassee County, and settled in Vernon 
township, his early home marking the place where the 
first meeting was held to organize the township, and also 
where the first election occurred, in April, 1837. His death 
occurred in 1868, his wife surviving him but one year. 

They were the parents of nine children, of whom Rasselas 
was the sixth, and was born in Tompkins County, Oct. 18, 
1826. He was a mere lad when he accompanied his father 
to the wilds of Michigan, but old enough to be of great 
service to him on the i'arm which he occupied. 

The public schools which are now so plentiful in the 
State at that time were unknown, and the children of the 
pioneers, if they received any instruction, obtained it at 
their own homes. As the population of the country in- 
creased a school was established, which Mr. Reed attended 



during the winter months. Nov. 27, 1854, he married 
Eliza, daughter of George Harrington, Esq., of Plymouth, 
Wayne Co., Jlich., who came to Shiawassee County in 
1838. Miss Eliza not only possessed the domestic virtues 
which make home happy, but the other qualities and per- 
sonal attractions which ornament society and have rendered 
Mr. Reed such assistance in his success in life. They have 
been the parents of three children, — Cassius S., born Dec. 
10, 1857; Gordon S., born June 12, 1862; and Nora L., 
born Sept. 18, 1865, — all of whom are now living with 
their parents. 

Mr. Reed is an enthusiastic Republican, and has served 
bis party with indoFatigablo energy. He has held the 
ofiice of dork in his township, and served repeatedly as 
supervisor. In 1877 he was elected to the House of Rep- 
resentatives of the State Legislature from the first district 
of Shiawassee County, and re-elected in 1879. During his 
career as a legislator he was a member of several very im- 
portant committees ; in his first term .serving on the com- 
mittees on State Public School, Federal Relations, and Roads 
and Bridges. In 1879 he was a member of the committee on 
Internal Improvements, and was chairman of the committee 
on the State Public School. His efficient work in this insti- 
tution, wc have been told by gentlemen connected therewith, 
was very valuable, and his earnest labor in behalf of the 
dependent children of Michigan will always be remembered. 

Mr. Reed is not a nieuibcr of any religions denoniiiiation, 
but an advocate of the principles of the Christian religion 
and a supporter and contributor towards its promulgation, 
having contributed of his means towards the building of 
three churches in his own town. 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



307 



1871. M. V. Russell. 

1872. William H. Easton. 

1873. James Sickles. 

1874. M. V. Russell. 
1875.- J. D. Jewell. 



187B. W. D. Jewell. - 
1877-78. H. 0. Jewell. 

1879. Charles Huff. 

1880. Luke Bentley. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



1838. 


R. W. Ilclloy. 


1857. 


H. E. Smith. 




Eli Shattuck. 


1858. 


J. W. I'ayno. 




F. G. Egglcston. 


1859. 


H. T. Wheeden. 


1839. 


Eli Shattuck. 


1860. 


Chauncey Button. 


1840. 


J. li. Clark. 


1801. 


Henry Conant. 




Nelson Ferry. 


1862. 


C. B. Chalker. 


1811. 


H. G. Eggleston. 


1863. 


H. T. Wecden. 


1842. 


U. G. Egglcston. 


1864. 


Lewis Sayre. 




William Lovejoy. 


1865. 


G. W. Pennell. 


1843. 


John N. Huff. 


1866. 


No record. 




William Lovejoy. 


1867. 


H. T. Afoeden. 


1844. 


S. Even. 


1868. 


H. Sherman. 


1845. 


R. W. Hollcy. 


1869. 


C. B Chalker. 


1846. 


C. li. Chalker. 


1870. 


A. McKcrcher. 


1847. 


Beebe Truesdoll. 


1871. 


H. T. Weeden. 


1848. 


Joel B. GoFS. 


1872. 


A. F. Westcott. 


1849. 


Ebenezcr Brown. 


1873. 


Norman Beotley. 


1850. 


W. B. Barker. 


1874. 


C. P. Weeden. 


1851. 


Lewis Sayre. 


1875. 


H. A. Sayre. 




James Baird. 


1876. 


Charles Hcrriman 


1852. 


L. W. Lasure. 


1877. 


W. D. Jewell. 


1853. 


C. B. Chalker. 


1878. 


A. F. Westcott. 


1854. 


William Garrison. 


1879. 


S. A. Post. 


1855. 


Lewis Sayre. 


1880. 


Charles Herriman 


1856'. 


J. D. Thachcr. 







SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



18.38. 


C. Curtis. 


1852. 


William Lovejoy, 




J. B. Clark. 




David Smith. 




•Joseph Parmenter. 


1853. 


Major King. 


1839. 


Hampton Bentley. 


1854. 


J. S. Bentley. 




R. W. Holley. 


1855. 


Monroe Holley. 




.Jacob Wilkinson. 


1856. 


M. S. Angel. 


1840. 


Uriah Dubois. 


1857. 


Major King. 




C. B. Chalker. 


1858. 


R. Reed. 




Nelson Ferry. 


1859. 


J. D. Jewell. 


1841. 


Nelson Ferry. 


1860. 


.James Garrison. 




R. W. Holley. 


1861. 


C. H. Smith. 




Uriah Dubois. 


1862- 


63. Desmond Martin 


1842. 


James Rutrin. 


1864. 


John Patchell. 




Nelson Ferry. 


1865. 


Orland B. Cull. 




William Lovejoy. 


1867. 


John Patchell. 


1843. 


L. B. Gilbert. 


1868. 


J. Wixon. 




R. W. Holley. 


1869. 


John Patchell. 




William Lovejoy. 


1870. 


Benson Chalker. 


1844. 


J. F. Swain. 


1871. 


William Jones. 




R. W. Holley. 


1872. 


A. G. Holmes. 


1845. 


William I-ovejoy. 


1873. 


J.J. Patchell. 


1846. 


E. Brown. 


1874. 


William Putnam. 


1847. 


Benjamin Winans. 


1875. 


John McLean. 


1848. 


Monroe Holley. 


1876. 


Peter Patchell. 


1849. 


William Lovejoy, 


1877. 


Albert Andrews. 


1850. 


Major King. 


1878. 


G. W. Sickles. 


1851. 


Monroe Holley. 


1879- 


80. C. S. Reed. 



DRAIN COMMISSIONERS. 



1872. James Beard. 

1873. William Jewell. 

1874. William D. Jewell. 

1875. George W. Reed, Jr. 



1876. John Powlison. 
1878. A. E. Andrews. 
1879-80. George Leetcb. 



1875-76. A. G. Cowlea, 
1877. Pcler Patchell. 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF SCHOOLS. 

1878-80. S. C. Watson, 



EARLY HIGHWAYS. 

The earliest highway surveyed in Vernon was known as 
the Baldwin road, projected in the summer of 1834, while 
Vernon was still a part of the township of Shiawa.ssee. It 
followed the south line of the township, running east and 
west, and was located one mile north of the above line. 
The improvement of this road did not immediately follow 
its survey. The subjoined transcript from the records of 
the highway commissioners for the year 1837 indicates the 
courses of the highways of that date : 

" At a meeting of the commissioners of highways of the 
town of Vernon, at the house of James Ilutan, in said 
town, on the 3d day of July, 1837, all of the said com- 
missioners having . been duly notified to attend the said 
meeting for the purpose of deliberating on the subject, it 
is ordered by the said commissioners that the highways be 
laid out and established in the said town of Vernon in the 
following places, their courses and distances having been 
ascertained by actual survey." 

The following is a description of the several highways so 
laid out and established : 

" Commencing at the quarter stake on the west side of 
section 27, thence south forty chains and fourteen links to 
the corner of sections 27, 28, 33, 34. One other highway 
altered, commencing at the corners of sections 28, 29, 32, 
33, running on .section-line seventy-nine and ninety one-hun- 
dredths chains west. One other highway commencing at 
the corner of sections 28, 29, 32, 33, running two hundred 
and forty-one chains and forty-five links to the section cor- 
ners of 8, 9, 10, 17. 

" One other highway commencing at the quarter stake 
between sections G and 7, running thence east on section- 
line one hundred and nineteen and seventy-five one-hun- 
dredths chains to the section corners of sections 4, 5, 8, 9. 

" One other highway commencing at the section corners 
of sections 4, 5, 8, 9, running thence north on section-line 
to the line of said town on the north, being eighty-nine 
chains. 

" One other highway commencing at the town-line be- 
tween sections 18 and 19, ruiiiiiiig thence east on section- 
line two hundred and seventy-four and ten one-hundredths 
chains. 

" One other highway commencing at section corners of 
sections 19, 20, 29, 30, running thence north on section- 
line three hundred and thirty-four and eighty-four one-hun- 
dredths chains to the line of said town. 

" One other highway commencing fifty-six links east of 
quarter stake between sections 6 and 7, south seventy-one 
degrees, west twenty-nine chains and ninety links to inter- 
sect the town-line, eleven chains south of the .section cor- 
ners of seclions 6 and 7. 

" One other highway commencing at the section corners 
of sections 4, 5, 8, 9, running east on section-line three 
hundred and twenty chains and ninety links to intersect 
the town-line on the east side of said town of Vernon. 

" One other highway commencing at the section corners 
of sections 9, 10, 3, 4, running north eighty-eight chains 
to the town-line of said town of Veruon. 

" One other highway commencing on the town-line be- 
tween sections 18 and 7, running thence cast on section- 



308 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSE13 COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



line one hundred and fifty-one chains and ten links to 

section corner of section 16. 

" K. W. HOLLEY, 

" C. W. Miller, 
" John Smedley, 
" Ilighioay Commissiuners. 
"James Rutan, 

" Town Clerk. 
"Recorded Aug. 1, 1837." 

EARLY SCHOOLS. 

The board of school inspectors of tiie township of Ver- 
non, consisting of J. B. Clark, Caleb Curtis, and Joseph 
Parnienter, met April 4, 1844, for the purpose of dividing 
the territory into school districts. After consultation the 
following division was made : 

District No. 1 to embrace sections 1, 2, and the north 
half of sections 11 and 12. 

District No. 2, sections 3, 4, and the north half of sec- 
tions 9 and 10. 

District No. 3, sections 5 and 6 and the north half of 
sections 7 and 8. 

District No. 4, sections 17 and 18 and the south half of 
sections 7 and 8. 

District No. 5, sections 15 and 16, the south half of 
sections 9 and 10, and the north half of sections 21 and 22. 

District No. 6, sections 13, 14, the north half of sections 
23 and 24, and the south half of sections 11 and 12. 

District No. 7, sections 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and 36, and 
the south half of sections 22, 23, and 24. 

District No. 8, sections 28, 34, 33, and the south half of 
sections 20 and 21. 

District No. 9, section 19 and the north half of sec- 
tion 30. 

It is probable that the earliest school was opened in dis- 
trict No. 3, but information regarding the building of the 
first school-house or the teacher who early presided in the 
district is not obtainable. 

The present school territory of Vernon is divided into six 
whole and three fractional districts, over which preside, as 
a board of directors, the following gentlemen : George H. 
Cooper, George W. Reed, W. H. Easton, Henry Alchin, 
Peter Patcholl, James Scott, A. G. Cowles, William Gilmore, 
and John Koper. Five hundred and eighty-one scholars 
receive instruction, of whom thirty-five are non-residents. 
They are under charge of eight male and eleven female 
teachers. There are nine frame school buildings in the 
various districts, some of which arc large, commodious, and 
admirably adapted for the purpose. 

VILLAGE OF DUKAND. 

A portion of the land on which the village of Durand 
was located was originally entered by Mary Miller in 1836, 
and subsequently owned by James and John Kenyon. 
Another portion was entered by William Young the same 
year. Slill another tract was owned by Dr. L. D. Jones, 
and by him sold to J. Delos Jewell, who laid a portion of 
the ground into lots but did not plat it. The land entered 
by Mr. Young lay upon section 15, and after passing 
through successive hands became the property of William 



H. Putnam, who had a portion of it platted, a previous 
plat having been made by James C. Brand. A church and 
school building had already been erected, and some enter- 
prise was being manifested. Mr. Brand built a saw-mill 
which was furnished with steam-power, Mr. Putnam having 
been his foreman, and did an extensive business in the 
manufacture of staves and heading. In 1876 a post-ofiice 
was established, with Mr. Putnam as postmaster, who named 
the place after Hon. George H. Durand, of the city of 
Flint. The earliest store in the place was built by Messrs. 
Putnam & Delano, and occupied by Ira D. Kellogg in 
1876, after which tlie firm became Kellogg & Delano. A 
hardware-store was built by Mr. Putnam, of which he was 
proprietor, after which Kellogg & Delano erected a building 
for mercantile uses. A. D. Bruce soon after erected a store 
which was rented by W. H. Bielby, the present postmaster, 
and two blacksmith-shops and one wagon-shop were also 
opened. The pioneers in the drug and medicine business 
were the Shaw Brothers, who arrived in 1878 and estab- 
lished themselves in business. Messrs. Davis & Herrington 
soon after erected a building which is now occupied by W. 
H. Bielby. The firm of Sayre Brothers erected, at nearly 
the same date, a capacious store, which was afterwards pur- 
chased by Messrs. Putnam & Delano, who removed to the 
site of their present extensive business. In 1878 an elevator 
was constructed by the same firm. 

The capacity of the extensive steam saw mill of J. C. 
Brand is twelve thousand feet of lumber and six thousand 
staves per day. The mill is propelled by an engine of forty- 
horse power, and the lumber cut is obtained in adjacent 
portions of the county. The market for the staves and 
heading is found in New York and the city of Pough- 
keepsie. Detroit furnishes a demand for the lumber. 

Extensive charcoal kilns were constructed in the .suburbs 
of the hamlet by Hiram Smith, of Flint, in 1879, and are 
managed by his son, Ely Smith. The capacity of each 
kiln is fifty cords, ten kilns having been constructed on the 
ground of the proprietor. The product is shipped to various 
points in the State. 

The Chicago and Lake Huron Railroad was completed 
late in 1876, and an agent appointed to the depot at Durand. 
F. M. Pomeroy first acted in that capacity, and has been suc- 
ceeded by L. S. Westrich, the present incumbent. 

A flourishing school is under the direction of Miss Carrie 
Biller. Two physicians — Drs. J. N. Shaw and A. G. Cole 
. — reside here, and practice through a wide extent of coun- 
try. The growth of Durand has been not only rapid but 
healthy, and its citizens predict for it a future fully com- 
mensurate with its brief but progressive history. 

VERNON VILLAGE. 
The original plat of the village of Vernon was surveyed 
and laid out in the autumn of 1856, embracing the south 
part of the southeast fractional quarter of section 6, and the 
north half of the northeast quarter of section 7, township 
6 north, of range 4 east, the main street of the village run- 
ning on the section-line. This plat Was, however, not re- 
corded until Dec. 2, 1866. Van Auken's addition, de- 
scribed as north of State Street and west of Duane Street, 
was surveyed by Ezra Mason in August, 1865. Ycrkes' 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



309 



addition south of Vernon proper, lying east of Walnut 
Street and west of Chestnut Street, was platted August, 
1865. Van Auken's second addition, lying west of Van 
Auken's addition, was surveyed in the spring of 1870. 
Rogers' addition, lying east of Yerkes' addition, was plat- 
ted in the spring of 1870. 

Greenwood Cemetery was platted in 1862 by the Green- 
wood Cemetery Association. 

The original plat of the village of Vernon having been 
lost or destroyed, a new plat embracing the various addi- 
tions was ordered by act of the State Legislature, and is 
now ou record at the office of the register of Shiawassee 
County. 

As the land within the boundaries of the present village 
of Vernon was the scene of the earliest pioneer labor in the 
township, a review of its earliest settlement would be little 
else than a recapitulation of the early history of the town- 
ship. During the summer of 1833 Henry Leach emigrated 
from Detroit to the attractive but unbroken forest of Shia- 
wassee County. He found no bit of land so inviting as the 
spot on section 6 now covered by the village of Vernon, 
and there made his location and remained three years, but 
ultimately removed to Clinton County. He was followed 
by a squatter named Lathrop, and soon after by Jacob Wil- 
kinson, — now familiarly known as Deacon Wilkinson. — who 
the same year entered forty acres on section G, and has for 
a period of nearly half a century remained a resident of the 
soil he first broke in 1833. Mr. Wilkinson has witnessed 
the advent and departure of many settlers, the building of 
school-houses, the erection of churches, and the growth of 
an enterprising village where before was a dense forest. 

Joseph Parmenter entered land on section 6, in 1835, 
and Samuel N. Whitcomb removed from Oakland County to 
land on section 5 in the same year. The latter gentleman 
.sold, a few years later, to Cyru.s W. Angel, who after sev- 
eral years' residence upon the farm removed in 1847 within 
the village limits on the site now occupied by the brick 
store of J. W. Yerkes, where he died in 1857. 

In the year 1836 James Van Auken (now spelled Van 
Akin) arrived from Wayne Co., N. Y., and purchased the 
land entered by Henry Leach three years previous, where 
he erected in 1846 the first brick dwelling in the county, 
and occupied it as a farm residence until his death in 1848. 
His son, Henry Jennings Van Akin, now occupies the 
homestead, having been prominent in the platting and im- 
provement of the village. 

li. W. Holley removed from Ovid, N. Y., to this State 
in 1831, and in 1831 settled in the present village, where 
he purchased a considerable tract of land. He was a man 
of much energy and actively engaged in all enterprises in- 
volving the welfare of the village. At his house was or- 
ganized the earliest Sabbath-school in the township and 
also the Presbyterian Church in Vernon. Mr. Holley died 
in 1860. His son. Dr. D. C. Ilolley, is engaged in the 
practice of medicine in Vernon. 

For a period of years no indication of the future village 
was apparent. Commercial onter[irise first made itself felt 
in the hamlet with the advent of Milo Harrington in 1857. 
The Detroit and Milwaukee llailroad was completed the 
previous year and had e.stablishcd a station at Vernon, which 



encouraged Mr. Harrington to embark in business pursuits 
at this point. He erected the first store, and in connection 
with William D. Garrison engaged in trade. Mr. Harring- 
ton afterwards removed to St. Louis, Mich., where he died. 
William D. Garrison was by occupation a carpenter, as was 
also his brother Arthur. They built the first frame dwell- 
ing in Vernon, which was also occupied as a shoe-shop. 
They assisted in the erection of the depot of the Detroit 
and Milwaukee llailroad, Arthur having subscribed fifty 
dollars, which was paid in labor. 

In the year 1858 Messrs. Bostwick & Co. established a 
general store and remained in business a year, when their 
interest was purchased by the Garrison brothers. George 
Vincent came at nearly the same time from Byron and 
opened the first blacksmith-shop in a log building, remaining 
in business about one year, after which he abandoned his 
trade, but continued a resident of the village until his 
death. 

Hiram Harrington was also among the early merchants, 
Joseph W. Yerkes having been associated with him in 
1864. The same year A. F. Westcott arrived and opened 
the first hardware-store in the place, and in the following 
year was appointed postmaster by Abraham Lincoln, which 
office he still holds. His predecessors were Milo Harring- 
ton, the earliest incumbent of the office, and his successor, 
Henry Conant. 

Thomas Winans was among the first to embark in the 
grocery business, and Dr. D. C. Holley was the pioneer in 
the drug and medicine business. Others followed in vari- 
ous branches of trade, many of whom departed at a later 
period. The Messrs. Garrison located on the north side of 
Main Street, where they remained until 1866, when a 
frame buildir)g twenty-two by sixty feet in dimensions and 
two stories in height was constructed on their present site, 
to which they then removed. 

In the spring of 1872 a calamity befell the little village, 
which had been incorporated the previous year, in a disas- 
trous conflagration, which in its course swept the chief portion 
of Main Street and destroyed twenty-two buildings, chiefly 
places of business importance. Among the heaviest losers 
were W. D. & A. Garrison, Bell & Ives, John Long, W. 
M. Campbell, C. P. Wecden, Holmes & Livermore, H. 
Trask, C. Harrington, and T. J. Winans. None doubted 
that this was the work of an incendiary, a fact which was 
afterwards proved by the arrest of the culprit and his sub- 
.sequent confession, implicating parties who had employed 
him. While awaiting trial the prisoner escaped from jail, 
and was never after heard from. 

This fire materially checked the growth of the village, 
and new buildings were not immediately erected in place of 
those destroyed. The Messrs. Garrison erected a shanty 
for temporary occupation, and in the summer of 1872 built 
their present spacious brick store, embracing the most com- 
plete modern appliances for the management of an exten- 
sive business. They have in addition a large warehouse 
and elevator for their wool and grain trade, with a capacity 
of ten thousand bushel.s. A. W. Nichols has also a large 
elevator in the village, and E. H. Jones is the proprietor of 
a foundry, which was established by Messrs. Pinney & 
Garrison in 1858, the interest of the latter having been 



310 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



purchased by Mr. Jones in 1865. Mr. Pinney retired in 
1874, since which time Mr. Jones has been exclusive pro^ 
prietor. Plows, drags, and other agricultural implements 
are manufactured, and a general repairing business is done. 
Connected with the foundry is a steam planing-mill, estab- 
lished in 1868, principally devoted to work demanded by 
the establishment. A custom feed-mill was started in 1876, 
which has an extended patronage from the country imme- 
diately adjacent to Vernon. Mr. Jones met with a severe 
loss by fire in 1876, but at once rebuilt. 

John Hopkins established a carriage- and wagon-manu- 
factory in 1871, and has for years enjoyed a wide popu- 
larity for the excellence of his work. He has a warehouse 
on Main Street, and disposes of eighty or more vehicles 
per year. Seven workmen are employed in this establish- 
ment. Be.sides the establishments mentioned there are the 
usual number of stores of various kinds, all enjoying a fair 
degree of patronage. 

Vernon has always maintained a deservedly high reputa- 
tion for tbe skill of its medical practitioners. The present 
physicians are Dr. D.-C. Holley, Dr. J. L. Smith, and Dr. 
M. C. Sculley, of whom Dr. Holley is the senior in time of 
arrival. 

E. W. Angel is the agent of the Detroit and Milwaukee 
Railroad. 

VILLAGE INCORPORATION AND LIST OF OFFICERS. 
Vernon village became incorporated by an act of the 
Legislature, approved March 18, 1871, which provided 
" That all that tract of land situated in the township of 
Vernon, in the county of Shiawassee, known and distin- 
guished as the west half of the northwest quarter of sec- 
tion 8, the west half of the southwest quarter of section 5, 
the southeast quarter and the east half of the southwest 
quarter of section 6, and the nortlieast quarter and the 
east half of the northwest quarter of section 7, in town- 
ship 6 north, of range 4 east, be and the same is hereby 
constituted a village corporate, to be known by the name of 
the village of Vernon." 

The first village election was held at the National Hotel 
in Vernon on the second Monday of April, 1871. Thomas 
Winans and Joseph W. Yerkes were chosen as judges of 
the election, and Henry A. Bruno clerk, and the following- 
named oflBcers were elected for the year, viz., — President, 
Russell E. Bell; Trustees, Ephraim Jones, William Larry; 
Clerk, William S. Pinney ; Marshal, Benjamin Chase ; 
Treasurer, Mortimer D. Rhodes ; Assessor, Benjamin P. 
Warner. 

The village officers elected annually from that time to 
the present have been as follows: 

1872. — President, Russell E. Bell ; Clerk, Alexander Mc- 
Kercher ; Trustees, William D. Garrison, Wil- 
liam W. Campbell ; Marshal, A. J. Johnson ; 
Treasurer, Arthur Garrison ; Assessor, Monroe 
Holley. 
1873— President, Daniel W. Hammond; Clerk, Alexan- 
der McKercher; Trustees, Ephraim H. Jones, 
Charles P. Weeden ; Marshal, R. H. Morris ; 
Treasurer, Arthur Garrison ; Assessor, Monroe 
Holley. 



1874. — President, James E. Bush ; Clerk, Henry Clark ; 
Marshal, Charles Corlett ; Trustees, Henry Cud- 
ney, William W. Livermore ; Treasurer, Nathan 
S. Nichols ; Assessor, Mortimer D. Rhodes. 

1875. — President, James E. Bush ; Clerk, Henry Clark ; 
Marshal, Amos B. Bliss ; Treasurer, Daniel 
S. Post ; Trustees, Charles Dorrance, Hiram 
Brown ; Assessor, M. D. Rhodes. 

1876.— President, Silas M. Seeds; Clerk, Amos W. Nichols; 
Marshal, John F. Walter; Trustees, Myron C. 
Sculley, Thomas Loveley ; Assessor, M. D. 
Rhodes. 

1877. — President, A. F. Westcott; Clerk, Richard Holms- 
den ; Marshal, Stephen A. Post ; Trustees, 
Arthur Garrison, Henry A. Sager ; Treasurer, 
Daniel S. Post ; Assessor, Elisha Kinsman. 

1878. — President, A. F. Westcott; Clerk, Jacob L. Smith ; 
Marshal, Calvin Whitney ; Treasurer, Daniel 
S. Post ; Trustees, John Hopkins, Charles S. 
Clark ; Assessor, M. D. Rhodes. 

1879.— President, E. Wesley Angel ; Clerk, A. F. West^ 
cott ; Marshal, Ephraim Hart ; Trustees, Henry 
A. Sager, Thomas Hanifan ; Treasurer, Charles 
Dorrance ; Assessor, Myron W. Reed. 

1880. — President, Arthur Garrison; Clerk, A. Frank 
Westcott; Marshal, E. Hart; Trustees, D. S. 
Post, G. H. Cooper; Treasurer, C. A. Dorrance; 
Assessor, M. D. Rhodes. 

The earliest school within the limits of the present vil- 
lage of Vernon was opened in a log house erected by 
James Van Auken in 1839, his daughter. Miss Julia W. 
Van Auken, having been the teacher for a brief term of a 
select school patronized by the few settlers of that early 
date. The earliest school building was erected in district 
No. 1, and located on the northeast corner of the north 
half of the southeast fractional quarter of section 6, having 
been placed upon the farm of C. S. Pratt. It was built in 
1840, and lay within the bounds of the present corporation. 
The teacher who earliest maintained discipline within its 
walls was a young man from Fenton, Genesee Co., who 
remained but six weeks, and finding little encouragement 
in his work departed. The list of pupils at that time did 
not exceed six in number. The first regular school was 
opened by Miss Frances A. Ferry during the summer of 
1841 in the same log building, and in the following terra 
Dr. Solomon Everts became associated with the district as 
teacher. He remained during the winter of 1841-42, and 
was succeeded during the summer term by Miss Ferry, who 
was a .second time employed as teacher. 

Durinsr the winter of 1844 the services of an instructor 
of reputation. Nelson K. Ferry, Esq., were secured, Miss 
Ferry again assuming the charge of the summer school. 
The winter term of 1845 was taught by Monroe Holley, 
who was succeeded during the summer by Miss Mary Holley. 
The year 1846 was filled by the same parties respectively, 
and D. C. Holley taught during the winter term of 1847-48. 
Marcus S. Angel commenced teaching here in 1849, and 
remained during the winter. With this term ended the 
career of the old log school-house. During the years 1850 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



311 



and 1851 a frame school building was erected adjoining the 
site of the Baptist church, and the first term in it was taught 
by Miss Lytle, of New York. She was succeeded during 
the winter of 1854 by Miss Alsina Wheeler, of Corunna. 
The house was used for a period of seventeen years, but 
was ultimately removed and made an appendage to the 
present spacious edifice, built in 1871. This was opened as 
a union aud graded school the same year, under the super- 
intendence of Mr. J. W. Manning, with Miss Hannah 
Purdy as assistant. The course of study was arranged 
with especial reference to completeness at every stage, leav- 
ing the higher branches until the last, thus affording to 
pupils who may not be able to complete the course the op- 
portunity of making themselves familiar with the most 
essential studies. 

Under the recent judicious management Vernon school 
has attained a deservedly high rank among the schools of 
the county. The following list embraces the teachers in 
succession since 1871 : 
1872. — Mr. W. A. Frazier, Superintendent ; Mrs. A. 

Chaffee, Mrs. Rose Read, Assistants. 
1873. — Mr. S. T. Youngs, Superintendent; Miss Ida Hin- 

del. Assistant. 
1875. — Mr. L. J. Hamilton, Superintendent ; Miss Mary 

Crippen, Miss Jennie Starks, Assistants. 
1876. — Mr. C. W. Soulby, Superintendent; Miss Tola 

Tilden, Miss Jennie Starks, Assistants. 
1877. — Mr. R. H. Goss, Superintendent ; Miss M. Cole, 

Miss Holmden, Assistants. 
1878. — Mr. A. L. Chandler, Superintendent; Miss L. 

Palmenter, Miss Cole, Assistants. 
1879-80. — Mr. A. L. Chandler, Superintendent; Miss L. 

Palmenter, Miss Chaffee, Assistants. 

THE PRESS OF VERNON. 

The earliest newspaper in Vernon was established by a 
Mrs. Crawford (date not known), and entitled the Vernon 
Chionicle. The lady remained but one year, and disposed 
of the enterprise to Rev. D. W. Hammond, after which the 
stock of the office was removed from this place. After this 
for some years there was no newspaper published in the 
village, but in 1878 Abram Reeves began the publication 
of the Vernon Telephone, with the motto, " Independent in 
all things, neutral in nothing." Its motto was, however, 
unable to save it from a speedy oblivion. A company was 
then formed by Messrs. Garrison, A. L. Chandler, M. H. 
Read, K. W. Angel, and A. W. Nichols, who began the 
publication of the Vernon llerald. A. L. Chandler soon 
after purchased the enterprise, aud in 1880 disposed of the 
paper to Lucius E. Gould, of Owosso, who continues its 
publication in Vernon. Under his management it has be- 
come one of the leading papers of the county, having al- 
ready a subscription list of nearly five hundred names. 

SOCIETIES AND ORDEKS. 
VERXON LODGE, No. 279, F. AND A. .M. 

The charter of the Vernon Masonic Lodge was granted 
Feb. 11, 187(t, and the following were it-s fir.'it officers: 
W. 1). GarrLson, W. M. ; M. C. Sculley, S. W. ; M. D. 



Rhodes, J. W. ; A. Garrison, Sec; R. E. Bell, Treas. 
The present officers are S. E. Shelden, M. W. ; Asahel Owen, 
S. W. ; David Smith, J. W. ; E. W. Angel, Sec; T. 
Harrison, Treas. 

VERNON LODGE, No. 99, I. 0. 0. F. 

The Vernon Lodge of Odd-Fellows was organized May 
29, 1866, its first officers having been A. Crippen, N. G. ; 
H. E. Smith, V. G. ; A. G. Cameron, Sec. ; Milo Harring- 
ton, P. S. ; A. F. Westcott, Treas. Present officers : H. 
A. Sager, N. G. ; I. Waters, V. G. ; M. Bush, Sec. ; C. A. 
Dorrance, Treas. 

CHARITY LODGE, No. 467, K. OF H., 

was organized Feb. 14, 1877, with the following as its first 
officers : A. F. Westcott, Post Dictator ; C. P. Weeden, 
Dictator; H. W. Randolph, Vice-Dictator ; A. W. Nichols, 
Rep. ; T. Loveley, Treasurer. The present officers are 0. 
Krell, Dictator; A. W. Nichols, Vice-Dictator; H. W. 
Randolph, Rep. ; F. C. Brown, Treasurer. 

SAFEGUARD LODGE, No. 18, R. T. OF T. 

The lodge of Royal Templars of Temperance was organ- 
ized Dec 19, 1879. Its first officers were E. AV. Angell, 
P. S. C. ; J. H. De Hart, S. C. ; A. Frank Westcott, 
V. C. ; M. D. Rhodes, Secretary; H. B. McLoughlin, 
F. S. ; C. P. Weeden, Treasurer. Present officers, J. H. 
De Hart, P. S. C. ; A. Frank Westcott, S. C. ; H. Clark, 
V. C. ; M. D. Rhodes, Secretary; H. B. McLoughlin, 
F. S. ; C. P. Weeden, Treasurer. 

CHURCH HISTORY. 
CONGREGATIONAL CHORCH. 

A Presbyterian Church was organized at the house of 
R. W. HoUey as early as the spring of 1837, services 
having been held at the houses of Nelson K. Ferry, R. W. 
Holley, and William Garrison. In 1845 the church roll 
numbered thirty-seven communicants. In the year 1851, 
there having been many citizens who desired the organiza- 
tion of a Congi'egatioual Church, the old Presbyterian so- 
ciety was merged into a church of the above denomination. 
The total membership at the date of its first formation is 
not known, though the female members embraced the names 
of Mrs. Letitia Spaulding, Mrs. Olive Clark, Mrs. Mary 
Garrison, Mrs. W^olfen, and Mrs. Sarah Holley. The little 
flock continued to worship together in the school-house, 
alternating with the Baptist society, until 1863, when the 
building of a church edifice was begun, and completed the 
following year at a cost of two thousand and eighty-five 
dollars and thirty-seven cents, as indicated by the treasurer's 
books. 

Until 1861 they were without a stated pastor, the con- 
gregation having been furnished with occasional supplies, 
among whom was Rev. Grover Smith, who officiated at the 
school-house. During the year 1861, Rev. E. T. Branch 
became pastor, and continued his ministr}' until 1868, when 
Rev. Warren F. Day succeeded him, and remained one 
year. In 1869, Rev. H. H. Van Auken became pastor, 
and the following year Rev. Charles Barstow was installed. 
He remained five years, and was succeeded by Uev. W. 



312 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



M. Kellogg in 1876, whose ministry extended over a period 
of but one year, wlieu Rev. Warren Mooney filled the pul- 
pit during the year 1877. In 1878 the present pastor, 
Rev. E. W. Shaw, was called to preside over the flock. 

Connected with the church is a very flourishing Sabbath- 
school, with a list of one hundred scholars, of which Peter 
Patchel is superintendent. 

The Deacons of the church are H. J. Van Auken, John 
Patchel ; the Trustees, W. D. Garrison, H. J. Van Auken, 
Peter Patchel, D. Martin, Thomas McSoren ; Clerk, Peter 
Patchel ; Treasurer, H. W. Randolph. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The facts at command with reference to the Baptist 
Church of Vernon are derived from one of its oldest mem- 
bers, who depends entirely upon his memory, and may pos- 
sibly be at fault in some particulars. The church was first 
organized under Rev. John F. Swain, who was ordained as 
a licentiate in 1844. He removed from Owosso in the 
same year, and filled a brief pastorate of six weeks, when 
his death occurred. 

Among the early members were Jacob Wilkinson, C. R. 
Yerkes and wife, Joseph Pannenter and wife, Charles Wil- 
kinison and wife, Joseph Yerkes and wife, John Vincent, C. 
S. Pratt and wife, Mrs. Harrington, and Mrs. Barker. Ser- 
vices were first held in a log school-house in district No. 1, 
on the farm of C. S. Pratt. The death of Rev. John F. 
Swain occurred April 15, 1845. His successor was the 
Rev. William Pack, who was followed in his ministry by 
Rev. Mr. Delano. Rev. William White next officiated, and 
a licentiate. Rev. James Surrine, succeeded. He was subse- 
quently ordained and became the pastor. Rev. 0. B. Call 
followed Mr. Surrine, during whose ministry in 18G4 a 
house of worship was erected, at a cost of two thousand 
seven hundred dollars. During an interval succeeding this 
period the congregation were without a pastor, and de- 
pended upon occasional supplies, after which Rev. William 
White was recalled. Rev. E. R. Clark afterwards had the 
care of the flock, and remained during a pastorate of more 
than three years, after which the present incumbent. Rev. 
R. R. Coons, Jr., was installed, his ministry beginning in 
1877. 

The church has a membership of one hundred and fifteen, 
and is exceedingly prosperous. The deacons are C. R. 
Yerkes and Jacob Wilkinson. The trustees are C. R. 
Yerkes, Joseph Parnienter, Abram Crippen, Cheney But- 
ton, William Newberry, and Jacob Wilkinson. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUltCH. 

The records of the Methodist Episcopal Church contain 
no facts regarding its organization or subsequent progress, 
and its present members have very little information to 
impart. 

A class was organized very early, and seems to have been 
connected for a while with the church in Venice. It was 
not flourishing, however, and for want of the elements of 
growth and permanency was ultimately disbanded. Its 
members worshiped with other denominations until 1868, 
when it was reorganized under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. 
Church. He was followed in his ministry by Rev. Jlr. 



Sanborn, after which the Rev. Charles Austin became pas- 
tor. Under the efficient labors of his successor, the Rev. 
Mr. Maywood, in 1871 a spacious church edifice was begun 
and completed ; the building committee having been George 
Goss, I. Van Auken, and Charles Dorrance. 

The Rev. D. W. Hammond afterwards officiated, and was 
succeeded by Rev. N. W. Pierce in 1872. Rev. S. Bird 
was installed in 1873, and in 1876 Rev. J. G. Whitcomb 
was called to the pastorate, whose term of service extended 
to 1879, when Rev. William Taylor, the present pastor, 
assumed the charge. 

The list of members embraces eighty-four names. The 
class-leaders are George Goss and Newton Strong. A grow- 
ing Sabbath -school numbering seventy-five scholars and 
teachers is connected with the church, under the superin- 
tendence of Newton Strong. 

The present trustees are John Long, George Goss, John 
Hopkins, and Joshua Curtis. 

GREENWOOD CEMETERY. 

The Greenwood Cemetery Association was organized in 
March, 1862, with John Read as President, Jauies Garri- 
son as Secretary, and Henry Conant as Treasurer. On the 
21st of April of that year two and thirty-five one-hundredths 
acres of land were purchased of Henry J. Van Auken for 
the sum of one hundred and seventy-six dollars. Much 
time and labor have been expended in the adornment of this 
burial-spot, which is ornamented with shade-trees, and laid 
out in walks that divide the well-kept lots and render it an 
attractive resort, while still maintaining its .secluded char- 
acter. It has an especial interest from the antiquity of 
some of the memorial-stones which mark the graves. Espe- 
cially noticeable is that of the earliest settler in Caledonia, 
John F. Swain, whose life suddenly terminated at the be- 
ginning of a career of ministerial labor at Vernon, in the 
year 1845. 

The association has recently made an extension to the 
cemetery plat in the purchase of two acres of land adjoining, 
which is being rapidly improved and beautified. 

The present trustees of the Greenwood Cemetery Asso- 
ciation are : President, John Read ; Secretary, A. F. West- 
cott ; Treasurer, A. Garrison. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



HENRY JENNINGS VAN AKIN. 

The representative of the Van Akin family at present 
residing in Vernon is Henry Jennings, the fourth child of 
James and Elizabeth Van Akin, who was born July 13, 
1823, near the village of Dublin, Seneca Co., N. Y., and 
after changes of residence with his parents in his native 
State ultimately removed to Vernon, Mich. He assisted in 
the clearing of the land his father had purchased until 
184(5, when, a taste for study having been encouraged, he 
entered the preparatory class at the Univei-sity of Michi- 
gan, located at Ann Arbor. Soon discovering, however, a 
want of taste for the Litin nouns and verbs, he abandoned 




ResiOBftcE OF N M. SMITH, Vepnoh Tp. Shiawassee, Co Mich. 



VERNON TOWNSHIP. 



313 



the classics for the more active duties of life. The follow- 
ing year he entered the store of Osborn & Baker, of Hud- 
son, Lenawee Co., Mich., and the following year was sum- 
moned home by the death of his father. 

He was, in 1848, married to Miss Jane Lytic, of Venice 
township, whose death occurred in 1850. Five years later 




HENRY J. VAN AKIN. 

he was married a second time, to Miss Margaret E. Holley, 
daughter of 11. W. Holley, of Vernon. To them five 
children were born, the youngest of whom, Henry R., lived 
to the age of fourteen years, and died May 5, 1880. Mr. 
Van Akin was again afflicted in the loss of his second 
wife in 1875, and was united to the present Mrs. Van 
Akin in January, 1879, who was Miss Anna, daughter of 
Addison Stewart, of Flint, Mich. Mr. Van Akin still re- 
tains and lives upon the homestead, located upon the banks 
of the beautiful Shiawassee River, where duster the most 
tender memories of his childhood. Among his early In- 
dian friends was Shaco, a famous warrior who fought Mad 
Anthony Wayne and frequently boasted the scalps he had 
taken in battle. 

But two of the large family of eleven children of eTanies 
Van Akin survive, (J. W. being a resident of Mount Ver- 
non, Ohio, and Henry J., the subject of this biography. 



JAMES VAN AKIN. 

James, the father of Henry Jennings Van Akin, was 
born on the banks of the Delaware, in New Jersey, in 
1794, and was the second son of John and Margaret West- 
fall Van Akin. Soon after his birth the family removed to 
the township of Phelps, Ontario Co., N. Y., from whence 
he became connected with the State militia, and was for six 
months engaged in active service at Buffalo, N. Y. On the 
4(1 



4th of September, 1817, he was married to Elizabeth Jen- 
nings, of the township of Rose, Wayne Co., N. Y., and 
there resided until 1836, when he removed to Michigan 
and located upon the land now occupied by his son, in the 
township of Vernon. Here he erected, in 1846, the earliest 
brick dwelling in the county, in which he lived until his 
death, on the 23d of February, 1848. Mrs. Van Akin 
married a second time, and survived until Feb. 17, 1864. 

Of his eight brothers, Simeon and William H. H. were 
residents of Hudson, Lenawee Co., Mich. ; Charles is still 
living in Ontario Co., N. Y. ; Lawson and Dudley removed 
to Wayne Co., Mich. ; Hiram found a home in Hudson, 
Mich. ; and David and George are both deceased, the 
former having died in Washington, D. C, in 1875, and the 
latter in Ontario Co., N. Y., in 1870. The sister, Mrs. 
Lucien Vandemark, resided, until her death in 1876, in 
West Junius, N. Y. 

The progenitor of the family, John Van Akin, was a 
patriot of the B^volution, and actively engaged in the 
border-wars of New York, when his foes were Tories and 
Indians. His experiences here were fraught with terror 
and danger, and the reminiscences of this early struggle 
were rehear.sed with great zest to his descendants in after- 
years. He survived until 1854, and his wife's death oc- 
curred seven years later. The ancestors of Mr. Van Akin 
were of Holland descent, and emigrated direct from their 
native shores to the forests of America. 



NATHAN M. SMITH. 

Nathan M. Smith's father, John K. Smith, was born in 
Auburn, N. Y., and came at a very early date to Michi- 
gan, and settled in Oakland County. He was elected 
county clerk of Sliiawas.see County in 1840, and served the 
people acceptably for two years. He always took a lively 
interest in the affairs of his country, adhering politically to 
the principles of the Whigs. 

He was a very estimable citizen, being a man among 
men, and highly regarded for his simplicity, probity, piety, 
and candor. 

His son Nathan was born in Pontiac, Oakland Co., Mich., 
Nov. 22, 1827. He came with his father to Shiawassee 
County in 1837. In the Republican party he has always 
been a zealous and constant worker. 

When a boy he attended a district school in Oakland 
County, and later was a member of the village school iu 
Corunna. He served one year in the Mexican war. 

During the year 1847 he was married to Miss Eliza Jane 
Horton, by whom he had seven children, — three boys. and 
four girls, — all of whom are living. 

He is a member of the Methodist Church, and is an 
earnest Cliristian man, and very energetic in all things per- 
taining to the church. 



314 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 
VENICE TOWNSHIP.* 

Boundaries, Surface, Soil, and Streams — Land-Entries in Venice — Set- 
tlement of the Townsljip— Organization and Township Civil List — 
Early Township Roads — Schools— Venice Grange Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, 

The township of Venice is designated in the United 
States survey as township No. 7 north, of range 4 east, 
and lies on tlie eastern boundary-Hne of the county. It is 
bounded on the north by Hazelton, south by Vernon, of 
which it was formerly a part, east by the township of Clay- 
ton in Genesee County, and west by Caledonia. 

The surface is in general undulating, though large areas 
of comparatively level lands are found in some localities in 
the township. The soil is excellent, being a loam, inter- 
mixed in some parts with clay, and in other places with 
sand or gravel. A larger proportion of sand is found in the 
northwest part of the township than elsewhere, and in 
many other parts the clayey loam is mixed to some extent 
with gravel. Along the water-courses there is usually 
found a rich clay soil, which is very productive. In earlier 
years there was quite a large amount of swampy land, but 
much of this has now, by an excellent system of drainage, 
been converted into fertile fields. 

Beech and maple are the prevailing woods, though oak, 
ash, black-walnut, and hickory are also found, and the tama- 
rack is the usual growth on the swampy lands. Rush Bed 
Creek, the principal stream, rises in a marsh in the south 
border of the township, and flows northeast into the town- 
ship of Hazelton. A stream, formerly known as Stowell 
Creek, has its .source also in the south, and flowing north 
and east joins the former creek in Hazelton. Webb Creek, 
which meanders through the south part, flows into the 
Shiawassee River. 

LAND-ENTRIES IN VENICE. 

The following is a list of original purchases from the 
United States or tlie State of Michigan, of land on the 
several sections in the township of Venice, with the year 
in which such purchases were made : 

SECTION 1. 

Acres. 

John Coger, 18.36 80 

J. H. Jerome, 1836 ......!!.!!.! 80 

S. A. Goodard, 1836 '"'.' 240 

J. H. Jerome, 1836 112.93 

H. Van Vechten, 1836 .".'.'.'.' 19yj7 

SECTION 2. 

Isaac Smith, 1836 240 

J. II. Jerome, 18.36 372.06 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 160 

SECTION 3. 

J. h. Larzalere, 1849 377.30 

George Harnell, 1849 IfiO 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 .' 160 

SECTION 4. 

Porter Hazelton (State), 1849 378 

James Seymour (State), 1849 200 

Nathaniel Hodge (State), 1849 80 

S. M. Root (State), 1850 40 



» By E. 0. Wagner. 



SECTION 5. 

Acres. 

Porter Hazelton, 1849 2716'' 

J. P. Hodge, 1849 8o' 

Mole and Durham, 1849 160 

James Grant, 1849 191.54 

SECTION 6. 

J. L. Woodruff, 1831 191.04 

James Grant, 1849 160 

S. M. Root, 1849 472.47 

SECTION 7. 

J. B.Goss, 1839 120 

J. Van Auken, 1839 65.76 

J. F. Hollerman, 1839 SO 

J. Durrin, 1850 40 

0. F. Sessions, 1842 40 

John Layton, 1839 80 

Daniel Lingo (State), 1851 132.52 

Henry Wilco.'c (State), 1849 40 

J. C. Bailey (State), 1849 40 

John Pennington (Stale), 1851 40 

SECTION 8. 

E. G. Faile, 1836 160 

Henry Hawkins, 1837 160 

V. R. Hawkins. 

G. W. Priest, 1839 80 

■ J. F. Hollerman, 1839 80 

David Young (State), 1848 160 

J. C. Bailey (State), 1851 160 

Henry Bale, 1850 go 

S. M. Boot, 1851 80 

Loui.s Metcalf, 1850 160 

SECTION 9. 

Charles Hillsburg, 1836 160 

T. J. Burns, 1836 160 

N. G. Peckham, 1836 80 

Charles Taylor, 1836 80 

C. H.Eoklif, 1837 80 

J. E.Brown, 1854 80 

SECTION 10. 

A. R. Randall, 1836 160 

Gilbert White (State), 1850 40 

S. M. Root, 1850 120 

SECTION 11. 

J. H. Weeks, 1836 160 

Jabez Williams, 1836 160 

N. C. Peckham, 1836 160 

S. M. Root, 1850 80 

W. H. Hartman, 1850 80 

SECTION 12. 

Edwin Randall, 1836 320 

Chester Catlin, 1836 320 

SECTION 13. 

L. Barkman, 1836 80 

Rollin Sprague, 1836 240 

C. C. Hascall, 1837 80 

J. S. Bagg, 1837 240 

SECTION 14. 

T. Begford, 1836 160 

David Halsted, 1836 80 

S. K. Stevens, 1836 80 

W. H. Hartman (State), 1850 160 

S. B. Printer, 1850 160 

SECTION 15. 

J. F. Bliss, 1836 160 

S. M.Mege, 1836 160 

David Halsted, 1836 80 

William Halsted, 1836 SO 

L. D. Fuller (State), 1850 160 

SECTION 16. 
State 640 

SECTION 17. 

Abraham Bockoon, 1836 160 

Paul Spafford, 1836 ; 160 

Almon Mack, 1836 80 

Charles Taylor, 1836 160 

J. L. Larzalere, 1837 80 



VENICE TOWNSHIP. 



315 



SECTION 18. 

Acres. 

A. Rockoon, 1836 370.96 

Z. Barber, 1839 80 

Truman Bunce, 1839 SO 

William Crnig, 1851 132.64 

George Rix, 1850 40 

Henry Wilco.x, 1849 40 

SECTION 19. 

J. C. Goodell, 1836 160 

Paul Spofforii, 1836 160 

Gideon Lee, 1836 213.20 

Henry Church, 1854 216.32 

SECTION 20. 
David Lee, 1836 160 

A. Lacy, 1836 240 

J. 0. Goodell, 1836 80 

B. Dutton, Jr., 1837 80 

Thomas Curtia, 1839 40 

Joseph Yerkes, 1854 40 

SECTION 21. 

J. F. Bliss, 1836 160 

Frank Taylor, 1836 160 

H. C. Bills, 1836 160 

David Lee, 1836 160 

SECTION 22. 

J. F. Bliss, 1836 160 

J. B. Vallee, 1836 160 

David Lee, 1836 160 

M. Waltham, 1837 100 

SECTION 23. 
William Halsted, 1836 40 

A. Mack, 1836 160 

David Lee, 1836 160 

J. L. Larzalere, 1837 120 

M. Ferguson, 1838 40 

C. S. Stowell, 1842 40 

Alonzo Torrey, 1864 80 

SECTION 24. 

Frank Taylor, 1836 320 

B. B. Bradley, 1836 40 

J. B. Reed, 1836 80 

L. Barkman, 1836 40 

C. C. Hascall, 1836 120 

Louise Cronk, 1836 40 

SECTION 25. 

B. B. Bradley, 1836 80 

M. Sober, 1836 160 

J. B. Reed, 1836 80 

E. G. Faile, 1836 80 

M.Stewart, 1851 80 

J. C. Bailey, 1853 160 

SECTION 26. 

David Lee, 1836 160 

Paul Spofford, 1836 .320 

Michael Ferguson, 1838 80 

David S. James, 1854 80 

SECTION 27. 

James Smith, 1836 160 

E. G. Faile, 1836 320 

Hill and Norton, 1836 160 

SECTION 28. 

Paul Spofford, 1836 160 

Henry Calclazer, 1837 160 

M. Wadhams, 1837 160 

Thomas Van Quil, 1838 80 

H.Richardson, 1838 80 

SECTION 29. 

Augustus Crane, 1836 160 

S. B. Noble, 1837 240 

M. W. Stevens, 1837 80 

U. and V. R. Hawkins, 1837 100 

SECTION 30. 

H. Bigelow, 1836 IGO 

David Lee, 1836 224 

H. and V. R. Hawkins, 1837 139.92 

Thomas Van Quil, 1838 80 

J. M. Babbitt, 1852 160 



SECTION 31. 

• Acres. 

Z. R. Webb, 1834 145.84 

W. P. Patrick, 1836 i 35 

.1. P. Clark, 1836 218.21 

Sanders and Kittredge, 1836 141.48 

L. B. Mizner, 1836 80 

Clark and Warren, 1836 80 

SECTION 32. 

D. R. Carpenter, 1836 40 

David Sutton, 1836 80 

Samuel Wilkinson, 1836 120 

Squire Adams, 1836 80 

John Scotford, 1836 80 

H. C. Walker, 1836 160 

C. P.Austin, 1836 80 

SECTION 3.3. 

Samuel AVarren, 1836 40 

G. W. AVclls, 1836 16 1 

Benton Reed, 1837 80 

C. Colson, 1837 40 

A.W.Jennings, 1837 40 

D. I. Lipc, 1838 120 

J. Van Auken, 1839 40 

John Laylon, 1839 40 

D. S. Jones, 1854 80 

SECTION 34. 

John Thomas, 1836 160 

Paul Sjpofford, 1836 160 

James Ferguson, 1838 160 

C. T. Jones, 1842 80 

B. S. Jones, 1842 40 

A. W. Cronkhite, 1849 40 

SECTION 35. 

J. F. Freeborn and J.J. Crane, 1836 320 

M. Wadhams, 1837 160 

A. L. Smith (State), 1858 40 

G. W. Stubbs (State), 1858 40 

J. A. Case (State), 1864 40 

SECTION 36. 

Orson Bouch (State) 40 

Levi Smith (State), 1864 40 

G. W. Slubbs (State), 1859 40 

E. G. Fail, 1838 80 

E. Spoor, 1837 80 

Charles West, 1837 80 

Dow Bogert, 1838 80 

IraH. Butterfield, 1850 160 



SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP. 

The larger proportion of the lands of Venice were 
entered by parties from Michigan and the East for pur- 
poses of speculation, and it was not until years later that 
the forests which covered them were cleared and a decided 
improvement in their condition was witnessed. 

The earliest settler within the boundaries of Venice was 
Zachariah Rogers Webb, who came from another portion 
of the county, and in 1834 entered one hundred and 
forty-six acres on section 31. Mr. Webb did not take 
possession of his land until one year later, but remained in 
Vernon and meanwhile erected a log house and began 
clearing. He was a man of soliolarly attainments and wide 
information, though eccentric to a degree. Many stories 
are told of his intercourse with the Indians, who, discovering 
the vein of eccentricity in the man, occasionally took ad- 
vantage of it to his discomfiture. He was an ardent 
adaiirer ot the Indian language, of which he acquired some 
knowledge, but which failed to prove of any practical 
value. Mr. Webb's house was destroyed by fire in 1836, 
after which he removed from the township. The land 
passed into other hands, and is now occupied by J. W. Clark 
and Eli Martin. 



316 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Joel B. Goss, who in point of arrival may be ranked as 
the second settler, came from the South to Venice iu the 
spring of 1837, having purchased land entered by other 
persons. He bought eighty acres ou section 32, upon 
which he soon after erected a log house and began the work 
of improvement. He did not, however, remain sufficiently 
long to reap a material benefit from this labor, but sold 
and purchased the farm on section 7, which was soon after 
exchanged for property in Vernon, where he found a tem- 
porary home. He afterwards moved to Owosso, but his 
restless nature early sought another change, and he migrated 
to the State of Arkansas, where for years he followed the 
career of an adventurer, encountering many vicissitudes in- 
cident to this nomadic life. His life was a varied scene of 
prosperity and misfortune, and the exact measure of either 
which fell to his lot it would be difficult to determine. 
His death occurred in Arkansas, far from the scenes of 
his early pioneer experiences. 

Hiram Johnson came from Livingston County in 1837, 
and purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 29. 
Upon this land the work of clearing was not yet begun, 
but Mr. Johnson entered upon his labors with a brave 
heart. Mr. Goss extended a welcome to his family, and 
with him they found comfortable quarters until a log house 
was prepared for their reception. To this they removed 
and Mr. Johnson began the labor of clearing. He made 
rapid progress, and was fast converting the forest into a 
productive farm when he became dissatisfied with his home 
in Venice, and removed to the city of Flint. The farm in 
Venice, however, ere long claimed them again as residents, 
until their removal in 1871 to Caledonia, their present 
home. Mr. Johnson was the third settler in the township, 
only Goss and Webb having preceded him. The recollec- 
tion of his pioneer days affords him a pleasing retrospect. 
He was actively interested in the early progress of the 
township, and frequently an oflBce-holder. In his family 
occurred the earliest birth in Venice, that of his daughter 
Sarah in 1838. The same year witnessed the first death 
in the township, that of a child of Joel B. Goss. 

William Placeway, a former resident of the Green Moun- 
tain State, settled upon one hundred and sixty acres on 
section 30 in 1838, made a preliminary clearing, and built 
a log house. He remained four years, and then exchanged 
his farm for property owned by Andrew Lytle, in Living- 
ston County, to which land he removed iu 1845. Mr. 
Placeway was an active, enterprising citizen, but did not 
remain sufficiently long in Venice to become identified with 
its interests. John Webb, a pioneer of the same name 
though not related to the earliest settler, leased of parties 
who had previously entered the land a farm on section 29. 
He remained in the township several years, and cultivated 
the small portion he cleared, but made little progress in his 
farming pursuits. At one time, while hunting cattle, he lost 
his way, and for three days was not heard from. His absence 
caused some alarm in the community, and a vigorous search 
was instituted, accompanied by the tiring of guns, and other 
signals. He finally wandered into Genesee County, where 
he was discovered, ragged and bruised, and so helpless from 
fatigue and fright as to be unable to give any information 
respecting his absence. 



Nelson Ferry, whose family figure conspicuously in the 
early educational matters of the township, was a pioneer 
from the Buckeye State in 1839, and located upon the farm 
formerly owned by J. B. Goss on section 32. A log house 
had already been built and a portion of the land improved, 
which relieved Mr. Ferry of the earlier labor of the settler. 
He remained until 1842, when he removed to Caledonia, 
having effected an exchange of farms with Thomas Mc- 
Laren. He died in Corunna in 1846. Several of Mr. 
Ferry's children still reside in the county. He was county 
surveyor at the time of his residence in Venice, and is 
described as a man of marked ability in his profession. 

Elnathan Brown, another pioneer from Ohio, left his na- 
tive State for the township of Vernon in 1837, and in 1839 
came to Venice, where he purchased of E. C. Kimberly 
(then acting as agent for an Eastern company) seventy-two 
acres of land on section 30. This was at the time wholly 
unimproved. Hiram Johnson, William Placeway, Joel B. 
Goss, and John Webb were improving their land, while Z. 
R. ^ebb had made his advent and departed. Mr. Brown 
erected a log house, having meanwhile shared with Mr. 
Placeway his humble quarters. He cleared five acres the 
first year, having bound himself to improve that amount 
of land and place crops upon it each successive year. In 
the third year the land was paid for, and he was thus freed 
from his obligation. 5Ir. Brown was for some years the 
only landlord of the township. His hotel having been 
consumed by fire, his life has since been devoted to 
farming. 

Among the most enterprising and well informed of the 
survivors of the early days of the township's history is 
Charles Wilkinson, who came from Jefferson Co., N. Y., in 
1834 and located in Oakland County, from whence he came 
to Venice in 1840. His farm was the former home of Joel 
B. Goss, and embraced eighty acres on section 7. A log 
cabin was standing on his land when he arrived, and there 
were nine acres cleared, to which he added seven additional 
acres the following year. Truman Bunce, who came the 
same season, was his nearest neighbor. Indians were then 
quite numerous, and often called at the door to effect an 
exchange of venison and other game for bread and potatoes. 
Cranberries were also an article of traffic with them. 

Occasional religious services were held at the houses of 
the settlers, and on such occasions many people came to the 
place of worship with ox-teams. Elders Cosart and String- 
ham officiated on these occasions. The former, who was 
one of the earliest of the Michigan pioneers in the work 
of the ministry, purchased a farm on section 31, to which 
he retired and spent the remainder of his busy life, his 
death occurring in 1876. George C. Wilkinson, who now 
resides on the farm with his father, was the first boy born 
in the township, 1840 being the year of his birth. 

Truman Bunce, another pioneer of 1840, and a native 
of the Empire Slate, settled upon eighty acres, which he 
entered in 1839. He remained with Mr. Goss while build- 
ing a cabin, to which, upon its completion, he at once re- 
moved and bi>gan the labor of clearing. Mr. Bunce after- 
wards went to California, and after a sojourn of two years 
in the Golden State returned to his former home in Venice, 
but did not long survive. He was a citizen of influence in 



VENICE TOWNSHIP. 



317 



the township, took a prominent part in its organization, and 
was the recipient of early official honors. 

Daniel I. Lipe, whose ancestors were among the hardy 
sons of the Mohawk Valley, N. Y., first emigrated to 
Grand Blanc, Genesee Co., and in 1838 entered one hun- 
dred and twenty acres on section 33 of Venice. Soon 
after, he purchased an additional one hundred and sixty 
acres of James Ferguson, and became a resident of the 
township in 1840. Mr. Lipe devoted his energies to the 
work before him, and found an ample field of labor in the 
dense forest which covered the purchase he had made. In 
1845 he had achieved much progress, and a productive 
farm was already the result of his energy when death sud- 
denly ended his labors. Mrs. Lipe removed to Genesee 
County, but afterwards returned to the homestead in 
Venice, where she now resides with her daughter, Mrs. F. 
G. Bailey. Mr. Lipe was an important man in the first 
township-meeting, and was honored by his neighbors with 
the position of supervisor on that occasion. 

John Durrin, previously of Ohio, located upon eighty 
acres on section 7 in 1841. The soil of Venice did not 
please him, and he soon after departed, having made but 
little improvement on the land. In the same year came 
Palmer C. Card from the township of Burns to Venice, 
and located upon one hundred and sixty acres now occu- 
pied by L. Sprague. A partial improvement on the land 
had been made by parties in Pontiac, who were the original 
owners. Mr. Card spent ten years upon this farm (which, 
in its highly-cultivated condition, bore witness to his in- 
dustry), and then removed to section 30, where he remained 
until his ultimate departure from Venice for another field 
of labor. 

During this early period much suffering resulted from 
the prevalence of malarial fever, Venice having been no 
more favored than other portions of the State in this re- 
gard. The physician who ministered to the wants of the 
community was Dr. Harder, of Shiawassee township, there 
having been no resident physician in Venice at that time. 

Necly Sawtell, at whose house the first election for town- 
ship officers was held and who served in the capacity of 
clerk on this occasion, removed from Oakland County in 
1842, and located upon the east half of the southeast quar- 
ter of section 17. He found a serious obstacle to his set- 
tlement in the depth of the Rush Bed Creek, which was 
not bridged and could not be forded. Having arrived in 
the township in the spring, the family were obliged to re- 
main two miles east of the centre until July 4th, when 
the crossing of the stream was made possible by low water. 
Mr. Sawtell had meanwhile built a cabin of boughs, to 
which they removed and at once began their pioneer labors. 
Truman Bunce, whose log cabin was not far distant, affisrded 
them an opportunity of occasionally paying a neighborly 
visit. Mr. Sawtell remained in the township until 18GG, 
when he removed tQ Vernon, and died in the following 
year. 

Very graphic descriptions are given of the earliest town- 
ship-meeting. The actual business of the occasion was 
transacted in a brief time, but the law required the polls to 
be open until four o'clock. Many devices were employed 
to kill the time, and a hilarious occasion was the result. 



Three pioneers from Oakland County preceded Mr. Saw- 
tell by one year. Elihu Stewart located upon eighty acres 
on section 23, upon which he erected a log house. This 
he occupied for two years while he felled the forest and 
made a clearing sufficiently large upon which to raise a crop 
of wheat. At the expiration of that period Oakland 
County claimed him again as a resident. 

James Dunbar arrived in the same year, and purchased a 
farm of eighty acres on section 13. His pioneer experi- 
ence in Venice was confined simply to the building of a 
house, which he soon after vacated and returned to Oakland 
County. 

Daniel W. Stowell had an experience identical with that 
of his friend Mr. Stewart. He located on section 13, and 
after a sojourn of two years returned with him to their 
former home. 

Andrew Lytle, a former resident of St. Lawrence Co., 
N. Y., became a pioneer in Livingston County in 1836, 
and in 1844 moved to Venice. He occupied the farm of 
ninety acres vacated by Mr. Placeway on section 29, upon 
which a partial clearing had been made and a primitive 
habitation built. His nearest neighbor was Thomas Mc- 
Laren, who still resides in the township. Five years later 
Mr. Lytle built a substantial frame residence, which is his 
present home. 

Alonzo H. Owens removed from Grand Blanc to the 
township in 1843, and secured forty acres of land on sec- 
tion 33, for which he paid by one year of labor. He 
erected a board shanty, the lumber for which was purchased 
with lumber-orders, which iu view of the scarcity of cur- 
rency at that time were a legal tender. Mr. Owens led the 
solitary life of a bachelor for a year, after which a wife 
was brought to his simple home. His nearest neighbor 
was Abram Jennings, who located upon the same section 
and died in 1847- Before his permanent settlement Mr. 
Owens had cleared three acres, which he sowed with wheat, 
using oxen to assist in the clearing. He sold his land in 
1852 and selected what he regarded as a more eligible site 
on section 28. This was also unimproved at the time of its 
purchase. It has been converted since that time into a 
highly-productive farm, upon which he at present resides. 
Mr. Owens is a public-spirited citizen, and keenly alive to 
the interests of the township. 

The progress of settlements in Venice up to the year 
1844 is indicated by the following list of resident tax-payers 
in the township, taken from the assessment-roll of that year, 
viz. : 



A. M. Jennings. 

B. S. Jones. 
P. C. Card. 
William Placeway. 
B. J. Bentley. 
Thomas McLaren. 
Alpha Carr. 
Elnathan Brown. 



Jonathan Durrin. 
Neely Sawtell. 
Truman Bunce. 
Charles R. Yerkes. 
Lewis W. Covell. 
Charles Wilkinson. 
G. W. Priest. 
D. I. Lipe. 



Lewis W. Covell settled, in 1844, on section 17, and 
went resolutely to work to clear and improve his land. 
Afterwards the farm came into the possession of Thomas 
Simpson, who now occupies it. 



318 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Joseph Card was one of the pioneers of 1846, who located 
a home upon section 31, where he purchased eighty acres. 
He devoted much hibor to its improvement, and remained 
upon it until his death. Guy N. Roberts now resides upon 
the estate. 

L. S. and C. L. Cronkhite, former residents of Monroe 
County, N. Y., were among the arrivals in 1845, and located 
upon one hundred and sixty acres on sectiou 22. B. S. 
Jones had previously settled upon section 29, and with him 
they found a home while making their purchase habitable. 
They found on their arrival a vast uncleared tract, which 
has been converted into the most productive land in the 
township. Both have now fine farms on the same section. 

Asahel Owen, a pioneer of 1848, located on section 31. 
This land had been previously occupied by a settler named 
Carr, who had effected a slight improvement, to which he 
added on taking possession. A highly-cultivated farm is 
the result of his labor, and upon it a spacious residence has 
recently been built. Mr. Owen has frequently served as 
supervisor, and is esteemed as a public-spirited citizen. 

Samuel Martin, a former resident of St. Lawrence Co., 
N. Y., removed to the township of Venice in 1850, and 
ultimately settled on .section 18. With him came six sons, 
five of whom are now residents of the township. Mr. Mar- 
tin died, in 1871, on the homestead, which is now occupied 
by his son, John L. Martin. 

John J. P. Gerardy left his native France in 1855, and 
the same year located in Venice upon the west half of the 
northwest quarter of section 17, a small portion of which 
had been cleared, and a log house built upon it. Mr. Ge- 
rardy improved but little the first year, having become a 
victim to chills and fever immediately on his arrival. The 
nearest settler was George Wren, who located in the same 
year, and died on the farm he occupied. Mr. Gerardy now 
has one hundred and sixty acres improved, and a substantial 
residence built upon it. He is now township clerk, which 
ofiice he has filled for successive terms. 

Among other settlers who arrived in Venice between the 
years 1840 and 1844 are B. I. Bentley, Charles R. Yerkes, 
Alpha Carr, G. W. Priest, and Thomas McLaren, each of 
whom contributed in a greater or less degree to the pros- 
perity of the township. 

ORGANIZATION AND TOWNSHIP CIVIL LIST. 

The organization of Venice as a separate township was 
effected under an act of the Legislature, approved March 
9, 1843, which provided and declared, " That all that por- 
tion of the county of Shiawassee designated by the United 
States survey as township number seven north, of range 
four east, formerly belonging to the township of Owosso, 
but now to the township of Vernon, be and the same is 
hereby set off and organized into a separate township by 
the name of Venice, and the first township-meeting shall 
be held at the house of Neely Sawtell." 

In accordance with the provisions of the act, the earliest 
township-meeting of the township of Venice was held on 
the first Monday in April, 1843, at the house of Neely 
Sawtell. D. I. Lipe was chosen moderator ; P. C. Card, 
Truman Bunce, and Joseph Dunbar inspectors of election ; 
and Neely-Sawtell clerk. The officers for that year, together 



with the result of succeeding elections, until the present 

date, are given in the following list, viz. : 

1843. — Supervisor, Daniel I. Lipe ; Township Clerk, Neely 
Sawtell ; Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; Highway 
Commissioners, Truman Bunce, Joseph Dunbar, 
A. M. Jennings ; Directors of the Poor, Truman 
Bunce, A. M. Jennings ; Constables, Charles 
Wilkinson, William Placeway. 

1844. — Supervisor, D. I. Lipe; Clerk, Neely Sawtell; 
Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; Highway Com- 
missioners, A. M. Jennings, B. S. Jones, G. W. 
Priest ; School Inspector, D. I. Lipe ; Direc- 
tors of the Poor, A. M. Jennings, Trumun Bunce ; 
Constables, W. Placeway, G. W. Priest. 

1845. — Supervisor, Truman Bunce; Township Clerk, Neely 
Sawtell ; Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; High- 
way Commissioners, G. W. Priest, B. S. Jones, 
Eluathan Brown ; Justice of the Peace, John 
Jones; School Inspector, D.S.Jones; Directors 
of the Poor, T. Bunce, P. C. Card ; Constables, 
A. A. Cronkhite, E. Brown. 

1846. — Supervisor, T. Bunce; Township Clerk, N. Saw- 
tell ; Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; Justice of 
the Peace, T. Bunce ; School Inspector, D. M. 
Lytle ; Highway Commissioners, C. L. Cronk- 
hite, A. M. Jennings, 0. Limbocker ; Directors 
of the Poor, T. Bunce, P. C. Card ; Constable, 
A. A. Cronkhite. 

1847. — Supervisor, T. Bunce; Township Clerk, E. Holt, 
Jr. ; Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; Justice, P. 
C. Card ; School Inspectors, D. S. Jones, E. 
Brown ; Directors of the Poor, 0. Limbocker, 
Andrew Lytle; Highway Commissioners, C. L. 
Cronkhite, E. Brown, G. W. Priest ; Constable, 
A. A. Cronkhite. 

1848. — Supervisor, E. J. Holt ; Township Clerk, Joseph 
Card ; Treasurer, Stephen Lytle ; School In- 
spectors, D. S. Jones, E. Brown ; Justices, B. 
H. Fraser, D. S. Jones; Highway Commission- 
ers, C. L. Cronkhite, E. Brown, G. W. Priest; 
Directors of the Poor, H. Johnson, 0. Lim- 
bocker ; Constables, Porter C. Card, A. A. 
Cronkhite. 

1849.^ — Supervi-sor, P. C. Card ; Township Clerk, Jo.seph 
Card ; Treasurer, E. Holt, Jr. ; Justice, Neely 
Sawtell; Highway Commissioner, Andrew Lytle; 
School Inspector, D. S. Jones ; Constables, H. 
H. Jennings, R. Byington, E. Brown. 

1850.— Supervisor, Truman Bunce ; Township Clerk, 
Neely Sawtell ; Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; 
Justice, Truman Bunce ; Director of the Poor, 
J. M. Wells; Highway Commissioners, C. L. 
Cronkhite, Riley Byington ; School Inspector, 
A. H. Owens ; Constables, J. W. Card, H. Jen- 
nings. 

1851. — Supervisor, Truman Bunce; Township Clerk, H. 
H. Lytle ; Treasurer, Charles Wilkinson ; High- 
way Commissioner, C. L. Cronkhite ; School In- 
spector, E. Brown ; Directors of the Poor, R. 
Byington, O. Limbocker ; Constables, J. W. 






ijJliJMJMlMMl 



^w?'^i^Snt?'^^^^S?^^3^^^^',?$rTvvi?i7'j«T ^ -^^ 



AM. OWENS. 



Birds £>i 




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PESiDENceoF AtONZO H. OWENS. 




f ft ■■ 3 »<<^»«~««^r»***>»«V' > i»i. "„ , y , , , 




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M"' AH OWENS- 







•/v/C£- Towt^SHiP. Shiawassee County, Michigan. 



VENICE TOWNSHIP. 



319 



Card, G. W. Priest, E. Johnson, H. H. Jen- 
nings. 

1852.— Supervisor, Charles Wilkinson ; Township Clerk, 
D. S. Jones ; Justices, B. Browa, D. S. Jones ; 
Treasurer, B. S. Jones ; Highway Commission- 
ers, S. S. Martin, J. Pierce ; School Inspector, J. 
W. Card ; Constables, A. H. Jennings, A. Pierce. 

1853. — Supervisor, Charles Wilkinson ; Township Clerk, 
D. S. Jones ; Treasurer, B. S. Jones ; Justice, 
Charles Wilkinson ; Highway Commissioner, C. 

A. Cronkhite ; School Inspector, A. H. Owens ; 
Director of Poor, S. S. Martin ; Constables, H. 
H. Jennings, J. W. Card. 

185-1. — Supervisor, Charles Wilkinson ; Township Clerk, 

D. S. Jones ; Treasurer, William Lindsey ; Jus- 
tice, S. S. Martin ; School Inspector, Benjamin 
Wells ; Directors of Poor, C. L. Cronkhite, D. 
M. Lytle ; Constables, L. S. Wells, L. S. Cronk- 
hite, H. H. Jennings. 

1855. — Supervisor, Charles Wilkinson ; Township Clerk, 

E. Brown ; Treasurer, William Lindsey; Justice, 
Palmer C. Card ; Highway Commissioner, S. S. 
Martin; School Inspector, D. S. Jones; Directors 
of Poor, H. Johnson, Henry Church ; Consta- 
bles, A. Daniels, Joseph Craig, L. S. Wells, L. 
S. Cronkhite. 

1856. — Supervisor, Neely Sawtell ; Township Clerk, P. C. 
Card; Treasurer, C. L. Cronkhite; Justice, A. 
H. Owens; Highway Commissioner, H. Elwell ; 
Directors of Poor, R. H. Eraser, J. W. Yerkes ; 
School Inspector, R. Byington ; Constables, R. 
Byington, Amasa Daniels, A. L. Eraser, James 
McLaren, 

1857. — No record. 

1858. — Supervisor, Charles Wilkinson ; Township Clerk, 
D. S. Jones ; Treasurer, C. L. Cronkhite ; Jus- 
tice, S. S. Martin ; School Inspector, E. Brown ; 
Directors of Poor, P. C. Card, R. Byington ; 
Highway Commissioner, M. S. Chapman ; Con- 
stables, A. Fosdick, Joseph Craig, L. S. John- 
son, J. M. Babbitt. 

1859.— Supervisor, H. H. Lytle; Township Clerk, C 
Yerkes ; Treasurer, William Lindsey ; Justices 
M. L. Curtis, H. H. Lytle ; Highway Commis 
sioner, C. J. Young, H. Church ; School In 
specter, M. L. Curtis; Directors of Poor, T 
McLaren, J. W. Yerkes ; Constables, H. Sawtell 

B. F. Card, Eli Johnson, Charles Wren. 
I860.— Supervisor, H. H. Lytle; Township Clerk, C. 

Yerkes; Treasurer, William Lind.sey; Justice, 
B. F. Card ; Highway Commissioner, D. J. Ken- 
dall ; School Inspector, R. C. Satterley ; Consta- 
bles, L. S. Cronkhite, Andrew Bliss, Ira Harding, 
Eli Johnson. 
1861.— Supervisor, H. H. Lytle; Township Clerk, F. G. 
Bailey ; Treasurer, William Lindsey ; School In- 
spector, C. Yerkes ; Highway Commissioner, 
George Wren; Justices, William A. Calkins, 
H. H. Lytle ; Constables, W. Leonard, Ira Hard- 
ing, A. Daniels, Eli Johnson. 



1862.— Supervisor, H. H. Lytle; Township Clerk, F. G. 
Bailey ; Treasurer, W. A. Calkins ; Justices, R. 
C. Johnson, C. Yerkes; Highway Commissioners, 
E. C. Shipman, S. A. Lytle ; School Inspector, 

C. A. Cronkhite; Constables, W. A. Calkins, 
Eli Johnson, E. Martin, E. Johnston. 

1863.— Supervisor, H. H. Lytic; Township Clerk, R. B. 
Wyles ; Treasurer, W. A. Calkins ; Justices, C. 
Yerkes, W. B. Hender; School Inspectors, C. 
Yerkes, A. F. Martin; Highway Commissioner, 

D. J. Kendall ; Constables, E. Johnston, Eli 
Johnson, L. S. Cronkhite, Nelson Heaton. 

1864.— Supervisor, H. H. Lytle; Township Clerk, A. H. 
Church ; Treasurer, W. A. Calkins ; Justice, 
C. Wilkinson ; Highway Commissioner, S. A. 
Lytle ; School Inspector, A. F. Martin ; Con- 
stables, Eli Johnson, S. Cronkhite, John Wood, 
David Calkins. 

1865. — Supervisor, Asahcl Owen; Township Clerk, J. J. 
P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, Gleason Young ; Jus- 
tices, P. C. Card, D. S. Lampheer; Highway 
Commissioners, M. S. Chapin, Jerome Sprague, 
N. Sawtell ; School Inspectors, R. B. Wyles, E. 
Brown ; Constables, Amasa Daniels, Peter Geek, 

E. Johnston, Gilbert Card. 

1866. — Supervisor, Asahel Owen ; Township Clerk, J. J. 
P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, William Calkins ; Jus- 
tice, G. I. Young ; School Inspector, R. B. 
Wyles ; Highway Commissioner, G. W. Priest; 
Constables, Calvin Craig, G. H. Card, Reuben 
Johnson, Gilbert Eraser. 

1867.— Supervisor, F. G. Bailey; Township Clerk, T. 
Resigue ; Treasurer, W. A. Calkins ; Justice, 
Charles Wilkinson ; School Inspectors, A. F. 
Martin, C. Yerkes ; Highway Commissioner, C. 
S. Wren ; Constables, A. Bliss, Eli Johnson, 
William Leonard, James Mott. 

1868. — Supervisor, Asahel Owen ; Township Clerk, J. J. P. 
Gerardy ; Treasurer, Riley Byington ; Justice, 
E. Brown ; School Inspector, Hiram Johnson, 
Jr. ; Highway Commissioners, C. L. Cronkhite, 
I. D. Hannah ; Constables, R. Johnson, L. By- 
ington, Edward Smith. 

18G9. — Supervisor, Asahel Owen; Township Clerk, J. J. 
P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, G. C. Beebe ; Justice, 
A. H. Owens ; School Inspector, E. Brown ; 
Highway Commissioner, A. F. Martin ; Consta- 
bles, H. Humphrey, J. W. Card, Hiram John- 
son, Jr., Alfred Eraser. 

1870. — Supervisor, Asahel Owen ; Township Clerk, J. J. 
P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, E. Brown ; Justice, G. J. 
Young; Highway Commissioner, I. D. Hannah; 
School Inspector, Hiram Johnson, Jr. ; Consta- 
bles, II. Humphrey, Joseph Priest, Samuel 
Schoch, A. Stewart. 

1871. — Supervisor, Alexander Stewart; Township Clerk, 
J. J. P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, John West ; School 
Inspector and Drain Commissioner, A. 11. 
Owens ; Highway Commissioners, George Tur- 
ner, A. M. Elwell; Justice, A. J. Augsbury; 



320 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Constables, H. Humphrey, R. Johnson, William 
Rollin, John Card. 

1872. — Supervisor, Alexander Stewart; Township Clerk, 
J. J. P. Gorardy ; Treasurer, E. Brown ; School 
Inspector, Hiram Johnson, Jr. ; Highway Com- 
missioner, C. E. Shipnian ; Drain Commissioner, 
G. L. Cronkhite ; Justice, E. Brown ; Consta- 
bles, H. Johnson, Jr., J. W. King, E. Leonard, 
Theodore Niver. 

1873. — Supervisor, Alexander Stewart ; Township Clerk, 
J. J. P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, E. Brown ; School 
Inspector, James Twitchell ; Drain Commis- 
sioner, C. L. Cronkhite; Highway Commis- 
sioner, C. L. Cronkhite ; Justice, A. H. Owens ; 
Constable, John Card. 

1874. — Supervisor, Asahel Owen; Township Clerk, J. J. 
P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, E. Brown ; School In- 
spector, Hiram Johnson ; Highway Commis- 
sioners, Ira Church, M. M. Byington ; Drain 
Commissioner, H. Johnson, Jr. ; Justice, G. J. 
Youngs; Constables, John Card, Peter Geeck. 

1875. — Supervisor, Alexander Stewart; Township Clerk, 
J. J. P. Gerardy ; Treasurer, E. Brown ; Super- 
intendent of Schools, G. T. Priest ; School In- 
spector, James Twitchell; Highway Commis- 
sioner, C. S. Cronkhite ; Drain Commissioner, 
Charles Ewing ; Justice, A. J. Augsbury ; Con- 
stables, J. W. Card, J. L. Wheelock, D. W. 
Cronkhite, T. Niver. 

1876. — Supervisor, E. Brown ; Township Clerk, J. J. P. 
Gerardy; Treasurer, M. M. Byington; Super- 
intendent of Schools, G. T. Priest; Inspector of 
Schools, James Twitchell ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Edwin Gidley ; Drain Commissioner, 
George Wilkinson ; Justice, Alexander Stewart ; 
Constable, H. Humphrey. 

1877. — Supervisor, E. Brown; Township Clerk, J. J. P. 
Gerardy; Treasurer, M. M. Byington; Super- 
intendent of Schools, G. T. Priest ; Inspector of 
Schools, J. Twitchell ; Highway Commissioner, 
S.Schoch; Drain Commissioner, A. J. Augsbury. 

1878. — Supervisor, Ira C. Church ; Township Clerk, P. G. 
Bailey ; Treasurer, M. M. Byington ; Super- 
intendent of Schools, C. W. Shipman ; Inspector 
of Schools, Lewis Bugea ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, James Martin ; Drain Commissioner, 
Edward Leonard ; Justice, Charles Wilkinson ; 
Constables, T. P. Niver, G. H. Eraser, C. W. 
Shipman. 

1879. — Supervisor, Ira Church ; Township Clerk, P. G. 
Bailey ; Treasurer, James Martin ; Superintend- 
ent of Schools, A. H. Owens; Inspector of 
Schools, Lewis Bugea ; Highway Commissioner, 
William White; Justice, A. J. Augsbury. 

1880.— Supervisor, M. M. Byington ; Township Clerk, J. 
J. P. Gerardy; Treasurer, James Blart in ; Super- 
intendent of Schools, J. E. Lancock ; Inspector 
of Schools, Lewis Bugea ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Thomas Lancock ; Drain Commissioner, 
Edward Leonard ; Justice, Alexander Stewart. 



EARLY TOWNSHIP ROADS. 
The earliest road that traversed the township of Venice 
was surveyed by Nelson Ferry, in June, 1840, and began at 
the northwest corner of section 31, from whence it pursued a 
northerly course to the west quarter post of section 18, 
having been two and a half miles in length. The second 
road began at the quarter post on the west line of section 
32, and ran north to the quarter post on the west line of 
section 29 ; thence north to a point intersecting a road run- 
ning east and west through sections 7, 8, 9, and 10. It 
was surveyed Nov. 21, 1840, by Nelson Ferry; Heman 
Harrington and Nelson Ferry having been highway com- 
missioners. The third road began at the northwest corner 
of section 20, and pursued a southerly course to the 
northeast corner of section 23. The survey was made 
by Nelson Ferry, on the 9th, 10th, and 12th of March, 
1841. A fourth road was surveyed at the same date, be- 
einning on the southeast corner of section 33 and termi- 
nating at the northeast corner of section 4, its length being 
six miles. 

SCHOOLS. 

The earliest school in the township was taught in the 
year 1840, at the house of Nelson Ferry, by his daughter. 
Miss Frances Ferry, an addition having been built to his 
house for the purpose. Meanwhile a frame school build- 
ing, familiarly known in after-years as the " old red school- 
house," was erected on section 32, and Mr. Ferry himself 
presided as the teacher of the district. Some time after- 
wards a school was opened in a barn belonging to Charles 
Wilkinson, on section 7, and was taught by Miss Julia 
Card. The school-house in this district, which was the 
second built in the township, was erected in 1850, the first 
teacher, having been Miss Celia Hawkins, now Mrs. James 
B. Wheeler, of Corunna. 

The present school territory of the township is divided 
into eight whole districts. The present directors are John 
Davids, George Chavey, Lewis Bugea, A. J. Muzzy, Rolla 
Turk, Charles Shipman, A. J. Augsbury, and John Gauss- 
ley. The total value of school property in the town- 
ship is three thousand two hundred and seventy-three dol- 
lars, which includes one brick, one log, and six frame school 
buildings. 

VENICE GRANGE, No. 388, PATRONS OF HUS- 
BANDRY. 

The Venice Grange was organized April 13, 1874, by 
Deputy C. M. Wood, with a charter membership of twenty- 
seven male and twenty-five female Patrons. The following 
were its first ofiicers : Fred G. Bailey, Master ; A. H. 
Owens, Overseer ; D. W. Cronkhite, Lecturer ; W. Bing- 
ham, Steward ; E. C. Shipman, Chaplain ; Alexander 
Stewart, Treasurer ; John J. P. Gerardy, Secretary. The 
same officers were re-elected at the next election. The 
latest recorded officers are William Leonard, Master ; Alex- 
ander Stewart, Over,seer ; F. G. Bailey, Lecturer ; M. M. 
Byington, Steward ; A. H. Owens, Chaplain ; C. L. Cronk- 
hite, Treasurer ; Hiram Reed, Secretary. 



VENICE TOWNSHIP. 



321 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 




HON. F. G. BAILEY. 



Among the names that are prominently connected with 
liie development, progress, and welfare of Shiawassee County 
is that of F. G. Bailey. Having occupied some, public 
position the whole time during the last thirty years has 
given him a large experience, which has contributed very 
much to his success and greatly to the advantage of the 
public. He was born in the city of Bath, England, and at 
the age of four years came to the United States with his 
parents, who first made New York City their home and 
afterwards removed to Rochester, N. Y. When he was 
eighteen years of age he came to Hadley, Lapeer Co., 
Mich., where he engaged in teaching, which was for several 
years his principal business. Ill health rendered an abandon- 
ment of his profession necessary, and he then engaged in 
mercantile business in Goodrich, Genesee Co., Mich., from 
where he removed to Shiawassee County in 18C0, and en- 
gaged in farming. Ill health again rendered a change 
necessary, and he removed to Keweenaw Co., Mich., and 
engaged in mercantile business. He was afterwards ap- 
pointed freight agent by the Central Mining Company, 
Eagle Harbor, for whom he erected an extensive wharf 
and warehou.ses, and conducted the business until 18G6. He 
then returned to his farm in Venice. He has served his 
township as supervisor and as clerk for several terms. He 
was one of the charter members of the State Grange, and is 
vice-president of the Shiawassee Mutual Insurance Company, 
and also one of the directors of the Shiawassee Agricul- 
tural Association. He was elected member of the Legisla- 
ture for 1873, also again for 1875. He was appointed on 
Committee on State Affairs and was the acting chairman 
41 



during the latter part of the session of 1873, also member 
of Committee on Mines and Minerals. He was again ap- 
pointed in 1875 on Committee on State Affairs, also made 
chairman of Committee on Education. He was the intro- 
ducer of the bill by which the three highway commissioners 
were changed to one, securing more effective services and 
greatly reducing the expense ; also offered an amendment 
and secured its passage authorizing the purchase of State 
bonds before maturity by the treasurer, by which the idle 
millions in the State treasury were used in payment of State 
bonds and relieved the people of the payment of further 
interest. In 1876, in consequence of the death of his eldest 
son and ill health, he refused to accept any public po.sition 
that might be tendered him, and since which has retired 
from active public life. 



ALONZO H. OWENS. 



Alonzo H. Owens was born in Oneida County, State of 
New York, Dec. 5, 1823. His father was a native of 
Massachusetts, and removed tp the Mohawk Valley, New 
York, in the year 1800. He was a gentleman of education, 
and used his scholarly ability in teaching, as he was very 
successful in imparting his knowledge. He continued in 
the profession many years, although his death occurred at 
au early age, when Alonzo was in his infancy. 

Mrs. Owens, who was a native of Montgomery Co., 
N. Y., married again when her son was three years of age. 
Very soon after this they removed to Western New York, 



322 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



remaining there until Alonzo was eleven years of age. 
About this time his stepfather met with severe losses in 
property and emigrated to Michigan, arriving in Grand 
Blanc on the 1st of August, 1835, where he purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres of laud in an almost unbroken 
wilderness. Alonzo passed his youth as did the sons of 
all the early pioneers, toiling early and late, helping to 
clear the land, hunting the cattle, driving the oxen, etc., 
until he reached the age of sixteen, when his stepfather 
deeded his farm to his eldest son, obtaining a life-lease for 
himself and wife. He was thus early thrown upon his 
own resources. Many were the obstacles which he con- 
stantly encountered, but " a brave soul is a thing which all 
things serve ;" so, through great perseverance, with the 
encouragement of a devoted mother, he was enabled to 
bear his lot with great bravery. He was passionately fond 
of reading, and spent his leisure time perusing historical 
works ; and as agriculture was the calling he had followed 
and was still inclined to pursue, he was interested in all 
books pertaining to this subject and a thorough reader of 
many agricultural periodicals, the Albany Cultivator, from 
the beginning of his career as a farmer, being always found 
among his daily readings. 

He attended a district school at the then small village of 
Flint, paying his way by working for his board, — during 
the summer months being employed on the farm. In 
18^3 he went to Venice, and for one year was in the 
employ of Daniel J. Lipe, and was remunerated for his 
services by forty acres of uncleared land. In the year 
1845 he took up his abode with this family, improving his 
land, sowing three acres of wheat, and in the spring of the 
following year erected a temporary building, in which he 
lived by himself until the spring of 1847, when he im- 
proved this rude structure by remodeling and building an 
addition to it, giving the house a neat and pretty cot- 
tage appearance, suggestive of a home with all that name 
implies. Thereupon he made a bold attack upon Capt. 
John Davids, one of the first settlers of Corunna, asking 
for his daughter in marriage. The proposition was ac- 
cepted, the engagement short, and Miss Catharine Davids 
became Mrs. Owens and graced the new home. 

In the year 1851 he purchased the east half of northeast 
quarter of section 28, one mile from his first home. Here 
he built a frame residence, and occupied it in May, 1852, 
where he still resides. In January, 1876, he purchased 
eighty additional acres, thirty of which were occupied by 
the Rush Bed swamp, which has been thoroughly drained 
by a ditch, ten feet wide and four feet deep, running 
through the centre, besides three hundred rods of under- 
drains. His farm is also well supplied with springs, and is 
considered one of the best and most desirable in this part 
of the State, while his residence and buildings are of the 
best, beautifully located, with picturesque landscape and 
surroundings. 

Unfortunately, Mr. Owens' wife soon after their marriage 
became an invalid, and remained one until her death, which 
occurred in June, 1856. On the 13th of May, 1857, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Nancy Ann Crisman, of 
Rome, N. Y., by whom he had two children,- — Cynthia, 
born June 21, 1858, and Crisman A., born Juno t), 18G2. 



But again the angel of death visited his home, and on the 
14th of June, 1862, his beloved companion was taken from 
him, leaving the two little ones with their father, the eldest 
being four years and the baby five days old. This blow 
was a severe one, but persuaded by his friends he remained 
on his farm, caring for and keeping his little family to- 
gether; but in the early fall of 1862 he had again to drink 
from sorrow's cup, little Cynthia leaving him to join her 
mother, who had gone before. Then, indeed, the sunshine 
seemed to have gone from his life, but he gloomily struggled 
along its pathway until the 18th of November, 1864, when 
he was again married to Miss Mary E. Lindley, of Venice, 
Mich., though a native of Rochester, N. Y. On the 15th 
of September, 1875, a daughter was born to them and 
named Edith. 

Mr. Owens is not sectarian in his religious views, but a 
believer in the Christian faith and an active worker in the 
Sabbath-school, contributing his means and influence to the 
cause. He donated a beautiful grove of three acres, to be 
used for picnics and out-door pleasures. 

In politics he was, until the fall of 1878, a Democrat, 
since when he has acted with the Nationals. He has never 
sought office, but held a number of important positions, 
viz.: school inspector, township superintendent, and justice 
of the peace. 

Mr. Owens' grandparents were soldiers in the war of the 
Revolution, and during the late Rebellion he was known 
as a War Democrat, contributing liberally to help his town 
fill her quota and provide for the war-widows. His kind 
and .sympathetic heart often took him to visit the sick, 
where he was of great help in caring for their wants, — a 
very desirable qualification for those pioneer days. 



CHAPTER LXIV. 
WOODHULL TOWNSHIP.* 

Origin of the Township Name — Natural Features — Scttleinent and 
Incidents — Township Organization and List of Otfioers — Early 
Schools — Religious Societies. 

The township of Woodhull was named in honor of the 
family of Joseph Woodhull, whose members were its first 
settlers. At the time of its organization, it embraced, in 
addition to its present territory, that which is now com- 
prised within the limits of the township of Sciota, that 
township having been set off from it Feb. 16, 1842. 

Woodhull presents nearly all the diversity in natural 
features peculiar to Michigan. There are level tracts and 
broken and upright ridges, and in contrast, considerable 
low and swampy land. There are also heavily-timbered 
tracts surrounding the more open and scantily-wooded por- 
tions. In the northern part the soil is somewhat heavy, 
while in the southern part it is light and sandy. Tbe 
Louking-Glass River flows through the northern part, while 
Vermilion Creek waters the southern portions. The streams 
afford good draining facilities for the township, and need 

* By G. A. McAlpine. 



WOODHULL TOWNSHIP. 



323 



only to be taken advantage of in order to make valuable 
mucb land at present comparatively worthless. 

SETTLEMENT AND INCIDENTS. 

On the Ist day of November, 1836, John and Josephus 
Woodhull (brothers) reached the little log cabin then 
known as Laing's tavern. It was probably the first build- 
ing erected in the village of Laiugsburg. It was a mere 
shanty of logs, without floor other than the ground, with 
no chimney save a hole in the roof, while stones set up in 
one corner served as a fireplace. Here having met a pro- 
fessional " land-looker" by. the name of Johnson, they em- 
ployed him as guide. They crossed the river on a raft, 
south of the place now spanned by the bridge, and landed 
between the " forks," as the locality was known in an early 
day. After taking the description of certain portions of 
sections 5 and 9, now in the township of Woodhull, the 
brothers proceeded with all haste to Detroit. But it seems 
the man whom they had employed as a guide was one 
who in those days was called a " land-shark," but in the 
refined phraseology of more modern days would be termed 
a man of business capacity and shrewdness. They found 
they had been preceded by a gentleman who had pur- 
chased from the guide the minutes of the same land 
which tlic}' wished to enter. They finally bought him off 
for twenty dollars, and after waiting two days succeeded in 
getting the duplicates of their land. 

John Woodhull entered the northeast quarter of section 
9. Josephus Woodhull entered two hundred and forty 
acres of section 4, comprising the southeast quarter and the 
east half of the southwest quarter. They then returned to 
the frontier with two teams well loaded with provisions, 
and the necessary implements and tools for building a house 
and commencing life in their new home. On their return 
they were accompanied by William Hildreth, a young man 
in the employ of Josephus Woodhull. While these two 
came into the township and built a cabin John Woodhull 
returned to Nankin, Wayne Co., for the rest of the family. 

Josephus Woodhull and William Hildreth therefore 
built the first house in the township of Woodhull. The 
work was commenced and the first tree felled on the 2d day 
of December, 1836. The house was built entirely of logs, 
except the door, which was made of the lumber of a dry- 
goods box brought from the State of New York. It was 
sixteen by twenty feet, with a loft, which was reached by 
means of a ladder hung by a hinge, in order that it might 
be raised up to the ceiling out of the way. While the 
house was building, the weather was exceedingly disagree- 
able, being stormy and cold, and in addiiiun to a lack of 
help this also tended to retard its completion. But it was 
finally finished, and a bright day it was for those who had 
toiled many days in its construction (sleeping through the 
long cold nights of the winter under a wagon) when it was 
ready for occupancy. It stood on the north part of the 
east half of the southwest quarter of section 4. 

Between Christmas and New Year John Woodhull re- 
turned, bringing his parents and sister, his wife and three 
children. The settlement at this time, therefore, consisted 
of ten jiersons. 

Tile winter was long and severe. The snow lay deep, 



month after month, until near the 1st of April. The feed 
for the stock was exhausted, and they were compelled then 
to buy hay for six dollars per ton, which they hauled 
twenty-three miles. Oats cost one dollar and sixty-three 
cents per bushel, potatoes one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per bushel, and pork twenty-five cents per pound. In the 
spring Josephus Woodhull bought a load of potatoes of 
Benjamin Cushing, who lived at Brighton. He planted 
one-half acre, and cultivated them during the summer with 
the greatest care, but owing to the heavy sward, which had 
not yet decomposed, he received but fifteen bushels in re- 
turn. Joseph Woodhull, the father of John and Josephus 
Woodhull, died during the sickly season of 1840. His 
wife died in 1859, in the eighty-fifth year of her age. 
John Woodhull, whose family, as stated, consisted of a 
wife and three children, died in 1855. His wife went to 
Wisconsin with a daughter, who married Walter Stone. 
A son, Zenus S. Woodhull, still lives in the township. 

Joseph Hildreth, the employee of Josephus Woodhull, 
removed to Mu.skegon after living a number of years in 
this county. His wife, who came to the township in 1838, 
died in the fall of that year. Hers was the first death in 
Woodhull. She was buried on the farm of Josephus 
Woodhull. At this place one-half acre of land was after- 
wards set off as a public cemetery. 

Josephus Woodhull was a bachelor when he came to 
Michigan. He married Phoebe Ann Laing, whose parents 
were among the founders of Laingsburg. 

In the early spring of 1837, Benjamin Lewitt and 
Abram Schermerhorn, and their families, came to Wood- 
hull. Mr. Lewitt purchased all of fractional section 5 ex- 
cept forty acres, and employed Mr. Schermerhorn to work " 
for him. To him he sold the east half of the northwest 
quarter of section 5 soon afterwards. In about three years 
after coming to the township Mrs. Lewitt died, and was 
buried on the farm. Mr. Lewitt then moved to Laings- 
burg. In 1840 his brothers, John, Thomas, and William, 
with their mother and two sisters, came in and occupied 
this land. But the old lady soon died, after which Thomas 
and the two sisters returned to England. Abram Scher- 
merhorn sold his land to Joseph Woodhull and moved 
away. 

Philander T. Maine, a surveyor, came to the township 
during this year, and was married to Miss Viana Wood- 
hull. This was the first marriage in the township. She 
died in a few years, after which Mr. Maine went to Jackson 
County, where he died. In the fall several families located 
across the line, in Sciota township, on section 32, Henry 
Huel and Oliver B. Westcott being among the number. 
The latter was the first town clerk and also the first school- 
teacher in Woodhull. In the fall of 1837 (about the 1st 
of September), Josephus Woodhull sowed the first wheat 
sown in the township. The seed was purchased of Job 
Cranston, who lived near Brighton, Livingston Co. 

In the spring of 1838, Francis F. Mann, John and 
Samuel Graham, and Perry Parshall, with their families, 
arrived. Mr. Mann first came to the township in October, 
1837, at which time he located the southeast quarter of the 
northeast quarter of section 10, and purcha.sed the south- 
oiist quarter of section 9. In the following month of 



324 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



December, Mr. Maun having business in Ypsilanti, started 
with a yoke of oxen and a grist of buckwheat to go to that 
village. On the way he left his grain at a mill in Ham- 
burg. Livingston Co., expecting it to be ready for him on 
his return. In the mean time the mill was blocked with 
ice, and he started for the mills in Shiawasseetown, where 
be waited two nights and one day for his grist. He reached 
home in the evening, having been absent eight days. Jo- 
sephus Woodhull relates a similar circum.stance, in which 
he, accompanied by his sister, with two yoke of oxen and 
a wagon-load of provisions, was nine days in coming from 
Nankin, Wayne Co., to his home in Woodhull. Mr. and 
Mrs. Mann are the only couple now living in the township 
that came in in the spring of 1838. They have never 
moved from the place of their first settlement farther than 
from the cabin into the house which they now occupy. 
Their daughter, Mary 0., was one of the first children born 
in the township. John Graham, who had been to Wood- 
hull in the summer of 1837, and cut hay, and later had 
built a hou.se, returned again when Mr. Mann came, in 
February, 1838. He located six eighty-acre lots, half of 
which was for his brother Samuel, to whom he gave the 
privilege of selecting that part which he preferred. He 
selected the land lying near the lakes, now known as Gra- 
ham Lakes, on section 10, while John took the north part 
of section 15, except the east one-half of the northeast 
quarter. John Graham died in 1875. His wife had died 
in 1847. The daughter who came with them married 
Holden McFarlan ; she died in 1870. 

Samuel Graham came to New York from Ireland, and 
after traveling considerably through the United States set- 
tled in Michigan. He located, as before stated, two hun- 
dred and forty acres of section 10. He was a carpenter, 
and built the first framed building in the township for Jo- 
sephus Woodhull. Mr. Graham served in the war ot the 
Rebellion. His wife died in 1866, and the next year he 
moved to Lansing, where he still resides. 

Perry Parshall settled on section 4 in March of 1838. 
He died in 1868. His wife had died many years before. 
His son Harrison, who was about twenty-two years of age 
when he came to the township, lived on the old homestead 
till his death. 

Patrick Corcoran, with his wife and children, — John, 
Barney, Owen, Bartlett, Henry, Fannie, and Ann, from 
Ireland, — came to Woodhull in the fall of 1838. He lo- 
cated a large tract of land on sections 32 and 33. The pa- 
rents, Bartlett, and Fannie are dead. The homestead is 
still occupied by the family. 

William Hammond and Reuben Place also deserve men- 
tion among the pioneers of Woodhull. The former reached 
the township about the year 1840. His family consisted 
of a wife and one child. He settled the west half of the 
southwest quarter of section 12. He remained smue years, 
but his wife having died, he sold his property and went to 
the northwest part of Michigan. Reuben Place had con- 
siderable skill in wood-work. He supplied the early set- 
tlers with chairs, more remarkable for their solidity than 
beauty. He subsequently removed to Bennington. E. 
Tooker settled on the west half of the southeast quarter of 
section 29, and S. Moon located on section 21. 



A large portion of land was held by speculators for a 
number of years, which retarded the settlement of the 
township considerably. The most of this came into market 
at a later day, and now there is comparatively little non- 
resident land. Among those who owned considerable tracts 
are the names of Bliss and Godfrey. 

The most serious inconvenience known to the early set- 
tlers was the distance they were compelled to travel for 
their groceries tind provisions. A market for produce, after 
the home demand had been supplied, was almost out of the 
question. If trading to any amount was to be done, a trip 
was made, with cattle, to Ann Arbor or Detroit, usually 
occupying from ten to fifteen days, according to the condi- 
tion of the roads. Of their condition at this late day no 
adequate idea can be given. They were at times almost 
impa.ssable, and frequently the wagon, and sometimes even 
the oxen, would have to be raised from the mud or sink- 
holes, which were not uncommon, especially in the spring 
of" the year. A serious want was a blacksmith-shop. The 
iron implements so necessary in clearing and subduing a 
new country were constantly broken and otherwise rendered 
unfit for use. The hook of a chain or the point of a plow 
would alike have to be carried eight or ten miles, a half- 
day spent, or a long tramp made thi'ough the woods late at 
night, in order to secure the necessary repairs. But in the 
spring of 1839, Josephus Woodhull purchased a good bel- 
lows and kit of tools, and opened a blacksmith-shop in a 
little log cabin on his farm. From this time until other 
shops were established in the villages near Woodhull, this 
shop did good service to the settlers. 

Several Indian trails crossed the township ; the one mostly 
used by the Indians led east and west through Antrim, 
Perry, and Woodhull townships to Laingsburg. The first 
road established in the town passed between sections 9 and 
16 and 10 and 15. Another was then established leading 
also to Laingsburg. The next one led south through the 
western part of the township. These roads were established 
in the summer of 1838. 

In the latter part of July, 1840, the "sickly season" (as 
the period was known for many years) commenced, and by 
the middle of August a majority of the people in the settle- 
ment were sick with bilious fever. Ralph Williams, who 
lived in what is now Sciota township, was the only man in 
the entire settlement who was able to go from house to 
house and attend the sick. He was an excellent man in 
this regard, and did all in his power to alleviate the suffer- 
ings of those around him. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND LIST OF 
OFFICERS. 

Woodhull was set oft from the old township of Shia- 
wassee, and erected a separate township, by act of the 
Legislature approved April 2, 1 838. By this act it was 
provided and declared that townships 5 and 6 north of 
range 1 east be organized as a separate township named 
Woodhull, and that the first township-meeting should be 
held at the house of Peter Laing. In accordance with 
the terms of this act the first town-meeting was held at 



WOODHULL TOWNSHIP. 



325 



the place designated, April 30, 1838. Henry Leach was 
chosen moderator; Oliver B. Westcott, clerk; Benjamin 
Hewitt, assistant clerk ; Josephus and John WoodhuU, 
Walter Laing, and John Graham, inspectors of election. 
The entire vote cast numbered twenty-two. The names of 
the voters were as follows : 



Henry Buell. 
Joseph Woodhull. 
Josephus Woodhull. 
John Woodhull. 
Joseph Hildreth. 
John Hill, Jr. 
John Brindle. 
William P. Laing. 
Abraham Schermerhorn. 
John Graham. 
Benjamin Lewitt. 



Cornelius Putnam. 
Perry Parshall. 
Lewis Shippee. 
Harris Parshall. 
Alvin S. McDowell. 
Samuel Graham. 
Henry Leach. 
Francis F. Mann. 
Samuel Millard. 
Oliver B. Westcott. 
Walter Laimr. 



The township officers elected at this and subsequent 

annual meetings until the present time have been as named 

in the following list, viz. : 

1838.— Supervisor, John Woodhull; Clerk, Oliver B. 
Westcott ; Assessors, William P. Laing, Cor- 
nelius Putnam; Collector, Walter Laing; School 
Inspectors, Oliver B. Westcott, Benjamin Le- 
witt, John Graham ; Directors of the Poor, 
Milton Phelps, Alvin S. McDowell ; Highway 
Commissioners, William P. Laing, Henry Buell, 
Henry Leach ; Justices, Jo.sephus Woodhull, 
Peter Laing, Henry Leach, John Graham ; Con- 
stables, Walter Laing, Gideon M. Cross. 

1839.— Supervisor, John Woodhull; Clerk, Oliver B. 
Westcott ; Assessors, Francis F. Mann, Philan- 
der T. Maine, Walter Laing; Highway Com- 
missioners, Mason Phelps, Samuel Graham, 
Josephus Woodhull ; School Inspectors, Oliver 
B. Westcott, Josephus Woodhull, Philander T. 
Maine; Constables, W. P. Laing, Gideon M. 
Cross; Collector, W. P. Laing; Justice, Jo- 
sephus Woodhull ; Treasurer, John Woodhull ; 
Poonuasters, Samuel Graham, John Graham. 

1840.— Supervisor, John Woodhull; Clerk, Oliver B. 
Westcott; Treasurer, John Woodhull; As- 
sessors, F. F. Mann, Philander T. Maine, Cor- 
nelius Putnam ; School Inspectors, Oliver B. 
Westcott, Josephus Woodhull, P. T. Maine; 
Directora of the Poor, Oliver B. Westcott, 
Peter Laing; Highway Commissioners, Josephus 
Woodhull, M. Phelps, Allen Smith ; Justice, 
Allen Smith; Collector, W. P. Laing; Con- 
stables, W. P. Laing, R. Williams. 

1841.— Supervisor, E. P. Tooker ; Clerk, P. T. Maine; 
Treasurer, S. B. Fuller; Justice, John Graham ; 
Assessors, Franklin Childs, Cornelius Putnam, 
Francis F. Mann ; Highway Commissioners, 
Mason Phelps, Henry Leach, Henry Buell ; 
School Inspectors, Charles Place, Franklin 
Childs, P. T. Maine; Directors of the Poor, 
Peter Laing, G. M. Cross; Constables, W. P. 



Laing, Owen Corcoran, F. F. Mann, Smith 
Tooker ; Collector, W. P. Laing. 

1842. — Supervisor, John Woodhull ; Clerk, Oiven Cor- 
coran ; Treasurer, Josephus Woodhull ; Justices, 
Joseph Hildreth, John Corcoran ; Assessors, 
Joseph Hildreth, Kdward Bragg; Highway 
Commissioners, Josephus Woodhull, Owen Cor- 
coran, Smith Tooker ; School Inspectors, Jo- 
sephus Woodhull Owen Corcoran, Philander 
T. Maine; Constables, Smith Tooker, F. F. 
Mann. 

1843. — Supervisor, P. T. Maine; Clerk, Owen Corcoran; 
Treasurer, Eliphalet Tooker; Justice, Josephus 
Woodhull ; Highway Commissioners, John 
Woodhull, Barney Corcoran, F. F. Mann ; 
School Inspectors, P. T. Maine, Edward Bray; 
Assessors, William Hammond, John Corcoran ; 
Constables, Smith Tooker, Stephen Finch. 

1844. — Supervisor, E. S. Tooker; Clerk, Owen Corcoran; 
Treasurer, G. W. Hosslor ; Justices, John Cor- 
coran, William Hammond; Highway Commis- 
sioners, Nathan Hawley, F. F. Mann, G. W. 
Hossler; School Inspectors, G. N. Stoddard, 
pjdward Bray ; Constable, Stephen Finch. 

1845.— Supervisor, S. B. Warner; Clerk, P. T. Maine; 
Treasurer, Josephus Woodhull ; Highway Com- 
missioners, James Warfle, N. Stoddard, John 
Graham ; Constables, Stephen Finch, 0. G. 
Tooker, A. M. Chadwick, E. Howell ; School 
Inspector, Josephus Woodhull. 

184G.— Supervisor, S. B. Warner; Clerk, P. T. Maine; 
Treasurer, Josephus Woodhull ; Highway Com- 
missioners, Nathan Hawley, John Graham, R. 
Place ; School Inspector, Sylvanus Bachelor ; 
Justice, G. N. Stoddard ; Constables, Peter Shaft, 
A. M. Chadwick, James P]. Bunnel. 

1847. — Supervisor, E. F. Tooker; Clerk, Owen Corcoran ; 
Treasurer, Josephus Woodhull ; Justice, John 
Tiiompson ; Highway Commissioners, W. G. 
Kent, John Graham, Joshua Marsh ; School 
Inspector, Henry Frederick; Constables, J. V. 
Shaft, Henry Frederick, Daniel S. Sparks, 0. G. 
Tooker. 

1848. — Supervisor, John Thompson ; Clerk, Owen Cor- 
coran ; Treasurer, John Woodhull ; Justices, 
John Corcoran, Nicholas Flanagan; Highway 
Commissioner, William G. Kent; School In- 
spectors, Zetus Woodhull, Francis F. Mann ; 
Constables, Charles Marsh, Zetus Woodhull, G. 
H. Corcoran, S. C. Goodhue. 

1849. — Supervisor, John Thompson ; Clerk, Owen Cor- 
coran ; Treasurer, David Tooker; Highway 
Commissioner, Andrew Van Riper ; School In- 
spector, W. G. Kent ; Constables, Jacob V. 
Shaft, Daniel D. Searles, Richard Warfer, F. 
F. Mann. 

1850. — Supervisor, John Thompson ; Clerk, Owen Cor- 
coran ; Treasurer, David G. Tower ; Justices, 
David G. Tower, Josephus Woodhull; High- 
way Commis-sioner, John Woodhull ; School 



326 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Inspector, F. F. Mann ; Constables, J. V. Shaft, 
Hugh Oaks, James S. Harper, George H. Cor- 
coran. 

1851. — Supervisor, Josephus Woodhull ; Clerk, Owen Cor- 
coran ; Treasurer, W. G. Kent ; Justice, John 
Thompson ; Commissioner of Highways, Isaac 
Thompson ; School Inspector, Zetus S. Wood- 
hull ; Constables, Hugh Oaks, R. Shaw. 

1852. — Supervisor, Josephus Woodhull ; Clerk, Owen Cor- 
coran ; Treasurer, W. G. Kent ; Justices, Lewis 
T. Bennett, John Corcoran ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Andrew Van Riper; School Inspector, 
Lewis T. Bennett; Constables, John W. Van 
Wormer, Roswell Shaw, B. E. Crandel, Alex- 
ander Place. 

1853. — Supervisor, John Thompson; Clerk, John G. 
Marsh ; Treasurer, W. G. Kent ; Justice, Isaac 
E. Everts ; Highway Commissioner, Christopher 
Mowers ; School Inspector, Jonathan Burke ; 
Constables, Bartley Siegle, John W. Van 
Wormer, Benjamin J. Crandal, James S. Harper. 

1854. — Supervisor, Josephus Woodhull ; Clerk, Joshua 
G. Marsh ; Treasurer, Andrew Van Riper; Ju.s- 
tice, Ira Burlinganie ; Highway Commissioner, 
Hugh Oaks ; School Inspectors, Truman Willits, 
Lewis Bennett ; Constables, P. Chalker, Charles 
Gould, William Chaucarty, Solomon Burlingame. 

1855. — Supervisor, John Thompson ; Clerk, J. G. Marsh ; 
Treasurer, Andrew Van Riper ; Justice, Thomas 
Stevens ; Highway Commissioner, John W. Van 
Wormer ; School Inspector, James H. Burlin- 
game ; Constables, Bartley Siegle, Jacob V. 
Shaft, Henry Stevens, James H. Burlingame. 

1856. — Supervisor, John Thompson ; Clerk, J. G. Marsh ; 
Treasurer, Andrew Van Riper; Justices, John 
Thompson, John Corcoran ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Solomon Burlingame ; School Inspector, 
Francis F. Mann ; Constables, Henry Stevens, 
Charles Gould, James Burlingame, Philip 
Chalker. 

1857. — Supervisor, John Thompson; Clerk, E. F. Kay; 
Treasurer, F. P. Mann ; Justice, James Graham ; 
Highway Commissioner, Philo C. Leavenworth ; 
School Inspector, Sidney H. Munger; Constables, 
George Colby, Charles Rohrabacher, Moses P. 
Marsh, Isaac E. Everts. 

1858. — Supervisor, John Thompson; Clerk, E. F. Kay; 
Treasurer, F. F. Mann ; Justice, William Hurd ; 
Highway Commissioner, G. M. Colby ; School 
Inspector, H. H. Ilawley ; Constables, Philip 
Chalker, Russell Dyer, Henry Stevens, James 
Harper. 

1859.— Supervisor, J. G. Marsh; Clerk, E. F. H. Kay; 
Treasurer, F. F. Mann ; Justice, Thomas Ste- 
vens ; School Inspectors, Owen Corcoran, S. H. 
Munger ; Highway Commissioners, Hugh Oaks, 
Henry Stevens; Constables, James Harper, 
Henry Stevens, George M. Colby, Charles Rohra- 
bacher. 

1860. — Supervisor, J. G. Marsh ; Clerk, John Thompson ; 



Treasurer, F. F. Mann ; Justice, John Thomp- 
son ; Highway Commissioner, Andrew Rohra- 
bacher; School Inspector, Sidney H. Munger; 
Constables, Henry Stevens, George M. Colby, 
Ira Burlingame, Charles Marsh. 

1861. — Supervisor, J. G. Marsh; Clerk, Owen Corcoran; 
Treasurer, F. F. Mann ; Justice, Sidney H. Mun- 
ger ; Highway Commissioner, William Colby ; 
School Inspector, Lewis Bennett ; Constables, 
Patrick McDowell, Isaac RohrabacTier, Israel 
Parshall. 

1862. — Supervisor, J. G. Marsh; Clerk, Owen Corcoran; 
Treasurer, W. G. Kent ; Justices, Hugh Oaks, 
Henry Stevens, John J. Ginteling ; Highway 
Commissioner, John W. Van Wormer ; School 
Inspector, S. H. Manzer ; Constables, G. M. 
Colby, Patrick McDowell. Jerome Wright, Isaac 
Rohrabacher. 

1863. — Supervisor, J. G. Marsh; Clerk, S. H. Manzer ; 
Treasurer, William Kent ; Justices, John Cor- 
coran, William H. Force; School Inspector, J. 
V. D. Wyckoff; Highway Commissioner, Pat- 
rick McKeon ; Constables, George M. Colby, 
Patrick McDowell, John S. Green, Abraham H. 
Everts. 

1864. — Supervisor, J. G. Marsh ; Clerk, S. H. Manzer ; 
Treasurer, William G. Kent ; Justice, D. J. 
Tower ; Highway Commissioners, John S. Green, 
Andrew Rohrabacher ; School Inspector, Joshua 
G. Marsh ; Constables, G. M. Colby, Jerome 
Wright, George Smith, John Siegle. 

1865.^Supervisor, S. H. Manzer ; Clerk, Owen Corcoran ; 
Treasurer, William G. Kent; Justices, Henry 
Stevens, Lawson W. Beardslee ; Highway Com- 
missioner, Bernard Bray ; School Inspector, S. 
H. Manzer ; Constables, J. M. Shaft, George M. 
Colby, George Acker, Isaac E. Everts. 

1866. — -Supervisor, Josephus Woodhull; Clerk, Zetus S. 
Woodhull ; Treasurer, W. G. Kent ; Justices, 
Josephus Woodhull, James S. Harper ; School 
Inspector, Joshua G. Ward ; Highway Commis- 
sioner, Bartley Siegle; Constables, S. S. Green, 
John M. Shaft, John Siegle, James Bray. 

1867. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh ; Clerk, Zetus S. 
Woodhull ; Treasurer, James S. Harper ; Jus- 
tices, John Corcoran, George M. Colby, Charles 
Walker; Highway Commissioner, William Col- 
by; School Inspector, Arthur H. Bigg; Consta- 
bles, John M. Shaft, Ovid Whipple, Isaac Rohra- 
bacher, William Bailey. 

1868. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh ; Clerk, Arthur H. 
Bigg ; Treasurer, Francis F. Mann ; Justices, 
Hugh Oaks, Charles Arnold ; Highway Commis- 
sioners, James M. Clement, Bernard Bray; 
School Inspector, James S. Harper; Constables, 
John M. Shaft, David Whipple, Oliver P. Everts, 
Alford S. Wright. 

1869. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh; Clerk, Smith F. 
Warner; Treasurer, John M. Shaft; Justices, 
David Tower, Henry Stevens ; Highway Com- 



WOODHULL TOWNSHIP. 



327 



missioner, S. S. Green ; School Inspector, Henry 
TallmLidge; Constables, B. D. Corcoran, Oliver P. 
Everts, Alfred L. Wright, Andrew J. Harper. 

1870.— Supervisor, J. G. Marsh ; Clerk, Smitii F. War- 
ner ; Treasurer, John M. Shaft ; Justices, Henry 
Stevens, Samuel Pope; Highway Commissioner, 
A. Simpkins ; School Inspector, James S. Har- 
per; Constables, Oliver P. Everts, Alphonso 
Harkness, George Acker, Charles S. Place. 

1871. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh; Clerk, Smith F. 
Warner; Treasurer, Isaac Rohrabacher; Justice, 
John Corcoran; Highway Commissioner, John 
L. Tyler ; School Inspector, Henry Tallmadge ; 
Constables, John H. Corcoran, Sidney Simpson, 
Alphonso Harkness, John H. Parshall. 

1872.— Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh; Clerk, Smith F. 
Warner; Treasurer, Isaac Rohrabacher; Justice, 
Hugh Oaks; Highway Commissioner, Sidney S. 
Green ; Drain Commissioner, Owen Corcoran ; 
School Inspectors, James S. Harper, Michael 
Flanagan ; Constables, Oliver P. Everts, Andrew 
J. Harper, Bartley Siegle, Israel E. Saddler. 

1873. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh; Clerk, Richard F. 
Kay ; Treasurer, Isaac Rohrabacher ; Justice, 
George W. Clements; Highway Commissioners, 
Sarsfield Corcoran, Almond N. Stevens ; Drain 
Commissioner, Owen Corcoran ; School Inspec- 
tor, James S. Harper ; Constables, Oliver P. 
Everts, Alfred L. Wright, William H. Robison, 
Bartley Siegle. 

1874. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh; Clerk, Richard F. 
Kay; Treasurer, John M. Shaft; Justice, Henry 
Stevens ; Highway Commissioner, Zetus S. Wood- 
hull ; School Inspector, John Tyler ; Drain Com- 
nii.ssioner, Chauncey Rohrabacher; Constables, 
William Robinson, Parley Laing, Smith F. War- 
ner, Rodolphus E. Tower. 

1875. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh ; Clerk, Smith F. 
Warner; Treasurer, John M. Shaft; Justice, 
John Corcoran; Highway Commissioner, Michael 
Flanagan ; School Superintendent, Charles M. 
Smith; School Inspector, James S. Harper; 
Drain Commissioner, Chauncey Rohrabacher; 
Constables, Oliver P. Everts, Paisley Laing, 
R. E. Ilower, Bartley Siegle. 

1876. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh; Clerk, Charles M. 
Smith ; Treasurer, John M.Shaft; Justice, Hugh 
Oaks; Highway Commissioner, Michael Flana- 
gan ; School Superintendent, Richard F. Kay ; 
School In.>ipcctor, James S. Harper; Drain Com- 
missioner, Isaac Rohrabacher ; Constables, Oliver 
P. Everts, Bartley Siegle, John L. Tyler, .Johij 
Dunn. 

1877. — Supervisor, Joshua G. Marsh ; Clerk, Smith F. 
Warner; Treasurer, Daniel R. Tuthill ; Justice, 
James S. Harper; Commissioner of Highways, 
Edward Crawford ; School Superintendent, Dan- 
iel 0. Beardslee; School Inspector, Hugh Oaks; 
Constables, J. D. Southwell, Bartley Siegle, F. 
M. Powell, J. F. Hunt. 



1878. — Supervisor, Smith F. Warner; Clerk, Joseph V. 
D. Wyckoff; Treasurer, John Aikens ; Justices, 
Henry Stevens, G. W^. Chrouch ; School Super- 
intendent, Daniel 0. Beardslee ; School Inspec- 
tor, James S. Harper ; Highway Commissioner, 
William G. Kent ; Drain Commissioner, Joshua 
G. Marsh ; Constables, F. M. Powell, J. D. 
Southwell, Bartley Siegle, D. Mansh. 

1879. — Supervisor, S. F. Warner; Clerk, Joseph V. D. 
WyckofF; Treasurer, Joshua G. Marsh ; Jus- 
tice, John Corcoran ; Highway Commissioner, 
William G. Kent ; School Superintendent, 
George W. Chrouch ; School Inspector, James 
S. Harper ; Drain Commissioner, Joshua G. 
Marsh ; Constables, Francis M. Powell, Mark 
Marlatt, Newton Shaft, Jediah Southwell. 

1880.— Supervisor, Smith F.Warner; Clerk, Joseph V. 
D. Wyckoif ; Treasurer, Joshua G. Marks ; Jus- 
tice, Hugh Oakes ; Highway Commissioner, Wil- 
liam Kent ; School Superintendent, George W. 
Chrouch ; Drain Commissioner, George W. 
Colby ; School Inspector, James 8. Harper ; 
Constables, Alfred F. Tyler, Alphonso Harkness, 
Oliver P. Everts, Horace R. Stevens. 

EARLY SCHOOLS. 

On Nov. 14, 1837, the school commissioners of Shia- 
wassee township (which at that time embraced the territory 
comprised in Shiawassee, Antrim, Bennington, Perry, Wood- 
hull, and Sciota) met at the Shiawassee Exchange, and 
divided the township into school districts. Woodhull was 
divided as follows : 

District No. 1 iijcluded sections 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 
14, 15. 

District No. 2.— Sections 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 
35, 36. 

District No. 3.— Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18. 

Di-strict No. 4.— Sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, 29, 31, 
32, 33. 

In the fall of 1838 the inhabitants of Woodhull and the 
neighboring towns of Bath and Victor in Clinton County 
met at the house of Josephus Woodhull for the transaction 
of .school bijsiness. Of this meeting Mr. Woodhull was 
chosen moderator, and the usual school officers were elected. 
It was then decided to have a bee and build a school-house. 
Nearly all the settlers in the vicinity accordingly assembled 
at a specified place a few days afterwards, and, working 
with alacrity, soon completed a log school-house. This 
building stood near the county-line, on section 5. It was 
the first school house built in Woodhull township, and in 
it was taught the first school by Oliver B. Westcott. He 
received ten dollars per month and boarded himself. The 
attendance was from ten to sixteen, and among the number 
were children from territory now comprised in four town- 
ships. 

As no money had thus far been collected by taxation for 
school purposes it was necessary to raise this amount by 
subscription, or by assessing the parents of those who at- 
tended .school a certain per cent. The money was accord- 
ingly raised in this way. 



328 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



The next school district was formed in 1842, in the 
locality containing; the northern Methodist Episcopal 
church. The inhabitants met at the house of John Gra- 
ham and elected the necessary district officers, but the 
minutes of the meeting are not to be found. A site wa.s 
selected, being the one now occupied by the school-house 
in district No. 2. A framed school-house was then built, 
being the first in the town.ship, in which Martha Spicer 
taught the first school. Elizabeth Woodhull and Mary 
Jane Hill taught in the same district soon after. 

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES. 

The early settlers of Woodhull would compare favorably 
in character and education with those of any other town- 
ship in the county. They had scarcely placed themselves 
in a position to provide for the bare wants of life when 
they began to agitate measures for the chtablishment of 
schools and churches. All the principal denominations of 
the Protestant Church have been organized and encouraged 
from time to time. Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, and 
Congregational societies have been established. But the 
changes and vicissitudes of more than forty years have 
worked the dissolution of nearly all the societies formed in 
an early day. In the church, as in the school-room, the 
field, and the household, the men and women who, in the 
strength and vigor of youth, put their shoulders to the 
wheel have surrendered the task, unfinished, to another 
generation. 

In the year 1839 a Methodist class was formed in the 
log school-house on section 5. A Mr. Finch, of Bath, was 
the first class-leader. This cla.ss sub.se(iuently disbanded, 
and others of the same denomination have since been 
formed. The class now in existence in the northern part 
of Woodhull was formed in September, 1855, in the Antrim 
Circuit, and at that time was known as West Perry charge. 



James S. Harper was chosen class-leader. The meeting- 
house of the society was erected in 1879, at a cost of 
one thousand and fifty dollars. The ground for the cemetery 
at this church was donated to the township by F. F. Mann 
and Samuel Graham. It contains one and one-half acres. 

In the same year that the Methodist class was formed 
Elder B. B. Brighatu organized a Baptist Church. The 
place of holding its meetings was afterwards changed to 
Laingsburg. 

In the month of May, 1879, a meeting was called at 
Shaftsburg, for the purpose of taking action in regard to 
building a church. The following persons were appointed 
a building committee : James Harper, J. V. D Wyckoff, 
Sr., Joshua G. Marsh, and Rev. James Whitford, of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, as chairman. With the un- 
derstanding that the various societies should be allowed to 
worship in the new house, the members of all denomina- 
tions subscribed liberally, and about two thousand two hun- 
dred dollars was pledged fiir that purpose. The building 
was erected during the summer of that year. It is now, 
however, under the exclusive control of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. 

SHAFTSBURG. 

This station on the Grand Trunk Railroad contains four 
stores, a hotel, a post-office, two blacksmith-shops, a saw- 
mill, a flouring-mill, and a meeting-house. The village is 
platted on the land of John P. Shaft, from whom it is 
named. The post-office at this place was established in 
1878, and Newton Bacon, who had opened the first dry- 
goods store, was appointed postmaster. 

The flouring-mill, the first and only one built in the 
township, was erected by Jacob Stabler in 1877. It has 
two run of stones. Just previous to its completion. Stabler 
& Harlow built the saw-mill. The hotel was built by John 
P. Shaft. 



i.-ilr 




Rbs,d,.nce of ANDREW J VAN fi/PBR. Woodhull. Shiawassee. Co Mich. 



WOODIIULL TOWNSHIP. 



329 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 





ANDREW J. VAN RIPER. 



MRS. ANDREW J. VAN RIPER. 



ANDREW J. VAN IlIPKll. 



Tills venerable pioneer was born in Patcrson, N. J., 
Jan. 9, 1806. His father, Jeremiah Van Riper, was born 
in Lodi, P]»sex Co., N. J. He married Miss Elizabeth 
TJlarcom, and reared a family of seven children. The elder 
Van Riper was a thrifly, industrious, and successful farmer, 
a man of undoubted integrity, and one of Michigan's ear- 
liest settlers, and universally beloved for his kindness of 
heart. He had a large circle of friends, and was perhaps 
without an enemy. Andrew lived with his father until he 
was fifteen years of age, when he went to the city of New 
York and apprenticed himself to the trade of a shoemaker. 
He remained in New York two years, at the expiration of 
which time he returned to Patcrson and commenced business 
for himself In 1824 he removed to Seneca Co., N. Y., 
whither his father had removed the year previous. Here 
he followed his trade, and in 1827 was married to Miss 
Catheritie Dubois. In May, 1831, he started for Michigan 
with his family, which consisted of his wife and two chil- 
dren. He settled in the town of Lodi, Washtenaw Co., 
where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land 
from the government, receiving his deed from Martin Van 
Bureii. In ISiM his father followed him, and purchased a 
farm mar the home of his son, where he resided until his 
death, which occurred in 1858. In IS-JS, Mr. Van Riper 
removed to the town of Woodhull, where he had j)reviously 
42 



purchased four hundred and eighty acres of government 
land. Here he has since resided, and during the thirty- 
two years that he has been a resident of Woodhull no man 
has been more clo.sely identified with its development than 
he. Energy, indu.stry, and economy are the salient points 
in the charaeter of Mr. Van Riper. He has perfected a 
valuable record as a citizen, and no one stand.s higher in the 
estimation of the people of Woodhull than he. His word, 
whether given in a business transaction or in ordinary con- 
versation, is considered to be as good as his bond. He has 
been highly successful in business, and lias accumulated a 
fine competency, and at the same time has been a generous 
giver, a friend to the poor and distressed, and a liberal sup- 
porter of all public and charitable enterprises. In his relig- 
ious belief he is a Presbyterian. He was one of the founders 
of the Presbyterian Church of Lodi, and identified himself 
largely with the building of the Methodist church of Shafts- 
burg. Socially he is genial and courteous ; he loves a good 
joke, and his irank, open countenance is indicative of good- 
nature and generosity. In his domestic relations he is a 
kind father and a valued friend. He has settled his ehildreu 
around him, to each of whom he has given good homes. 
He is now in his seventy-fifth year, and still retains much 
of his former vigor and energy. He has made a name and 
reputation that will live as long as the history of Woodhull. 



330 



HISTORY OF SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 





FHANCla F. JIANN. 



MRS. FRANCIS F. MANN. 



FRANCIS F. MANN. 



The family traditions of Francis F. Mann reach back to 
a time before the French and Indian wnr, when two broth- 
ers, named respectively William and Samuel Mann, came 
to America. They went back to England, their native 
land, in a few years, but soon returned to America. Which 
of these was the ancestor of the subject of this sketcii it is 
impossible to say. His grandfather, Jacob Mann, who was 
born in 1744, and lived in Wenham, Mass., married Miss 
Susan Richardson. 

While a young man, being afflicted with the rheumatism, 
he left the farm where he had lived and went to Harvard 
College, from which he graduated. He was then admitted 
to the Congregational Church as minister, and was the first 
located pastor of tliat denomination in the town of Alstead, 
N. H. In this place Jacob Mann, Jr., the father of Fran- 
cis F. Mann, was born in August, 1782. His wife, Miss 
Plioebe Fisher, was born Sept. 2, 1787. 

Francis F. Mann was born in the town of Alstead, N. H., 
Dec. 12, 1808. When he was about three years old his 
father died, and his mother subsequently married again. 
He remained at home until he was fourteen, and then went 
to live with his uncle, Samuel Mann. He subsequently 
left Alstead and went to Walpole, where he met Laura 
Robin.son, to whom he was married June 29, 18:?6. 

The ancestors of Mrs. Mann are traced back to the time 
when the Pilgrims left England and went to Leyden. She 
is the descendant of John Robin.son, formerly a preacher 
in the Established Church near Yarmouth, Norfolk, Eng- 
land, and whose sons came to Plymouth in the " May- 
flower." John llobin.son, the great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Mann, lived in Connecticut, where Isaiah Robinson, her 



grandfather, a deacon in the First Baptist Church of Ches- 
ter, Vt., was born. In 1750 he married Sarah Robins, the 
daughter of Colonel Robins, who served in the French and 
Indian war. They lived in Killingly, where, while he was 
in the Continental Army, her father, Daniel Robinson, was 
born, Oct. 29, 1776. At the age of sixteen her father 
moved to Springfield, Windsor Co., where he married 
Nancy McEiroy, Oct. 30, 1798. At this place Laura, the 
fourth daughter, was born June 9, 1809. She subsequently 
resided with her uncle's family, at Walpole, N. H., where 
she met F. F. Mann and was married to him, as already 
stated: 

They came to Washtenaw Co., Mich., in October, 1837. 
Their settlement in Michigan is more fully spoken of in 
the history of Woodhull township. The following is the 
record of their children: Mary Omenda, born April 24, 
1839; Helen L., born Dec. 20, 1841; Harriet L., born 
Sept. 25, 1851. Adopted children: Amasa F. Chadwick, 
born Sept. 17, 1846; James 0. McClintock, born Oct. 28, 
1850 ; Albert J. Wilcox, born July 14, 1865. Amasa F. 
Chadwick died in the hospital at Chattanooga, Tenn., June 
12, 1864, and was buried in the Soldiers' National Ceme- 
tery at that place. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mann are kind and hospitable, respected 
by all who know them, and eminently deserving the brief 
mention given them in this sketch. They are not members 
of any church in the township, Mrs. Mann having never 
severed her connection with the society to which .she be- 
longed in the East. They both encourage and favor all 
societies of Christians tlie lives of whose members comply 
witli their profe.ssions. 




JOHN P. SHAFT. 



The Shaft family are of German and Frencli ex- 
traction. Tlie maternal grandfatiier of the subject of 
this sketch was an officer under Napoleon. Nothing 
is now known regarding his history or the date of 
his emigration to America. The jiaternal grand- 
father emigrated from Germany previous to the Revo- 
lution, and upon the breaking out of the war' enlisted 
and served during its continuance. Soon after peace 
was declared he settled in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., 
where Peter Shaft, father of John P., was born. 
From Rensselaer County a portion of the family re- 
moved to Saratoga County, wiiere the father of our 
subject purchased a farm, and where Joiin P. was 
born Sept. 16, 1805. His parents, Peter and Eliza- 
beth (Loop) Shaft, reared a fanrily of seven eiiildren, 
and when John was a babe removed to Madison Co., 
N. Y., where they resided until 1838, wlien tlicy 
emigrated to Perry, Shiawassee Co., Micli. 

John remained with his father until he was twenty- 
one years of age. He received a good com mon-sciiool 
education, and shortly after lie attained iiis majority 
npiircniiicd himself to the trade of a shoemaker, 
wliieh lie followed until he came to Micliisran, in 
1839. He brought with him a stock of boots, shoes, 



and Icatlier, and settled in the town of Perry, wliere 
he purchased two hundred and eighty acres of land 
on sections 19, 20, and 29. About 1846 he removed 
to Woodhull and purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land where he now resides. To this purchase 
he made repeated additions, until he owned at one 
time two thousand three hundred and eighty acres. 
He now owns one thousand and eighty acres, most of 
which is in the town of Woodhull. 

Mr. Shaft has identified himself largely with the 
interests of Woodimll. He laid out the thriving 
village which bears in's name, and was prominent in 
the location and construction of the railroad which 
passes through it. He is a liberal supporter of edu- 
cational and religious enterprises, anti has done ids 
part to advance the best interests of tiie town. He 
has been married five times, first to Ciiristiana Olsavcr 
in 1829; slie was a fine type of the pioneer woman, 
and was highly esteemed. His present wife, net 
Jidia E. Parks, is a lady of much culture and 
refinement. Mr. Shaft is now in his seventy-fifth 
year, and is still hale and hearty. His name is 
prominent in tlie history of Woodhull, and he will 
alwavs be remembered as a valuable citizen. 



CLINTON COUNTY. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

BOUND ARIES-TOPOGHAPHy-MINERAL RE- 
SOUBCES. 

Location and Natural Features — The Coal-Measures — Salt Springs — 
Results of Explorations for Coal and Salt. 

Clinton County lies directly west of Shiawassee, the 
principal meridian of the State forniinc; the boundary- 
line between them. On the north Clinton is bounded by 
Gratiot County, on the west by Ionia, and on the sotith by 
the counties of Ingham and Eaton. The Grand River, 
flowini; northwestwardly from the latter county, enter.s Clin- 
ton, and, traversing the extreme southwestern corner of its 
territory for a few miles, passes across its west boundary into 
Ionia. The other principal streams are the Maple and 
Looking-Glass Rivers, both of which enter the county 
across its eastern border, fiom Shiawassee. The former, 
crossing the northeast corner of Clinton in a general course 
towards the northwest, passes out into Gratiot County, 
through the southern part of which it meanders for some 
twenty miles, and then returns to Clinton across its north 
boundary (about three miles west of the centre), and flows 
in a general southwesterly course through the northwest 
corner of this county into Ionia. 

The Looking-Glass River, coming into the county across 
the east line, at a point about seven and a half miles north 
of its southeast corner, flows in a general course a little 
south of west across Clinton into Ionia Coun:y, passing 
out of the former about six miles north of its southwest 
corner. The Looking-Glass receives tributaries of consider- 
able size within this county, as does also the INLiple. The 
projected improvements on both these streams for purposes 
of navigation in early years have already been mentioned in 
preceding pages. 

The surface of Clinton County is properly described as 
undulating, for the swells of ground are not sufiieicntly 
lufty or abrupt to be termed hills, and there are in the 
county but very few places where entirely level upland 
tracts of much extent are found, though in the original 
field-notes of the government surveys a great number of 
places are mentioned where the surveyors, in traversing this 
county, passed through " prairies," and " prairie lands." 
They also note the existence of " floating prairie" in some 
localities, and continually luontion " marsh," " cranberry 
marsh," and " tamarack swamp." The aggregate of all 
these, however, forms but a very small part of the area of 
the county. 

The kinds of timber noted in the surveys of this county 
are oak (white, red, yellow, black, and burr), ehii, beech, 
maple (hard and soft), white and black ash, aspen, tama- 



rack, linn, birch, cedar, black-walnut, iron-wood, cotton- 
wood, hickory, cherry, and spruce, with a very general 
undergrowth of prickly ash and willow. The greater part 
of the county was embraced in the heavily-timbered lands 
and timbered openings, the open lands or " prairies" being 
generally of small extent. The lands from which lieavy 
timber has been cleared are generally strongest and best, 
but a really poor soil is scarcely known in any part of the 
county. 

In geological formation and development, Clinton County 
presents but little that is of much interest. Explorations 
have been made here in past years for salt springs, and also 
for veins of coal, the search for the latter being encouraged 
by the fact that the entire country is known to be under- 
laid by the " coal-measures" of the lower peninsula, the 
location and limits of which are described by Professor C. 
Rominger, the State geologist, as follows: 

" The approximate limits of the coal-measures on the 
peninsula are within a line drawn from Sebawing, on Sag- 
inaw Bay, towards Holly, in the south part of Genesee 
County,* and from there, prolongated in a southwesterly 
curve, to Jackson. From Jackson the line goes west, pass- 
ing a few miles north of Albion ; it then strikes northwest, 
passing some distance east of Bellevue to Hastings, whence, 
northward, the extent of the formation is only guessed at. 
The western edge of the coal-measures is supposed to inter- 
sect the Detroit and Milwaukee R lilroad line near Lowell, 
thence to go nortli, touching Big Rapids, and from there to 
run in a northeastern curve diagonally through Osceola 
County and the northwest corner of Clare County. The 
line does not seem to transgress the second correction line ; 
it goes parallel with it along the northern end of Gladwin 
County, from which point the formation is again known 
through actual outcrops. It enters the northwest corner of 
Bay County, and extends in a southeast direction towards 
the mouth of Rifle River, striking the shore of Saginaw 
Bay. Tiie rim of the formation is a few miles north of Rifle 
River." It will be seen that this description places the 
county of Clinton entirely within and not far from the 
centre of the great coal-basin. 

In his report of 187(), on the geological survey of the 
State, Prof. Rominger makes mention of the outcrop of the 
coal formation and other geological developments at Grand 
Ledge, and along the Grand River below that place. As the 
point first mentioned is within a short distance of the south 
boundary of Clinton, and as his description follows the 
river in its course of several miles through this county, it is 

^ The professor here makes a mistake in locating Holly, vhioh is in 
the northwest corner of O.ikhir.d County. 

331 



332 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



thought appropriate in this connection to extract that por- 
tion of his report which has reference to this region. He 
says, " The most instructive natural section through the 
coal formations which we have in this State is seen at Grand 
Ledge in the valley of Grand River, ten miles below Lan- 
sing. The river has carved its bed there to a depth of 
about sixty feet below the general surface level of the 
country. The'upper part of the hills bordering the valley 
is formed of drift ; the lower presents a section through the 
rock-beds of the coal-measures. The village of Grand 
Ledge is located nearly in the centre of the outcrops, which 
continue up and down the river for about a mile. The 
strata rise and sink in undulations, which bring the higher 
and lower beds to repeated outcrops on the same level. 
The order of stratification, often visible in sections of large 
horizontal extent, gives a fair opportunity for observing the 
changes to which a stratum in its horizontal extension is 
often subject with regard to thickness and quality of mate- 
rial. The observed variability explains why, in the numer- 
ous sections seen within the limited .space of a few miles, 
no one exactly corresponds with the other, although many 
of them represent about the same horizon. 

" The upper part of the formation is a coarse-grained 
sand-rock from twenty-five to thirty feet in thickness. In 
the locality where I saw it best exposed the rock occupies 
one of the depressed curves of an undulation such as has 
been alluded to, and at both ends of the exposure lower 
rock strata come up alongside the upper beds on the same 
level. The sand-rock ledges form a compact body with only 
insignificant intermediate seams of shale, or with an occa- 
sional coal-seam of a few inches thickness wedged in. 
Calamites and other vegetable imprints, besides concretions 
of kidney-ore and of iron pyrites and conglomerated seams, 
are usually found inclosed within the rock mass. In grain 
and hardness it fully resembles the upper sandstones of 
Jackson ; its color, however, is a somewhat darker, yellow- 
ish shade. Locally, the rock becomes very hard, and has 
a dark chocolate-brown color from containing an abundance 
of ferruginous cement ; a part of this brown rock is coarsely 
conglomeratic. Next below this sand-rock, which borders 
the river in vertical cliffs for nearly the length of a mile, 
we find blue shales of arenaceous character, interlaminated 
with thin layers of sand-rock, all amounting to a thickness 
of about fifteen or twenty feet. Under these is a coal-seam 
two and a half feet in thickness, and of very good bitumi- 
nous quality. It wedges out in places, or changes into a 
black, carbonaceous shale. This seam is worked at times 
by single workmen as a teuiporary occupation when they 
have little else to do. The coal-seam rests on a gray, argil- 
laceous, laminated sand-rock, with softer shaly seams, which 
both inclose a large quantity of coaly vegetable remains, — 
Lepidodendron, similar to Lepid. Wortheni, Sdgmaria 
ficoides, trunks and leaves. The thickness of the beds is 
about five feet. Lower comes a fine-grained, whitish sand- 
rock, in even, compact beds eight feet in thickness. Di- 
rectly under this sand-rock is a fifteen-inch bed of good bitu- 
minous coal. Lowest in the outcrop are about twenty-five 
feet of additional strata, principally sand-rock ledges, with 
some intermediate shale-seams. In the bed of the river at this 
spot large, hard sand-rock slabs of very even bedding, and 



from two to three inches in thickness, are laid open, which 
would make excellent flag-stones for paving sidewalks. The 
aggregate thickness of the given section is about ninety feet ; 
it begins with the centre of the synclinal depre.ssion, and is 
followed down the stream. . . . 

" A good section through the formation can be observed in 
the ravines of a creek entering Grand River from the south, 
a short distance west of the village, and another in the 
blufl's just below it, and opposite the section last described. 
Highest in this latter, under a few feet of drifl, are fifteen 
feet of arenaceous shales, with nodular seams of sand-rock 
and kidney-ore concretions, and a band of carbonaceous 
shale with seams of coal ; below follow eight feet of a fine- 
grained greenish-white sandstone, in thick, even beds, iden- 
tical with the sand-rock found in the first section, interme- 
diate between the two coal-seams. This rock is quarriea 
and worked into cut stone, window- and door-sills ; it is of 
fine quality, better than any of the coal-measure sand-rocks 
I "have before seen. The beds at one end of the quarry are 
much thicker than at the other, and seem to wedge out. 
Under the quarry-stone, a foot or two of arenaceous shales, 
laminated by black, coaly seams, follow, and then a coal- 
bed fifteen inches thick. The coal is of very good quality 
even for black.smiths' use, and is occasionally obtained by 
working the ([uarry for its sand-rock. The coal-seam rests 
on bluish, arenaceous shales, and lower beds of sand-rock 
form the base of the bluff and the bed of the river. The 
banks of the river, at intervals for the distance of eight 
miles, present more limited outcrops than those near Grand 
Ledge, but after that no more rock is denuded in the river- 
bed until Ionia township is reached, where, in section 23, 
the upper sand-rock of the coal-measures comes to the sur- 
face, or is only covered by a thin coating of drift. The 
quality of this sand-rock is superior to the equivalent beds 
at Grand Ledge or at Jackson ; it can be quarried in blocks 
of large dimension, and is of proper durability for building 
purposes. . . . West and north of Ionia, the coal-forma- 
tion disappears under the drift, and no other borings have 
been made in these directions by which we could ascertain 
the extent of its distribution as the surface-rock. To en- 
counter the coal-formation again, we have to return east- 
ward." 

Several borings for coal have been made at different times 
in the southwest part of the county, in the vicinity of the 
region to which the professor refers in the extract given 
above. One of these borings, made at Eagle, in 1873, 
showed the following section : 

Drift 8 feet. 

SanJ-rocl! 23 " 

Coal A tbin vein. 

Fire-cliiy 3 " 

Light slate 13 " 

Black slate II " 

Saud-rock 2 " 

Coal 36 inches. 

Sand, rock 21 feet. 

The other borings in the same township showed strata 
passed through similar to this. A boring made at Ovid, on 
the east line of the county, in 1878, showed a vein of coal 
about one foot in thickness at a depth of fifty eight feet 
below the surface. Another, sunk in the same year in Du- 
plain, in the northeast corner of the county (but not for the 



GEOLOGICAL MAP 

*-,^^-^ or THE LOWER PENINSULA 

^(■y'MICHlGAN 





BOUNDARIES, TOPOGRAPHY, AND MINERAL RESOURCES. 



333 



purpose of discovering coal), reached a depth of one hun- 
dred and sixty-seven feet, disclosing no coal-vein. 

From the time when the territory of Clinton County 
first became known by white men, it was believed that val- 
uable salt-springs existed along the valley of the Maple 
River, and this belief resulted in explorations, with a view 
to their discovery and development. The principal exami- 
nation of the country to this end was made by the State 
geologist, Dr. Douglass Houghton, in 1837, a report of 
which was made by him in January, 1838, from which re- 
port an extract, having reference to his examinations in 
the northwest township of Clinton County, is here given, 
viz. : 

" It has been known from the earliest settlement of the 
country that the Indians formerly supplied themselves with 
salt from .springs occurring on the peninsula; numerous 
reservations of lands supposed to contain salt-springs have 
been made by the United States. Many years ago several 
unsuccessful attempts were made by individuals to manu- 
facture salt, but, after all, the fact that most of the springs 
reserved by the United States contain little else than some 
of the salts of lime and iron, and the failure in the original 
attempt to manufacture the salt, had with much reason 
given rise to doubts as to the existence of saline springs to 
any extent. In ascending Maple River saline indications 
were first observed in township 8 north, range 4 west, and 
were seen to occur at distant intervals between that point 
and what may be considered as the head of navigation of 
the stream, not far from the line between ranges 1 and 2 
west. The Maple River, between these points, is a slug- 
gish stream, having so slight a current as to resemble a suc- 
cession of narrow lakes, while the alluvial shores, scarcely 
rising above the water, even when lowest, are covered with 
a dense forest of soft maple, giving to the whole stream, at 
first, rather a forbidding aspect. But in passing from this 
valley, which varies from half a mile to two or three miles 
in width, we come upon a beautiful elevated and undula- 
ting country, for the most past heavily timbered and well 
adapted to the purposes of agriculture. The bottom of the 
stream is seen to be composed of a yellowish sand, as are 
also the alluvial deposits which bound it on either side, with 
which are frequently seen bowlders of primary rocks, but no 
rock was seen at any point upon the river. 

" In Clinton County, township 8 north, range 4 west, 
section 15, and where by a somewhat sudden turn the river 
approaches near to the elevated boundary of the valley just 
described, saline indications of a decided character appear 
in the narrow marsh or alluvial bottom which bounds the 
river upon its northern side. Two marshes scarcely ele- 
vated above the surface of the river, and partially separated 
from each other, occur, in the lower of which no distinct 
springs can be said to exist, but the water is seen at several 
points oozing through the sandy soil in connection with the 
water of the river, and although no means could be devised 
for preventing the constant accession of fresh water and 
foreign matter, it will be seen by reference to spring 14, 
tables Nos. 1 and 2, a much more favorable result was ob- 
tained than could under those circumstances have been an- 
ticipated. 



" T.ini.E 1. — SpriiiQ 14, Lower Marsh, Clinton Salt- Workti,'^ TiiiritsJii'p 
8 N'lrth, Iliiiige 4 !!'<;«<, Serlinn 15. 

" How owned Private property. 

Graiiia. 

Specific gravity 1.0026 

Muriate of soda 67.7(5 

lime 1.22 

'* magne.-^ia b.hi 

Carbouat*of lime 8.45 

*' iron 04 

Sulphate of liuie 7.13 

Vegetable matterf 54 

Siliceous and aluminousf 22 

Solid matter 90.90 

"Table No. 2. — Slimoiinj llie t.'nnatiliiciils of One /fiinilred llrainn of 

Solid Contentn of Sprunj 14, in Table 1. 

Graina, 

" Muriate of soda 74.50 

" lime 1..15 

*' magnesia G.IO 

Carbonate of lime 9..'!0 

Sulphate of lime 7.85 

Carbonate of iron .05 

Vegetable matter .60 

Siliceous and aluminous matter .25 

Total 100.00 

" At the upper marsh an excavation had been made to a 
depth of a few feet, but not sufiicient to prevent the free 
ingress of fresh water. There was a constant discharge of 
water in small quantities, perfectly transparent and having 
a temperature of 46°, and, as was also the case with that at 
the lower marsh, having a slight odor of sulphuretted hy- 
drogen. Since my visit to this place I am informed a shaft 
has been sunk through alternate beds of sand and coarse 
gravel to a depth of about forty feet, and has been attended 
by a considerable increase of the saline contents of the water. 
I have received, through the politeness of Messrs. Parks & 
Warner, proprietors of the springs, several bottles of the 
water, taken since the shaft was sunk. One hundred cubic 
inches (three and one-half wine-pints, nearly) of the water 
subjected to analysis give the following results : 

Grains. 

"Muriate of soda U.'i.SS 

" lime 4.:i0 

" nnigne-sia 12.8:1 

Carbonate of lime C.2:i 

" iron 09 

Sulphate of lime 13.47 

Total solid matter 180.80 

" In consequence of the shaft which has been sunk there 
has been an increase over a former analysis of 92.42 grains 
of solid matter and 77.05 grains of salt in one hundred 
cubic inches of water. As we continue to ascend the Maple 
River indications of saline occasionally appear, until we 

« The "Clinton Salt- Works," referred to in Dr. lloughton's report, 
was not what its name would imply, — an establishment for the man- 
ufacture of salt, — but a paper-village enterprise, started cm the Maple 
River, in the township of Lebanon, Clinton Co., by Robert S. Porks, 
Lawson S. Warner, Thomas B. Andrews, Charles Hubbell, and Calvin 
C. Parks, who afterwards (by act approved April 3, 1S38) became in- 
corporated as " Tho Clinton Salt- Works Company"; the object of the 
incorporation being set forth to bo " for the purpose of manufacturing 
salt by erecting the nece.''sary buildings, vats, etc." The platting of 
an imaginary village, the procuring of this high-sounding act of incor- 
poration, and tho starting of the "Clinton Salt-Works Rank" (wild- 
cat), by whicii many people sutTered loss, was the only result of tho 
enterprise of these gentlemen. 

■f Foreign. 



334 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



arrive near the source of navigation of that stream in Gra- 
tiot County, some fifteen to twenty miles above these al- 
ready described." 

This report, from so eminent an authority as Dr. Hough- 
ton, established the fact of the existence of salt-springs in 
the valley of the Maple River. It is certain, too, that the 
Indians had made salt in small quantities from the springs 
for many years. Mr. B. 0. Williams, of Owosso, who was 
a trader among them as early as 1831, says he has seen and 
eaten salt made by the natives from brine obtained there. 
But no result was ever reached in the discovery of supplies 
of salt water which would pay for manufacturing. The 
same result has followed all searches for remunerative veins 
of coal in Clinton. The fact became apparent years ago, 
and is now universally accepted as such, that for the people 
of this county at least, it is far better to expend their labor 
on the surface of their magnificent fields than to delve in 
the earth beneath them in search of mineral wealth. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

CHANGES OP CIVIL JUEISDICTION. 

Clinton County incluiled successively in Wayne, Oakland, and Kala- 
mazoo — Erection of Clinton and its Attachment to the County of 
Kent — Subsequent Attjvchmcnt to Shiawassee County — Subdivision 
of Clinton County into Civil Townships. 

It is frequently said of the county of Clinton (as indeed 
of many other counties of the lower peninsula of Michi- 
gan) that it once formed a part of the county of Wayne, 
which was first " laid out" by proclamation of Winthrop 
Sargent, Acting Governor of the old Northwest Territory, 
Aug. 18, 1796, with boundaries running from the Cuya- 
hoga River, in Ohio, west to the eastern line of the State 
of Illinois, and thence north to the boundary between the 
United States and Great Britain, thus including all the 
country between Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron, and 
Lake Michigan, as well as a great tract between the latter 
and Lake Superior. Nominally, therefore, this county and 
all the adjacent country was included within the indefinite 
boundaries of Wayne for many years, and yet, practically 
this inaccessible wilderness region, uninhabited as it then was 
except by savages and wild beasts, was no more within the 
jurisdiction of Wayne County than it had been within that 
of the ancient Plymouth Company, to whom, in the early 
part of the seventeenth century, James I. of England had 
granted all the lands between 42° 2' and 44° 15' north 
latitude, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. In the 
subsequent " laying out" of Wayne County, by proclama- 
tion of Governor Cass (in 1815), it was only made to in- 
clude that part of Michigan Territory to which the Indian 
title had already been extinguished, and as at that time 
the western boundary of Indian cessions was a line identi- 
cal with that which was afterwards established as the prin- 
cipal meridian of the United States surveys, the county of 
Wayne, as then defined, included no pa«t of the territory of 
Clinton. 

On the 12th of January, 1819, a proclamation was made 
by Governor Cass, erecting the county of Oakland, to in- 



clude six tiers of townships north from the base-line, and 
extending westward to the line which is now the principal 
meridian, thus leaving all of the present county of Clinton 
outside its limits. Oakland County was organized in 1820 
with its original boundaries ; but by a proclamation of 
Governor Cass, dated Sept. 10, 1822, it was reduced to its 
present size, and the new counties of Lapeer, Sanilac, Sagi- 
naw, and Shiawassee (which were erected by the same 
proclamation) were attached to it, as was also " all the 
country not included within the boundaries of any of the 
before-described counties, to which the Indian title was 
extinguished by the treaty of Saginaw." This latter at- 
tachment of territory to Oakland included what is now 
Clinton County, with many other counties lying to the 
south, west, and north of it ; and it continued in force, as 
regards the domain of Clinton County, until 1830, when 
an act was pa.ssed by the Legislature (approved July 30th 
and taking eflFect October 1st in that year) organizing the 
county of Kalamazoo, and providing " that the counties of 
Calhoun, Barry, and Eaton, and all the country lying north 
of township four, north of the base-line, west of the prin- 
cipal meridian, south of the county of Michilimackinac, 
and east of the line between ranges twelve and thirteen and 
of Lake Michigan, where said range-line intersects the lake, 
shall be attached to and compose a part of the county of 
Kalamazoo County for judicial purposes." Included in the 
above-described unorganized territory was that of the 
county of Clinton, which remained so attached to Kala- 
mazoo for about five and a half years. 

The erection of the county of Clinton was effected by 
an act of the Legislature (approved March 2, 1831), which 
provided " that the country included within the following 
limits, to wit : west of the meridian and east of the line 
between ranges 4 and 5, west of the meridian ; south of the 
line between townships 8 and 9, north of the base-line ; north 
of the line between townships 4 and 5, north of the base-line, 
containing sixteen townships, be and the same is hereby set 
off into a separate county by the name of Clinton.' 

Legislative acts, bearing even date with that which 
erected Clinton, erected also the counties of Ottawa, Ionia, 
and Kent. The last-named county was organized by act 
approved March 24, 1836, which also provided "that the 
unorganized counties of Ottawa, Ionia, and Clinton shall 
be attached to the county of Kent for judicial purposes." 
Clinton remained attached to Kent until March 18, 1837, 
when, by the provisions of an act of that date organizing 
the county of Shiawassee, it was attached, for judicial pur- 
poses, to the last-named county, and so continued until its 
own organization as a separate county, in 1839. 

SUBDIVISION OF THE COUNTY INTO TOWN- 
SHIPS. 

The entire area of Clinton County was at first embraced 
in a single original township, — De Witt, — which was erected 
by an act of the Legislature of Michigan, approved March 
23, 1836. That act provided: "Section 49. That the 
county of Clinton be and the same is hereby set off and 
organized into a separate township by the name of De Witt ; 
and the first township-meeting therein shall be held at the 
dwelling-house of David Scott, in said township." 



CHANGES OF CIVIL JURISDICTION. 



335 



By an act approved March 20, 1837, the township of 
De Witt was divided in its centre, — on the north and south 
line which forms the boundary between ranges 2 and 3 
west of the meridian, — and the western half was erected 
into a new township ; that part of the act which has refer- 
ence to this erection being as follows : " That the townships 
in ranges three and four west, in the county of Clinton, be 
a township by the name of Watertown ; and the people 
therein shall be entitled to all the privileges incident to 
inhabitants of organized townships, and the first township- 
meeting therein shall be held at the house of Anthony 
Niles, in said township of Watertown." 

The north half of the territory of Watertown was set 
off and erected into a separate township by the terms of an 
act (approved March 6, 1838) which provided that " all 
that part of Clinton County designated by the United 
States survey as townships numbers seven and eight north, 
of ranges three and four west, be, and the same is hereby 
set off and organized into a separate township by the name 
of Wandaugon, and the first township-meeting therein shall 
be held at the house of George Campau, in said township." 
The Indian name given to this township appears to have 
been unfavorably received by the people, and an attempt 
was soon after made to have it changed. This resulted in 
the passage of an act (approved April 2d in the same year) 
which provided that " That portion of townships seven and 
eight north, of ranges three and four west, according to 
the United States survey, be and the same is hereby set 
off and organized by the name of Lebanon, and the first 
township-meeting therein shall be held at the house of 
James Sowle, Jr." It will be noticed that the above de- 
scription of the boundaries of the new township is exceed- 
ingly obscure. The law-makers had undoubtedly meant to 
enact that " that portion of tlie cotinty of Clinton which is 
embraced in townships seven and eight north, of ranges 
three and four west," should be set oif and organized, etc., 
but the omission of the words here italicized was fatal to 
the operation of the act. The proposed change of name 
was therefore postponed until the next session of the Legis- 
lature, and in the mean time the township remained Wan- 
da ugon, as before. 

At the time of the organization of Clinton County there 
had been erected within it only the three townships already 
mentioned, — De Witt, Watertown, and Wandaugon, — and 
the territory embraced, respectively, in these subdivisions at 
that time was as follows: De Witt included all the eastern 
half of the county from the meridian westward to the west 
boundary-line of range No. 2 ; Watertown covered the 
southwest quarter of the county, comprising the present 
townships of Eagle, Westphalia, and Riley, in addition to 
its own reduced territory. 

Immediately after the organization of Clinton the north- 
east quarter of the county — embracing the present towns of 
Ovid, Bingham, Greenbush, and Duplain — was erected into 
the township of Bingham, by act of Legislature approved 
March 21, 1839. As this block of territory was taken 
from De Witt, that township was left with only four survey- 
townships, comprising the southeast quartc^r of the county, 
and the east half of this was taken off on the following day 
(March 22, 18H9) by the Governor's approval of an act 



which provided, " That all that part of the county of Clin- 
ton designated in the United States survey as townships 
Nos. 5 and 6 north, of range No. 1 west, be and the same 
is hereby set off and organized into a township by the name 
of Ossowa." Again, on the 20th of March, 18-41, survey- 
township No. 6 north, of range No. 2 west, — being the north 
half of the then remaining territory of De Witt, — was set off 
by legislative act and erected into the township of Olive, 
thus leaving to De Witt only a single survey-township, 
which has continued to be the extent of its area until the 
present time. 

Watertown, which at first embraced the entire west half 
of the county, but had yielded the north half of its area in 
the erection of Wandaugon township, as before noticed, was 
further reduced by an act (approved March 21, 1839) which 
took from it the survey-township numbered 6 north, of range 
4 we.st, and organized it as the township of Westphalia. 
About two years later (March 15, 1841) an act was ap- 
proved erecting survey-township No. 5 north, of range 4 
west, into the civil town.ship of Eagle, and township 6 
north, of range 3 west, into the township of Riley. This 
left the township of Watertown with only its present area, 
that of a single township of the government survey. 

The township of Wandaugon, having survived the act of 
April 2, 1838, continued to exist under its original name 
until March 22, 1839, at which date an act was approved 
which provided that " the township of Wandaugon, in the 
county of Clinton, shall be hereafter known and designated 
by the name of Lebanon." At that time, and for about a 
year afterwards, the township retained all the original area 
of Wandaugon (the northwest quarter of the county), but 
on the 19th of March, 1840, an act was passed setting off 
the eastern half of its territory, viz. : survey-townships Nos. 
7 and 8 north, of range 3 west, and erecting the part so set 
off into the township of Bengal. And finally, in 184.5, 
an act was passed (approved March 19th of that year) b}' 
which the town.ship of Dallas was erected on survey-town- 
ship 7 of range 4 west. This took from Lebanon the south 
half of its then remaining territory, leaving it with but one 
survey-township, as at present. Bengal township (taken 
from Lebanon, as before noticed, and embracing the north- 
ern two survey-townships of Clinton County in range 3 
west) was partitioned under the provisions of an act ap- 
proved March 9, 1843, and its northern half was erected 
into the township of Essex. The boundaries of both these 
townships still remain as then established. 

The township of Bingham, from the time of its erection 
in March, 1839, continued to embrace the entire northeast 
quarter of the county until March 19, 1840, when, under 
the provisions of an act of that date, the east half of its 
territory was set off and erected into the town.ships of Sena* 
and Ovid, the latter covering survey-township 7, and the 
former township 8 north, of range 1 west. Of the terri- 
tory remaining to Bingham after the setting off of these 
two towns, the north half (township 8 north, of range 2 
west) was taken by act of February IG, 1842, and erected 



'^' The name of Sena was discontinued, and Duplain adopted as the 
name of this township, by act of the Legislature, approved March 
20, 1841. 



336 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



into the town of Greenbush. The boundary as then estab- 
lished between Greenbush and Bingham continued undis- 
turbed until April 7, 184G, when an act was passed pro- 
viding " that all that part of the township of Greenbush, 
in the county of Clinton, known and designated as the 
south half of section 30, and sections 31, 32, and 33, be 
and the same is hereby attached to the township of Bing- 
ham, in said county." The sections and half-section above 
named continued to form a part of the township of Bing- 
ham until 3Iarch 20, 1850, when, by an act of that date, 
they were re-annexed to Greenbush, and the original boun- 
dary between the two townships was re-established. 

Ossowa township, set off from De Witt in 1839, held its 
original area of two survey-townships until March 9, 1843, 
when the Governor approved an act changing its name from 
Ossowa to Bath-, and erecting the north half of its territory 
(township 6 north, of range 1 west) into the township of 
Victor. These two towns have remained unchanired in 
limits from that time to the present. 

During several years prior to the organization, but after 
the laying out, of Gratiot County, the two tiers of town- 
ships composing the southern half of that county were 
attached to the northern tier of townships of Clinton 
County. The first act of the Legislature by which any of 
those townships were so attached was approved March 16, 
1847. It provided " that all the territory designated by 
the United States survey as townships Nos. 9 and 10 north, 
of range No. 2 west, be and the same is hereby attached 
to the township of Greenbush, in the county of Clinton." 
In the same way it attached township !) north, of range 3 
west, to the township of Esses ; and townships Nos. 9 and 
10 north, of range 4 west, to the township of Lebanon. 
A subsequent act, approved March 9, 1848, provided '' that 
townships Nos. 9 and 10 north, of range No. 1 west, in 
the county of Gratiot, be and the same are hereby attached 
to and made a part of the township of Duplain, in the 
county of Clinton; and that township No. 10 north, of 
range 3 west, in the county of Gratiot, be and the same 
is hereby attached to and made a part of the township of 
Essex, in the county of Clinton." 

The effect of this legislation was to attach the townships 
which are now North Shade and New Haven, in Gratiot, 
to the township of Lebanon, in Clinton County ; the town- 
ships now Fulton and Newark, in Gratiot, to the township 
of Essex, in Clinton ; the town.ships now Washington and 
North Star, in Gratiot, to Greenbush, in Clinton; and the 
townships now Elba and Hamilton, in Gratiot, to the town- 
ship of Duplain, in Clinton County. On the 12th of Oc- 
tober, 1853, the Board of Supervisors of Clinton County, 
in the exercise of powers conferred on such boards by the 
State constitution of 1850, set off the two Gratiot town- 
ships which had been attached to Lebanon, and erected the 
southernmost of the two into the township of North Shade, 
attaching the other one to it. After the organization of 
this town, its supervisor met regularly with the supervisors 
of Clinton County, and acted with them as a member of 
the board. Some of the other Gratiot townships were set 
off and organized by the Clinton Board of Supervisors in 
1855, but their supervisors never met with the Clinton 
board, for the reason that the organization of Gratiot County, 



which was effected in the same year, severed all connection 
between its southern townships and the county of Clinton. 



CHAPTER XLVIL 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS— CODNTY ORGANIZATION 
—COURTS AND OTHER COUNTY MATTERS. 

Low Estimate of the Value of Michigan Lnnda in Early Years — First 
Settlements in Dilferent Parts of Clinton County — Organization of 
the County — Early Proceedings of the County t'oinmissioners and 
Supervisors — Wolf-Bounties — Establishment of Courts in Clinton 
County — County Sites and County Property. 

It was not until late in the present century that white 
settlements began to invade the wilderness of Clinton 
County, and the same is true to a great extent of the region 
adjacent to it as far east as the older county of Oakland, 
which had itself remained an almost unknown country for 
fully a century after the cabins and clearings of French 
immigrants began to cluster along the shores of the Detroit 
River, only a few miles farther eastward. That this should 
have been so, that these lands of almost marvelous fertility, 
lying within a comparatively short distance of the old po.st 
of Detroit and the navigable waters north of it, should 
have remained unappropriated — and unnoticed, except in 
contempt — by emigrants seeking comfortable homes and' 
productive farms, seems not a little mysterious at first 
thought ; but the cause is made tolerably clear by reference 
to a few fiicts which are narrated below, showing that for 
many years the peninsula was believed to be a land unfit 
for white men's occupancy, and how it came to be so re- 
garded. 

The earliest, as it was also the most extreme, among the 
unfavorable notices of the lands forming the Michigan 
peninsula is found in the writings of the French Baron 
La Hontan, who passsed up through the Detroit River, and 
the lake and river of St. Clair, in 1GS6, and who, judging 
of all the country from his glimpses of the swampy lands 
bordering the lake and rivers, chronicled his opinion that 
the entire region was truly " the fag-end of the world." 
So contemptuous an expression from such a distinguished 
man and extensive traveler could not fail to have its effect 
on the minds of the people of that day, and it was, perhaps, 
the beginning of the opinion which afterwards became well- 
nigh universal, and continued for more than a century and 
a quarter, that Michigan was but another name for a coun- 
try of morasses, irreclaimable swamps, and barren sand- 
knolls. 

In the year 1812 an act was passed by Congress requir- 
ing that two millions of acres of land in each of the (then) 
Territories of Michigan, Illinois, and Louisiana — in all six 
million acres — should be surveyed and set apart as military 
tracts, out of which each soldier serving in the armies of 
the United States in the war then existing with England 
should be entitled to receive one hundred and sixty acres 
of land fit for cultivation. Under the provisions of this 
act surveys were made ; but, while engaged in the work, 
the surveyors seem to have formed an idea of the country 
similar to that expressed by La Hontan, and to have im- 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 



337 



parted their opinion to the surveyor-general, as may be in- 
ferred from the following extract from his report, made 
Nov. 13, 1815, and having reference to the Michigan sur- 
veys, viz. : " The country on the Indian boundary-line from 
the moutli of the Great Auglaize lliver [that is, the line 
established by the treaty of Detroit in 1807, and identical, 
or nearly so, with the principal meridian of the government 
surveys], and running thence for about fifty miles, is, with 
some few exceptions, low, wet land, with a very thick 
growth of underbrush, intermixed with very bad marshes, 
but generally very heavily timbered with beech, cottonwood, 
oak, etc. ; thence, coutiiming north, and extending from 
the Indian boundary eastward, the number and extent 
of the swamps increases, with the addition of numbers of 
lakes from twenty chains to two and throe miles across. 
Many of these lakes have extensive marshes adjoining 
their margins, sometimes thickly covered with a species of 
pine called tamarack, and other places covered with a 
coarse, high grass, and uniformly covered from six inches 
to three feet (and more at times) with water. The margins 
of these lakes are not the only places where swamps are 
found, for they are interspersed throughout the whole 
country and filled with water, as above stated, and varying 
in extent. 

" The intermediate space between these swamps and 
lakes — which is probably near one-half of the country — 
is, with very few exceptions, a poor, barren, sandy land, 
on which scarcely any vegetation grows except very small, 
scrubby oaks. In many places that part which may be 
called dry land is composed of little, short sand-hills, form- 
ing a kind of deep basins, the bottoms of many of which 
are composed of marsh similar to the above described. The 
streams are generally narrow and very deep compared with 
their width, the shores and bottoms of which are, with 
very few exceptions, swampy beyond description, and it is 
with the utmost difficulty that a place can be found over 
whicli horses can be conveyed in safety. 

" A circumstance peculiar to that country is exhibited 
in many of the marshes by their being thinly covered with 
a sward of grass, by walking on which evinces the exist- 
ence of water or a very thin mud immediately under their 
covering, which sinks from six to eighteen inches under 
the pressure of the foot at every step, and at the same time 
rises before and behind the person passing over it. The 
margins of many of the lakes and streams are in similar 
situation, and in many places are literally afloat. On ap- 
proaching the eastern part of the military land, towards 
the private claims on the straits and lake, the country does 
not contain so many swamps and lakes, but the extreme 
sterility and barrenness of the soil continue the same. 
Taking the country altogether, so far as it has been ex- 
plored, and to all appearances, together with information 
received concerning the balance, it is so bad that there 
would not be more than one acre out of a hundred, if 
there would he one out of a thousand, that woidd in ant/ 
case admit of cultivation." 

The tract of country surveyed for soldiers' bounty lands, 

and on the survey of which the above-mentioned report 

was based, did not include the territory of the present 

county of Clinton, but still the report itself was accepted 

43 



as a sweeping condemnation of the whole interior portion 
of the peninsula, and it was not doubted that the facts 
were strictly as set forth in the opinion of the surveyor- 
general. It was doubtless an honest expression of opinion 
on his part, for he of course based the report on the in- 
formation furnished him by his subordinates, who per- 
formed the work in the field ; but how tliey could have 
been so deceived (if indeed they were so far deceived as 
to believe the disparaging statements which they made) is 
certainly a mystery. However it may have been brought 
about, the result was that Congress passed a law (April 29, 
1816) repealing so much of the act of 1812 as authorized 
the locating of soldiers' lands in Michigan, and, in lieu 
thereof, providing for the survey of one million five hun- 
dred thousand acres in INIissouri; so that the brave men 
who had periled their lives for their country should not be 
wronged and insulted by the donation of lands of which, 
according to the surveyors' reports, not one acre in a hun- 
dred was fit for cultivation. 

In 1822 the government established a military post at 
Saginaw, and several companies of United States troops 
were placed in garrison there. Soon afterwards the men 
of this garrison were attacked by di.sease, which continued 
to rage among them with such fatal effect that a large pro- 
portion of them perished. At last, after an occupation of 
about fourteen months, the troops were withdrawn and the 
post abandoned on the recommendation of the commandant, 
who reported to the authorities above him that it was in 
his opinion a great wrong to compel Christian men to re- 
main in a country which was wholly unfit to be occupied 
except by Indians, muskrats, and bull-frogs. This with- 
drawal of the troops, with the accompanying opinion of 
the commanding officer, was as effective as the surveyor- 
general's report had been in bringing the entire country to 
the north and west of Detroit into disrepute and contempt, 
and for years afterwards there were very few wliite men 
who thought of invading the terrible wilderness north and 
west of Pontiac. 

In the " Fortnight in the Wilderness," written by the 
eminent French traveler Alexis de Tocqueville, describing 
a trip made by him and a friend from Detroit to Saginaw, 
in 1831, he narrates a conversation he had with Maj. Bid- 
die, the United States land-agent at Detroit, as follows : 
" We presented ourselves to him as persons who, without 
having quite made up our minds to establish ourselves in 
the country, were interested to know the price and situation 
of government lands. Maj. Biddle, the officer, now under- 
stood perfectly what we wanted, and entered into a number 
of details, to which we eagerly listened. . . . We thanked 
Maj. Biddle for his advice, and asked him, with an air of 
indifference bordering on contempt, towards which side of 
his district the current of emigration had, up to the pre- 
sent time, least tended. ' This way,' he said, without at- 
taching more importance to his answer that we had seemed 
to do to our question, ' towards the northwest. About Pon- 
tiac and its neighborhood some pretty fair establishments 
have lately been commenced. But you must not think of 
fixing yourselves farther ofl"; the country is covered liy an 
almost impenetrable forest, which extends uninterruptedly 
towards the northwest, full of nothing but wild beasts and 



338 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Indians. The government proposes to open a way through 
it, but the road is only just begun, and stops at Pontiac. I 
repeat, there is nothing to be thought of in that quarter.' 
We thanked Maj. Biddle for his good advice, and deter- 
mined to take it in a contrary sense. We were beside our- 
selves with joy at the prospect of at length finding a place 
which the torrent of European civilization had not yet in- 
vaded." 

The next day (July 23, 1831) De Tocqueville and his 
companion started on horseback from Detroit, and reached 
Pontiac, the outpost of civilization, on their way to the 
northwestern wilderness. At Pontiac they stopped for the 
night at one of the two hotels of the place (probably the one 
then kept by Judge Amasa Bagley), where they were beset 
by the people, including the landlord, to induce them to buy 
land in, or in the vicinity of, the village, — never dreaming 
that it could be the travelers' intention to proceed flirther 
into the wilderness. But they were determined to continue 
their explorations, and in the morning called for their 
horses, having first thanked the landlord for his valuable in- 
formation and wise counsels. " ' But before fixing in your 
country, my dear landlord,' said M. de Tocqueville, ' we 
intend to visit Saginaw, and we wish to consult you on this 
point.' At the name of Saginaw a remarkable change 
came over his features. It seemed as if he had suddenly 
been snatched from real life and transported to a land of 
wonders. His eyes dilated, his mouth fell open, and the 
most complete astonishment pervaded his countenance. 
' You want to go to Saginaw ?' exclaimed he. ' To Sagi- 
naw Bay? Two foreign gentlemen, two rational men, who 
want to go to Saginaw Bay ! It is scarcely credible !' 
'And why not?' we replied. 'But are you well aware,' 
continued our host, ' what you undertake ? Do you know 
that Saginaw is the last inhabited spot towards the Pacific? 
That between this place and Saginaw lies an uncleared 
wilderness? Do you know that the forest is full of Indians 
and mosquitoes ? Have you no thought about the fever ? 
Will you be able to get on in the wilderness, and to find 
your way in the labyrinth of our forests?' . . . ' Have you 
ever been in Saginaw ?' we resumed. ' I have been so un- 
lucky as to go thither five or six times,' he replied ; ' but I 
had a motive for doing it, and you do not appear to have 
any.' " But he did not succeed in dissuading the travelers 
from continuing on their tour. They pressed on to Sagi- 
naw, and returned from that place in safety, finding in the 
country through which they passed the untamed wilder- 
ness which they came to Michigan to see. The above extract 
from De Tocqueville's narrative is given, somewhat at 
length, for the purpose of showing what, even at that late 
date, was the general opinion prevailing among the people 
as to the great wilderness which stretched away to the north 
and west from Pontiac, and the prospect which there then 
seemed to exist, of its early settlement. 

The opinion which had been given by the surveyor-gen- 
eral in 1815, by the commandant of the post of Saginaw 
in 1823, and which had received confirmation from many 
other sources, had the effect to bring the Territory of Michi- 
gan into great disrepute, as a country wholly unfit for 
agriculture ; and this feeling was fostered by the Indian 
traders, who were thoroughly acquainted with the interior 



country and its capabilities, but were only too willing to 
assist in perpetuating the delusion in order to postpone the 
evil day (as they regarded it) when their lucrative business 
should be ruined by the advance of white immigration and 
settlement. This is how and w)iy there grew up the almost 
universal belief that the interior of Michigan was worthless 
for agricultural purpo.scs ; the home of every species of 
malarial disease, and a land of which the obvious destiny 
must be to continue in the possession of Indians and wild 
beasts. And the existence of this belief was the cause 
which for many years, deterred emigrants from seeking 
homes in the forest land of Clinton and other interior 
counties of the State. 

The survey of land by the government does not always 
precede the making of settlements on them, though it gen- 
erally does, and such was the case in Clinton County, not 
more than one settler (if any) having located in the county 
prior to the survey of the lands on which he established 
bis home. In 182-1 the principal meridian line was run 
by Joseph Wampler, deputy surveyor, to a point as far 
north as the centre of the county of Clinton, and in 182C 
and 1827 the south half of the county was surveyed and 
laid off into the usual subdivisions ; the laying out of the 
townships being done by Lucius Lyon, deputy surveyor. 
The north half of the county was surveyed in the year 1831, 
the township-lines being principally run by Robert Clark, 
Jr., but some of them being laid ofi' by C. W. Christmas. 
Both of these gentlemen were deputy United States sur- 
veyors. In addition to the four deputy surveyors above 
mentioned, there were several others employed on the sub- 
division-lines in Clinton County, among them being Hervey 
Parke, Orange Ilisdon, II. Thomas, Joel Wright, Austin 
Burt, and perhaps others. All of those who supervised 
the running of lines held the appointment of deputy United 
States surveyor. 

The first settlement in the county was made at the place 
now known as Maple Rapids, by George Campau, who, as 
has already been mentioned, came there for the purpose of 
trading with the Indians. The trading-post at that point 
was established in 1826. John B. Cushway is believed to 
have preceded Campau in the proprietorship, but the former 
made but a temporary residence there, while Campau be- 
came a permanent settler and entered government land in 
that township (Essex) as early as 1832. About that time 
Hiram Benedict settled in the same township. 

David Scott, who has generally but erroneously been 
mentioned as the first settler in the county, located on the 
Looking-Glass River, in the present township of De Witt, 
in 1833. He there opened a public-house which became a 
landmark in the early years, and was known f;ir and wide 
through this part of the State by the simple appellation of 
"Scott's." 

In the southwest corner of the county the first settle- 
ments were made by Anthony Niles and Stephen B. 
Gruger, from Oakland County, who, with two or three 
other families, settled in the township (now Eagle) in 
1834. 

The northwest corner township (Lebanon) received its 
first settlers in the family of Daniel Barker, who came 
there and located in 183-t. 



ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 



339 



In the northeast corner of the county a number of im- 
mif^rants from Western New York, composing what was 
known as tlie " llochester Colony," located in the valley of 
the Maple River in the year 183G. This settlement, which 
has retained the above name until the present time, will be 
found mentioned at length in the history of the township 
of Duplain, in which it is situated. The earliest settlements 
in all the other parts of the county will also be similarly 
noticed in detail in the separate histories of the several 
townships. 

The progress made in the settlement of the county 
during a period of about fifteen years from the date of the 
first laud-entry, is shown by the following statement of the 
total valuation of real and personal estate in the different 
townships of the county in 1847, viz. : 

liath Sli;,705 

Keugal 21,(ill2 

Eingbuin 20,358 

Duplain 2:i,'J2.'i 

Dallas 26,111 

De Wilt 52,21o 

Eagle 49,1107 

Essex 4:!, 1178 

Grecnbusb 12,11110 

Lebanon 24,204 

Olid 2S,22I 

Olive 311,1141 

Riley 2:1,156 

Victor 23,321 

Westpbalia 26,709 

Walertown 42,403 

Total : $458,175 

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. 

The organization of Clinton County was effected in 1839, 
by an act of the Legislature (approved March 12th of that 
year) which provided " That the county of Clinton be and 
the same is hereby organized. . . . There .shall be elected 
in the county of Clinton, on the first Monday of April next, 
all the several county ofiScers to which, by law, the said 
county is entitled, and whose term of office shall severally 
expire at the time the same would have expired had 
they been elected on the first Monday and Tuesday of 
November last ; said election shall be held in the several 
townships at the same place where by law such annual 
township-meeting is to be held." Under the provisions of 
this organizing act the election was held at the time (April 
1, 1839) and places designated, resulting in the election of 
the following-named officers for the county of Clinton, viz. : 
Sherifl", William F. Jeiiison ; Clerk, Seth P. 3Iarvin ; 
Register of Deeds, Milo H. Turner; Treasurer, John 
Guuld ; Judge of Probate, Iliram W. Stowell ; Associate 
Judges, Hiram Wilcox, Joseph Sever ; County Commis- 
sioners, Calvin Marvin, Ephraim H. Utley, Robert E. 
Craven. 

The office of county comniisioner was created in Mich- 
igan liy a law passed in May, 1818, giving to each organized 
county a board of three of these officers, to bo ai)|)ointed 
by the Governor, and to receive a salary of thirty dollars 
each per annum. The office was discontinued by an act 
passed in April, 1827, and the powers before held by that 
board were given to a Board of Supervisors, composed of 
one supervisor from each township. The Board of Com- 
missioners was revived by a law pa.«sed by the Legislature 
in 1838 ; and this law being in force at the time of 



the organization of Clinton County, there were included 
among its first officers the three gentlemen above named as 
composing its Board of County Commissioners, their powers 
and duties being the same as those which now pertain to 
the Board of Supervisors. 

EARLY PROCEEDINGS OF THE COMMISSIONERS 
AND SUPERVISORS. 

The earliest public business of the county was that 
which came before the Board of Commissioners at their first 
meeting, which was held in the village of De Witt on the 
10th of April, 1839. Ephraim H. Utley was chosen 
chairman and Seth P. Marvin (the county clerk) was made 
clerk of the board. Their first action was the appointment 
of the 21st of April, 1839, to meet the Board of Commis- 
sioners of Shiawassee for the purpose of making a settle- 
ment between the two counties. The board then adjourned 
to meet on the 10th of June, 1839, at the house of 
Ephraim II. Utley in the village of De Witt. 

At the adjourned meeting of the board the following 
demands against the county were audited and ordered paid : 

Wolf- certificate to No-wab-a-no $8.00 

" " Ash-ba-be S.OO 

" " Alonzo D. ISrewster 8.00 

" " Alon/.o Vaughn 48.00 

Account of David Watson 7.50 

" Timothy 11. Petit 7.50 

" John Berry 5.00 

" E. H. Utley 5.50 

" Seth P. Marvin 9.50- 

The following is a copy of the abstract of the assessment- 
rolls of the several townships of Clinton County for the 
year 1839, as equalized by the board : 

Towns. Number of 

Acres. 

Ossowa 24,501 

De Witt 33,919 

Watoi-town 55,690 

WestphaUa 14,529 

Lebanon 07,713 

Bingham 49,191 



Amount of 


Amount of Per- 


Aggregate. 


Keal Eitutn. 


sonal Property. 




$73,503 


$1,105 


$74,608 


103,833 


4,753 


108,586 


169,817 


3,130 


172,947 


43,587 


150 


43,737 


203,139 


2,300 


205,439 


147,946 


1,250 


149,196 



Total 245,543 $741,825 $12,688 $754,513 

The following is the amount of tax levied in the several 
townships in the same year : 



Town. 

Oasowa S-259.83 

Do Witt 102.96 

Wiitertown 314.46 

liinghani 3(12.03 

I,<4iii 4:!«.0U 

Westphalia IU0.4U 



Total., 



$1575.68 



County. 


State. 


Road. 


Poor. 


Total. 


$140.57 


$1.54.81 


JH3.05 




$1,31)4.26 


205.05 


216.89 


821 93 




l,406.«:i 


353.54 


377.07 


1289.88 




2,334.95 


284.66 


30U,4:) 


1418.61 




2,30.5..53 


1377.79 


436.20 


1720.37 


$23 


3,989.36 


82.2;i 


93.57 


326.19 


$25 


614.39 


82465.74 


$1578.97 


$6319.03 


$11,955.32 



The meeting that was called for the 21st of April, 1839, 
for the purpose of adjusting accounts between the two 
counties was not held until the 23d day of September of 
the same year, at which time the accounts were examined, 
and on the 24th of December, 1840, the following state- 
ment was agreed upon as a basis of settlement: 

■'State of JIicihoan, ■! 
Shiawassee County, j **' 
" It is hereby agreed and concluded by the undersigned, 
county commissioners of the counties of Shiawassee and 
Clinton on an atljii.-stiuent and settlement of the accounts of 
the two counties, that the county of Clinton is justly in- 
debted to Sliiawiusaee County in the sura of three hundred 
and five dollars and ninety-seven cents, as follows : 



340 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



To a proportion of tho contingent expense of the two counties 

up to Sept. 2:i, 1839, as per settlement $202.91 

To interest on §202.91 from Sej)!. 23, 1839, to Dec. 18, 1840, 

1 year, 2 months, and 25 days 17.56 

To a proportion of expense in examining and arranging tho 

boolts, jmpers, and accounts, etc 56,00 

To a proportion of a SI counterfeit bill lalsen of Josiah 

Pierce, late treasurer, for taxes 4.50 

To expenses of advertising and setting 50 descriptions of 
land discharged by the county commissioners of Clinton 
County 25.00 

$305.97 

And it is hereby agreed that the county of Clinton shall 
be credited with the sum of fourteen dollars and eighty 
cents, to be deducted from the above sum of three hundred 
and five dollars and ninety-seven cents, the said sum of 
fourteen dollars and eighty cents being a proportion of the 
bounties on wolf-scalps allowed by the auditor-general, Feb. 
12, 1840, by letter of that date. 

" Calvin Marvin, 
" Robert E. Craven, 
" Commissioners of Clinton Count//. 
" R. W. HOLLEY, 

"Lemuel Castle, 
" Commissione7-s of Shiawassee County. 
" Isaac Castle, 
" Treasurer of Shiawassee County. 
" Dated at Corunna, Dec. 24, 1840." 

The following receipt shows the final settlement of the 
account : 

" $291.17. Received of the county commissioner of the 
county of Clinton two hundred and ninety-one dollars and 
seventeen cents, being the balance due to Shiawassee County 
from the county of Clinton, a settlement of the contingent 
expenses of the counties up to Dee. 18, 1840. 
" Isaac Castle, 
" Treasurer of Shiawassee County. 

" Corunna, Jan. 13, 1841." 

In 1842 a law was passed abolishing the office of county 
commissioner and restoring the Board of Supervisors. The 
last meeting of the commissioners was held on the IGth of 
March, 1842, and on the 4th of July of the same year (the 
date designated by law) the supervisors met and resumed 
the powers they had relinquished to the commissioners 
four years before. There were present at this meeting the 
following-named supervisors, viz. : 

De Witt. — Jesse F. Turner. 
Eagle. — Oliver Doty. 
Westphalia. — Anthony Kopp. 
Riley. — Atwell Simmons. 
Olive. — Daniel Ferguson, Jr. 
Ovid. — Isaac V. Swavthout. 
Bingham. — Stephen W. Downer. 
Bengal. — Chauncey M. Stebbins. 
Greenbush. — David Levy. 
Duplain. — Robert E. Craven. 

The townships of Watertown, Ossowa, and Lebanon were 
not represented. 

From 1842 until the present time the Board of Super- 
visors have continued to exercise their functions as fiscal 
managers of the county. 



WOLF-BOUNTIES. 

The class of vouchers known as " wolf-certificates" were 
i.ssued by the County Commissioners and Board of Super- 
visors to persons presenting proof of tho killing of wolves 
and applying for the bounty awarded for such killing. 
Below is given a list of the names of persons to whom 
such certificates were issued by the commissioners and su- 
pervisors from 1839 to 1845, inclusive. Prior to Oct. 11, 
1843, the bounty paid on each wolf was eight dollars, but 
at that time it was raised to twelve dollars. 

Amount of Certificate. 
April 10, 1839. 

No-wab-a-no $S 

Ash -ha be S 

Alonzo D. Brewster 8 

Alonzo Vaughn 48 

Oct. 7, 1839. 

Alonzo Vaughn 32 

Sau-lo-de S 

Shaut comagin S 

Enoch Willis 8 

Nathaniel Russell 8 

Nov. 16, 1839. 

Joshua Frink 8 

Feb. 3, 1840. 

Nelson Daggett 16 

George Poarsall 8 

David Cooper 8 

Joseph Russell 40 

Elisha R. Isham 8 

March 2, 1840. 

Joshua Frink 8 

Philemon Newman 8 

Lucern Eldridge 8 

April 8, 1840. 

Stephen Willis 8 

Me-we-zan 8 

Nelson Daggett 24 

John Ferdou S 

Alonzo D. Brewster 16 

John P. Jliller 16 

Alonzo D. Brewster 8 

July 8, 1S40. 

Lyman Webster 16 

Wa-ba-gun ish cum 8 

Nelson Daggett 24 

Joseph Russell 8 

Au-gun-giio-ung 8 

James Miller 8 

Oct. 5, 1840. 

E-be-no-sha 8 

Bish-she-mony 8 

Enoch Willis 8 

Oct. 12, 1840. 

Jolm Berry 8 

Thomas Russell 8 

George F. Dutton S 

Posha-ton and Bash-ke-zick 8 

Jan. 1, 1841. 

William Drake 8 

Pamasc-quay 8 

William Drake 8 

Joseph Russell 8 

Augustus Gillelt 8 

Jan. 25, 1841. 

Joseph Russell 8 

July 5, 1841. 

Alonzo D. Brewster 80 

Joseph Russell 16 

John Ferdou 16 

James Stiles 8 

Ora Stiles 8 

Oct. 22, 1841. 

William Drake 8 



COURTS AND OTHER COUNTY MATTERS. 



341 



1)60.30,1841. 

Cornelius Drake S16 

WilMam Drake 8 

Joseph KusscU 8 

Coo-Cosh 8 

John Avery S 

James Stiies 8 

Thomas Fi.«k 8 

Augustus Gillett 8 

Jan. 1, 1842. 

Sally Avery 8 

March 14, 1842. 

Willard N. Daggett 8 

Thomas Kisk 8 

Ora B. Stiles 8 

Hosea Baker 8 

Lucius Nortou 8 

Thomas Fisk 16 

Jan. 5, 1843. 

Lueius Morton 24 

J. W. Taylor 8 

Selh Morton 8 

Oct. 9, 1843. 

Henry Brown 8 

Jan. 2, 1844. 

Robert G. McKee 12 

Minor R. Frink 12 

Lucius Morton 24 

David Olin 12 

Oct. 18, 1844. 

Cornelius N. Drake 12 

AVillard N. Daggett 12 

John A. Millard 24 

Silas W. Rose 12 

Herod Morton 12 

John Ferdou 12 

John 1. Tinkcl|mugh 12 

Samuel M. Ramill 12 

Lucius Morton 24 

Oct. 19, 1844. 

Ezra Thornton 24 

Robert G. McKec 12 

Jan. 1, 184.5. 

Daniel Fifield 12 

Lucius Morton 12 

John Ferdon 12 

John A. Millard 12 

Elkauah Peck 24 

William B. Bennolt 12 

Cortland Hill 12 

Henry S. Fisk 12 

An Indian 12 

Marvin L. Coots 12 

ESTABLISHMENT OF COURTS IN CLINTON 
COUNTY. 

THE CIRCUIT COURT. 
By the act under which Clinton County was organized 
it was provided " That the Circuit Court for the county of 
Clinton shall be held at the county-seat, in such place as the 
commissioners shall provide." The village of De Witt had 
been selected as tlie county-seat some years before, and in 
accordance with the provisions of this act the commission- 
ers decided upon the hou.se of David Scutt as the place for 
holding the court, the first term of which was held at his 
house on the 2d of October, 1840, the Hon. Hiram Wil- 
cox, associate justice, being present. The lion. Charles 
W. Wlii]iple and the Hon. Josci)h Scaver not appearing, 
Judge Wilcox ordered the court adjourned to the 9th of 
October Ibllowing. Court was called at the time appointed, 
and was adjourned to the 17th of December, when, the 
Hon. Charles W. Whipple not appearing. Judge Wilcox 
declared the court adjourned until the regular term, com- 
mencing on the 7th of May, 1841. On this day the Hon. 



Charles W. Whipple, a justice of the Supreme Court and 
presiding judge of tlie Circuit, and Hiram Wilcox and Jo- 
seph Seavcr, associate judges of the county of Clinton, 
were present. The court was opened in due form, and the 
following persons composing the grand jury were sworn, 
viz. : Harvey Alexander, John H. Andrews, Daniel H. 
Blood, Grove Cooper, Benjamin Carpenter, Gilbert Cush- 
man, Oliver Doty, Francis Francisco, Daniel Ferguson, 
Jr., Hugh Hagerty, John Gould, Elisha Gunnison, Levi D. 
Jenison, Allen Lounsberry, Thomas Myers, John Jessup, 
John W. Merrihew, Welcome J. Partelo, Jonathan R. 
Pearsall, John Parker, Charles Stevens, William S. Swart- 
hout, and William H. Webb. 

There being no prosecuting attorney, the court appointed 
Calvin C. Parks to perform the duties of that office during 
the term. Two cases were brought before the court, and 
were both sent back to the justice from whom they came 
for a more full and perfect statement. Robert B. Daniels 
appeared in court and made declaration in due form of his 
intention to become a citizen of the United States. The 
declaration was ordered placed on file. 

The next case was that of Ephraim H. Utley vs. Joseph 
Cook. In attachment. 

The defendant was called and came not ; thereupon " Or- 
dered that his default be and is hereby entered." 

A petition for divorce was presented, and the court or- 
dered publication of petition and order for six weeks. 

The grand jury came in, presented sundry indictments, 
and were discharged. The case of the People vs. Lyman 
Webster, for embezzlement, was called, and on motion of 
the prosecuting attorney it was " Ordered that the prisoner 
enter in recognizance himself in three hundred dollars, and 
a surety in the sum of two hundred dollars consideration 
for his appearance at the next term of court." There being 
no further business, the court adjourned. 

At the second term of the Circuit Court, in October, 
1841, the first petit jury was called, the following- named 
persons being the jurors: Benjamin Merrihew, Edward 
Higbee, Henry Jipson, John McCoUum, Calvin Barber, 
Henry Gibbs, Jr., James Gunsolly, Richard Lewis, Lyman 
Webster, Elijah I. Stone, Joab Dobbins, George A. Merri- 
hew, D. B. Cranson, Jesse Olmstead, Nathan Case, Barney 
Allen, Morris Cushman, Ransom Reed, John Ferdon, 
Peter Finch, Reuben Rogers, Smith Parker, F. W. Cronk- 
hite. Judge Whipple not being present, the court ad- 
journed. 

The presiding judge of the circuit until 1847 was the 
Hon. C. W. Whipple, who was succeeded by the Hon. 
Edward Mundy. Judge Mundy filled the unexpired term 
of Judge Whipple, and continued in office till 1851, when 
the Hon. George Martin was elected for a full term. In 
1857 the Hon. Louis S. Lovell was elected circuit judge, 
and has continued in the office till the present time. 

THE PROBATE COURT. 

The first judge of probate of the county of Clinton was 
Hiram W. Stowell, who was elected in April, 1839. The 
first business of which any record appears was the appoint- 
ment of Belinda Cushman as guardian of Mial and Charles 
B. Cushman, minor children and heirs of Ira Cushman, of 



342 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



the township of De Witt. The date of this appointment 
was the 11th of April, 1S40. The next record is of the 
appointment of Henry Moon as guardian of Catharine, 
Caroline, Mary Ann, and llebecca Place, minor children of 
David T. Place, of Salem, Washtenaw Co., and bears date 
Jan. 10, 1842. 

The first letters of administration were granted March 
26, 1842, to Matilda and Calvin Marvin, of De Witt, on 
the estate of Elcazer M. Marvin, deceased. Calvin Marvin 
having waived his right to administer and declined the ap- 
pointment, Seth P. Marvin was appointed. Harvey Alex- 
ander, W. W. Webb, and Ephraim H. Utley were ap- 
pointed appraisers and ordered to report May 10, 1842, at 
which time they did so report and presented an inventory 
of the property. 

The first will offered for probate and recorded in the 
probate ofiice was that of Joseph Eddy, of the township of 
Eagle. The will was dated April 13, 1842, and bears the 
names of Edward W. Higbee, Philo Doty, Jared Higbee, 
and Curtis Hinnian as attesting witnes.ses. Jane Eddy and 
Jeremiah Eddy were appointed administrators. Jane Eddy 
renounced all right to administer upon the estate, and Jere- 
miah Eddy remained sole administrator. On the 6th day 
of June, Sophia Eddy was appointed administrator on the 
estate of Abram J]ddy, deceased. 

The above account includes all the business on record 
during the incumbency of Hiram W. Stowell as probate 
judge. He was succeeded by Theodore H. Chapin, who 
held his first court on the 23d of January, 1843, when he 
examined the accounts and received the resignation of the 
administrators of the estate of Eleazer M. Marvin. 

The office of the probate judge was held in one room of 
the building erected by the county on the public square in 
the village of De Witt until the removal of the county- 
seat to St. Johns in 1857. The ofiice at that place was 
held in Plumstead Hall until the completion of the first 
county building on the public square, when it was removed 
to that building, and to the court-house on its completion 
in 1871. 

THE COUNTY COURT. 

County courts, which were established in Michigan on 
the 24th of October, 1815, and abolished in April, 1833, 
were re-established by act approved May 18, 1846. Under 
this law an election of judges was held in Clinton County 
on the 3d of November, 1840. Je.sse F. Turner was 
elected county judge and William Shepherd second judge. 
The first term of the county court for the county of Clin- 
ton was held on the 5th day of April, 1847 (the day ap- 
pointed by law), in the upper room of David Scott's house 
in the village of De Witt, the Hon. Jesse F. Turner pre- 
.siding. There being no business, the court adjourned. 
Judge Turner officiated as county judge until the 8th of 
February, 1851, when he resigned, and the Hon. William 
Shepherd, second judge, presided until the close of the 
year, when the county court ceased to exist by limitation, — 
the constitution of 1850 having provided that the terms of 
the judges of county courts should expire on the first of 
January, 1852, and the jurisdiction of all suits and proceed- 
ings in law and equity then pending in the county courts 
should become vested in the circuit and district courts. 



COUNTY SITES AND COUNTY PROPERTY. 

In accordance with an act of the Legislative Council of 
the Territory of Michigan, passed in 1830, providing for the 
appointment by the Governor of commissioners to locate 
county-.seats, acting Governor Stevens T. Mason, on the 5th 
day of September, 1833, appointed James King.sley, Stephen 
V. 11. Trowbridge, and Charles J. Lanman commissioners to 
locate the county-seat of Clinton County. No record is 
found of the date on which the report of the commissioners 
was filed, and it was not until the 22d day of September, 
1835, that the proclamation of the Governor was issued con- 
firming the location, which was described as the west half of 
the southeast quarter of section 5, in township 5 north, of 
range 2 west, the present site of De Witt. Clinton County 
was attached to Kalamazoo County as unorganized terri- 
tory from 1830 till March 23, 1836, when it was erected 
into a township by the name of De Witt, and the next day 
it became attached to Kent County. Welcome J. Partelo 
was the firfst supervisor of De Witt township, and attended 
the meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Kent County at 
Grand Rapids. Upon the organization of Shiawassee 
County, on the 18th of March, 1837, Clinton County was 
attached to it, and remained under that jurisdiction until 
March 12, 1839, when it was organized as a separate 
county. The first election of county ofiicers was held on 
the 1st day of April, 1839, and on the 10th of the same 
month the commissioners for the county convened for the 
purpose of organizing and transaction of county business. 

The erection of county buildings soon became neces- 
sary, and the subject was brought before the Board of Com- 
missioners on the 12th of October, 1840, by the following 
resolution, which was adopted : " That fgur hundred dollars 
be appropriated in erecting offices for the following county 
officers : treasurer, clerk, and register of deeds ; also that 
a sufficient amount of money be appropriated in erecting a 
jail and dwelling-house attached thereto, for the use of the 
jailer; the offices to be completed by the 15th of Septem- 
ber, 1841, the jail and residence on or before October 15th 
of the same year." The Board of Commissioners convened 
Dec. 3, 1841, and awarded the contract for building the 
public offices and jail and jailer's residence to William H. 
Utley, he being the lowest responsible bidder. The con- 
tract price for the offices was four hundred and thirty-nine 
dollars, and for the jail and residence one thousand and sev- 
enty-eight dollars. The buildings were not completed at the 
specified time, and in March, 1842, Seth P. Marvin was 
appointed by the commissioners to attend to the completion 
of the jail. About the time of the appointment of S. P. 
Marvin, David Scott conveyed to Clinton County the parcel 
of land lying in the village of De Witt, bounded as follows : 
" Commencing at the southwest corner of the public square ; 
running thence east three chains ; thence north three chains ; 
thence west three chains ; thence south three chains to the 
place of beginning; also lot 366, in block 50, according to 
the plat of the village of De Witt, for purposes of the 
county buildings of said county, with the express under- 
standing that, should the present location 'of the county- 
site of said county be removed, the said county is to further 
remove from said lands any buildings belonging to said 
county at the time of the removal of said county-site, and 



COURTS AND OTHER COUNTY MATTJ]RS. 



343 



the lands above described are to revert to the said David 
Scott and Clarissa Scott, their heirs, executors, administra- 
tors, and assigns, etc." This property was deeded in con- 
sideration of ten dollars. The deed bears date March 15, 
1842, and is recorded in Liber B, page 49, in the register's 
office of Clinton County. 

On the 5th of January, 184?>, the committee on public 
buildings reported recommending the immediate occupation 
of the buildings, though they were not yet completed. 
The public office building was erected on the public square. 
It was about eighteen by thirty feet, and divided into two 
rooms, the clerk and register occupying one, the treasurer 
and judge of probate the other. 

Prior to this time it appears the offices had been kept at 
different places, for on the day following the adoption of the 
committee's report bills were audited as follows : " To Milo 
H. Turner,* $11.44, for rent for county offices. To Jesse 
F. Turner and Seth P. Marvin, $20 for rent for county of- 
fices." From this time the offices of the clerk, treasurer, 
and register were kept in this building until the removal of 
the county-site to the village of St. Johns. The old jail 
at De Witt was occupied until 1802.']" The rooms for the 
use of court, juries, and Board of Supervisors were rented 
of David Scott from 1839 to 1847. For the year 1843 
the price paid was one hundred and fifty dollars, and one 
hundred dollars per annum was paid from 1844 to 1847 in- 
clusive. In October, 1847, the supervisors rented the school- 
house in district No. 6 for county purposes for fifty dollars 
per year, and continued to occupy it till 1855. From 
that lime until the removal to St. Johns the courts were 
held in the following-named places : in 1855 in rooms rented 
from Chauncey Lgtt, for one hundred dollars per annum ; 
in 1856 in rooms rented of C. M. Derbyshire, for seventy- 
five dollars per annum ; in 1857 in the Baptist church at 
De Witt. In October, 1851, the board resolved to build 
a court-house on the east half of the public square, in the 
village of De Witt. 

The agitation of the removal of the county-site was com- 
menced by iMr. Palmer, who, in October, 1855, offered a 
resolution " That the counly.-site be removed to St. Johns." 
W. F. Jcnison moved to amend by striking out the " vil- 
lage of St. Johns" and inserting the " centre of Muskrat 
Lake." Vote was taken, and both the amendment and 
original resolution were lost. At the January session the 
next year the subject was again brought up, and a resolu- 
tion was offered that two thousand dollars be appropriated 
to be used in connection with one thousand dollars sub- 
scribed by the citizens of De Witt for the building of a 
court-house on the public square belonging to the county. 
Another was offered that the county-site be located on the 
northwest quarter of section 5, in ihe township of Olive. 
A motion was also made to appropriate eight hundred dol- 
lars for building fire-proof offices at De Witt. The.se reso- 
lutions and the motion were all lost, and the question was 
postponed indefinitely. On the 1st of January, 1857, Mr. 

* Milo H. Turner lived on the south aide of Looking-Glass River, 
in the villiigc of New Albany. 

t During tlio years 18t", 1848, 1840 the jail wns used by louia 
County for the confinemi-iit of its prisoners four hundred and seventy- 
four days, for wliich tlicy paid Ihirty-lhrec dollars. 



Henry Moote offered a resolution to remove the county- 
site of Clinton County to the village of St. Johns, which 
was laid on the table. The next day Mr. Moote offered a 
substitute for his resolution of the day previous, as follows : 
" Whereas it is proposed to remove the county-site of Clin- 
ton County from the village of De Witt, in said county, 
where it is now located. Therefore we, the Board of Super- 
visors, resolve that the public square in the village of St. 
Johns, in said county, according to the recorded plat 
thereof, be and the same is hereby designated by said 
board as the place to which such proposed removal is to be 
made." The resolution was accepted as a substitute for 
Mr. Moote's original resolution. An amendment was 
offered by Mr. Hunter, viz. : '' Provided that the inhabi- 
tants, or .some one in their behalf, will make to Clinton 
County a good and sufficient deed for one and a half acres 
of land for county buildings, on or before March, 1857, 
and secure to said county the sum of two thousand dollars 
towards the expense of the county buildings, to be paid on 
completion of the buildings." Mr. Rodgers offered an 
amendment to strike out all after the figures 1857. The 
amendments were carried, and Mr. Moote's resolution, as 
amended, was also adopted. At the evening session Mr. 
Moote offered a resolution to stand in connection with the 
others in reference to county-site: "That the day for hold- 
ing the next annual township-meeting shall be the day on 
which the electors of said county shall vote on such pro- 
posed removal ; and that the county clerk be authorized to 
notify the township clerks and to furnish three notices of 
the foregoing resolutions, to be posted in three public places 
in each township." In accordance with this action the 
question was submitted to the people at the annual town- 
ship-meeting, on the 6th of April, 1857, with the follow- 
ing result: For the removal, 1423; .against the removal, 
689. At the session in the autumn of that year Mr. 
Moote offered a preamble and resolution, as follows : 
" Whereas, the Board of Supervisors of the county of Clin- 
ton, by resolutions adopted Jan. 2, 1857, proposed to re- 
move the county-site of the county of Clinton and locate 
the same at the village of St. Johns ; and whereas it 
appears that at a subsequent election a majority of the elec- 
tors of said county voted in favor of said removal and loca- 
tion ; therefore be it resolved, That the county-site of said 
county be and the same is hereby declared to be estab- 
lished at the said village of St. Johns, in accordance with 
said resolutions and the vote of the electors of said county 
thereon." The resolution was adopted, eleven to five, and 
under it the offices of the county were removed, in Decem- 
ber, 1857, to Plumstead Hall, in the village of St. Johns. 
In 1858 a briek building, about twenty by twenty-five feet, 
was erected on the public square fronting on State Street. 
This building was occupied by the county officers from 
Jan. 19, 1859, until the completion of their present cpiar- 
ters in the court-house, when the offices were removed to 
that building. During the time intervening between the 
removal of the county-site to St. Johns and the completion 
of the present court-house, the courts were held first at 
Plumstead's Hall until about 1861 ; then in Clinton Hall, 
rented of George W. Stephenson, till 1869 ; next in New- 
ton's Hall, which was occupied for about a year ; and finally 



344 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



in a building owned by John Hicks, on Clinton Avenue, 
between Walker and Higham Streets. 

On the 5th of January, 1869, a preamble and resolution 
was offered as follows : " Whereas, the village of St. Johns 
has provided for raising the five thousand dollars oflFered for 
construction of the court-house; therefore re.solved, That the 
county of Clinton build a court-house on the public square, 
not to cost to exceed six mills on the dollar on the assessed 
valuation of tlie county, estimated from the corrected ag- 
gregate assessment of the county for the year 18GS ; three 
mills of the amount to be raised in 1869, and three mills 
in 1870. The question to be submitted to the electors at 
the annual meeting in April, 1869." This action was re- 
ferred to a committee, and on the next day a substitute was 
offered and accepted as follows : " That the proposition to 
raise the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars be submitted 
to the people in April, 1869, be raised by loan ; said loan 
payable in five annual payments." This last resolution was 
passed by a vote of twelve to two, and in the election that 
followed seventeen hundred and thirty-four votes were cast 
in favor of building a court-house, and eleven hundred and 
seventy against it. 

The following-named gentlemen wore appointed as a 
building committee, with power to contract for the erection 
of the court-house : William L. Hicks, George R. Hunt, 
Benjamin F. Shepherd, David Clark, Moses Bartow, and 
John Hicks. On tlie 12th of October, 1869, this com- 
mittee reported that they had adopted a plan similar to that 
of the court-house in Bay City, Mich., and that contracts 
were awarded for the construction of foundation-walls, to 
be completed in November, 1869. On the 18th of Decem- 
ber, 1869, proposals were opened by the committee for the 
construction of the court-house ; the lowest bid was twenty- 
four thousand dollars, which was not accepted, and work 
was commenced by the day, the committee taking charge. 
The building was finally completed, ready for use, in Octo- 
ber, 1871. The cost of the building, as reported Jan. 9, 
1872, by John Hicks, chairman of committee, was thirty- 
five thousand three hundred and forty-four dollars and fifty- 
eight cents. 

On the 10th of January, 1873, a special committee, who 
liad been previously appointed to select a suitable site for a 
jail, reported and recommended the purchase of lots 1, 2, 
and 3, in block 20, in the village of St. Johns, for that pur- 
pose. The report was adopted, and the lots were purchased 
of John Turner for six hundred dollars, the deed bearing 
date Jan. 20, 1873. On the 5th of January, 1875, a reso- 
lution was passed by the board to submit a proposition to 
the electors to raise ten thousand dollars for the erection of 
a jail and sheriff's residence in the village of St. Johns. At 
the next annual town-meeting, in April, 1875, this question 
was submitted, with the following result ; twelve hundred 
and ninety-two votes in favor and seven hundred and two 
against. In accordance with this decision the board con- 
vened on the 12th of May following, for the express pur- 
pose of transacting business pertaining to the erection of 
the jail. Two days and a half were occupied in electing a 
chairman. Forty-five formal ballots were taken before they 
succeeded in choosing a presiding officer. The last ballot 
resulted in ilie election of Eugene V. Chase as chairman. 



Josiah Upton was then appointed to procure plans and 
specifications for a jail and residence not to exceed the sum 
of ten thousand dollars. After the accomplishment of this 
item of business the board adjourned. In the June follow- 
ing, plans presented by Mr. Hedden were accepted. John 
Hicks, Josiah Upton, and Richard Moore were appointed 
a building committee, with power to advertise, receive pro- 
posals, and let the contract for building the jail, which was 
soon after commenced, and completed in October, 1876. 
On the 4th of January, 1877, the committee on building 
the jail reported as to the cost of jail and residence as fol- 
lows : total amount, ten thousand and fifteen dollars and 
fifty-three cents. 

COUNTY POOR-HOUSE AND FARM. 

The first ofiBcial action taken in reference to the support 
of the county poor of Clinton is recorded in the proceed- 
ings of the county commissioners in October, 1839, at 
which time Grafton Webber, of Watertown, Thomas Fisk, 
of Bingham, and Franklin Oliver, of De Witt, were ap- 
pointed county superintendents of the poor for the ensuing 
year. In the month of February following it was resolved 
to abolish the distinction of county and township poor, and 
that "all expenses hereafter incurred shall be a charge 
against the county." The first step towards providing a 
county farm for the poor was taken at a meeting of the 
Board of Supervi.sors on the 4th of January, 1844, when 
a resolution was offered that arrangements be made for the 
purchase of a farm for the maintenance of the poor. This 
resolution was laid on the table and finally rejected by the 
board, but at the annual session in the following autumn a 
committee to whom the report of the .superintendents of 
the poor was referred recommended the purchase of a farm, 
and Supervisors Boughton, Pearl, and Taber were appointed 
a committee to examine the farm of William Ulloy and 
ascertain his price. The committee reported, and after 
due consideration the farm was purchased for six hundred 
and sixty-one dollars and i<ixty-eight cents, the deed bear- 
ing date Nov. 1, 1844. Its location is in township 5 north, 
range 2 west (De Witt), and is the northwest quarter of 
the southwest quarter and the west half of the south 
fraction of the nortliwest quarter of section 9. The farm 
was rented to David Olin for one year from Jan. 1, 1845, 
for fifty dollars, and was sold to Jesse F. Turner for six 
liundred and sixty-one dollars and ninety-two cents on the 
7th of October of the same year. 

About ten years elap.sed before further action was taken 
for the purchase of a farm. At the fall session of 1854, 
N. I. Daniels, of Watertown, moved " that a committee of 
three be appointed, whose duty it shall be to examine 
locations and receive proposals with a view to the purchase 
of a farm and the erection of a poor-house, and report to 
the board at the next meeting." Three days later Super- 
visors I'lowman, Estes, and Fitch were appointed such 
committee. On the 12th of October, 1855, Stephen Pearl, 
county treasurer, was authorized to advertise and receive 
proposals for the purchase of a farm of from eighty to one 
hundred acres. It does not appear that Mr. Pearl made a 
purchase, as on the 24th of January, 1856, the committee 
appointed in 1854 reported in favor of purchasing one 



THE PROFESSIONS. 



3J5 



hundred acres of land of George W. Stoddard for fifteen 
hundred dollars, situated on the northwest quarter of sec- 
tion 18, in the township of Olive. This report was 
adopted, and Stephen Pearl was appointed agent to ex- 
amine title and consummute the purchase. The deed is 
dated Jan. 25, 1856, and recorded on the 29th of January 
of the same year. At the January session in 1858 a 
communication was received from the superintendents of 
the poor, recommending an appropriation to erect a build- 
ing on the county poor-farm, which was referred to a 
special committee. There is no record of the appoint- 
ment of this committee, or of any report made upon the 
subject. 

At the annual session in the autumn of 1859 it was de- 
cided to let the maintenance of the county paupers to the 
lowest bidder with good security. This method of sup- 
porting the poor was continued for several j'ears. 

At the January session in 1864 the offer of William 
Sickles to exchange lots 1 and 2 in block 13, in the village 
of St. Johns, for the county fiirm was accepted, and Charles 
Kipp was authorized to convey the title. This exchange, 
however, was not made, as it appears that on the 17th of 
December, 1867, Charles Kipp conveyed the farm owned 
by the county to Henry Lackey, — this conveyance being in 
accordance with a resolution of the Board of Supervisors 
wade Oct. 17, 1867, the farm having been sold on contract 
to Mr. Lackey in October, 1865. A committee was ap- 
pointed to report on the necessity of purchasing a poor 
farm, which committee reported the next day, recommend- 
ing the purchase of a farm of one hundred acres near the 
village of St. Johns. This report was approved, and on 
the next day the superintendents of the poor were author- 
ized to purchase a farm at a price not to exceed four 
thousand dollars. A farm was purchased of Hiram L. 
Lamb for three thousand five hundred dollars, the deed 
bearing date April 8, 1867. It contains seventy-six and a 
half acres, forty of which are under cultivation, and in- 
cludes an orchard of one hundred and seventy-five fruit- 
trees. Its location is on the south half of the southeast 
quarter of section 18, in the township of Bingham. The 
superintendents of the poor were authorized to erect a 
building not to exceed eighteen hundred dollars in cost, 
"to meet the demands of the unfortunates who. are in- 
trusted to their care." Under this authority a building 
was constructed iu the summer of 1871, and another is 
being erected the present year to further accommodate the 
increasing demands of the county poor. 

The report of the superintendents of the poor for 1879 
shows as follows: The whole number of paupers maintained 
in the poor-house during the year was thirty ; the whole 
number temporarily relieved outside of the poor-house was 
one hundred and nineteen ; the whole amount paid from 
the poor-fund during the year was 86962.53 ; the whole 
amount paid from other funds was 82;!93.06. The total 
expenses of the poor farm, exclusive of interest on capital 
invested and value of pauper labor, was $3816.23. Value 
of products of farm during the year (estimated), $793.30. 
Value of poor-farm and buildings, 86500 ; of live stock, 
8330. Total value of poor-farm and appurtenances, 
88056.50. 
44 



CHAPTER XLVIIL 

THE PEOFESSIONS-THE PKESS-THE CIVIL LIST. 

Early Lawyers in Clinton County — The present Bar of Clinton — The 
Medical Profession — Clinton County IWeJical Society — Hornoeo- 
pathie Physicians^The Press of Clinton County — Clinton County 
Civil List. 

THE LEGAL PROFESSION. 
EARLY LAWYERS IN CLINTON COUNTY. 

The first resident lawyer practicing in Clinton County 
was Levi Townson, who studied law at Ann Arbor, and 
was there admitted to the bar. He was appointed prose- 
cuting attorney of Clinton County in 1842, and removed 
to the village of De Witt, the county-seat. He retained 
the position till 1848. In 1846 he was elected judge of 
probate, and held that oflBce until his death, which occurred 
at De Witt, in July, 1849. 

Theodore H. Chapin emigrated to Michigan about 1840, 
from Lockport, Niagara Co., N. Y. He had practiced law 
in that State, and was advanced in years when he located 
at De Witt, Clinton Co. He was elected judge of probate 
in 1842, and held the office till Jan. 1, 1847. He after- 
wards removed with his son, De Witt C. Chapin, to Alle- 
gan Co., Mich., where he died. 

De Witt C. Chapin came to De Witt with his father, 
Theodore H. Chapin, in 1840, and commenced the practice 
of law. lie was admitted to the bar and practiced in New 
York State before coming to Michigan. He was elected 
county clerk in 1842, and served two years. Soon after- 
wards he removed to Ionia County, where he lived a year 
or two, and moved to Allegan County. In 1848 he was 
elected judge of probate of that county, and served in that 
office four years. He served as prosecuting attorney in 
1851 and 1852. Returning to Clinton County, he was 
again elected county clerk in 1856, and reelected in 1858 
and 1860. Upon his retirement from this office he re- 
moved to Gratiot County, where he was elected register of 
deeds. He died about 1874. He was not a profound 
lawyer, but was an excellent pleader before a jury. 

Joseph HoUister came from Tompkins Co., N. Y., to 
Victor, Clinton Co., in 1843. He brought with him from 
the clerk of that county a certificate of good standing as 
a lawyer in that State. Upon this certificate he was ad- 
mitted to the bar in this county, Nov. 15, 1843, and was 
appointed prosecuting attorney in 1848. He was a good 
office lawyer, but not very successful in court practice. 

Joab Baker came to this State from Pennsylvania. He 
was admitted to the bar in Eaton County in 1845, and 
practiced for a time in Portland, Ionia Co. In the spring 
of 1847 he removed to De Witt, and was elected prosecut- 
ing attorney in 1850, — the first under the new constitution. 
When the county-seat was removed to St. Johns he re- 
moved to that place, and practiced for five j'ears. In 1862 
he moved to Gran J Haven, and is now living at 3Iuskegon, 
where he is following his profession. He is a good advo- 
cate and a successful lawyer. 

Christopher W. Leffingwell was admitted to the bar in 
this county on the 15th of January, 1849, having previously 
been admitted in Pennsylvania, whence he emigrated to 



346 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Michigan. He was considered a good chancery lawyer 
and excellent in office business. 

Randolph Strickland is a native of Livingston Co., N. Y. 
He emigrated to Michigan in 1844, and studied law two 
years in Portland, Ionia Co. In August, 1847, he re- 
moved to De Witt, entered the office of Joab Baker, and 
continued his studies until June 15, 1849, when he was 
admitted to the bar, and has been in practice from that 
time to the present. He is the oldest lawyer now in the 
county. He was prosecuting attorney from 1852 to 1858, 
and again in 1862; State senator in 1860-62; provost- 
marshal from 1863 to 1865 ; member of State Republican 
Committee; delegate to National Convention in 1856 and 
1868; representative from Michigan in the Forty-first 
Congress, serving on committees on invalid pensions and 
mines and mining. He is cautious and painstaking in 
practice, and very successful. In 1862 he removed from 
De Witt to the village of St. Johns, where he still resides. 

Jesse F. Turner came to De Witt from Rochester, N. Y., 
in 1839. He was elected county judge in 1846 ; studied 
law, and was admitted to the bar in this county June 17, 
1850 ; and later removed to California, where he was elected 
to fill the position of judge of one of the courts. He died 
about 1878. 

James W. Ransom came from Niagara Co., N. Y., about 
1853. He was admitted to the bar of Clinton County on 
the 2d of June, 1853, and practiced at De Witt for four 
years, removing to St. Johns upon the establishment of 
the county-seat at that village. He remained at St. Johns 
until 1860, when he removed to Grand Rapids, and is still 
in practice there. 

David I. Daniels was an early settler in Wacousta (town- 
ship of Watertown). He studied law late in life, was ad- 
mitted to the bar June 9, 1852, and practiced until his 
death. He was elected member of the State Legislature in 
1858. 

Obed F. Strickland, a brother of Randolph Strickland, 
studied law with the latter, and was admitted to the bar 
June 7, 1856. He. practiced at St. Johns until 1864, and 
removed to Salt Lake City, practiced two years, and was 
appointed by President Grant judge of the Supreme Court 
of Utah. He is now following his profession at Walla 
Walla, Washington Territory. 

Delos C. Wiley came to' De Witt about 1854 and entered 
the office of Joab Baker. He was admitted to the bar 
on the 9th of June, 1856. He practiced for a time in De 
Witt and St. Johns, and removed to Lansing, where he was 
a successful lawyer. He died in 1874. 

Oliver L. Spaulding is a native of New Hampshire. He 
emigrated from that State to Ohio, and graduated at Ober- 
lin College. He came to Michigan, and, locating at St. 
Johns, Clinton Co., entered the office of James W. Ran- 
som, and was admitted to the bar April 6, 1858. From 
that time until the present he has been a member of the 
Clinton County bar, and has resided at St. Johns. In the 
war of the Rebellion he served in the Twenty-third Michi- 
gan Infantry Regiment, from the grade of captain to that 
of colonel, and was brevetted brigadier-general for meri- 
torious services. Among the civil offices which he has 
filled is that of regent of the University of Michigan, 



1858-64; Secretary of State of Michigan, elected in 1866 
and re-elected in 1868; and special agent of the treasury 
department, appointed in 1875 and still holding that 
office. , / 

Henry Walbridge is a native of Vermont, and was ad-/\ 
mitted to the bar in Montpelier, in that State, in 1848; 
He came to Detroit in 1850 as agent for Fairbanks Bros., 
of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and remained in their employ three 
years and a half In October, 1855, he came to St. Johns, 
and was admitted to the bar in this county on the 7th of 
June, 1856. From that time to the present he has continued 
in practice in St. Johns. He was elected Circuit Court com- 
missioner in 1856 and 1873, and prosecuting attorney in 
1860. V/ 

Henry M. Perrin is a native of Vermont. He graduated' '-> 
at the Albany Law School, came to Detroit in 1855, re- 
mained there two years, and removed to St. Johns, Nov. 
22', 1857. For a short time he was in the office of Henry 
Walbridge, and in February of 1858 he opened an office 
and commenced practice. Mr. Perrin was elected to the 
office of judge of probate in 1860, and to the State Senate 
in 1864. He is now associated with P. K. Perrin and 
Albert J. Baldwin in the practice of law in the village of 
St. Johns. 

The above mention of early lawyers embraces the princi- 
pal ones who commenced practice in the county during the 
twenty years following the establi.shment of its courts. Of 
some others wlio have not been mentioned but who came 
to the county during that period, as well as of those who 
have practiced here since that time, the names will be found 
in the appended list (prepared from the court records) of 
attorneys who have from time to time been admitted to 
practice in the courts of Clinton, viz. : 

William H. Parks, admitted May 9, 1843. 

John C. Bianchard, admitted May 9, 1843. 

Joseph HoUister, admitted Nov. 15, 1843. 

Ralph B. Goble, admitted Nov. 12, 1844. 

Theodore H. Chapin, Jr., admitted Nov. 12, 1844. 

Harvey Bartow, admitted May 12, 1846. 

H. M. Munson, admitted May 14, 1846. 

William W. Upton, admitted Nov. 13, 1846. 

Milton P. Burteh, admitted Nov. 13, 1845. 

Randolph Strickland, admitted June 15, 1849. 

Christopher W. Leffingwell, admitted June 15, 1849. 

David E. Corbin, admitted June 15, 1849. 

N. Byron Hollister, admitted Sept. 12, 1849. 

J. Foot Turner, admitted June 17, 1850. 

James H. McKee, admitted June 17, 1850. 

David I. Daniels, admitted June 9, 1852. 

James H. Ransom, admitted June 2, 1853. 

Franklin Miller, admitted Nov. 15, 1855. 

Stevens E. Longyear, admitted Nov. 15, 1855. 

Delos C. Wiley, admitted June 7, 1856. 

Henry Walbridge, admitted June 7, 1856. 

Obed F. Strickland, admitted June 7, 1856. 

E. Nelson Fitch, admitted June 5, 1857. 

Sylvester Hoyt, admitted Aug. 29, 1857. 

Henry M. Perrin, admitted Feb. 2, 1858. 

Oliver L. Spaulding, admitted April 6, 1858. 

Ruel M. Boynton, admitted April 6, 1858. 



THE PROFESSIONS. 



347 



Alvah C. Laing, admitted April 8, 1S59. 
Sylvester H. Pennington, admitted April 8, 1859. 
Robert V. Briggs, admitted Sept. 2i, 1859. 
AVarren R. Hickox, admitted Sept. 24, 1859. 
William F. Moore, admitted July 22, 1862. 
William M. Stiles, admitted Oet. 20, 1863. 
Sidney Fitzgerald, admitted Jan. 19, 1864. 
Andrew Stout, admitted April 18, 1864. 
George Tompkins, admitted April 18, 1864. 
Hiram C. Hodge, admitted Jan. 19, 1865. 
Daniel Granger, admitted Jan. 18, 1866. 
Edward Cahill, admitted July 16, 1866. 
Moses Bartow, admitted July 16, 1866. 
Alvin Patterson, admitted Jan. 21, 1867. 
Porter K. Perrin, admitted July 15, 1867. 
Albert J. Baldwin, admitted July 15, 1867. 
Frederick Wilkinson, admitted April 18, 1868. 
Charles E. Williams, admitted April 18, 18G8. 
I'errin C. Cummings, admitted Oct. 3, 1868. 
John Q. Patterson, admitted Oct. 3, 1868. 
Samuel D. Haight, admitted April 13, 1870. 
Francis W. Cook, admitted April 13, 1870. 
William W. Dennis, admitted July 12, 1870. 
Alfred G. Higham, admitted July 12, 1870. 
Nelson De Long, admitted April 14, 1871. 
Henry E. Walbridge, admitted April 14, 1871. 
John H. Fedewa, admitted May 20, 1872. 
Arlington C. Lewis, admitted May 20, 1872. 
James H. Walsh, admitted May 20, 1872. 
Adelbert McCabe, admitted May 20, 1872. 
Benjamin F. Button, admitted May 27, 1875. 
Edward L. Walbridge, admitted Feb. 17, 1878. 
Will A. Norton, admitted Aug. 19, 1878. 
John G. Patterson, admitted Aug. 19, 1878. 
Henry J. Patterson, admitted Aug. 19, 1878. 
Loyal W. Hill, admitted May 21, 1879. 
John J. Kerr, admitted May 21, 1879. 

The following is a list of the present members of the 
bar of Clinton County : 

Randolph Strickland. Henry Walbridge. 

Porter K. Perrin. Joel H. Cranson. 

Oliver L. Spaulding. Henry M. Perrin. 

Josephus 0. Selden. Anthony Cook. 

Richard Baylia. Albert J. Baldwin. 

Anderson Stout. William W. Dennis. 

Henry E. Walbridge. John H. Fedewa. 

William n. Castel. 0. W. Barker. 

William F. Moore. William Brunson. 

Charles M. Merrill. Henry J. Patterson. 

John G. Patterson. Edward L. Walbridge. 

Loyal W. Hill. John J. Kerr. 
S. B. DaboU. 

THE MEDICAL PliOFESSION. 
Dr. Seth P. Marvin came from Oakland County to Clin- 
ton County with his father in 1835 and located in Water- 
town, where Seth built a log house and lived until the 
county was organized, when he removed to De Witt. He 
had studied medicine previous to his settlement in Clinton 
County, as the following certificate indicates : 



" To all to whom these presents shall come or may in any 
wise concern. 

" The Pres't, Sec'y, and Censors of the Medical Society 
of the County of Macomb send greeting. Whereas, Seth 
P. Marvin hath exhibited unto us satisfactory testimony 
that he is entitled to a License to practice Physic and Sur- 
gery : now know ye that by virtue of the power and au- 
thority vested in us by Law, we do grant unto the said 
Seth P. JIarviu the privilege of practicing Physic and 
Surgery in this State, together with all the rights and im- 
munities which usually appertain to Pliysicians and Sur- 
geons. 

" A. C. Campbell, ^ 

" Geo. Lee, y Censors. 

" H. Taylor, J 

" In testimony whereof we have caused the seal of the 
Society to be hereunto affixed, at the village of Mount 
Clemens, this 14th day of November, 1836. 

" A. C. Campbell, Secy. 

" H. R. ScuiTTERLY, President." 

Dr. Marvin did not graduate at any medical college, but 
was afterwards admitted as a member of the Central Mich- 
igan Medical Society upon this certificate. He was the 
first practicing physician in the county, but not the first in 
the village of De Witt. He was elected county clerk at 
the first election of the county, in April, 1839, and served 
two terms, and also served as register of deeds from 1851 to 
1856, and as judge of probate from 1856 to 1860. His 
practice was largely interrupted by attention to his duties 
as a public officer, still he continued bis practice until his 
death, in August, 1864. He was very popular with the 
people, a good conversationalist and story-teller. As a phy- 
sician he was very successful in the management of disease. 

Dr. Levi D. Jennison was a native of Connecticut, and 
emigrated to the western part of the State of New York, 
where lie studied medicine in the village of Batavia. He 
emigrated to Michigan in the spring of 1837, and located 
on the south side of Looking-Glass River, then known as 
New Albany. He was the first physician in the cluster of 
villages that at that time were laid out along Looking-Glass 
River. He obtained a large country practice, and resided 
at that place until 1843, when he removed to Essex and 
resumed practice, which he continued until his death, in 
1863, at the age of sixty-three years. As a physician he 
was cautious and slow in forming an opinion. In cases of 
inflammation of the lungs he was uniformly successful, and 
without an equal in this region of country. 

Dr. Hiram W. Stowell was a native of Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
He studied medicine and graduated at Auburn, N. Y. He 
emigrated to Michigan in 1836, and practiced medicine one 
year at Ann Arbor, and in the summer of 1837 he came to 
the village of De Witt, where he practiced until his death, 
in August, 1857. His ride was extended, reaching into 
other counties. He was elected the first judge of probate 
of Clinton County, and afterwards treasurer. 

Dr. William B. Watson emigrated to Michigan in 1839, 
and located in the township of Duplain, where he opened 
an offi-ce at the Rochester Colony, and commenced the prac- 
tice of medicine. He was the first physician in the town- 



348 



HISTOKY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



ship, and for many years the only one. His practice was 
continued till within a few years of his death, which oc- 
curred in 1875. He enjoyed the confidence of the people 
and the respect of his fellow-practitioners. 

Dr. Martin Moore, a native of Steuben Co., N. Y., emi- 
grated in 1838 or '39 from New York State, and came to 
the settlement on Looking-Glass River and located, but 
whether at Middletown, old De Witt, New Albany, or De 
Witt, has not been ascertained. He practiced in the sur- 
rounding country till his death, in 1850. He was consid- 
ered a good practitioner. 

Dr. Stanton E. Hazard, a native of Niagara Co., N. Y., 
studied medicine in Oakland Co., Mich., and attended one 
course of lectures in Ann Arbor. In the spring of 1842 
he came to Wacousta, in the township of Watertown, where 
he commenced practice, and soon obtained an extensive 
patronage. He was careful and cautious, and uniformly 
successful as a physician. His death occurred in May, 
1880. 

Dr. Isaac T. HoUister came in 1847 from the State of 
New York to the township of Victor, in this county, to 
visit his brother Joseph. There being no physician in the 
township he was persuaded to remain. He rapidly gained 
the confidence of the people, and his ride was widely ex- 
tended. He remained in Victor until 1864, when he re- 
tired from practice and removed to Laingsburg, where he 
still resides. He was elected to the State Senate in 1856. 

Dr. John H. Bacon, a native of Niagara Co., N. Y., 
studied medicine in that State and graduated at the College 
of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. He emi- 
grated to Michigan and located in Do Witt in 1852, where 
he practiced medicine until about 1860. He then removed 
to Lansing. 

Dr. G. W. Topping is a native of Cayuga Co., N. Y. 
He emigrated to Michigan in 1853, studied medicine and 
graduated at the medical department of the State Univer- 
sity, and in 1854 removed to De Witt and commenced a 
practice in which he still continues. He is now president 
of the county medical society. 

The first medical practitioner in St. Johns was Dr. 

Darrow, a young physician, who located there soon after the 
•settlement of the village. He was a man of excellent edu- 
cation and fine ability ; but he' only remained about one 
year at St. Johns, removing at the end of that time to 
Okcmos, and afterwards to Mason, Ingham Co., where he 
is now living. 

Dr. De Witt C. Stewart is a native of Genesee Co., N. Y. 
He emigrated to Tecuuiseh, Mich., in 1833, and was en- 
gaged in farming and buying and selling lands until 1848, 
when he returned to Allegany Co., N. Y.,and studied med- 
icine with Dr. William B. Alley about four years, riding 
with him and practicing during the last year. In 1852 he 
came to Michigan again, and practiced about two years in 
the townships of Onondaga and Aurelius, Ingham Co., and 
in May, 1854, removed to the village of St. Johns, where 
he opened an office. He was the first permanent physician 
in the township, and his ride extended twenty-five and 
thirty miles from St. Johns into Gratiot and Shiawassee 
Counties. At that time roads were few and poor, and the 
many visits of the physician were forced to be made on 



horseback. Dr. Stewart is a careful practitioner and has 
been very successful in his profession. He still lives on the 
spot where he first located in St. Johns. He was one of 
the first members of the Clinton County Medical Society. 

Dr. M. L. Leach located in 1854 in Duplain, where he 
practiced till the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, 
when he entered the army. After his term of service had 
expired ho returned to the Rochester Colony, resumed prac- 
tice, and continued there till 1878, when he removed to 
Elsie. Dr. F. A.' House came to the same township in 
1858, and is still in practice in that place. Six years of the 
time, however, he passed in Indiana. 

Dr. Louis W. Fasquelle is a native of France. His 
father was a professor in the State University for many 
years. Dr. Fasquelle graduated in the medical depart- 
ment of the University, and practiced about one and a 
half years in Hartland and Cohoctah, Livingston Co., 
Mich. In April, 1855, he removed to St. Johns and re- 
sumed his practice. He served in the army six months as 
surgeon during the war of the Rebellion. He is still in 
practice in the village of St. Johns. 

Dr. Andrew J. Wiggins was educated at Warsaw, N. Y., 
graduated at Geneva (N. Y.) Medical College, and emi- 
grated to Michigan in 1851. He attended medical lectures 
at the State Univer.sity, practiced in Monroe Co,, Mich. ; 
Summit and Goshen, Ind. ; Chelsea, Washtenaw Co., and 
Danville, Ingham Co., Blich. In 1862 he came to the 
village of St. Johns, where he is still in practice. 

Besides the physicians above named there were a few 
others who located in Clinton County during the quarter 
of a century succeeding its organization, but those who have 
been mentioned were the principal ones who commenced prac- 
tice here during that period. A large number of practi- 
tioners have come to practice in the county in the later 
years, and the names of many of these will be found in the 
following notice of the county medical society. 

CLINTON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY. 

As early as the year 1864 an effort was made to estab- 
lish a medical society in Clinton County. Indeed, at that 
time a partial organization was effected, but the resident 
members of the profession were then so few that it was 
found impracticable to infu.se sufficient vitality in*o the or- 
ganization, and in a little less than two years it expired. 
From that time to the present the increase in population, 
substantial developments, and material wealth has been un- 
surpassed. While the natural and necessary developments 
of the county have greatly diminished the causes of some 
forms of disease, and entirely annihilated others, the rapid 
influx of population has seemed to demand accessions to 
the ranks of the medical profession. This demand has been 
more than supplied. 

With adequate numbers, early in June, 1874, a call was 
issued for all persons residing in the county who were 
" regularly engaged in the rational practice of medicine" 
to assemble at the office of Dr. G. E. Corbin, in the village 
of St. Johns, on Thursday, July 9th, of that year, for the 
purpose of organizing a medical society. At the appointed 
time and place, in response to the call, there were present 
the persons here named : 



THE PRESS. 



349 



Casper V. Beebe, of Ovid. 

L. T. Wells, of Ovid. 

Edwin Doty, of Maple Rapids. 

David HoUister, of Maple Rapids. 

S. M. Post, of Eureka. 

L. A. Laurason, of Fowler. 

L. W. Fasquelle, of St. Johns. 

D. C. Stewart, of St. Johns. 
G. E. Corbin, of St. Johns. 

C. C. Dellenbaugh, of Westphalia. 

Among the usual preliminaries was the appointment of 
Drs. Corbin, Doty, and Beebe as a committee to draft a 
constitution and report at the afternoon session. On pre- 
sentation the constitution drafted by the committee was 
adopted with few alterations, and the organization of the 
society was completed by the election of its first officers. 
They were : 

President, L. W. Fasquelle. 

Vice-President, C. V. Beebe. 

Treasurer, L. T. Wells. 

Secretary, G. E. Corbin. 

The objects of this society cannot be better expressed 
than in the brief preamble to its constitution which is here 
quoted : " Believing that men of congenial minds and 
similar pursuits may derive mutual benefit from fraternal 
association, thus promoting kind feelings and removing 
prejudices that are liable to exist while strangers to each 
other, and that a free interchange of opinions is calculated 
not only to harmonize the views, but also to add to the 
common stock of professional knowledge ; therefore, Re- 
solved, That for these purposes, and in the furtherance of 
these objects, we fjrm ourselves into an a.ssociation to be 
called Clinton County Medical Society." 

From its organization to the present date (June, 1880) 
Drs. Fasquelle, Topping, and Gillam have served as pres- 
idents ; Beebe, Topping, Dellenbaugh, Doty, and Post, as 
vice-presidents; Wells, Laurason, and Post, as treasurers; 
and Dr. G. E. Corbin has been itsonly secretary during the 
same period. During the six years of its existence this 
society has delegated Drs. Fasquelle, Beebe, Dellenbaugh, 
Gillam, Topping, Corbin, and Doty to represent its in- 
terests in the annual deliberations of the American Medical 
Association. Its constitution requires that the meetings of 
the society shall all be held in the village of St. Johns, 
and thus far they have all been held in the office of its 
secretary. A number of changes in membership have oc- 
curred. Some have removed from its jurisdiction. None 
have yet been removed by death. The present membership 
embraces the following list: 

G. W. Topping, De Witt. 

E. V. Chase, Elsie. 
H. Ilart, Eureka. 
S. M. Post, Eureka. 

L. A. Laurason, Fowler. 
Edwin Doty, Maple Rapids. 
Samuel H. Welliugs, Maple Rapids. 

Abbot, Ovid. 

O. B. Campbell, Ovid. 
S. C. King, Ovid. 
W. K. Yuill, Ovid. 



C. C. Dellenbaugh, Portland. 
L. 0. Ludlum, Shepardsville. 
G. E. Corbin, St. Johns. 

L. W. Fa.squelle, St. Johns. 
S. E. Gillam, St. Johns. 

D. C. Stewart, St. Johns. 
N. B. Welper, St. Johns. 
A. J. Wiggins, St. Johns. 
Simon Herrcs, Westphalia. 

The officers for 1880 were elected on the 8th of July, 
at the annual meeting, and are as follows : 
President, G. W. Topping, De Witt. 
Vice-President, L. W. Fasquelle, St. Johns. 
Secretary and Treasurer, G. E. Corbin, St. Johns. 

HOJKEOPATHIC PHYSICIANS. 

The following list includes the names of the homoeo- 
pathic physicians who have practiced in the county, with 
the year of their establishment here, as near as can be as- 
certained : 

Caleb Lamb, 1853, St. Johns. 

T. B. Lamb, 1855, St. Johns. 

Timothy Baker, 1856, St. Johns. 

M. J. S. Cook, 18G5, St. Johns. 

D. L. Roberts, 1865, St. Johns. 
William Havens, 1871, St. Johns. 
Graduates of Michigan Homoeopathic College : 
C. P. Burch, 1868, Ovid. 

J. L. Harris, 1876, Ovid. 

Beels, 1879, Ovid. 

Mrs. M. P. Havens, 1871, St. Johns. 

Mrs. Dr. Sprague, St. Johns. 

A. A. Allen, 1879, St. Johns. 

Graduates of New York Ilomojopathio College : 

E. R. Haden, 1868, Eureka. 
William Walker, Eureka. 

Obed Wheeler, 1860, Maple Rapids. 

Brown, 1865, Maple Rapids. 

Wcstervelt, 1868, Maple Rapids. 

Charles Knapp, 1876, Maple Rapids. 

THE rilESS OF CLINTON COUNTY. ' 

The first two local newspapers which circulated in Clin- 
ton County were the Grand River City Courier and the 
Shiawassee Express and Clinton Advocate. The latter 
journal was published at Owosso, Shiawassee Co., in 1839, 
and the former was commenced in 1837, at "Grand River 
City," which was simply one of the " paper villages" so 
common at that d.iy, and located on both sides of the 
boundary-line between Clinton and Eaton Counties. It 
was laid out and platted by Erastus Ingersoll, on lands en- 
tered by him in 1834, in the township of Watertown, 
Clinton Co., and Delta, Eaton Co., and the boundaries of 
the village extended from the Grand River, a little south 
of the county-line in the latter township, northward to the 
Grand River turnpike, in Watertown. There is nothing 
now known which sliows whether the publication-office of 
the Courier was in the Clinton or in the Eaton portion of 
the village, but whichever may have been the case it seems 
proper to regard the newspaper, like the " City," a.s belong- 



350 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



ing to both counties in equal share. Beyond the fact of 
its existence at the time mentioned, nothing has been ascer- 
tained of the Courier s history. 

The Cliittoiiian, a four-column newspaper, was established 
about 1842, at the village of De Witt, by Mark A. Childs, 
who was somewhat noted among the early settlers as a hu- 
morist. This paper — particularly during the first part of 
its existence — depended mainly for support upon the print- 
ing of tax sales. Mr. Childs used to relate that in the first 
years he received on subscriptions the sum of twelve shil- 
lings from Alfred Gunnison, a settler residing a few miles 
east of De Witt, and that, as most of the pioneers at that 
time derived their principal revenue from hunting and 
trapping, raccoon tracks were regarded as legal tender in 
the payment of pi'inters', lawyers', and doctors' bills. A 
number of this paper, dated July 13, 1844, contains an ac- 
count of a Fourth of July celebration held that year in the 
village of De Witt. The Declaration of Independence was 
read by Dr. Hirara Stowell, the oration was delivered by 
De Witt C. Chapin, and William Utley was marshal of 
the day. De Witt at tliat time was the largest village in 
the county, and contained three dry-goods stores, eight me- 
chanic-shops, one hotel, — " The Clinton House," — two at- 
torneys, and two physicians. 

Mr. Childs was succeeded in the management of the 
paper about 1845 by Milo Blair, who continued it until 
about 1849, when it passed to the proprietorship of John 
Ransom, by whom the name was changed to The Cliitton 
Express, the first volume of which was commenced Jan. 1, 
1850. It was enlarged to a five-column folio, wide columns, 
equal to six columns standard. It was Democratic in poli- 
tics, with the motto " Where Liberty dwells there is my 
Country." About the time of the removal of the county- 
site to St. Johns, the Clinton Express was also moved and 
the name changed to the North-Side Democrat. It was 
published in an office in the upper story of Clinton Hall. 
II. C. Hodge was associated with Mr. Ransom for a short 
time, and became the proprietor in 1859, at which time the 
name was changed to the St. Johns Democrat and the 
office removed to the east side of Clinton Avenue, near the 
public square, where it was published till May, 18G4, when 
'it was discontinued and the material of the office was sold 
to the proprietor of the Rrpuhlican at St. Johns. 

The De Witt RepnUican was established at De Witt 
village by Ilascall & Hilton, the first number being issued 
April 9, 1856. Mr. Hascall retired in about three months, 
and Henry S. Hilton continued the paper at De Witt until 
the removal of the county-site, when the paper was also 
removed to St. Johns. 

The Clinton Repuhlican is the new title given to the 
paper last named upon its removal to St. Johns. It was 
enlarged to a six-column fulio, and was published by Mr. 
Hilton until Dec. 3, 1858, when, on account of ill health, 
he associated others with him in the business. From this 
time the paper passed through numerous changes of pro- 
prietorship, viz., H. S. Hilton & Co., J. Kipp & A. D. 
Carrier,* Hilton & Carrier, H. S. Hilton & Co., P. K. & 

* The office was destroyed by fire April 13, 1860, while under the 
proprietorship of Kipp k Carrier, and the papej was re-established 
te this disaster by Hilton & Carrier. 



H. M. Perrin, Robert Smith & Co., Philips & Doughty, 
D. M. Philips, and A. II. Herron. On the 20th of June, 

1873, the paper passed to the proprietorship of its founder, 
Henry S. Hilton, by whom it is still continued. It has 
been enlarged to a nine-column folio. It advocates Repub- 
lican principles, and circulates eleven hundred copies. 

Tlie St. Johns Herald, a seven-column folio, was first 
issued in the village of St. Johns on the 24th of August, 
1864, about four months after the discontinuance of the 
St. Johns Democrat. It was established by R. Cheney in 
the interests of the Ddmocratic party, having for a motto 

"Truth, ever lovely, sinee the world began 
The foe of tyrants and the friend of man." 

The first number bore the name of George B. McClellan as 
Presidential candidate. The paper was published through 
the fall campaign, and at its close was discontinued. 

The Clinton Independent, a six-column folio, was first 
issued Aug. 20, 1866, at the village of St. Johns, as an 
exponent of Democratic principles. It was owned and 
edited by John H. and James A. Stephenson, whose office 
was in the rear, of G. W. Stephenson's store, on Clinton 
Avenue. On the 1st of January, 1867, the office was 
removed to rooms over J. H. Corbit's hardware-store, on 
Walker Street, and on the 17th of April of that year James 
A. Stephenson sold his interest to George S. Corbit. On 
the 17th of March, 18G9, Mr. Corbit purchased the interest 
of John H. Stephenson, and on the 20th of October follow- 
ing James D. Estes became associated with him under the 
firm-name of Corbit & Estes, by whom it is still published. 
It has been enlarged from time to time, and is now a nine- 
column folio. It has a circulation of about eleven hundred, 
and is the leading Democratic organ in the county. The 
office is now over the store of D. C. Hurd, on Clinton 
Avenue. 

The Ovid Register, a six-column folio, was established 
in May, 1866, in the village of Ovid, by J. H. Wickwire, 
who published it for about one year, and then sold it to J. 
Leonard, who remained its proprietor only about three 
months. From that time the paper passed through several 
changes, as follows : Henry Eggabioad, A. B. Wood, J. W. 
Fitzgerald, Rutherford & Rich, and J. W. Pierson. In 
August, 1873, Reeves and Carrier purchased the paper, and 
continued its publication until Jan. 1, 1879, when Mr. 
Reeves sold his interest to Irving Carrier, and the firm is 
now Carrier & Son. During some of the numerous changes 
the paper was enlarged from six to seven columns folio, and 
on the 4th of July, 1879, it was enlarged to its present 
size. On the 2d of July, 1880, the paper changed from 
independent to Democratic in politics. 

The Maple Rapids Messenger. — A paper (six columns 
folio) bearing the above title was established in 1874. by 
the Dicky Bros., at Maple Rapids. The first number 
was issued April 16th of that year. Its publication was 
discontinued about January, 1878, and the press and 
material were removed to Muir, Ionia Co. 

The 3Iaple Rajn'ds Dispatch was established by its 
present publishers, 0. & E. D. Stair. It is an independent 
weekly, published on Saturdays, and circulates over five 
hundred copies. The first number was issued Oct: 26, 
1878. 



CIVIL LIST. 



351 



The Clinton and Shiawassee Union (eight columns folio) 
was established in the village of Ovid in June, 1879, by 
Fitzgerald & Walsh. The latter retired April 5, 1880, and 
Mr. Fitzgerald assumed the entire charge. The paper was 
then reduced in size to a four-column folio. 

The Some Chronicle was first issued on the 2d day of 
October, 1878, by Frank H. Hose. It advocated green- 
back principles, and was discontinued on the 6th of August, 
1879. 

CLINTON COUNTY CIVIL LIST.. 

In this list the names are given of those who have held 
county ofSces, and also of those, resident in Clinton, who 
have held important offices in or under the State or national 
government. 

REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS. 

Eandolph Strickland, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTOR.' 

Charles Kipp, Sixth District, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

SECRETARY OF STATE. 

Oliver L. Spaulding, elected Nov. 6, 1866; re-elected 
Nov. 3, 1868. 

AUDITOR-GENERAL OF MICHIGAN. 
John Swegles, Jr., elected Nov. 5, 1850.* 

REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY. 

Oliver L. Spaulding, elected Nov. 2, 1858, to fill vacancy. 
Samuel S. Walker, elected April, 1875. 

MEMBERS OF CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS. 

Convention of 1850, convened at Lansing, June 3d. — 
David Sturgis, elected November, 1849. 

Convention of 1867, convened at Lansing, May 15th. — 
Alvah H. Walker and Nathaniel I. Daniels, elected April 
1, 1867. 

STATE SENATORS. 

Jesse F. Turner, elected November, 1843 ; re-elected 
November, 1844. 

Isaac T. Hollister, elected November, 1856. 
Randolph Strickland, elected November, 1860. 
Henry M. Perrin, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 
Stephen Pearl, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 
Adam Beattie, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 
Porter K. Perrin, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

REPRESENTATIVES IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE. 

Robert G. McKee,t elected November, 1838. 
Milo H. Turner, elected Nov. 1-2, 1841. 
Daniel Ferguson, Jr., elected Nov. 6-7, 1843. 
Samuel M. Scott, elected Nov. 4, 1845. 
Wm. W. Upton, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 
Samuel M. Scott, elected Nov. 2, 1847. 
Morris E. Allen, elected Nov. 7, 1848. 
Samuel M. Scott, elected Nov. 6, 1849. 
David Clark, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

* The first auditor elected under the constitution of 1850. 
f Elected before the organization of Clinton Countj. 



Robert E. Craven, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Timothy II. Petit, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

James Kipp, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

David I. Daniels, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

Chandler Freeman, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

Moses Bartow, First District, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Orrin W. Munger, Second District, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Sidney U. Alexander, First District, elected Nov. 6, 1 866. 

Stephen Pearl, Second District, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

Philo Doty, First District, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

Aaron Sickles, Second District, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

Philo Doty, First District, elected Nov. 8, 1870. 

Rowland S. Van Scoy, Second District, elected Nov. 8, 
1870. 

John C. Brunson, First District, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 

Rowland S. Van Scoy, Second District, elected Nov. 5, 
1872. 

Samuel S. Walker, First District, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 

Moses Bartow, Second District, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 

Eugene V. Chase, First District, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

Newton Baker, Second District, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 

Eugene V. Chase, First District, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

Frank Necker, Second District, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

ASSOCIATE JUDGES. 

Hiram Wilcox, elected April 4, 1839 ; re-elected April 

4, 1840. 

Joseph Sever, elected April 4, 1839. 
David Sturgis, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 
Timothy H. Petit, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 
Chandler W. Coy, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 
Henry M. Sickles, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 
Joseph Sever, elected Nov. 7, 1848. 

JUDGES OF PROBATE. 

Hiram W. Stowell, elected April 4, 1839; term com- 
menced upon election. 

Theodore H. Chapin, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 

Levi Townson, elected Nov. 3, 1846 ; died July, 1849. 

J. Baker, acting judge of probate remainder of term, 
appointed July 14, 1849. 

Cortland Hill, elected Nov. 5, 1850 ; re-elected Nov. 2, 
1852. 

Seth P. Marvin, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

Henry M. Perrin, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

William Sickles, elected Nov. 8, 1864. 

Porter K. Perrin, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

Joel H. Cranson, elected Nov. 5, 1872; re-elected Nov. 
7, 1876. 

COUNTY JUDGE. 

Jesse F. Turner, elected Nov. 3, 1846; re-elected Nov. 

5, 1850; resigned Feb. 8, 1851. 

SECOND JUDGE. 
William Shepard, elected Nov. 3, 1846 ; re-elected Nov. 
5, 1850 ; acted as county judge from Feb. 8, 1851, to Jan. 
1, 1852. 

SHERIFFS. 

William F. Jenison, elected April 4, 1839. 
James K. Morris, elected Nov. 2-3, 1840. 



352 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Samuel M. Scott, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 

William F. Jenison, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 

Robert G. McKee, elected Nov. 7, 1848. 

Obadiah J. Niles, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Adam W. Partridge, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

Philo Doty, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

Gardner Conn, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

William Brunson, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

William T. Plowman, elected Nov. 4, 1862 ; re-elected 
Nov. 8, 1864. 

Abner B. Wood, Jr., elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

Henry P. Adams, elected Nov. 3, 1868 ; reelected Nov. 
8, 1870. 

Cassius M. Carrier, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 

Galusha Pennell, elected Nov. 3, 1874 ; re-elected Nov. 

7, 1876. 

Murdo McDonald, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

COUNTY CLERKS. 

Seth P. Marvin, elected April 4, 1839 ; term commenced 
upon election ; re-elected Nov. 2-3, 1840. 

De Witt C. Chapin, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 

Samuel M. Scott, elected Nov. 4-5, 1844. 

Walter Ilubbell, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 

Joseph H. Adams, elected Nov. 5, 1850; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1852 ; and again Nov. 7, 1854. 

DeWitt C. Chapin, elected Nov. 4, 1856; reelected 
Nov. 2, 1858, and Nov. 6, 1860. 

Horatio Hunter, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

Heman C. Smith, elected Nov. 8, 1864 ; re-elected Nov. 
6, 1866. 

John M. Easton, elected Nov. 3, 1868; re-elected Nov. 

8, 1870. 

F. Byron Cutler, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 
Charles H. Palmer, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 
Hanford H. Hawley, elected Nov. 7, 1876; re-elected 
Nov. 5, 1878. 

REGISTERS OF DEEDS. 

Milo H. Turner, elected April 4, 1839 ; term commenced 
upon election ; re-elected Nov. 2-3, 1840. 

Jesse F. Turner, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 

Hiram Wilcox, elected Nov. 4-5, 1844. 

Joseph H. Adams, elected to fill vacancy Nov. 4, 1845. 

Samuel Treat, elected Nov. 3, 1846. 

Frederick R. Read, elected Nov. 7, 1848. 

Seth P. Blarvin, elected Nov. 5, 1850; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1852, and Nov. 7, 1854. 

Henry S. Gibbons, elected Nov. 4, 1856 ; re elected Nov. 
2, 1858. 

William Sickles, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

IMorgan L. Leach, elected Nov. 4, 1862. 

Burtis H. Beers, elected Nov. 8, 1864 ; re-elected Nov. 
6, 1866. 

John B. McLean, elected Nov. 3, 1863; re-elected Nov. 
8,1870. 

Robert Young, elected Nov. 5, 1 872. 

Jacob F. Shraft, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 

Henry S. Hilton, elected Nov. 7, 1876; re elected Nov. 
5, 1878. 



COUNTY TREASURERS. 

John Gould, elected April 4, 1839 ; term commenced 
upon election. 

William Utley, elected Nov. 2-3, 1840. 

Hiram Stowell, elected Nov. 7-8, 1842. 

William W. Upton, elected Nov. 4-5, 1844. 

Daniel Ferguson, elected Nov. 3, 1846 ; re-elected Nov. 

7, 1848. 

Stephen Pearl, elected Nov. 5, 1850 ; re-elected Nov. 2, 
1852, Nov. 7, 1854, and Nov. 2, 1858. 

Charles Kipp, elected Nov. 6, 1860 ; re-elected Nov. 4, 
1862, Nov. 8, 1864, and Nov. 6, 1866. 

Josiah Upton, elected Nov. 3, 1808; re-elected Nov. 8, 
1870, and Nov. 5, 1872. 

Richard Moore, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 

Myron Ellis, elected Nov. 7, 1876; re-elected Nov. 5, 
1878. 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.* 
Calvin C. Parks, appointed 1840-41. 
Levi Townson, appointed 1842; continued to 1848. 
Joseph Hollister, appointed 1848. 
Joab Baker, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 
Randolph Strickland, elected Nov. 2, 1852; re-elected 
Nov. 7, 1854, Nov. 4, 1856, and Nov. 2, 1858. 

Henry Walbridge, elected Nov. 6, 1860 ; re-elected Nov. 

8, 1864. 

Josephus 0. Selden, elected Nov. fi, 1866. 
Anthony Cook, elected Nov. 3, 1868; re-elected Nov. 8, 
1870, and Nov. 5, 1872. 

John H. Fedewa, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 
Benton H. Seovill, elected Nov. 7, 1876. 
John H. Fedewa, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 
Robert E. Craven, elected April 4, 1839. 
Calvin Marvin, elected April 4, 1839. 
Ephraim H. Utley, elected April 4, 1839. 
Calvin Marvin, elected Nov. 4-5, 1839. 
Hiram Benedict, Jr., elected Nov. 2-3, 1840. 
Jesse F. Turner, elected Nov. 1-2, 1841. 

COUNTY SURVEYORS. 

Charles R. Spicer, elected April 4, 1839 ; term com- 
menced upon election. 

Jared Higbee, elected Nov. 2-3, 1840. 

William W. Upton, elected Nov. 1-2, 1841 ; re-elected 
Nov. 7-8, 1842. 

Robert G. McKee, elected Nov. 4-5, 1844. 

Charles B. Roberts, elected Nov. 7, 1848. 

John 0. Palmer, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Orville B. Ingersoll, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

Edward Paine, elected Nov. 7, 1854 ; re-elected Nov. 4, 
1850. 

Oliver C. Hollister, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

Heman G. Smith, elected Nov. 6, 1860. 

Jiihn 0. Palmer, elected Nov. 4, 1862 ; re-elected Nov. 
8, 1864, Nov. 6, 1866, Nov. 3, 1868, and Nov. 8, 1870. 



* Prosecuting attorneys were appointed by the Governor until 
1S50, when the office was made elective. 



COUNTY SOCIETIES. 



353 



Thurlow W. Lurk, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 
Ileory H. Jenison, elected Nov. 3, 1874 ; re-elected 
Nov. 7, 1876. 

Charles E. HoUister, elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

CORONERS. 

David Watson, elected April 4, 1839. 

William A. Hewitt, elected April 4, 1839. 

Edwiu L. Phillips, David Watson, elected Nov. 2-3, 
1840. 

James Sowle, Jr., Ebenczer Smith, elected Nov. 7-8, 
1842. 

Henry Gibbs, Jr., Oliver Beebe, elected Nov. 4-5, 1844. 

Mark A. Child, elected Nov. 2, 1847. 

Ephraim Bixby, Benjamin F. Nichols, elected Nov. 7, 
1848. 

Caleb A. Lamb, Isaac T. Hollister, elected Nov. 5, 1850. 

Mark A. Child, Charles Turner, elected Nov. 2, 1852. 

William Brunson, Henry Lane, elected Nov. 7, 1854. 

John Manchester, Charles Sessions, elected Nov. 4, 1856. 

Charles Sessions, Burtis H. Beers, elected Nov. 2, 1858. 

Charles W. Brown, Burtis II. Beers, elected Nov. G, 
1860. 

Orange Whitlock, Charles Sessions, elected Nov. 4, 1802. 

Nathaniel I. Daniels, William A. Chaddock, elected Nov. 
8, 1864. 

Warren II. Stone, Ransom Reed, elected Nov. 6, 1866. 

Daniel Ilurd, Charles Sessions, elected Nov. 3, 1868. 

Daniel Hurd, Josiah Murdock, elected Nov. 8, 1870. 

George Allen, John N. McFarland, elected Nov. 5, 1872. 

John Miller, William Van Dyke, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 

F. Byron Cutler, Charles Sessions, elected Nov. 7, 1876 ; 
re-elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS. 

David I. Daniels, elected Nov. 2, 1852; re-elected Nov. 
7, 1854. 

Henry Walbridge, elected Nov. 4, 1856; re-elected Nov. 
2, 1858. 

Obed F. Strickland, elected Nov. 6, 1860; re-elected 
Nov. 4, 1862. 

Anthony Cook, elected Nov. 8, 1864 ; re-elected Nov. 

6, 1866. 

Sylvester Hoyt, elected Nov. 3, 1863. 
Moses Bartow, elected Nov. 5, 1870. 
Nelson De Long, Henry E. Walbridge, elected Nov. 5, 
1872. 

Richard Baylis, AVilliam H. Castle, elected Nov. 3, 1874. 
Henry E. Walbridge, Ciiarles M. Morreil, elected Nov. 

7, 1876 ; re-elected Nov. 5, 1878. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF SCUOOLS. 

Elisha Mudgc, elected April 5, 1869. 
Joseph B. Chapin, elected April 3, 1871. 
Edward Paine, elected April 7, 1873. 

DRAIN COMMISSIONERS (Two Year,). 

John O. Palmer, elected April 5, 1869. 
Stephen Pearl, elected April 3, 1871. 
45 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

COUNTY SOCIETIES-AGRICULTURE-MANUPAC- 
TURES-POPUIiATION. 

Pioneer Society of Clinton County — Clinton Bible Society — Farmers' 
Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Clinton County — Clinton County 
Agricultural ami Horticultural Society — Pomona County Grange^ 
Agriculture of the County— Manufacturing Industries — Population 
of the County at Different Periods. 

PIONEER SOCIETY OF CLINTON COUNTY. 

On the 4th day of November, 1873, a meeting was held 
at the Perrin House, in the village of St. Johns, for the 
purpose of organizing a pioneer society. The meeting was 
called to order. Orange Wiiitlock, of Greenbush, was called 
to the chair, and Randolph Strickland, of Bingham, was 
appointed secretary. After the object of the meeting had 
been briefly stated, the society was organized by the elec- 
tion of the following-named ofiScers, viz. : 

President, Cortland Hill, Bengal. Vice-Presidents, Ed- 
win Phelps, Bath ; L T. Hollister, Victor ; William Shep- 
ard, Ovid ; John Faxon, Duplain ; Orange Whitlock, 
Greenbush ; John Avery, Bingham ; Moses Tabor, Olive ; 
David Scott, De Witt ; Harvey Hunter, Watertown ; Wil- 
liam Van Dyke, Riley; Miner Frink, Bengal; David 
Scott, Essex ; Charles Sessions, Lebanon ; Constantine 
Gruler, Dallas ; Moses Bartow, Westphalia ; David Clark, 
Eagle. Secretary, Randolph Strickland. 

The first annual meeting was held at the coui-t-house on 
the 15th of January, 1874. Short speeches were made by 
several of the old pioneers, and the society adjourned to 
meet at the fair-grounds in St. Johns, on the 10th of June, 
1874, at which time an address was delivered by the presi- 
dent, Cortland Hill, and a paper was read by Mrs. Parks. 
Short speeches were made by the Hon. Robert G. McKee, 
Henry B. Gibbons, and David Scott. The first basket pic- 
nic of the society was held at De Witt on the 25th of Au- 
gust, 1877 ; the second, on the 22d of August, 1878, was 
held at Maple Rapids ; the third, on the 27th of August, 
1879, at the grove of B. M. Shepard, at Shepardsville. 

The following is a list of the presidents, secretaries, and 
treasurers of the society since its organization : Presidents 
Cortland Hill, 1874-76; B. F. Kneeland, 1877; John C 
Brunson, 1878 ; David Scott, 1879 ; Cortland Hill, 1880, 
Secretaries, R. Strickland, 1874-75 ; Mrs. Mary E. Striek 
land, 1876; John 0. Palmer, 1877-78; Henry S. Hilton 
1879 ; William Brunson, 1880. Treasurers, Morris Bough 
ton, 1874-75; William Van Dyke, 1876-78; M. R 
Frink, 1879-80. 

The following named persons have become members of 
the Clinton County Pioneer Society at and since its organ- 
ization, viz. : 

Aaron Sickles. Miner R. Frink. 

Mrs. M. J. Sickles. Lucinda Frink. 

Randolph Strickland. Mrs. Mary E. Hobert. 

Mrs. Mary E. Strickland. George W. Kinney. 
Homer W. Hale. Alvah Walker. 

Liberty Carter. Minerva S. Walker. 

William M. Hobert. David Ward. 

Morris Boughton. Hiram Nestel. 

Lucretia Boughton. William B. Lazelle. 



351 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Moses Bartow. 
Mrs. Adelia Bartow. 
James N. Vansier. 
Cortland Hill. 
Mrs. Lucioda Hill. 
Burtis H. Beers. 
James E. Hiscock. 
Mrs. E. M. Hiscock. 
Orange Wbitlock. 
Mrs. Phoebe A. Whitlock. 
Orange A. Whitlock. 
W. J. Whitlock. 
Henry S. Gibbon.s. 
Mrs. Mary E. Gibbons. 
Orrin W. Munger. 
William Besley. 
Mrs. J. Besley. 
Porter K. Perriu. 
Mrs. Ella M. Perrio. 
Reuben S. Norris. 
Mrs. Sarah Norris. 
John B. Shear. 
David Clark. 
Aran Beebe. 
Mrs. M. T. Parks. 
John 0. Palmer. 
Cassius M. Carrier. 
Mrs. Addie Carrier. 
Mrs. Charlotte F. Palmer. 
William H. Watts. 
George Hicks. 
Joel H. CransoD. 
William Burns. 
Mrs. Ann Burns. 
A. J. Halsey. 
Atwell Simmons. 
William J. Bancroft. 
E. Nithaway. 
Benjamin F. Kneeland. 
John Parks. 
U. R. Owen. 
Maria Bancroft. 
Loren Miner. 
Mrs. C. Wilson. 
Samuel Knapp. 
George Allen. 
Charles Grant. 
Michael Ryan. 
S. W. Gibbs. 
Lyman Swagart. 
William Van Dyke. 
Sarah J. Van Dyke. 
Moses D. Tabor. 
Lewis Smith. 
A. Weller. 
Mrs. A. Weller. 
Charles E. Lamb. 
Israel M. Bray. 
John Brown. 
A. J. Bemcnt. 



Caroline Bement. 
Joseph T. Perkins. 
Isaac C. Jones. 
Mary A. Jones. 
Mary A. Bray. 
Stephen Hill. 
Robert G. McKee. 
Thomas J. Woodman. 
John M. Easton. 
Ainsworth Reed. 
Dorr K. Stowell. 
Mary J. Smith. 
Caleb A. Lamb. 
David P. Wilcox. 
Edgar D. Moss. 
Lydia M. Moss. 
Frederick Lehmer. 
Isaac T. Hollister. 
Ellen C. Hollister. 
William H. Norris. 
Sarah A. Norris. 
Chauncey S. Wolcott. 
Olive Hill. 
Abigail Miller. 
William Shepherd. 
John C. Brunson. 
Elijah J. Stone. 
Henry Park. 
Mrs. Eleanor E. Morton. 
Allen Nichols. 
Mary S. Brunson. 
Mary E. Rundall. 
Clarissa Gage. 
Simeon Hewitt. 
Hannah C. Hewitt. 
Chauncey Lott. 
John J. Kniffin. 
James W. Smith. 
Edwin D. Webster. 
Caroline Webster. 
Marvin Babcock. 
Mary Babcock. 
Maria Nichols. 
David P. Dryer. 
William J. Moss. 
Esther A. Moss. 
William Young. 
Addison U. Cook. 
Mary A. Young. 
Willard King. 
Martin L. Corbin. 
Martha J. Corbiu. 
Charles E. Hollister. 
Liiman Wilcox. 
Nathaniel I. Daniels. 
George W. Freeman. 
Pauline M. Freeman. 
David Hollister. 
Ambrose T. Bates. 
Isaac Hewitt. 



Helen C. Hewitt. 
Rufus C. Hewitt. 
Lewis Bentley. 
Walter A. Cook. 
Sarah A. Cook. 
O. W. Robinson. 
Mary D. Robinson. 
Joseph F. Owen. 
S. A. Owen. 
James A. Fornian. 
Dollie S. Forman. 
H. B. Bliss. 
Ellen Bliss. 
A. J. Moss. 
Mary Whitacre. 
Hervey Lyon. 
Hiram H. Richmond. 
Frank Hudson. 
Paul De Witt. 
Mary M. De Witt. 
John W. Merrihew. 
John M. Merrihew. 
Martin Ilubbell. 
Lovinia Ilubbell. 
J. T. Daniels. 
Mrs. J. T. Daniels. 
William P. Ladd. 
Emeline Ladd. 
Stephen Pearl. 
Sarah A. Pearl. 
John Anderson. 
Cornelia Anderson. 
Walter Doty. 
Mrs. Cornelia N. Hazard. 
Nelson Daniels. 
Olive Daniels. 
Isaac M. Ocoboek. 
Benjamin F. Ocoboek. 
M. S. Moss. 
M. A. Moss. 
Samuel Forman. 
Catharine Forman. 
Henry INIulden. 
Vesta E. Mulden. 
George W. Groom. 
John L. Lyon. 
Lucinda L. Lyon. 
D. J. Rogers. 
Matilda Rogers. 
Edward Jones. 
Russell Whitney. 
ArviUa T. Whitney. 



Joseph W. Hewitt. 
Sarah A. Hewitt. 
John R. Haise. 
John A. WatsoD. 
Homer Watson. 
Andrew Dunlap. 
Thomas Craven. 
Orville Williams. 
Jacob W. Weller. 
Allen C. Bennett. 
Caroline M. Bennett. 
Sally Williams. 
Rudolpbus Loomis. 
Hannah C. Loomis. 
Josiah Murdock. 
Edward Paine. 
Sarah J. Sickles. 
John H. Fa.^ion. 
Mary A. Faxon. 
Lucy S. Watson. 
Jane Caster. 
Catharine L. Shepard. 
John T. Tanagor. 
Harriet Tanagcr. 
David Coats. 
Daniel A. Sutfin. 
Elsana Sutfin. 
Albert McKewen. 
Norman R. Allen. 
Mary A. Allen. 
George R. Doty. 
Mrs. Sarah E. Garrick. 
Latham M. Garrick. 
Joseph H. Lowe. 
Edward Patten. 
Sophia Patten. 
Elijah W. Cobb. 
Ann S. Cobb. 
Isaac N. Tanager. 
Philo C. Bassett. 
Oscar M. Peail. 
Benjamin M. Shepard. 
Elisha W. Shepard. 
James W. Welch. 
Julia A. Welch. 
Benjamin T. Welch. 
E. M. Patten. 
D C. Harrington. 
J. L. Button. 
Calvin Green. 
Mary H. Green. 
George A. Holdcn. 



At the annual meeting held June 10, ISSO, the following 
officers were elected : 

Cortland Hill, President. 
Mrs. R. Strickland, Vice-President. 
Miner R. Frink, Treasurer. 
William Brunson, Secretary. 



COUNTY SOCIETIES. 



355 



CLINTON COUNTY BIBLE SOCIETY. 

A County Bible Society was organized at De Witt in 
the year 1848. The record of the fir.st meeting is lost, but 
the minutes of the society were kept from 1849 to 1854 
inclusive, from which are taken the following items : 

" The Clinton County Bible Society held its first annual 
meeting at De Witt on Tuesday evening, the Gth day of 
February, 1849. The Rev. Lewis Coburn, President of 
the Society, having taken the chair, Robert G. McKee 
was appointed secretary pro tem. Tlie Rev. John Baugh- 
man addressed the Society and audience upon the subject 
of the distribution of the Hible, after which a collection 
was taken under the direction of the President of the 
Society." The following persons were appointed oiBcers 
for the ensuing year : President, Lewis Coburn ; Vice- 
President, Daniel Ferguson ; Secretary, Robert G. McKoo ; 
Treasurer, George T. Clark ; Executive Committee, J. F. 
Turner, Cortland Hill, James Sturgis, Seth P. Marvin, 
Joseph H. Adams, Levi Townson, and David Sturgi.s. 

At the meeting in 1850 a collection was taken, and on 
motion the amount was to be returned in books, and the 
various clergymen were appointed a distributing committee. 
At the annual meeting in 1851 it was resolved that the 
ministers are requested to preach to their several congrega- 
tions in favor of the spread of the Bible and take up col- 
lections for the purchase of the same, also to employ others 
to act as agents. The treasurer was authorized to order 
Bibles wlien needed, so far as the funds would permit. 
At a meeting held in September, 1853, the Revs. Lewis 
Coburn, John Scotford, and John Gunderman were chosen 
a committee to draft a constitution, which was adopted 
October 2d of the same year. At this meeting the 
treasurer reported five dollars and eiglity-.seven cents 
collected. Tiie annual meeting of 1854 was held in the 
Baptist church of De Witt on the 1st of October. An 
address was delivered by the Rev. J. Anderson, agent of 
the American Bible Society, and a collection was taken up, 
the amount of which was paid to J. Anderson. 

The following is a report of the condition of the society 
at that time: "The affairs of the Clinton County Bible 
Society at this date, Nov. 29, 1854, are as follows: 

"There is now duo the society from J. Sturgis. old 

treasurer, ostensibly $Hl.l) t 

From various persons as per bill in treasurer's hands 9.(18 

.1. D. Edwards, present treasurer 4. OS 

lleceivcd this day from W. U. .Sturgis, lato trousurcr, as 
follows : 

In Bibles P.7.S 

In cash 7.'JL" 

The officers of the society from 1849 to 1854 inclusive 
were as follows : 

1850. — Rev. Lewis A. Coburn, President ; Rev. Caleb 
A. Lamb, Vice-President ; F. R. Read, Secretary ; James 
Sturgis, Trca.surer; W. W. Webb, J. F. Turner, D. B. 
Johnson, W. R. Sturgis, David Sturgis, J. M. Estcs, 
Daniel Ferguson, Executive Committee. 

1851. — Rev. Lewis Coburn, President; J. Boynton, 
Vice-President ; J. Sturgis, Treasurer ; F. R. Read, Secre- 
tary. 

1852. — Rev. Lewis Coburn, President; John Gunder- 
man, Vice-President; R. Strickland, Secretary; J. IL 
Adams, Treasurer. 



1853. — Rev. John Scotford, President; Rev. Lewis 
Coburn, Vice-President ; R. Strickland, Secretary ; W. R. 
Sturgis, Treasurer. 

1854. — -Henry Post, President; Rev. John Gunder- 
man, Vice-President; Joseph H. Adams, Secretary; J. D. 
Edwards, Treasurer. 

The constitution adopted in 1853 names the society and 
explains its objects, thus: 

" Article 1st. This Society shall be called the Clinton 
County Bible Society, auxiliary to the American Bible 
Society. Article 2d. The object of this Society shall be 
to disseminate the Holy Scriptures without note or comment 
throughout the County." The names of persons attached 
to the constitution are as follows : J. M. Estes, Lewis 
Coburn, Mrs. Coburn, F. R. Read, John Scotsford, John 
Gunderman, R. Strickland, George Allen, J. D. Edwards, 
M. Moote, J. H. Adams, W. R. Sturgis, Ellen Sturgis, 
Mrs. Goodrich, Mrs. Scotford, A. Dunton. Alsa Cushman, 
A. Goodrich, M. A. Child. 

Since 1854 no records of the society have been preserved, 
and nothing further is known of its history. On the 14th 
of February of that year several Christian organizations 
convened at the Methodist Episcopal church in the village 
of St. Johns for the purpose of reorganizing a county 
Bible Society. A constitution was presented and adopted. 
The drug-store of George Hunt & Brother was selected as 
the depository of the society. It remained there till Slarch, 
1876, when it was removed to the drug-store of Dr. M. 
L. Bagg, where it is at present The transactions of the 
society since 1865, as shown by the treasurer's books, have 
been as follows : Paid for Bibles purchased in 1865, S245.28 ; 
1866, $466.72; 1867, $79.75; 1869, $219.89; 1870, 
$173.44; 1872, $126.82; 1873, $128.99 ; 1875,8142.69; 
1876, $63.84; 1877, $73.44; 1878, $49.97; 1879, $41.56. 
Auxiliary societies were formed some years ago at Ovid, 
De Witt, and. Maple Rapids, but have now declined. The 
oflBccrs of the society since its reorganization are as follows : 
Presidents, A. H. Walker, 1864 to 1875 inclusive; Rev. 
I). D. Gillett, 1876; F. U. Gary, 1877; J. E. Richards, 
1878-79 ; S. L. Hamilton, 1880. Secretaries, R. Apthorp, 
1864; William Sickles, 1865; L. G. N. Randolph, 1866 
to 1868 inclusive; M. V. Brown, 1869 to 1880. Treas- 
urers, H. C. Hodge, 1864; A. 0. Hunt, 1865 to 1875 in- 
clusive; M. V. Brown, 1876; Dr. M. L. Bagg, 1877 to 
1880. 

Following is a list of names of persons who became life 
members in 1865 and 1866 : 

1865.— Burtis H. Beer, P. C. Perrin, William Brunson, 
W. J. Bancroft, A. H. Walker, Mrs. McFarlan, Mrs. 
Sarah A. B.iker, Mrs. Fanny Brown. 

1866.— S. S. Walker, Milo A. Fowler, Joseph Wood, 
W. W. Brainerd, Louise F. Apthorp, Elizabeth Kipp, 
Hannah Plumstcad, Isabel B. Sickles, Mary E. Strickland, 
Mary E. Burgess. 

No names appear on the record since 1860. 

FARMERS' MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY 
OF CLINTON COUNTY. 

* This company was formed for the purpose of protection 
against loss by fire or lightning on all buildings and farm- 



356 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



property subject to such risk. It has been in existence 
seventeen years, and has proved so successful that it is 
rejiardcd with much satisfaction by its members. On the 
16th of March, 18G3, a meeting was lield at the village of 
St. Johns pursuant to call ; articles of association were 
agreed upon and signed by Jonathan R. Pearsall, Dewitt 
C. Chapin, Asahel R. Marvin, Henry Moon, George W. 
Cook, Lewis Coburn, and Jeremiah Emery. The articles 
of association were published three weeks in the Clinton 
Repxthlican. 

On the 19th of June, the same year, articles of associa- 
tion were published differing in some respects from the 
first, and signed by the following-named corporators : 
Ainsworth Reed, Henry Moon, William R. Allen, Lewis 
Coburn, George Allen, Asahel R. 3Iarvin, Jonathan R. 
Pearsall, Jeremiah Emery, and George W. Cook. In the 
paper of the same date a call was issued for the first meet- 
ing of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Ins-urance Company of 
Clinton County on the 7th of July, 1863, for the purpose 
of electing officers and transacting other business. 

The records of the society were burned a few years ago. 
J. H. Osborne, secretary and financial agent of the com- 
pany, opened an office in the drug-store of G. R. Hunt & 
Brother. 

The business of the company extends over the counties 
of Clinton and Gratiot. The number of policies in force, 
June 1, 1880, was two thousand three hundred, covering 
property to the amount of $2,625,371. The losses from 
September, 1877, to September, 1878, were $1933.05 ; 
from September, 1878, to September, 1879, $3268.13. 
The salaries, fees, and expenses for the year ending Dec. 
31, 1879, amounted to $1822.47. Total expenses for the 
year, $5205.97. 

The officers for 1880 are as follows : 

Josiah Upton, President; R. Du Bois, Secretary. 

Directors. — Clinton County : Orange Whitlock, Green- 
bush ; Lewis Bentley, Essex ; William Collins, De Witt ; 
W. W. Dunham, Duplain. Gratiot County : Charles Web- 
ster, Fulton. 

CLINTON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL AND HORTI- 
CULTURAL SOCIETY. 

On the 12th of January, 1853, a preliminary meeting 
was held at the " Clinton House," in the village of De 
Witt, for the purpose of organizing a county agricultural 
society. A committee appointed on constitution and per- 
manent officers reported, at a meeting held in the same 
place, on the 19th of the same month. A constitution and 
by-laws were presented and adopted. The following is a 
list of the names of the original members : 



Harvey Hunter. 
Horatio Hunter. 
J. H. Adams. 
F. R. Read. 
Jason Nichols. 
David I. Daniels. 
Samuel Forman. 
A. R. Marvin. 
W^. Lee. 
D. S. Ingersoll. 



0. B. Ingersoll. 
Eliel Ingersoll. 
Charles Scott. 
Russell Churchman. 
A. C. Lee. 
David P. Dryer. 
Charles R. McKee. 
D. S. Coats. 
John CoUister. 
Orange Ferguson. 



H. Alexander. 

U. R. Owen. 

W. Dills. 

Peter Merrihew. 

Moses Tabor. 

A. U. Cook. 

J. W. Merrihew. 

Linus Gillett. 

George Fuller. 

A. Gillett. 

George A. Merrihew. 

H. S. Green. 

Ransom Reed. 

D. Ferguson. 
H. C. Butler. 
A. Calder. 
John Hicks. 
Horatio Lyon. 
C. A. Lamb. 

C. Hill. 
David Scott. 
Parker Webber. 
J. C. Brunson. 
N. N. Thompson. 
W. Utley. 
Daniel H. Blood. 
Lewis Coburn. 

E. S. Ingersoll. 
Thomas Lester. 
AV. R. Sturgis. 

D. Olin. 

A. W. Partridge. 
I. F. HoUister. 
J. R. Pearsall. 
W. Brunson. 
H. Post. 
I. B. Smith. 



Richard Walton. 
Stephen Hill. 
Gardner Conn. 
Wm. Tanager. 
Benjamin Silsbee. 
David Knight. 
Constant Shaw. 
Henry Jones. 

B. H. Beers. 
A. Lounsbury. 
L. Hungerford. 
William H. Webb. 
A. Goodrich. 

C. Caywood. 
John Voorhees. 
David Clark. 
Philo Doty. 

J. H. Gardner. 
H. Stowoll. 
John Skinner. 
Thomas J. Allen. 
James G. Pike. 
Hiram Scott. 
Moulton Sprague. 
James Smith. 
Henry Smith. 
James W. McMillan. 
Joseph Hollister. 
Henry Jipson. 
Mary E. Silsbee. 
George Allen. 
Ira S. Thornton. 
Mrs. D. G. Wilsey. 
A. Simmons. 
S. Sherman. 
W. T. Plowman. 
T. Dunlap. 



The Committee on Permanent Officers reported the 
names of the following persons, who were elected for 1853 : 

President, Harvey Hunter. 

Vice-Presidents, J. F. Hollister, B. H. Beers, D. Fergu- 
son, H. Benedict, L. Hungerford, J. Sever, S. B. Smith. 

Recording Secretary, F. R. Read. 

Corresponding Secretary, I. H. Adams. 

Treasurer, W. W. Webb. 

Directors, O. Ferguson, C. A. Lamb, C. Hill, M. S. 
Allen, Henry Post. 

The following-named gentlemen were appointed a com- 
mittee of three fiom each township to secure members to 
the society : 

Bath.— E. L. Phelps, R. Collister, S. Batchelor. 

Victor.— J. C. Brunson, H. Hagerty, D. H. Blood. 

Ovid.— J. V. Swarthout, E. Willis, E. Fitch. 

Duplain. — H. Faxon, J. D. Sickels, Dr. Watson. 

Greenbush. — H. Avery, D. Sever, 0. Whitlock. 

Bingham.— G. W. Estes, C. A. Lamb, R. S. Norris. 

Olive.— A. Calder, J. W. Merrihew, H. S. Green. 

De Witt.— D. B. Johnson, E. Gunnison, N. N. Thomp- 
son. 



COUNTY SOCIETIES. 



357 



WatertowD. — S. Frary, A. R. Marvin, W. Lee. 

Riley. — C. Shaw, H. Jones, L. Hungerford. 

Bengal.— C. Hill, B. F. Kneeland, J. Hamer. 

Essex.— H. Benedict, T. H. Petit, F. Parr. 

Lebanon. — P. Corey, J. Vance, A. G. Russell. 

Dallas. — G. P. Button, M. Van Geri.son, Z. Rice. 

Westphalia.— W. F. Plowman, M. P. McVey, J. Piatt. 

Eagle.— J. W. Hill, W. T. Jennison, J. W. McMillan. 

The meeting adjourned to meet in the same place on 
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 1873, at one o'clock p.m. At the 
adjourned meeting in February it was decided to hold a fair 
in the village of De Witt on the 5th and 6th oF October 
of that year. A premium-list was made out and judges 
selected for the different departments, whose names are 
given below : 

On Cattle. — N. N. Thompson, Robert Darrow, and John 
Collister. 

On Horses. — E. P. Daniels, H. B. Green, and John 
Voorhees. 

On Sheep.— W. P. Esler, S. W. Downer, and Parris 
Corey. 

On Swine. — M. Van Gieson, J. R. Pearsall, D. H. 
Blood. 

On Fowls.— T. H. Petit, David Clark, Alexander Calder. 

On Grain. — Philo Doty, W. Bronson, John Va^ice. 

On Fruits.— E L. Phelps, M. Greenwood, W. T. Plow- 
man. 

On Vegetables. — David Sturgis, A. Goodrich, M. Bar- 
tow. 

On Ladies' Department. — Mary Sturgis, M. H. Adams, 
Amanda Hunter. 

On Cabinet-work. — M. S. Allen, J. H. Adams, R. S. Van 
Sevy. 

On Boots and Shoes. — Harvey Hunter, H. Benedict, C. 
A. Lamb. 

On Blacksmithing.— N. N. Thompson, T. H. Petit, W. 
W. Webb. 

On Miscellaneous. — A. R. Marvin, Moses Tober, D. Fer- 
guson. 

On Plowing.— H. Benedict, H. Post, David Clark. 

The annual fair for that year was held on the public 
square at the time specified. Premiums were awarded to 
the amount of one hundred and thirty-seven dollars and 
twenty-five cents. The entire amount of receipts from all 
sources was one hundred dollars and seventy-eight cents. 
Incidental expenses reduced this amount to eighty-one dol- 
lars and forty cents, from which to pay the premiums, it 
being fifty-nine per cent, of the amount awarded. 

Premiums were received on cattle by Charles A. Lamb, 
Samuel Sherman, N. N. Thompson, Eliel Iiigersoll, C. Shaw, 
David Scott, E. S. Ingersoll, A. R. Marvin, Stephen Hill, 
A. W. Partridge, George Allen, William Dills, and B. H. 
Beers ; on sheep by Harvey Hunter, A. C. Lee, Lewis Co- 
burn, and Charles Scott ; on horses by Gardner Conn, 
Charles Scott, A. Goodrich, A. Lounsbury, I. W. Gardner, 
Peter Merrihew, E. S. Ingersoll, and Ransom Reed ; and 
for the best five acres of wheat by David Scott ; second 
best, Harvey Hunter; best one acre of corn, I. Caywood ; 
best acre of oats, David Scott. 

The annual fairs for 185-1-55-5C were held at De Witt. 



At the annual meeting of the society, on the 10th, 11th, and 
12th of March, 1857, it was resolved that the fair of that 
year on the 8th and 9th of October be held either at De 
Witt or St. Johns, the choice to be decided as follows : 
'' The one of the two villages that subscribes the most 
money by the 15th of August, 1857, to be paid to the 
Society on or before the fair, is to have the fair at said vil- 
lage ; sealed proposals to be received until August 15th." 

The executive committee met on the 9th of September 
to consider proposals. A proposition was received from the 
inhabitants of St. Johns stating that one hundred and six 
dollars had been subscribed, and as none was received from 
De Witt it was decided to hold the fair for 1857 at the 
village of St. Johns, on the 8th and 9th of October. The 
society advertised for proposals in 1858. No propositions 
were received, and the fair was held at St. Johns, October 
13th and 14th of that year. Nothing further is known of 
the history of the society until its reorganization in 1863. 
A preliminary meeting was held at the clerk's office in De 
Witt, on the 15th of August of that year, and adjourned 
to the 29th of August, at which meeting a committee was 
appointed to draft a new constitution and by-laws. Officers 
were elected, and the 8th of October was the day fixed for 
the fair. The constitution was adopted on the 9th of Octo- 
ber of that year. 

At a meeting of the society at Clinton Hall in the vil- 
lage of St. Johns, in 1865, it was resolved to purchase ten 
or fifteen acres of land near the village, for fair-grounds. 

Messrs. Isaac T. Hollister, W. T. Bancroft, and Sidney 
U. Alexander were appointed to select the same and nego- 
tiate for the purchase. The committee reported Jan. 27, 
1866, that two tracts had been offered, and recommended 
the purchase of thirty acres of Joseph Cardinal, situated 
one mile south of the village. On the 7th of April the 
secretary of the society reported that he had made the con- 
tract for the grounds at seventeen hundred dollars. Ten 
acres were sold from the south part of the grounds for four 
hundred dollars. In the May following a contract was made 
with A. Hathaway for grading a trotting-eourse. The 
grounds were also inclosed and prepared for the fall exhi- 
bition. 

During this year articles of association were drawn up, 
having for a purpose " the reorganization and perfecting 
of a society to be known as the Clinton County Agricul- 
tural and Horticultural Society, that was attempted to be 
made on or about the 19th day of August, 1866." The 
following-named persons are mentioned in the articles for 
officers: Dr. I. T. Hollister, President; William II. Moore, 
Vice-President; B. H. Beers, Treasurer; Robert Smith, 
Secretary. These articles were not signed. 

In 1869 a floral hall was erected at a cost of three hun- 
dred dollars. Its form was that of a Greek cross, about 
eighty feet in length each way, with the central portion 
twenty feet square. The agricultural hall, twenty-four by 
fifty feet, was erected in 1874, at a cost of two hundred and 
fifty dollars. The grand stand and dining-hall were erected 
in 1877. The former is twenty-four by sixty feet, and cost 
three hundred dollars ; the latter, twenty by forty, cost one 
hundred and twenty-five dollars. A commercial hall was 
built in the season of 1878, twenty-eight by eighty feet in 



358 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



dimensions, at an expense of four hundred dollars. In 
1879 the judges' stand was built in a neat and ornamental 
style, octagonal iu form, sixteen feet square and two stories 
iu height, at a cost of three hundred and twenty five dollars. 
The society have about eighty rods of stabling for horses 
an c attle. 

The twentieth annual fair of the society was held at the 
fair-grounds in October, 1879. Nearly twelve hundred en- 
tries were made ; the receipts from all sources were three 
thousand three hundred and ninety-three dollars. Eleven 
hundred dollars was awarded in premiums for the .stock and 
articles on exhibition, and one thousand dollars for speed in 
horses. 

A new constitution and by-laws were adopted in the 
spring of 1880. 

The oiEcers of the society, as far as can be ascertained, 
have been as follows : 

Presidents. — Harvey Hunter, 1853 ; Henry Post, 1854 ; 
Isaac T. HoUister, 1855 ; no records 1856 ; Seth P. Marvin, 
1857 ; William J. Bancroft, 1858 ; Isaac T. Hollister, 1859; 
Asahel R. Marvin, 1803; John Gilbert, 18G4-G5 ; B. F. 
Kneeland, 18G6; John C. Dayton, 1866 (reorganization); 
Isaac T. Hollister, 1867; Charles Kipp, 1868-70; John 
C. Dayton, 1871-72; D. P. AVilcox, 1873; A. Stout, 
1874-75 ; Joshua Brown, 1876-77 ; R. M. Steel, 1878-80. 

Secretaries.— F. R. Read, 1853-55 ; Nobles S. Ham- 
mond, 1857; John C. Brunson, 1858; Rev. Caleb A. 
Lamb, 1859; Hiram C. Hodge, 1863; Henry S. Hilton, 
1864-65; T. B. Cutter, 1866 (reorganization); Robert 
Smith, 1866-67 ; T. Baker, 1868 ; J. B. Ni.xon, 1869-70 ; 
T. B. Cutler, 1871-75 ; H. S. Hilton, 1876 ; Alvin Shaver, 
1877 ; Richard Du Bois, 1878-79 ; Charles VV. Lyon, 1880. 

Treasurers.— W. W. Webb, 1853-55; Charles Scott, 
1857; Caleb A. Lamb, 1858; Hiram C. Hodge, 1859; 
Harvey Alexander, 18G3; S. U. Alexander, 1864-65; B. 
H. Beers, 1866; Samuel S. Walker, 1866 (reorganization) ; 
B. H. Beers, 1867 ; Samuel S. Walker, 1868-72 ; George R. 
Hunt, 1873 ; 0. B. Swain, 1874 ; David P. Wilcox, 1875 ; 
R. B. Caruss, 1876-77; Alvin Shaver, 1878-79; Josiah 
Upton, 1880. 

The fair-grounds of the Ionia, Blontcalui, Gratiot, and 
Clinton Agricultural Society are situated in the village of 
Hubbardston, in the township of Lebanon, and contain about 
thirty acres of land, on which are built substantial and com- 
modious buildings. The grounds are well fenced and a good 
track is laid out and graded. 

POMONA COUNTY GRANGE, No. 25. 

Delegates from the subordinate granges of the several 
townships convened at De Witt and St. Johns in the fall 
of 1879, for the purpose of forming a county grange; but 
nothing was effected until December 31st of that year, 
when a permanent organization was efiFected by the election 
of the following oiBcers: Thomas W. Baldwin, Olive, Master; 
Warren Halsey, Bengal, Overseer ; 0. G. Peunell, De Witt, 
Lecturer ; John J. Keyser, Keystone, Steward ; Avander 
Dickinson, Riley, Assistant Steward ; Anson McWithey, 
Olive, Chaplain; James Sowle, Essex, Treasurer; Frank 
Conn, Bingham, Secretary ; Daniel Dutton, Dallas, Gate- 
Keeper; Mary J. Drake, Dallas, Ceres; Elizabeth M. Voor- 



hees, Keystone, Pomona; Antoinette Emmet, Olive, Flora; 
Lydia A. Rice, Bengal, Lady Assistant Steward. Meetings 
are held once a month at the halls of the different granges 
throughout the county. 

AGIilCULTURE OF THE COUNTY. 

The greater part of the pioneer farmers who settled in 
Clinton County were emigrants from the State of New 
York ; men who either came here directly from that State, 
or who had previously emigrated from there to the older 
counties of Michigan, and had removed thence to Clinton. 
This being the case, it was to be expected that they should, 
as they did, plant and sow the same crops, cultivate their 
lands in the same manner, and in general pursue the same 
methods of agriculture as those to which they had been 
accustomed in the country from which they came. 

Emigrants from the old wheat-raising sections of New 
York always judged of the new countries to which they 
went by comparison with that which they had left, and to 
them the chief proof of the excellence of any soil was its 
capability for the production of wheat, — as much wheat in 
quantity and as good wheat in quality as could be raised on 
lands similarly situated in that garden spot of the world (as 
it seemed to them), the western part of the State of New 
York, and particularly the renowned Genesee Valley. And 
in their application of this test to the county of Clinton 
they found and acknowledged that in this essential particu- 
lar the new country to which they came was equal, if not 
superior, to the old country which they had left. 

Their agriculture was, of course, small at first, and was 
devoted to those crops which were indi.spcnsable to their 
immediate necessities for the support of their fiimilies. 
The first few crops of wheat, bounteous as they were, re- 
moved all fear of want, but as the very abundance lowered 
the price, and as the isolated location of the settlers of this 
county enhanced the expense of transporting their produce 
to a market, the net profit resulting from their crops was 
so small as to hardly repay the cost and labor of produc- 
tion. This disadvantage, however, was only temporary. 
In succeeding years prices became more remunerative, the 
farmers steadily increased their tilled acres, and, what was 
of more importance still, the improvement of roads and the 
opening of railroads, by affording means of transportation 
to markets, greatly enhanced the profits of agriculture. 
But so gradually was all this accomplished that it would be 
difficult to say just when the struggling pioneers of the 
early days of Clinton County became transformed into the 
prosperous and wealthy farmers who now own and till its 
soil. 

The breeding of cattle has been pursued by the farmers 
of Clinton County quite extensively, but not sufficiently so 
to give it a chief place among the agricultural industries. 
The same is true of sheep- breeding. The first settlers who 
came to locate in the county brought with them a rather 
unusually large number of cattle, for the reason that the fact 
had become known that stock could be kept here and win- 
tered even before crops of fodder had been rai.sed for their 
subsistence. On the numerous marshes of this region there 
grew spontaneously a heavy burden of tall, coarse grasses, 



AGRICULTURE. 



359 



wliicli, in the absence of tiiuotliy, clover, or other cultivated 
fodder, furnished very good food for cattle. Plain-grass 
was also found in abundance in the openings (probably 
brought in by the annual fires kindled there by the Indians 
during many previous years), and this was equally good 
and nutritious. The existence of these resources enabled 
the settlers (who were nearly all men of sufficient means 
to purchase stock) to bring cattle with them at the time of 
their settlement without fear that the animals would die 
for lack of subsistence during the first or succeeding 
winters, and it was for this reason that the number of cattle 
brought into this county by the pioneer farmers was rather 
unusually large, though probably not greater than was 
brought in by an equal number of settlers in the other 
counties of this region where the same favorable conditions 
existed. 

A few sheep were found in Clinton County prior to 
1837, and their numbers have gradually and steadily in- 
creased during subsequent j'ears, until sheep-breeding and 
wool-growing have become sources of large revenue to 
such farmers as are engaged in them. Improved breeds 
were early introduced here, and the county now contains 
a large number (notably the French and Spanish Merinoes 
and Shropshire Downs) of pure blood, with a much larger 
number of high grades. Nearly the same is the case with 
regard to improved breeds of cattle kept in the county, — 
the Durham and Galloway pure-bloods and crosses being 
perhaps the most numerous. The names of a great num- 
ber of breeders of both sheep and cattle might be given, 
with a more particular account of their several flocks and 
herds; but as in such a notice the names of some would 
necessarily be omitted, it is thought preferable to omit all 
such mention, and more particularly for the reason that 
here the breeding of improved stock is not a specialty, nor 
to be reckoned among the most important of the agricul- 
tural industries of the county. 

There are in Clinton County a very large number of 
excellent farms, with not a few of which each might with 
propriety be termed a " model farm," as the term is usually 
applied. It would be pleasant, and might be profitable, to 
give a particularized account of each of these, but as it is 
impracticable, on account of the difficulty of properly 
drawing the line of superior excellence, to notice all such 

in detail, we shall make particular mention of only one, 

a large and in every way a very remarkable farm, a great 
part of wiiich was a few years since a worthless and 
malarious swamp, from which condition it was reclaimed 
and brought to a state of high cultivation and productive- 
ness by one of Michigan's most prominent public men, the 
late Senator Zachariah Chandler. This farm comprises 
half of section 21), all of section 30, and the greater part 
of sections 31 and 32, in the township of Bath, with 
nearly all of section 25, and considerable parts of sections 
26 and 30, in the township of De Witt. An account of 
the purcha.sc of the lands, and of the manner in which they 
were reclaimed and transformed into the present noble and 
productive farm, is given in a recently published life of the 
Hon. Zachariah Chandler, from which account is extracted 
the following: 



" In 1857 the State of Michigan gave to its agricultural 
college the public lauds in the four townships of Bath, 
De Witt, Meridian, and Lansing, which were designated on 
the surveyors' maps as ' swamp-lands.' In the main, the 
sections covered by the grant were marshy, although their 
rectilinear boundaries included some solid ground. Mr. 
Chandler purchased from the college and other owners a 
farm of three thousand one hundred and sixty acres, 
located four miles (by railroad) from Lansing, in the towns 
of Bath and De Witt in Clinton County ; it included 
about nineteen hundred acres (five hundred acres of 
marsh-meadow, six hundred acres of tamarack-swamp, 
and eight hundred acres of oak-opening uplands). The 
marsh was traversed by a slender water-course, deviously 
connecting some small lakes with the Looking-Glass 
River. The upland portion of the farm was thoroughly 
fertile, but its development and cultivation did not specially 
interest Mr. Chandler, except as furnishing the needed 
base for his experiments upon the marsh. He said, 
' Michigan contains thousands of acres of precisely this 
kind of land. The drainage of this particular marsh is 
difiicult, as much so as is the case with any laud in this 
peninsula which is not a hopeless swamp. If this tract 
can be reclaimed, others can be, and I propose to give the 
experiment of reclamation a thorough trial. I have the 
money, and I believe I have the pluck. If I succeed, it 
will be a good thing for the State, for it will show how to 
add millions of dollars worth of land to its farms. If I fail, 
it will al.so be a good thing, for it will settle an open ques- 
tion, and no man need repeat my attempt.' He pushed 
this experiment vigorously from the time of its commence- 
ment until his death, and gave to it his frequent personal 
supervision. Ills investments in the marsh-farm soon came 
to be counted by many tens of thousands of dollars. 

" Originally, practical farmers were inclined to regard 
his operations as sheer folly, but as they saw the purpose, 
methods, and thoroughness of his work, .a just appreciation 
of its aim followed. Mr. Chandler never disguised the 
character of this enterprise. Repeatedly he said to visitors 
at the ftrm and to friends, ' I have a theory, — that is a re- 
markably expensive thing to have, — and I propose to test 
it here ; it will make me poorer, but it may make others 
richer some time.' 

" The public value of his experiment he believed to bo 
great, and that fact he was quick to make prominent when- 
ever it seemed necessary. The general plan of drainage 
operations consisted in connecting by a large ditch Park 
Lake (which has an area of two hundred and twenty-five 
acres) with the Looking-Glass River. This main ditch 
was constructed by straightening the bed of Prairie Creek, 
and possessed descent enough to insure a slow current in 
wet seasons. It is about four miles in length, and averages 
fourteen feet in width by four in depth. At intervals of 
forty rods are constructed lateral ditches, as a rule five feet 
in width at the top by three in depth. This part of the 
work had not been completed at the time of Mr. Chandler's 
death, but still the lateral ditching had reached about fifty 
miles in aggregate length, and had well drained about one 
thousand acres in the western end of the marsh, near the 
outlet into the Looking-Glass. In that portion of the 



360 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



farm the first results of the drainage — the rotting down 
of the surface of the marsh into a vegetable mould — have 
already manifested themselves satisfijctorily. The extent 
to which this decomposition will continue is not com- 
pletely tested, nor does it yet appear wliat will be the full 
measure of the arability of soil which will be created by 
this process, supplemented by the tile-draining which will 
follow the subsidence of the marsh to a permanent level. 
This peaty surface varies from two and a half feet to a rod 
in depth, and promises to become an enormously produc- 
tive soil. The experiments thus far tried upon it have 
resulted hopefully. Much of the native grass furnished 
excellent hay, and stock fatted upon it thoroughly with no 
more than the usual allowance of grain. The tame grass 
sown was chiefly fowl-meadow and timothy. The former 
Mr. Chandler had seeu growing in Holland on reclaimed 
land, and he determined to give it a trial. He was only 
able to find the seed in the Boston market, and there paid 
for it four dollars per bushel of eleven pounds. It is a 
species of red-top, and soon yielded from one and a half to two 
tons of excellent hay per acre. For four seasons this seeding 
down with tame grasses was tried with satisfactory results, 
and then other experiments followed. In the fall of 1878 
twelve acres of marsh, then well seeded down with grass, 
were thoroughly plowed by Superintendent Hughes, who 
in the following season raised thereon corn, potatoes, ruta- 
bagas, and oats. The results conclusively showed that the 
marsh possessed general productiveness, although the ex- 
periment itself was marred by the unseasonable frosts of 
1879. The corn looked well at the outset, but was severely 
injured in the end. The potato-crop was a good one, and 
the yield of oats was also large. In the fall of 1879 
another tract of twelve acres was plowed, and the same ex- 
periment was put in process of repetition. 

"Superintendent Hughes is of the opinion that within 
another year the reclaimed marsh will produce one hundred 
bushels of corn to the acre. A short time before his death 
Mr. Chandler said that in view of the success which had at- 
tended the experiments already tried, he now felt confident 
that in time his farm would be pointed out as an ague-bed 
transformed into one of the most valuable pieces of prop- 
erty in Central Michigan, and would demonstrate the re- 
claimability of large tracts of swamp-land in that State. 
About five hundred acres of the marsh are seeded with 
fowl-meadow grass; about three hundred acres of this is 
mowed, and the remainder is used for pasturage. Over four 
hundred tons of excellent hay were cut there in the season 
of 1879. 

" Outside of the interest attaching to it by reason of the 
drainage experiments, the Chandler farm would deserve 
notice sis one of the most thoroughly equipped and stocked 
of the new Ihrms of M ichigan. It is traversed by a State road, 
and by the Jackson, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad (which 
has established a signal-station near the farm-house). Its 
buildings are located upon the highest ground. They are 
substantially constructed, and surrounded with all the evi- 
dences of thrift. The main house of the farm, which is 
occupied b}' the superintendent and his family, is a commodi- 
ous frame structure, two stories in height, and conveniently 
partitioned ofl" into spacious and airy apartments. Near it 



is the horse-barn (thirty-two by fifty-four feet in dimen- 
sions), with sheep-sheds adjoining. About a half mile to 
the east are two tenant-houses, occupied by fiimilies em- 
ployed on the farm. On the east side of the State road, at 
a distance of half a mile, is a large barn erected in 1879 ; 
its main portion is forty-one by sixty-six feet in dimensions, 
with a wing thirty-eight by ninety feet; its height is forty- 
four feet to the ridge ; attached are sheds two hundred and 
fifty feet in length and L-shapod. This barn is largely 
used for storage purposes, and will receive two hundred and 
fifty tons of hay. The basement of its wing is divided 
into sixty cattle-stalls, thirty on each side, with a broad 
passage through the centre. The stalls are ingeniously 
arranged in the most improved style, and with a special 
regard for cleanliness. In the basement of the main barn 
is a large root-cellar (capable of holding two thousand 
bushels of potatoes, turnips, etc.), stabling accommodations 
for "eight horees, two large box-stalls for stallions, a feed- 
room, twenty by twenty-five feet in size, numerous calf- 
pens, and manj' other conveniences. 

" Located above are two granaries, each twelve by twenty- 
six feet in dimensions. Attached to the barn, but in a 
separate building, is a twelve-horse power engine, used for 
cutting feed and for other farm purposcJ5. A large automa- 
tic windmill and pump supply water in abundance. 

" The farm is well stocked ; on it are seventeen horses, 
including ' Mark Antony,' an imported Normandy stallion, 
which is a fine specimen of the Pcrcheron breed. There 
are also one hundred and twenty head of handsome graded 
cattle on the farm, three hundred sheep graded from Shrop- 
shire Down bucks, and twenty-three pure-bred Essex swine. 
In wagons and implements of every kind the equipment is 
complete, and all are of the best manufacture and most im- 
proved quality. The force of laborei-s on the farm, as a rule, 
includes five men in summer and three in winter, large 
gangs being employed during the two months of the haying 
season, and also when there is any extensive fencing or 
ditching enterprise to be pushed. Mr. Chandler's experi- 
ments were closely watched by the farmers of Michigan. 
Visits were frequent from them singly, in small parties, and 
in club or grange excursions to the marsh, and they always 
met a hospitable reception. Letters of inquirj' also camo 
from many parts of the State, giving evidences of the wide- 
spread character of the interest felt. Mr. Chandler him- 
self when in Michigan visited the farm at least once a 
mouth, inspecting the work thoroughly, discussing plans 
with the superintendent, making suggestions, and giving 
orders. His experience as a farmer in his boyhood fur- 
nished ideas which were yet useful and a judgment which 
was well informed, still he was ready to welcome all inno- 
vations that promised good results, and he closed many dis- 
cussions with his superintendents by remarking, ' If you 
come at me with facts, that is enough : I never argue 
against them.' " 

The fuUowing agricultural statistics of the county of 
Clinton at difTerent periods from the j'car 1840 to the year 
1874, inclusive, are gathered from the returns of the several 
censuses by the United States and the State of Michigan, 
viz. : 



AGRICULTURE. 



361 



1840. 

Number of neat cattle in the county 1.621 

" swine in the county 2,560 

" sheep " *''* 

Pounds of wool shorn o?Io 

Bushels of wheat harvested in the preceding year 18,(i32 

Indian corn " " " li.2!m 

barley " " " '"» 

oats " " " 11.310 

" potatoes " " " 17,033 

Tons of hay cut preceding year ^^4 

Pounds of sugar made (1840) 27,666 

1850. 

Whole number of occupied farms '>52 

Cash value " " f5".835 

Total number of acres improved -1,8-6 

" •• neat cattle kept in county 4,760 

" " sheep " " 5,085 

" ■" swine " " 4,788 

" value of live stock $108,671 

Bushels of wheat harvested in preceding year 54,297 

" rye " " " ^28 

" Indian corn raised " " 64,967 

oats " " " 38,960 

barley " " " '61 

" buckwheat " " " ^.'26 

potatoes " " " i>."»2 

Value of orchard products preceding year $337 

Tons of hay cut preceding year 5,013 

Pounds of wool sheared (1850) 14,638 

** maple-sugar made (1860) 125,024 

" butter made (June, 184U. tu June, 1850) 135,613 

" cheese '* ** " *' 5,J36 

1854. 

Number of acres of improved land.; 28,870 

" neat cattle in county 7,423 

" swine ** 4,941 

" sheen ' ................................. o,uDo 

Pounds of wool sheared preceding year 14,096 

" pork marketed " " 110,599 

Acres of wheat harvested " " 6,736 

Bushels •' " " ;; 98.™ 

Acres of corn " " " 6,944 

Bushels of corn " " " 118,686 

" all other grains harvested in preceding year. 44,923 

Bushels potatoes raised Jireccding year 53,791 

Tons of hay cut " " ".'J!*? 

Pounds of butter made " " 157,677 

cheese •' " " "."SS 

" maple-sugar made in 1854 125,185 

1860. 

Whole number of occupied farms 2,074 

" ** acres improved 78,425 

Total cash value of farms $.S,578,2.30 

Number of neat cattle in county 14,892 

swine " 9,'''26 

" sheep " 17,527 

Total value of live stock $509,571 

Pounds of wool sheared in preceding year 50,853 

Bushels of wheat harvested " " 149,182 

rye " " " V^l 

Indian corn" " " 161,105 

oats " " " '•"'.123 

•< barley " " " 4,146 

■• buckwheat " " " 5.963 

** poUttoes raised " ** 59,780 

Value <if orchard products " " S7,005 

Tons of hay cut " " lfi.352 

Pounds of butter made " " 4.i9,27l 

" cheese " " " 32,463 

" maple-sugar made " " 329,273 

1864. 

Number of acres improved in the county 67,007 

•' sheep over si.i months old 40,103 

Pounds of wiinl phcared in preceding year 125,931 

Acres ol wheat harvested " " 14,B.">4 

Bushels " " " " »VJ03 

•• corn " " " "89,472 

" all other grains harvested in preceding year... 117,480 

" potatoes raised in preceding year 60,942 

Tons of hay cut " " 21,145 

Pounds of pork marketed " " 459,900 

" butter made " " 382,146 

« cheese " " " 2.3,568 

•' maple-sugar made '* *' 174,183 

4(3 



1870. 

Number of acres improved in county 113,578 

Value of farms $9,248,012 

" all live stock Sl,321.9i0 

Number of sheep kept Ji'!?^ 

Pounils of wool shorn e'ltn 

Number of milch cows _ 6,6.0 

Pounds of butter made in the preceding year 796,970 

Bushels of wheat harvested " " 499.030 

Indian corn " " " 274,606 

,< ,,.,[3 " " " 285,419 

barley " " " 17.871 

" buckwheat " " " ^J'^'^ 

" potatoes raised " " 227,140 

Tons of hay cut in the preceding year 29,.369 

Pounds of maple-sugar made (1870) 78,500 

1874. 

Total acres of improved land 144,568 

Number of fifms ^'^b.?i 

Average area of f;irms (acres) 83i 

Number of neat cattle kept 22,476 

** swine over six months old 10,(0o 

Pounds of pork marketed in preceding year 1,040.847 

Number of sheep kept in county 43,064 

Number of sheep sheared in preceding year 43,312 

Pounds of wool " " " 1",909 

Acres of wheat harvested " ' 30,979 

Bushels of •• •• " " 565,552 

Acres of corn " " " }J'A2, 

Bushels of corn " " " ^96,207 

all other grains " " 449,423 

potulo.s raised " " 90,.390 

Tons of hay cut jireceding year d?'i'1Sr 

Pounds of butler m:ide preceding year ol ik 

" cheese " " " i-l'cln 

" maple-sugar made in 1874 1(5,640 

Bushels of ajiples raised in preceding year 105,205 

'* peaches *' " '* *° 

pears " " " ^^S 

plums " " " ,93 

" cherries " " " 1'32* 

Tons of grapes " " " f 

Total value of fruits raised in preceding year 'noo 

Total acres devoted to fruits in 1874 6,932 

The agricultural report published by the Secretary of 
State for 1877 shows the number of bushels of wheat 
raised in that year in the several townships of Clinton 
County to have been as follows : 

Bath 63,590 

Bengal ';:«.7 * 

Dallas 94,247 

De Witt 81,480 

Eagle 69,944 

Esse-t 5»'983 

Grcenbush 60,092 

Lebanon '9.^9 

Olive 68,029 

Ovid 79.214 

Riley 61.74, 

Victor 54,43, 

Watertown 104,44o 

Westphalia 84,874 

Total bushels raised in county 1,200,433 

Total number of acres harvested 50,223 

Average yield of bushels per acre 23.09 

Agricultural statistics — gathered from the same source 
as the above— for tlie year 1878 show the following yield 
of wheat in the several townships of Clinton County, viz. : 

Bath township, from 27.56 acres produced 56016 bushels, 
an average of 20.33 bushels per acre; Bengal, from 4117 
acres 93,900 bushels, average 22.81 ; Binghatu, from 4027 
acres 95,661 bushels, average 23.76 ; Dallas, from 4696 acres 
101,949 bu-shcls, average 21.71 ; De Witt, from 3919 acres 
97,279 bushels, average 24.82 ; Duplain, from 2233 acres 
52,213 bushels, average 23.38; Eagle, from 4523 acres 
, 104,989 bushels, average 28.21 ; Essex, from 4727 acres 



362 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



102,918 bushels, average 21.77; Greenbush, from 3329 
acres 75,502 bushels, average 22.68 ; Lebanon, from 3587 
acres 79,579 bushels, average 22.19; Olive, from 3723 
acres 86,994 bushels, average 23.37 ; Ovid, from 4131 
acres 106,862 bushels, average 25.87; Riley, from 3456 
acres 81,608 bushels, average 23.61; Victor, from 3454 
acres 82,414 bushels, average 23.86; Watertown, from 
4825 acres 124,783 bushels, average 25.86 ; Westphalia, 
from 3779 acres 86,492 bushels, average 22.89. Total 
yield of the county, from 61,282 acres, 1,429,159 bushels, 
an average yield of 23.32 bushels per acre. 

In the same year the county produced 1,100,535 bushels 
of corn, from 18,357 acres; 396,356 bushels of oats, from 
13,184 acres; 9788 bushels clover-seed, from 6600 acres; 
16,029 bushels barley, from 86U acres; 144,895 bushels 
potatoes, from 1738 acres; 31,093 tons of hay, from 
23,843 acres. The greatest amount of hay raised in any 
one township was produced by De Witt, the greatest 
amount of potatoes by Bingham, and the most clover-seed 
and barley by the township of Ovid. 

The total number of pounds of wool shorn in the county 
in 1878, as shown by the returns, was 267,236, from 
52,799 sheep, the product of the several townships being 
as follows : Bath, 20,747 pounds of wool, from 3934 sheep ; 
Bengal, 13,026 pounds of wool, from 2683 sheep; Bing- 
ham, 11,865 pounds of wool, from 2401 sheep; Dallas, 
17,614 pounds of wool, from 3930 sheep ; De Witt, 20,621 
pounds of wool, from 4106 sheep; Duplain, 7363 pounds 
of wool, from 1529 sheep; Eagle, 12,755 pounds of wool, 
from 2534 sheep ; Essex, 2146 pounds of wool, from 3901 
sheep; Greenbush, 15,588 pounds of wool, from 2872 
sheep; Lebanon, 21,135 pounds of wool, from 4167 sheep; 
Olive, 14,006 pounds of wool, from 2894 sheep ; Ovid, 
18,288 pounds of wool, from 3501 sheep; Riley, 16,478 
pounds of wool, from 3309 sheep ; Victor, 23,745 pounds 
of wool, from 4350 .sheep; Watertown, 20,719 pounds of 
wool, from 3934 sheep; Westphalia, 11,826 pounds of 
wool, from 2754 sheep. 

It is to be regretted that no statistics of the agriculture 
of the county for the present year can be given, as at this 
time (July, 1880j no returns of the census just completed 
have been made. 

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES. 
Clinton, though almost e.vclusively an agricultural county, 
contains a number of manufacturing establishments, some 
of which are quite extensive. These are located principally 
in St. Johns and Ovid, and will be found mentioned more 
particularly in the histories of those villages. The general 
manufacturing statistics of the county, however, as shown 
by the several United States and State censuses from 1850 
to 1874, inclusive, are here given, as follows: 

FOR THE YEAR 1850. 

Number of flouring-raills reported 2 

C'n|jital invested in flouring-mills $7 ()0U 

Barrels of flour manufactured in preceding year 7000 

Value of flour munufaclured •' " $33'ooO 

Number of saw-mills ' a 

Capital invested in lumber manufacture $10 000 

Annual product of lumber (feet) '...", 1 53o'oo0 

Value of product [^^^' ' cjg'oiO 

Aggregate amount of capital invested in all kinds of 

manufactures (flour-mills and saw-mills included) $21,175 



Number of hands employed in all manufactures 28 

Aggreg.ite value of annual product of all kinds of man- 
ufactures in the county $5g 900 

1854. 

Number of flouring-mills reported 1 

Capital invested in flouring-mills $7 OOO 

Barrels of flour made in the preceding year l!500 

Value of flour manufactured $12 000 

Number of s.Tw-mills operated in the county ' 8 

" feet of lumber sawed in preceding year 1,572,000 

Value of protluet , $13 700 

Amount of capital invested in lumber manufacture $15^800 

Number of hands employed 23 

1864. 

Number of flour-mills reported (steam, 4; water, 3) 7 

" runs of stones 15 

Amount of capital invested in flouring-mills $29,900 

Barrels of flour made in the preceding year 5,450 

Va'ue " " " " $26|o00 

Number of persons employed in flour-mills 12 

" saw-mills operated in the county (steam, 6; 

water, 4) -[q 

Capital invested in lumber manufacture $18,000 

Feet of lumber sawed in the preceding year 1,247,000 

Value " " " " $25^820 

Number of hands employed in lumber manufacture 23 

Number of manufactories other than saw-mills and 

flour-mills 3 

Number of persons employed in same 64 

Amount of capital invested " $31000 

Value of products of same in preceding year $64,480 

1874. 

Number of flouring-mills in county (steam, 5 ; water, 6) 11 

" runs of stones in operation 25 

Barrels of flour made in preceding year 28 480 

Value " " " " $220034 

Capital invested in flouring-mills $70,000 

Number of persons employed 26 

" saw-mills in the county (steam, 17; water, 3) 20 

Feet of lumber sawed in preceding year 8,919,000 

Value " " " '• $114,300 

Capital invested in lumber manufacture $62,400 

Persons employed in " gg 

Number of wood-working* manufactories....^ 3 

Capital invested in same $8,800 

Number of persons employed 12 

Value of product in preceding year $10,500 

Number of iron-workingf manufactories 2 

Capital invested in same $7,500 

Value of product in preceding year $6,000 

Number of persons employed 5 

Number of agricultural-implement works 3 

Ca]iital invested in such works $12 000 

Value of product in preceding year $18,800 

Number of persons employed 13 

" carriage- and sleigh-manufactories 4 

Capital invested in same $18 000 

Value of product in preceding year $26,980 

Numberof hands employed 28 

" furniture- and chair-manufactories 2 

Capit.al invested in same $76,200 

Value of product in preceding year $50,461 

Numberof hands employed 48 

** pump-manufactories 1 

Capital invested in same $6 000 

Value of product in preceding year $2 800 

Numberof hands employed 4 

" stave- and heading-factories 2 

Capital invested in same $25,000 

Value of product in preceding year $110,000 

Number of persons employed 52 

" barrel-, keg-, tub-, and pail-factories 2 

Capital invested in same $1 200 

Value of product in preceding year $1,900 

Numberof persons employed 3 

*' wooden-ware manufactories 2 

Capital invested in same $7,000 

Value of product in preceding year $7,947 

Numberof hands employed 10 

" saddle-, harness-, and trunk-factories re- 
ported 1 

Cnpital invested in same $3,000 

Value of product in preceding year $7,000 



* Including in this class planing- and turning-mills, and sash- 
door-, blind-, and hub- and epokc-factories. 

t Foundries, machine-shops, and boiler-shops included in this class. 



VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



363 



Number of hands employed 4 

" breweries reported iu county 3 

Cnpital invested in same S7,0(10 

Value of product in preceding year $11,616 

Number of persons employed 7 

*' brick- and tile-manufactories 1 

Capital invested in same l?6on 

Value of product in preceding year $1,000 

Number of marble- and cut-stone works 1 

Capital invested in same $8,000 

Value of product in preceding year $8,000 

Number of hands employed 18 

Whole number of manufacturing establishments reported 

in Clinton County in 1873 60 

Whole number of ]>ersons employed in same 323 

" amount of capital invested '* '* $315,700 

Total value of product in 1873 $599,709 

POPULATION. 

The population of Clinton County in 1837 was shown 
by the census of that year to be five hundred and twenty- 
nine, and in 1840 it had increased to sixteen hundred and 
fourteen. The censuses taken at subsequent periods show 
the population of the county and of its several townships 
to have been as given below for the years indicated, viz. : 

1845. 1850. 1854. 1860. 1804. 1870. 1874. 

Bath 151 222 283 577 625 1,125 1,205 

Bengal "49 143 350 638 706 1.086 1,200 

Bingham 72 185 338 1,4B0 1,794 2,910 2,963 

Dallas 108 185 476 910 932 1,360 1,519 

De Witt 418 706 885 1,139 1,085 1,306 1,410 

Duplain 213 419 559 915 997 1,493 1,567 

Eagle 364 521 657 912 844 1,008 985 

Kssex 193 410 833 1,013 1,056 1,501 1,513 

Greenbush 105 318 518 967 1,071 1,486 1,473 

Lebanon 114 192 389 661 645 1,119 1,129 

Olive 159 228 316 627 605 1,156 1,168 

Ovid 102 172 276 936 1,171 2,420 2,553 

Riley 134 191 400 607 641 1,139 1,163 

Victor 229 277 403 662 562 940 968 

Watertown.... 198 315 442 808 910 1,297 1,298 

Westphalia.... 401 618 803 1,091 1,095 1,499 1,548 

Total 3,060 5,102 7,926 13,923 14,739 22,845 23,661 



CHAPTER L. 



THE VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 

Situation and Natural Advantages — Settlement and Progress of the 
Village — Village Plat and Additions — Progress in 1856 and 1857 — 
Village Incorporation and List of OflScers — Churches — St. Johns 
Union Schools — Post-OiBce — Societies and Orders — Cemetery As- 
sociation — Banks — Manufacturing Industries — St. Johns Fire De- 
partment — Memorable Fires — Public and Private Buildings. 

The incorporated village of St. Johns, the county-seat 
of Clinton County, is situated within the boundaries of the 
township of Bingham, the southeast corner of the corporate 
limits being the territorial centre of that township. The 
village occupies an elevated and excellent site, and is justly 
regarded as one of the handsomest villages in Central Mich- 
igan. The main portion of the town lies upon a ridge 
which slopes gradually and gracefully upon all sides, and 
from which the eye may sweep through an extended and 
picturesque view towards all points of the compass. The 
altitude of the town is seven hundred and fifty-five feet 
above sea-level, one hundred and seventy-seven feet above 
Lake Huron, and thirty-one feet above the village of Ovid, 

*By David Schwarlz. 



ten miles to the eastward, while towards the west there 
is a general gradual decline to the Grand River. 

Early in its history St. Johns was regarded as an un- 
healthy locality, by reason of the swamps which lie around 
it ; but these having been made fruitful garden-spots, it is 
maintained, and with an excellent show of truth, that there 
is now no healthier spot in Michigan than St. Johns. The 
streets are handsomely laid out and well shaded ; and 
among the numerous handsome and comfortable-looking 
homes of the village, there are many which are especially 
noticeable for elegance and refined taste in their architec- 
ture. 

To the advantage of being the county-seat the village 
owes, of course, much of its business activity and enter- 
prise ; but, aside from that, it gains much prominence as an 
important manufacturing and railway shipping-point. It 
contains (in July, 1880) a population of upwards of two 
thousand five hundred. Taking the growth of recent years 
as a basis, the village is likely to continue in the expansion 
of its business and population in the future as in the past. 

SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS OF THE VILLAGE. 

Late in the year 1853, while the Detroit and Milwaukee 
Railway was being slowly extended westward from Detroit, 
a party of four State oflScials at Lansing examined the line 
of the proposed railway with a view to making purchases 
of eligible lands for village-sites or other profitable enter- 
prises. These four officials were John Swegles, Auditor- 
General ; Porter Kibby, Commissioner of the Land-Office; 
B. C. Whittemore, State Treasurer ; and H. S. Mead, Dep- 
uty Attorney-General. They were in a position to know 
something about choice tracts of land in Michigan, and they 
delegated to John Swegles the task of securing a tract on 
the Detroit and Milwaukee line likely to become a railway- 
station and village-site. Robert Higham, chief engineer 
of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, who had the fixing 
of sites for railway-stations, was taken into the party as a 
measure of policy, and Charles L. Dibble, landlord of the 
" Biddle House" of Detroit, was admitted as a sixth part- 
ner, on the ground, probably, that he was a good fellow and 
kept a good hotel. 

Mr. Swegles was to buy the land and transact the general 
business connected with the land-purchases and proposed 
subsequent operations, and was appointed attorney-in-fact 
for each member of the company. He got a pretty clear 
idea from Higham that the railway would fix a station at 
the point now covered by St. Johns, and he at once went 
to that locality to buy land. His first purchase was eighty 
acres in the west half of the southwest quarter of section 
9, of George W. Estes, representing the owners. At that 
time but one acre on that eighty had been chopped. He 
bought immediately afterwards land enough to make his 
entire purchase aggregate nine hundred and twenty acres, 
and to include the south half of section 9 and all of section 
16, except the southwest quarter of the southwest quarter. 

The land having been purchased and the site of the vil- 
lage being chosen, Mr. Swegles at once set about the work 
of surveying and clearing streets and lots. He brought out 
a gang of choppers and other laborers, and engaged George 
W. Estes to take charge of them, and to superintend the job 



364 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



of making a commencement for a town. This was early in 
1854, and the business in hand was taken hold of with an 
energy that betokened prompt results. Mr. Swegles him- 
self joined the band of workers, and pushed matters ahead 
with great rapidity. The village-site was nearly all woods 
then, and the work of chopping was of course the first to 
be done. As soon as possible Mr. Swegles built a steam 
saw-mill, and in the winter of 1854-55 had it in motion. 
The first frame house put up in the village was built by 
Cornelius Vrooman before Swegles put up his saw-mill. 
Vrooman hired John Avery to haul the lumber from the 
Colony. The house stood just back of where the " Gibbs 
House" stands, and was put up by guess, as the town had 
then not been surveyed. Vrooman boarded the surveyors 
and laborers, and called his place the " Whittemore House." 

About the time Mr. Swegles began to clear the land 
comprising the village-site Samuel Gardner, an early settler 
in Bingham township and for years the landlord of a tavern 
in Bingham on the Bengal town-line, came on and bought 
a lot upon what is now the extreme northern corner of 
Clinton Avenue on the east side. He quickly put up a 
board building for a tavern, and called it the " Gardner 
House," but had kept only a short time when he leased it 
to George W. Estes, who changed the name to that of the 
" Clinton House." John Swegles built a store building on 
Clinton Avenue just north of where the "Gibbs House" 
stands. He put in a good stock of general merchandise, and 
hired George F. Mead and George W. Estes as his clerks. 

Thus the embryo village was started in the summer of 
1854, with a hotel, a store, and a saw-mill as a commence- 
ment. The railway was pushing westward, and Swegles' 
village was beginning to attract attention. It was high 
time, therefore, that it should be dignified with a name, 
since it gave gratifying signs of healthy growth, and so in 
due season it was christened. 

There appears to be some conflict of testimony touching 
the identity of the person to whom the honor of having 
named the village was due. Both George W. Estes and 
Elder C. A. Lamb claim that honor, but both unite in say- 
ing the name was bestowed in honor of John Swegles, the 
projector and creator of the place. Mr. Estes says that in 
the summer of 1854, John Swegles, David Sturgis, M. E. 
Burroughs, C. A. Lamb, and Estes himself (then super- 
visor of the township) were one day sitting upon a log in 
Walker Street (Clinton Avenue contained at that time a 
good niaiiy standing trees), when the question of naming 
the village came up. Swegles, desirous of honoring his 
business associates, suggested Whittemoreville and Mead- 
ville, while Sturgis put forth Swcglesville. Estes thought 
the most eminently appropriate designation would be St. 
Johns, as a mark of honor to John Swegles. The idea 
seemed to suit the others, and they with one accord assented 
to it. Swegles said he would submit the proposition at the 
next meeting of the company, and so the conference ended. 
Mr. Estes goes on to say that before the next meeting of 
the company Jolin T. Newell came in with goods for the 
opening of a store, and that his boxes were marked " St. 
Johns," thus showing that the name had already gone 
abroad. Estes took the cover from one of Newell's boxes 
and nailed it against a tree, with the name St. Johns show- 



ing in bold relief. It was therefore already practically 
settled as to the name, although the company did not 
formally adopt the designation until some time afterwards. 
Elder Lamb says that at the conference about a name 
only he, Swegles, Sturgis, and Mead were present, and that 
after the names of Richmond, Swcglesville, and Johnsville 
were proposed, he (Lamb) said, " Call it St. Johns." Mr. 
Swegles replied, " For some reasons I should be in favor 
of St. Johns," addinir, " Amen, St. Johns let it be." 




JOHN SWEGLES. 

In this connection it will be appropriate to note the facts 
that John Swegles was born in Hector, N. Y., April 10, 
1819 ; commenced the study of medicine at the age of 
eighteen, and abandoned it to become purser's clerk on the 
brig " Porpoise" of the Atlantic Coast Survey ; was later a 
school-teacher, and in 1840 removed to Jonesville, Mich. 
He was chosen clerk of Hillsdale County, and .served sev- 
eral terms ; became editor and publisher of the Hillsdale 
Gazelle, and in 1850 was elected auditor-general. 

Allusion to the " company" suggests the explanation 
that such was the collective title by which the association 
of the village proprietors was by common consent known. 
There was no incorporation, but there was a community of 
property, and it was further agreed that each owner should 
bear his proportionate share of expenses and receive like- 
wise his due share of the gains. At the outset there were 
six proprietors, and each owned one-sixth of the property 
purchased. To John Swegles was left the exclusive con- 
trol and management of afl"airs, and at .stated periods the 
proprietors met in Detroit to receive reports and review the 
progress of the business. 

Reference has already been made to the coming in of John 
T. Newell with a stock of goods. Newell was the second 
trader in the town (Swegles being the first), and opened 
his store in a frame building that stood on Clinton Avenue 
just south of " Kipp's Corner." M. E. Burroughs, who 



VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



365 



previously lived near De Witt, came in about that time, and 
put up a log house on the lot now occupied by the post- 
oiEee. He started it as a meat-market, and presently 
John Hicks, of De Witt, sent him a few hundred dollars' 
worth of goods, with which Burroughs opened a store in 
a corner of his market. Olney Brown opened a store late 
in 1854 on Clinton Avenue south of Walker Street, and 
one J. C. Sewell opened a saloon on " Bagg's Corner" 
at about the same time. 

There was but a small community living at St. Johns 
on the 4th of July, 1854, but it was nevertheless resolved 
to have an " Independence" celebration. The exercises, 
which included music, " bowery dances," speeches, and a 
dinner, took place in a grove then occupying a place upon 
which the Gibbs House barn stands. Hilliker, of Green- 
bush, a clarionet-player, Wilcox, a fifer. his son, a drum- 
mer, and a man with a violin furnished the soul-stirring 
music on the occasion, while James W. Ransom, a lawyer, 
delivered the oration. The dinner was, however, a failure, 
although the remainder of the day's celebration proved a 
satisfactory success. Just as the company sat down to the 
table there came up a terrific rain-storm, and away went the 
assembled company, pell-mell, for shelter, leaving their 
dinner, and ending abruptly the performances of the waning 
Fourth. The celebration in 1855 included a dinner at 
Gibbs' Kailroad Exchange and a general happy time at the 
grove, where the oration was delivered by H. C. Hodge. 

The Gardner House has already been mentioned, as has 
the fact of its change of name and proprietorship. Estes 
kept it until 1856, and then turned it over to a Mr. Mc- 
Omber. It was not much of a tavern, according to reports, 
but it doubtless served its purpose. John Hicks says he 
took dinner there in 1856, and remembers that rain was 
falling inside as well as outside, and that the guests at din- 
ner had to move from place to place to avoid the rain-drops 
as they came freely and copiously into the dining-room. 

Early in 1855, Spencer W. Gibbs came to St. Johns for 
the purpose of building a hotel, and, buying four lots, put 
up the "Kailroad PJxchange," which he opened July 1, 
1855. A year after that he sold out to David Sturgis and 
William L. Hicks, who changed the name of the house to 
the "St. Johns House," and that name it still bears. 
When Gibbs came to town with his family, early in 1855, 
he occupied with Jacob Passage a part of the house of Dr. 
J). C. Stewart, who was then living on Walker Street, in a 
building now used as his barn. Clinton Avenue was tiien 
chopped out, but it was full of stumps and fallen trees, 
while standing trees even were plentiful. 

At this time the west side of Clinton Avenue contained 
the store of Olncy Brown, the corner whisky-shop of J. C. 
Sewell, a slab shanty in which A. F. Cowell was living, 
upon the lot now occupied by his store, and Marshall Wil- 
cox's tin-shop. A. F. Cowell opened a store in 1856 upon 
the same site, and, with the exception of three years, has 
been in trade there ever since. On the east side of the street 
was Swegles' store, and in that store was a shoemaker by 
the name of Kinch, who had his shop and lived in a por- 
tion of the store building. Next south of Swegles' Corne- 
lius Vrooman was keeping a boarding-house known as the 



Whittemore House, now the Gibbs House. Newell, the 
store-keeper, Blakeslee, the painter, and Doming, the shoe- 
maker, were on that side, as was the (Jlinton House, while 
east, on Walker Street, was Burroughs, the butcher. Of 
those then residents upon the site now occupied by the 
village of St. Johns, the only ones now living in the town 
are George W. Estes and wife, A. F. Cowell and wife, S. 
W. Gibbs and wife. Dr. D. C. Stewart and wife, Mr. and 
Mrs. Henry Fitch, the widow of Lorenzo Hall, the widow 
of John Swegles, and George W. Emmons. Mr. Emmons 
was the first white inhabitant of the present village tract, 
and lives now where he located in 1845, although he did 
not make a permanent settlement thereon until 1852. 

The first child born in the village was Charles Cobb's 
daughter. Her birth occurred in the summer of 1855, 
but the exact date cannot now be given. She died the fol- 
lowing year. The first male child born was George A., 
son of George W. Estes, born Oct. 23, 1855. The first 
death of a resident was that of Mrs. Kinch, wife of the 
village shoemaker, in May, 1855. She was buried in the 
village cemetery, which had been donated by the village 
proprietors, and hers was the first interment within it. 
Before May, 1855, there was a death in the village, that 
of Thomas Long, a railway employee, who in an altercation 
with a fellow-laborer, about four miles west of St. Johns, 
was mortally hurt. He was brought to the village, where 
he died, but his body was conveyed eastward for burial. 
The first man buried in the cemetery was Joseph McKinney, 
a railroad hand, and over him was erected the first head- 
stone put up in the burying-grouud. It bears date July 
17, 1857. 

During the fall of 1854 the new village received its first 
physician. Dr. D. C. Stewart, who has since that time re- 
sided continuously in St. Johns. A Dr. Darrall, who was 
living about two miles south of the village when Dr. Stewart 
located, came to the town in about six weeks thereafter, 
and next to him, as the third physician of the village, came 
Dr. Louis W. Fasquelle, still one of the village practition- 
ers. Timothy Baker and James W. Ilansnui, lawyers, came 
in and opened oflices, and in that same year John (Crawley 
and Hiram Herrington began in business as blacksmiths. 
In January, 1855, James Stiles came over from Greenbush 
and made his home upon the corner of Walker and Spring 
Streets, where Alonzo Plumstead now lives, and commenced 
the manufacture of splint-bottomed chaii's. In September, 
1855, George W. Stephenson opened a tailor's shop on 
Clinton Avenue, just south of what is now known as Kipp's 
Corner, and there built Clinton Hall, where schools, Sunday- 
schools, and public assemblies were held at an early day. 

In 1855 there was a change in the list of village pro- 
prietors. Mead sold out to Swegles and N. P. Stewart, 
and the latter becoming , possessed also of Kibby's and 
Swegles' interests, resold a portion to Orville and Asahel 
Clark. These changes vested the proprietorship of the 
village in N. P. Stewart, B. C. Whittemore, Charles L. 
Dibble, Robert Higham, Orville Clark, and Asahel Clark. 
John Swegles continued, however, as heretofore, to be the 



3G6 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



attorney-in-fact for the proprietors, and to conduct their 
business interests in the premises. 

In 1855, David Sturgis, of De Witt, entered the trade 
at St. Johns, and two drug-stores were started, by Dr. Stone 
and Dr. J. E. Leach, respectively. 

Of the business men in St. Johns at that period, 1855, 
the only one now in trade is G. W. Stephenson. He has 
carried on business uninterruptedly here since he started, 
in September, 1855, and is accordingly its oldest merchant. 

VILLAGE PLAT AND ADDITIONS. 

The village was platted March 25, 1856. The document, 
on file at the county register's office, reads as follows : 

" Know all men by these presents that we. Nelson P. 
Stewart, Mary Ann Stewart, B. C. Whittemore, Caroline 
Whittemore, Charles L. Dibble, Sarah I. Dibble, Robert 
Higham, Elvira Highnm, Orville Clark, Delia M. Clark, 
and Asahel Clark, do by these presents set apart and estab- 
lish the following-described premises for a village, to be 
known and designated as the village of St. Johns, to wit: 
that part of the south half of section 9, and that part of 
the north half of section 16, in town 7 north, range 2 west, 
in the county of Clinton and State of Michigan, com- 
mencing on the section-line two hundred and seventy-seven 
feet east from the section corners of sections 8, 9, 16, and 
17 in said township, at which point State Street intersects 
the west line of Ottawa Street ; running thence south along 
the west line of Ottawa Street twelve hundred and twenty- 
seven feet to a point where said west line of Ottawa Street 
intersects the south line of Baldwin Street ; thence east, 
and parallel with the section-line between sections 9 and 16, 
for a distance of two thousand eight hundred and twenty- 
two feet and six inches to the point where the south line 
of Baldwin Street intersects the east line of East Street ; 
thence north along the east line of East Street to a point 
where the east line of East Street intersects the north line 
of Railroad Street, one hundred feet south from the centre 
line of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway; thence west 
parallel with the centre line of said railway, and one hun- 
dred feet therefrom, to the point where the north line of 
Railroad Street intersects the west line of Ottawa Street . 
thence south along the west line of Ottawa Street to the 
place of beginning. In witness whereof we have hereunto 
set our hands and seals this 25th day of March, 1856, by 
John Swegles, our attorney-in-fact. 

(Signed) " Nelson P. Stewart. 

" Mary Ann Stewart. 

" B. C. Whittemore. 

" Caroline Whittemore. 

" Charles L. Dibble. 

" Sarah I. Dibble. 

" Robert Higham. 

" Elvira Higham. 

" Orville Clark. 

" Delia M. Clark. 

" Asahel Clark. 
"By John Swegles, their attomey-in-fuct. 
" In the presence of 

" Timothy Baker. 
" George F. Mead." 



Additions to the village plat have been made from time 
to time, as follows : 

May 5, 1857, George W. Emmons' addition, known as 
Emmonsville, and commencing at the corners of sections 8, 

9, 16, and 17, running thence west to the quarter-section 
stake between sections 8 and 17 ; thence south along the 
quarter-section line of section 17 for a distance of ninety- 
seven rods ; thence east, and parallel with the section-line 
between sections 8 and 17, to the section-line between sec- 
tions 16 and 17 ; thence north along said section-line be- 
tween sections 16 and 17 to the place of beginning. June 
16, 1857, Clark and Bolton's subdivision of out-lots Nos. 

10, 11, 12, and 13; June 2, 1858, Francis Lynd's addi- 
tion ; June 15, 1866, G. J. Gibbs' addition ; May 14, 
1866, De Witt C. Hurd and William Sickles' subdivision 
of out-lots G and H ; March 28, 1865, A. H. Walker's 
subdivision of out-lot B; April 1, 1870, Walker & 
Steel's subdivision of lands north of the Detroit and Mil- 
waukee Railroad, in the village of St. Johns, by A. H. 
Walker, R. M. Steel, 3. W. Gibbs, and H. W. Carrington ; 
Nov. 26, 1870, P. L. Vancousant's addition ; Feb. 10, 
1871, Henry M. Perrin's addition. 

PEOGKESS IN 185G AND 1857. 

The year 1856 saw coflsiderable accessions to the village, 
and matters began to look up with a show of something 
like vigorous life. In the spring of that year J. H. Cor- 
bit, now the hardware merchant of longest standing and 
virtually the pioneer in that trade in the county, purchased 
Marshall Wilcox's tin-shop business and became one of the 
village merchants. In September, 1856, Mr. Corbit took 
in William H. Moote as a partner. During the year 
Charles Kipp opened a hardware-store, and since that date 
has followed that business in St. Johns continuously. He 
commenced business at the Rochester Colony in 1852, with 
J. W. Paine. A. F. Cowell opened a small store. Lucas 
& Wilson located at the corner of Walker Street and Clin- 
ton Avenue, and Bliss & Walton established a blacksmith- 
and wagon-shop, their wagon-maker being Arthur Catter- 
mold. In 1856 the first village school was taught. 

At that time Clinton Avenue was still thickly studded 
with Stumps, and mosquitoes were so exceedingly plentiful 
that stump-fires on the avenue to drive away the pests were 
nightly spectacles in summer. Store-keepers of 1856, other 
than those mentioned, were Joshua Garte, W. W. Flagler, 
J. F. Newton, M. E. Palmer, and Mrs. David Sturgis. 

Although St. Johns had been making quite rapid strides 
forward during 1855 and 1856, it was not until 1857 that 
the movement reached a height that crowded into the .space 
of a twelvemonth the most important events in the history 
of the village, and brought a great increase in population 
as well as business. 

One of the leading events was the completion in Janu- 
ary of the laying of the track of the Detroit and Mil- 
waukee Railway to St. Johns and the arrival, upon the 
16th of that month, of the first passenger-train. R. M. 
Steel, now an eminent railway contractor living in St. 
Johns, took in 1856 a contract to lay the track and bridges 
over the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad between Owosso 
and Grand Haven, and in 1860 became a resident of St. 



VILLAGE OP ST. JOHNS. 



367 



Johns. In this year the county-seat of Clinton was re- 
moved from De Witt to St. Johns, and that incident gave, 
of course, a great impetus to the progress of the village, 
and, with the opening of railway communication, gave 
assurance of future prosperity to St. Johns. 

In 1857 a village school-house was built upon the lot 
now occupied by the Episcopal church. This lot, as well 
as lots for two churches, ground for a cemetery, and ample 
space for railway-depots, etc., had already been set aside 
for such purposes by the village proprietors when the plat 
was made. Early in 1857, Alvah H. Walker, who became 
shortly afterwards a resident of St. Johns and one of its 
prominent merchants, was the actual owner of five-twelfths 
of the village and possessed the titles to seven-twelfths, 
while the residue was owned by Elvira Higham, C. L. 
Dibble, Orville Clark, and Asahel Clark. In 1857, John 
Swegles built a grist-mill with two run of stones at the 
corner of Higham and Spring Streets. In 1858 it was 
burned and directly afterwards replaced with the mill now 
carried on at the same place by Wood & Son. In 1857, 
John Swegles rebuilt the Prospect House, called it the 
American, and kept it until his death in 1861. The 
Prospect House was built in 1856 by Lorenzo Hall, and 
occupied the east side of Oakland Street just north of 
Walker Street. The building was destroyed by fire in 
1863. In 1857, John Hicks, of De Witt, engaged in 
business with David Sturgis, and O. W. Hunger began to 
trade on the lot now occupied by Dunn & Lee. Mr. Hicks 
is yet in business. Mr. Hunger is a retired merchant, but 
still lives in the village. In 1857, Wilbur Ash had a 
carpenter-shop in the building now occupied by the Ameri- 
can Express Company, and in the same building in the 
same year James W. Hungerford opened the pioneer cabi- 
net-shop. Alonzo Plumstead built in 1857, at the corner 
of Walker Street and Clinton Avenue, what was then the 
best store in St. Johns; John Ransom started a news- 
paper called the North-Side Democrat ; Archelaus Silsbee 
started a foundry, H. C. Ilodge a bank, W. W. Brainard 
a carpenter's- and builder's-shop in Swegles' saw-mill, and, 
histly, the village was incorporated by the county super- 
visors, Sept. 2, 1857. 

In 1858, John W. Paine opened a general store, and 
Hunt Bros, a drug-store. Paine built in 1860 the first 
brick store, now occupied by A. Teachout, who commenced 
to trade in the village in 1859. Dr. A. H. Crawford built 
the first brick house. It stood where Randolph Strickland 
lives. The bricks were burned at the village by a Hr. 
Higgins. 

Directly upon the opening of railway transportation St. 
Johns began to take on importance as a .shipping-point. 
The first car-load of wheat forwarded from the village by 
rail was shipped by John Hicks in 1857 to George C. 
Langdon at Detroit. Staves were purchased largely at St. 
Johns for European markets, and in the early days of vil- 
lage hi.story the stave traffic rose to considerable magnitude. 

The business of the Detroit, Grand Haven and Hilwau- 
kee Railway (formerly the Detroit and Hilwaukee Rail- 
road) at its station at St. Johns village in the year 1879* 
was as follows : 

* Itemo furnished by the secretary of the company. 



Number of passengers outwards 

" *' inwards 

" tons of freight outwards. 

'* " " inwards.. 

Receipts from outward passengers... 

'' " freight 



16,81.3 

16,fi82 

19,.3i)o 
4,922 
$15,521.82 
$38,519.41 



DESCRIPTION OF FREIGHT FORWARDED. 

Apples, barrels 197 Pork, pounds 96,204 

Lumber, cars 121 Wool, " 63,596 

Stave?, cars 90 Bricli and stone, tons. 50 

Grain, pounds 27,748,915 Pliister, " . 1 

Potatoes, " 158,550 Sundries, " . 3,185 

St. Johns contains to-day at least eight merchants who 
have done business continuously in the town for the space 
of twenty years and upwards, ending with the present 
year. There are, moreover, five professional gentlemen and 
one manufacturer of whom a similar statement may be 
made. The merchants are George W. Stephenson, John 
Hicks, A. F. Cowell, Charles Kipp, A. 0. Hunt, A. Teach- 
out, P. L. Vancousant, and J. H. Corbit. The professional 
men are 0. L. Spaulding, H. H. Perrin, and Henry Wal- 
bridge, lawyers, and Drs. Louis Fasquelle and D. C. Stew- 
art. The manufacturer is W. W. Brainard. 

VILLAGE INCORPORATION AND LIST OF 
OFFICERS. 

The first step towards the incorporation of the village of 
St. Johns was indicated in the following publication, viz. : 
" Notice is hereby given that the undersigned, legal voters 
residing in the territory hereinafter described, will at the 
next annual meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Clin- 
ton County, to be held at De Witt on the first Monday of 
October next, make application to the said board, on the 
said day, for an order of incorporation of the following one 
square mile as a village, to be described by boundaries as 
follows : 

" Commencing at a point where the quarter-line of sec- 
tion 9 intersects the section-line of 8 and 9 ; thence east 
along said quarter line to the point where said line inter- 
sects the section-line of 9 and 10 ; thence south to the 
south line of the Detroit and Hilwaukee Railway ; thence 
west along the south line of said railway sixty-nine rods ; 
thence south to the quarter-line of section 16 ; thence west 
along the quarter-line of sections 16 and 17 three hundred 
and twenty rods ; thence north to the south line of said 
railway ; thence east along the said line of the said railway 
to the section line of 8 and 9 ; thence north along the said 
hut-mentioned line to the aforesaid quarter-line of section 
9, the place of beginning, in the township of Bingham, 
county of Clinton, and State of Hichigan, to be known 
and designated as the village of St. Johns. 

" David Sturgis, S. W. Gibbs, 

Henry Walbridge, William H. Mootc, 
Stephen J. Wright, J. T. Newell, 
John Hicks, William L. Hicks, 

George F. Mead, Charles Kipp, 

George W. Emmons, William Weeks, 
J. H. Corbit, Sheldon Hunger, 

A. H. Crawford, A. Plumstead, 

J. E. Leach, William W. Flagler, 

Joshua Garte, H. E. Palmer, 

and thirty-one others. 
" Dated Bingham, Sept. 2, 1857." 



368 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



The petition was presented to the Board of Supervisors, 
and at a meeting held Oct. 15, 1857, an order of incor- 
poration was entered, and John Swegles, Charles Kipp, and 
Alonzo Plumstcad appointed inspectors of an election to 
be held on the first Tuesday in March, 1858, at Hicks' 
Hotel, in the village of St. Johns. 

The election was accordingly held on the 2d of March, 
as provided. The oflBcers elected on that occasion were : 
President, William H. 3Ioote; Clerk, John Eansom ; Treas- 
urer, Alonzo Plumstead ; Trustees, John Swegles, George 
W. Stephenson, David Sturgis, George W. Emmons, Wil- 
liam W. Flagler, and William L. Hicks ; Assessors, Marvin 
K. Palmer, Ransom Plumstead ; Street Commissioners, S. 
T. Hayward, Spencer W. Gibbs, John B. Lucas; Marshal, 
George W. Estes ; Poundmaster, Charles 0. Stiles. 

At the fourth meeting of the board of trustees, April 
17, 1858, by-laws and ordinances were adopted, and at the 
meeting of April 24th the street commissioners were author- 
ized to contract with Marvin E. Palmer for the grading 
and filling of Clinton Avenue, at sixteen cents per yard. 

Following is a list of the persons chosen annually to the 
chief village oflSces of St. Johns from 1859 to ISSfr: 
1859.— President, W. W. Flagler; Clerk, John Ransom; 
Treasurer, George W. Estes ; Trustees, Ransom 
Plumstead, Archelaus Silsbee, James W. Hun- 
gerford, W. L. Hicks, George W. Stephenson, 
George W. p]mmons. 
1860.— President, Marvin E. Palmer; Clerk, R. V. Briggs; 
Treasurer, Ransom Plumstead ; Trustees, George 
W. Stephenson, S. T. Hayward, John Hicks, 
George W. Emmons, Charles Plumstead, Wil- 
liam H. Moote. 
1861.— President, William L. Hicks; Clerk, George F. 
Mead ; Treasurer, Hiram C. Hodge ; Trustees, 
W. W. Brainard, George W. Emmons, Jacob 
Brown, Louis W. Fasquelle, Marvin E. Palmer, 
Henry W. Walton. 
1862.— President, R. M. Steel; Clerk, George F. Mead; 
Treasurer, Hiram C. Hodge ; Trustees, M. E. 
Palmer, Jacob Brown, Charles Plumstead, L. 
W. Fasquelle, George W. Emmons, Joab 
Baker. 
1863. — President, G. W. Stephenson ; Clerk, George F. 
Mead ; Treasurer, Ransom Plumstead ; Trustees, 
M. E. Palmer, John Hicks, J. W. Paine, 
Thomas S. Congdon, George Worden, Celestin 
Loranger. 
1864. — President, Alonzo Plumstead; Clerk, Charles 
Plumstead ; Treasurer, Alpheus F. Cowell ; 
Trustees, John H. Corbit, Thomas J. Urie, A. 
G. Higham, Spencer W. Gibbs, Mina Boyd, 
John Hicks. 
1865. — President, Alonzo Plumstead ; Clerk, Charles 
Plumstead ; Treasurer, Jacob Brown ; Trustees, 
William L. Hicks, Theodore W. Ferry, Arche- 
laus Silsbee, Andrew J. Wiggins, Frederick 
Wilkinson, George Worden. 
1866.— President, Robert McFarlan : Clerk, L. G. N. Ran- 
dolph ; Treasurer, Samuel S. Walker ; Trustees, 
A. H. Walker, E. D. Tripp, William W. Brain- 



ard, William Sickels, Henry M. Pcrrin, James 
W. Reid. 

1867.— President,* Thomas J. Urie; Clerk, E. D. Tripp; 
Treasurer, George W. Stephenson ; Trustees 
(one year), Joseplv H. Ingalls, Paul De Witt, 
L. Z. Munger (for two years), John Hicks, 
Thomas S. Congdon, William S. Decker. 

1868.— President, H. M. Pcrrin; Clerk, E. D. Tripp; 
Treasurer, P. L. Vancousant ; Trustees, • Henry 
Walbridge, George W. P]mmoiis, John C. Day- 
ton. 

1869.— President, Alvah H. Walker ; Clerk, G. W. Wells ; 
Treasurer, Charles P]. Grisson ; Trustees, Robert 
McFarlan, Stephen J. Wright, Harvey W. Car- 
rington. 

1870.— President, A. II. Walker; Clerk, George A. 
Wells ; Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, 
Richard Moore, John H. Corbit, John C. Day- 
ton. 

1871.— President, A. H.Walker; Clerk, George A. Wells; 
Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, H. M. 
Lamphere, Henry S. Hilton, Charles Fowler. 

1872. — President, James Kipp; Clerk, George A. Wells ; 
Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, L. C. 
Kellogg, Warner Bunday, Asher Teachout. 

1873.— President, 0. W. Barker; Clerk, George A. Wells; 
Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, Charles 
Fowler, A. J. Nel.son, John D. Henderson, Jr. 

1874.— President, Samuel' S. Walker; Clerk, George A. 
Wells ; Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, 
Thomas Padley, Warner Bunday, Harvey W. 
Carrington. 

1875. — President, Samuel S. Walker; Clerk, James H. 
Collins; Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson; Truste&s, 
Charles Fowler, John D. Henderson, John M. 
Easton. 

1876. — President, Samuel S. Walker; Clerk, James H. 
Collins ; Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, 
Isaac Helton, Gilbert L. Goodyear, William 
H. Hoffman. 

1877.— President, D. S. French; Clerk, James H. Collins; 
Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, John 
D. Henderson, Charles H. Eaton, E. L. Nichols. 

1878. — President, D. S. French; Clerk, James H. Collins; 
Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, P. K. 
Perrin, H. H. Hawley, Henry Fildew, Jr. 

1879.— President, D. S. French; Clerk, J. H. Collins; 
Treasurer, Charles E. Grisson ; Trustees, J. D. 
Henderson, E. L. Nichols, Charles II. Eaton. 

1880. — President, Charles Fowler; Clerk, James II. Col- 
lins ; Treasurer, Ciiarles E. Grisson ; Trustees, 
A. L. Butler, Warner Bunday, Robert Young. 

The votes cast at the first village election in 1858 num- 
bered one hundred and sixty-six ; the number polled at the 
election in 1880 reached five hundred and thirty-nine. 

The Legislative act of incorporation, passed March 2, 
1867, described the village territory as including the whole 
of sections 9 and 16, the east half of section 17, the south- 

* KeiDCOrporated by act of Legislature. 



VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



369 



east quarter and east three-quarters of the northeast quar- 
ter of section 8, the northwest quarter of the northwest 
quarter of section 21, and the east half of the northeast 
quarter of section 20. 

CHURCHES. 

THE PIONEER RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION— THE METH- 
ODLST EPISCOPAL CLASS. 

The first sermon preaclied in the villa<i;e of St. Johns was 
delivered in the autumn of 1855 at Gibbs' R;iilroad Ex- 
change by llev. J. S. Harder, then riding the circuit of Du- 
plain as a Methodist Episcopal preacher. He came about 
twice a month that year and a portion of the following 
year, and during 1855 organized a class, of which the 
original members were D. H. Warren, Caroline Warren, 
Lovina Higgins, Henry Smith, Wilson Curtis, Ethan 
Allen, Catherine Curtis, Michael Treece, and Mary Treece. 
Early services were held at the Railroad Exchange, and 
afterwards at Clinton Hall, on Clinton Avenue, above 
Kipp's Corner. Of the first class the first leader was Ethan 
Allen, who claimed to be a grandson of that old Ethan 
Allen who captured Fort Ticonderoga. 

In 1857, S. W. Gibbs was chosen class-leader, and in 
the same year Revs. Brockway and Sherman were on the 
work as the successors of Harder and Hill. The place of 
worship was changed in 1857 to Plumstead Hall, and from 
there to the school-house and afterwards to the Baptist 
church, which the Methodists occupied on alternate Sun- 
days until the completion of their own church in 18G3. 

A Sunday-school partaking of the character of a union 
Sabbath-.scliool was organized by Mr. Harder before the 
class was formed, and for a time the school had regular 
weekly sessions in the Railroad Exchange. Early in 1857 
there was a spirited revival and nineteen persons were 
added to the membership, to wit : S. W. Gibbs, Clarinda 
Gibbs, W. K. Homer, Esther Homer, Anna Hutchin.son 
and her daughter Anna, Philena Newton, Robert Shewin, 
Susan Shewin, Charlotte Smith, ]\Iary Urie, Sharpiiock 
Uric, Eliza Hicks, John Halstead, Elizabeth Halstead, 
H. B. Bliss, Eleanor Bliss, E. M. Badgley, and Mary B. 
Whitstone. Among the early pastors of the chureli were 
Revs. Harder, Hill, Brockway, Sherman, Otis, Cawthornc, 
Fox, Fowler, Wood, and Webb. 

During 186:^ the church society erected a house of wor- 
ship upon the lots originally set aside by the village pro- 
prietors to the Episcopal Church Society. The Episcopa- 
lians were, however, unable to pledge themselves to build a 
church, and so the Methodists — agreeing to a similar prop- 
osition — received the land as a donation, and Jan. 14, 
18tJ4, their house was dedicated, the dedicatory sermon 
being preached by Dr. T. M. Eddy, of Chicago, editor of 
the Chrislian Advocate. The church building is thirty- 
nine by sixty-five feet in dimensions, and surmounted with 
a spire ninety feet in height from the ground. Its cost 
was four thousand dollars. In 1864 the class nicnih<'rship 
had risen to about fifty; now it is one hundred and tbrty- 
two. A. P. McCabe is class-leader; M. V. Brown, AV. W. 
Brainard, T. S. Congdon, A. Richardson, and P. C. Stuart, 
trustees. The pastor is S. L. Hamilton. The Sunday- 
school is in charge of J. D. Estes, superintendent, and a 
47 



corps of fifteen teachers. The average attendance is one 
hundred and thirty-four, and the volumes in the library two 
hundred. 

THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. 

In 1857, Rev. William G. Smith, a Presbyterian mis- 
sionary living at Hartwcllville, came to St. Johns and in 
the house of James W. Ransom organized the First Pres- 
byterian Church of St. Johns, with four members, — James 
W. Ransom and John Ransom, his brother, with their 
wives. The first members received after that were Levi 
Brown and wife. A church society was formed May 31, 
1858, by James W. Ransom, Levi Brown, 0. L. Spaulding, 
William M. Snow, James Hayes, John Ransom, George 
W. Estes, and S. T. Hayward. The trustees cho.sen were 
James Kipp. H. S. Harrison, William M. Snow, James 
Hayes, S. T. Hayward, and 0. L. Spaulding. . 

Services were held quite regularly in Plumstead Hall 
until about 18G0, when removals of members from town 
and withdrawals to other churches weakened the society so 
that before the close of the year it ceased to exist. 

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. 

The records of the First Baptist Church of St. Johns, 
dating from the beginning of the church's history up to a 
comparatively recent date, were either lost or destroyed by 
fire some time ago, and as evidence by oral testimony as to 
the early days of the organization is exceedingly meagre, 
this chronicle must needs be brief 

Baptist preaching was supplied in the township as early 
as 1849, and probably earlier. At all events, when Elder 
C. A. Lamb, a Baptist minister, came in that year from Oak- 
land County to live in B'ngham he held public worship in 
the township. A church was organized by Elder John 
Gundeman shortly after 1850, and in 1855 a church so- 
ciety was incorporated, November 2d, with W. J. McKay, 
George W. Pastes, William J. Bancroft, Charles Higgins, 
H. S. Gibbons, and J. 0. Palmer as trustees. About that 
time the present house of worship at St. Johns was built. 
The first deacon of the church was Reuben S. Norris. 

A union Sunday-school was organized in the village by 
II. S. Gibbons and others even before the organization of 
a church. The school-room was at first in the old black- 
smith-shop that served as a room for a day-school, and soon 
afterwards Clinton Hall was the place of meeting. The Bap- 
tist Church and society have maintained an active existence 
since their organization. The church has now a flourishing 
membcr.ship of one hundred and eighteen. The deacons 
are J. O. Palmer and George Morris. J. 0. Palmer is 
superintendent of the Sunday-school, which has an average 
attendance of upwards of one hundred. The church pastor 
is the Rev. J. W. Stone. 

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
The first entry upon the records of the First Congrega- 
tional Church of St. Johns is as follows : " At a meeting of 
professed Christians, convened, pursuant to public notice, at 
the school-house in the village of St. Johns on the first day 
of April, 1860, to take into con.sideration the propriety 
of organizing themselves into a Congregational Church, 
James Kipp was chosen moderator and L. H. Pennington 



870 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



clork. Kev. William P. Esler, a Congregationalist minister 
of Eagle, was present and assisted in the exercises." 

At that meeting the First Congregational Church was 
organized, and the constitution, articles of faith, and cov- 
enant subscribed to by James Kipp, S. H. Pennington, 
Sarah A. Pennington, Henry Walbridge, Charlotte E. 
Willson, Charlotte Patch, Elizabeth A. Magoffin, and 
Walter Norri?. James Kipp and Walter Norris were 
chosen deacons at the same meeting. 

At a second meeting, held April Hth, further additions 
to the membership were made in Asher Hathaway, Wil- 
liam H. Nurris, G. P. Mattoon, Horace M. Skinner, and 
Harvey Lyon. Applications for membership wore accepted 
from Theodore Lyon, Harvey Lyon, Jr., James S. Skinner, 
Daniel Webster, Elizabeth J. Lyon, Nancy L. Mattoon, 
Nancy M. Mattoon, Susan Hinckley, Julia A. Skinner, 
Amanda Webster, Sarah Ann Norris, Mahala Norris, Delia 
E. Hathaway, Harvey Armstrong, Susan B. Armstrong, 
and Eliza Armstrong. G. P. Mattoon was chosen deacon, 
and Asher Hathaway, Horace M. Skinner, and William 
H. Norris committeemen, llev. William P. J]s!er was 
chosen to be the church pastor for one year, and G. P. Mat- 
toon, James Kipp, and H. Walbridge appointed to repre- 
sent the church in the Genesee Association to be held at 
Owos.so, April 24, 1860. The first recorded celebration 
of the Lord's Supper occurred April 29, 1860, and the first 
baptism — that of Daniel L. Kelley — on the same day. 

A church society was organized Jan. 13, 1862, and 
Henry M. Perrin, Asher Hathaway, George W. Barker, 
Horace M. Skinner, Charles Kipp, and Henry Walbridge 
chosen trustees. A church site donated by the village 
company was exchanged for other lots, and upon the latter 
a clurch was built in the flill and winter of 1864. 

The Rev. Mr. Esler closed his labors as pastor in 1862, 
and was succeeded by Rev. R. Apthorpe, who resigned in 
January, 1867. Rev. George M. Tuthill succeeded him 
in July, 1867, and on April 1, 1868, he presented the an- 
nual report for 1867, showing a membership of seventy- 
five and accessions during the year of six. Mr. Tuthill 
resigned his charge April 1, 1870, but continued to sup- 
ply the pulpit most of the time until January, 1872, when 
Rev. M. K. Pasco was engaged. He resigned in Novem- 
ber, 1873, and was directly succeeded by Rev. L. F. Bickfbrd, 
who gave place in December, 1874, to Rev. S. Sessions, at 
the close of whose service, in December, 1875, the mem- 
bership of the church was one hundred and twelve. Rev. 
C. Barstow was the pastor until 1877, when J. E. Rich- 
ards, the present pastor, entered upon his labors. 

The church membership June 1, 1880, was about one 
hundred and fifty (two hundred and fifty-four having been 
received since organization in 1860), and that of the Sun- 
day-school one hundred and fifty. The trustees were B, D. 
Palmer, Josiah Upton, A. Shafer, A. O. Hunt, William H. 
Turner, and A. J. Baldwin ; the deacons, James Kipp, 
Levi Brown, and B. D. Palmer. The Sabbath-school has 
fourteen teachers and a library of two hundred volumes. 

ST. JOHN'S (PKOTESTANT EPISCOPAL) CHURCH. 

The first Protestant Episcopal services held in St. Johns 
were conducted by Rev. John Bramwell, of Lansing, who 



on the 21st of October, 1856, wrote to Timothy Baker, of 
St. Johns, saying that, if convenient, he would hold Epis- 
copal services in the village on Wednesday, November 5th. 
Mr. Bramwell accordingly came over and held the promised 
services in the village school-house. After that Mr. Bram- 
well made similar occasional visits to St. Johns, but how 
many cannot be said. 

The first step towards the actual organization of a church 
was taken May 4, 1858, when, at a meeting "of persons 
professing attachment to the Protestant Episcopal Church" 
at Plumstead's Hall, William H. Moote was chosen chair- 
man and Timothy Baker secretary. Thereupon the meet- 
ing adjourned to meet at the post-office May 5th, and that 
meeting resulted in the election of Louis W. Fasquelle, 
Timothy Baker, Hiram C. Hodge, William H. Moote, Oliver 
L. Spaulding, George W. Stephenson, and George P. Mead 
as v.estrymen, Louis W. Fasquelle and George W. Stephen- 
son as wardens, 0. L. Spaulding secretary, and Timothy 
Baker treasurer. Precisely what was the outcome of the 
foregoing does not appear from the records. From them, 
however, it does appear that on May 25, 1858, formal 
articles of a church organization were signed by Timothy 
Baker, Louis W. Fasquelle, Hiram C. Hodge, William W. 
Flagler, James H. Benson, William H. Moote, George F. 
Mead, 0. L. Spaulding, J. H. Corbit, D. N. Murray, 
George W. Stephenson, H. M. Perrin. The name adopted 
was that of St. John's Church, and the first annual meet- 
ing appointed for June 4th, at Plumstead's Hall. Somehow 
the plan for organization miscarried, and until April, 1864, 
the Episcopalians of St. Johns depended for public worship, 
as they had done before 1858, upon such occasional and 
irregular services as could be obtained from time to time. 
There had been set aside by the St. Johns Village Com- 
pany a church-lot upon the site now occupied by the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, and as a majority of the village 
proprietors were of the Episcopal faith, they confidently 
hoped to see the site occupied by an Episcopal church. 
The Episcopalians were, however, unable to put such a plan 
into execution, and the Methodists agreeing to build a 
church, conditioned upon the donation of the land to 
them, they were given the privilege, and thus obtained 
their church-lot free of cost. '^ 

April 20, 1864, a successful effort was made to reorganize 
St. John's Church, and on that day articles of association 
were signed by A. G. Higham, Timothy Baker, Louis W. 
Fasquelle, Samuel S. Walker, Charles Plumstead, and N. 
C. McCullom. The first meeting was called for April 30th, 
when a vestry was chosen. Rev. Thomas B. Dooley was 
called to the rectorship, and officiated at stated times for 
about one year. In 1865, Rev. Henry Barnwell became the 
rector, and during his term of service, extending over a 
period of fourteen months, the society, receiving from the 
village company a donation of three lots (originally set 
aside and occupied for a village school, but reverted to the 
company by a removal of the school site), .set about the 
erection of a church edifice, worship from the reorganiza- 
tion having been held in the school-house. The business 
of building was checked by the retirement of Mr. Barnwell 
from the rectorship in 1865, and the parish being vacant 
until November, 1866, nothing was meanwhile done towards 



VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



371 



the church construction. At the time l:x.st mentioned Rev. 
S. S. Cliapin was called to be the rector, and in the spring 
of 1SG7 the corner-stone of tlie present church building 
was laid by Revs. B. H. Paddock and George D. Gillespie, 
the former now bishop of Massachusetts and the latter of 
Western Michigan. Upon the first Sunday in 1867 the 
church was first opened for divine service. Mr. Chapin 
continued in the rectorship for the space of six years, and 
was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Reeves, who tarried a little 
more than a year. At the end of that time Rev. S. S. 
Chapin returned, and in the ensuing autumn the church 
structure was improved and enlarged. April 19, 1876, it 
was dedicated by Bishop McCoskry. Mr. Chapin retired 
in 1879, and the rectorate remained vacant until the en- 
gagement of Rev. Joseph Cross, D.D., LL.D., the present 
rector, in June, 1880. 

To the beginning of 1880 the families who had joined 
the parish numbered .seventy, confirmations were seventy 
in number, ninety-seven names were added to the com- 
munion list, one hundred and thirty persons were baptized, 
thirty-five couples married, and forty-nine persons buried. 
The parish is now clear of debt, owns property valued at 
four thousand dollars, and is in the enjoyment of much 
prosperity. 

The vestry in 1880 is composed of 0. L. Spaulding, F. 
B. Cutler, C. E. Grisson, J. H. Cranson, G. S. Corbit, J. H. 
Corbit, and S. S. Walker. 

ST. JOHN'S (ROMAN CATHOLIC) CHURCH. 

During the progress of the construction of the Detroit 
and Milwaukee Railroad, at and near St. Johns, in 1856 
-57, Father Koenig, of Flint, visited the place occasionally 
and hold Roman Catholic Church service in the shanties of 
the railway hands. Similarly Father De Yordias, of West- 
phalia, visited the town subsequently, and still later Father 
Von Palmer, of Corunna, conducted periodical services for 
the space of two years in the house of Jeremiah Dooling. 
By that time the accession of a dozen or more families tq 
the congregation warranted the attachment of St. Johns to 
the Corunna mission and the provision of regular services. 
After Von Palmer's term expired, Father Vandenriche was 
given charge of the work and the place of worship trans- 
ferred to the village school-house. In 1862 measures were 
taken to erect a church building upon lots donated by A. 
11. Walker and A. G. Uigliam. A building committee, com- 
posed of Father Vandenriche, Celestin Loranger, Michael 
Ryan, Dennis Clancey, and William Ryan, was appointed, 
and entering at once upon the work of soliciting subscrip- 
tions, obtained by 186-1 the sum of two thousand dollars, 
contributed by the business men of the village without re- 
gard to creed. The church was accordingly begun iu 186-1, 
completed in 1865, and dedicated in 1867, Bishop Caspar 
A. Borgess, of Detroit, ofiiciatiug. When the church was 
occupied in the spring of 1865 the congregation included 
about sixty families, and at that strength has remained 
until this day without material change. 

A Sabbath-school was organized in 1865 and a pastoral 
residence built in 1871. Father Vandenriche remained in 
charge until 1867, and after him came Fathers Beranger, 
Rickert, and Cramer. Cramer was made a resident priest, 



his predecessors having been supplied from Corunna. With 
the close of Cramer's service, in 1877, the church was trans- 
ferred from the Corunna to the Ionia mission, and Father 
Bolte, who was then given charge of the work, has since 
that time held services regularly once each month. Since 
Cramer's time there has been no resident priest, although 
one is promised for the near future. 

The church is now out of debt and owns a church edi- 
fice and parsonage. The trustees for 1880 are Michael 
Ryan, A. Florian, Augustus Werner, and Doyle. 

FREE METHODIST CHURCH. 

In the winter of 1870-71, Free Methodist meetings 
were held in the Baptist church and the houses of Caleb 
Ash and Rev. John Ellison. In March, 1871, Rev. John 
Ellison, chairman of the Grand Rapids district, organized a 
class of sixteen members in his own hou.se in St. Johns. 

Caleb Ash was chosen to be the first leader, and directly 
after organization Hicks' Hall was rented and occupied at 
regular periods until the completion of the present church 
edifice, which was built in 1872 and cost four thousand 
five hundred dollars. Ellison preached two years, and then 
the St. Johns circuit being established. Rev. W. R. Cusick 
was sent upon the work as the first circuit preacher. After 
Cusick the charge was delegated successively to Revs. J. G. 
Wiiham, C. F. Irish, W. J. Johnston, C. D. Hoadley, 
Hiram Bearss, A. V. Leonardson, and G. H. Joslyn, the 
latter being now on the work. The class numbered at its 
most prosperous period upwards of one hundred members, 
but removals from the town have reduced the number to 
about fifty. The class-leader is Walter McFarlan ; the 
trustees, George Gillison, H. D. Park, Harmon Martin, 
Thomas Atkinson, Alfred Barden. George Pray is super- 
intendent of the Sunday-school, which has an average 
attendance of twenty. 

GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

A German Lutheran Church was organized in 1870 by 
Rev. Mr. Smith, in -the office of John McFarlan. The 
organizing members included Henry Eckert, John Van 
Hocseii, Conrad Burkhardt, Caspar Seibert, Charles Seibert, 
Fred Martin, Christian Hecht, M. Holbrook, Jacob Siefert, 
and Jacob Siefert, Jr., with their wives, and Henry Ferry. 
Caspar Seibert was the first class-leader, and successively 
after Jacob Siefert, Henry Eckert, and Henry Ferry were 
leaders. Rev. Mr. Smith's successors in the pulpit have 
been Revs. Orchen and Wittey, the latter being now the 
pastor and preaching once a month. In 1874 a church 
edifice was built. The membership includes about twelve 
families. The class-leader is Jacob Siefert. 

ST. JOHNS UNIOX SCHOOLS. 

The territory covered by the village of St. Johns in 1856 
was on Oct. 6, 1855, set off by the township school inspec- 
tors a^ district No. 4. 

The first school taught in St. Johns was a select school 
in charge of Miss Maria Coryell, sister of Mrs. Swegles. 
She was visiting Mrs. Swegles in the summer of 1855, and 
that summer taught the school in a shanty on Walker Street, 
used before that as a blacksmith-shop. 



372 



IIISTOKY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



In 1856 the first public school was taught in the same 
building by Mrs. Gunsally (previously Miss Nancy M. llich- 
niond) and Mr. J. Wilcox, the latter of whom was assisted 
by his stepmother. 

At the annual meeting of the voters of the school district 
in September, 185-7, it was resolved to organize the district 
under the law authorizing the formation of union districts. 
An election for officers resulted in the choice of Hiram C. 
Hodge as Moderator; John Kansom, Director; Spencer W. 
Gibbs, Assessor; and Timothy Baker, A. M. Crawford, S. 
T. Hayward, and David Sturgis as Trustees. At the same 
meeting it was resolved to raise three thousand dollars to 
build a school-house, and at an adjourned meeting, Oct. 12, 

1857, the donation of a school-site was accepted from A. 
H. Walker, on behalf of the village proprietors. 

This resolution seems to have met with some subsequent 
objection on the part of the tax-payers, many of whom 
joined in a suit for an injunction against the levy of a tax 
for the three-thousand-dollar school-house, upon the ground 
that the appropriation was an extravagant one, and that the 
resolution passing it was illegal. The courts sustained the 
application for an injunction, and the district therefore voted 
to raise five hundred dollars for the building of a school- 
house without a dissenting voice. The house was erected 
upon the lot donated by the village proprietors, and stood 
where now stands the Episcopal church. It was completed 
in the fall of 1858, and cost four hundred and ninety-five 
dollars, McKay & Mitchell being the builders. The taxes 
voted in the district during the school year closing October, 

1858, included ontf dollar each on one hundred and fifty -six 
scholars, two hundred and six dollars to pay fees and costs 
in injunction suit, and five hundred dollars to pay for school- 
house. 

In 1862 the district resolved a second time to organize 
into a union school district. It would seem, therefore, that 
a similar resolution, passed in 1857, fell short of practical 
effect. Trustees chosen in 1862 for the district were John 
W. Paine, Henry M. Perrin, Ransom Plumstead, Thomas 
J. Urie, Samuel S. Walker, and Randolph Strickland. In 
1863 it was resolved to purchase the present union .school 
site for eight hundred and seventy dollars, and to build a 
new school-house to cost ten thousand dollars. Upon ad- 
vertising for bids, it was found that Braiuard, Wood & 
Dane would build such a school-house as was desired for 
eight thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars, whereupon 
the district borrowed nine thousand dollars of James M. 
Soverhill, of Geneva, N. Y., for ten years, at eight and a 
half per cent, per annum. 

The building was completed in October, 1865. It con- 
sisted of a main structure fifty-four by thirty-one feet, 
flanked on each side by a wing fourteen by thirty-one. 
The entire edifice was constructed of brick. Its height 
was three stories. To the original contract price of eight 
thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars, the district added- 
on behalf of the contractors sixteen hundred dollars, to 
cover extra expenditures incurred by them, so that the 
total cost of the building reached ten thousand four hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. On the 1st of November, 1865, the 
old school-house was sold for five hundred dollars. 

The first corps of teachers in the new union school, in . 



1865, was composed of J. B. Nixon, A.M., of Pontiac, as 
principal; Jliss Anna A. Miller, of Ann Arbor, as first 
assistant; Miss Emma Sickels, of Owosso, as second assist- 
ant; and Miss Hunt, of Si;. Johns. 

The Perrin School was built in 1870, at a co.st of ten 
thousand dollars, and the East-Side School in 1876, at a 
cost of three thousand dollars. 

The enrollment of school children in the. district for 
1880 was two hundred and ninety-six boys and three hun- 
dred and sixty two girls, or a total of six hundred and fifty- 
eight. The average attendance was for the various depart- 
ments as follows : 

High -school „ 44 

Grammar department (Union School) 87 

Secondary *' ( Union School) 62 

" " (Perrin School) 58 

" •■ (East-Side School) 56 

Primary " (Union School) 61 

" " (Perrin School) 7(1 

(East-Side Schw.l) 52 

The corps of teachers for 1880 is as follows: Douwe B. 
Yntema, Principal ; M. Allida Strickland, Preceptress ; 
Helen Lamphere, Principal Grammar School ; Anna Ryan, 
Assistant Grammar School ; William H. Branson, Third, 
Fourth, and Fifth Grades ; L. Alice Woodruff, First, Sec- 
ond and Third Grades. 

Perrin School. — Jennie S. Hurd, Third, Fourth, and 
Fifth Grades ; Helen G. Queal, First, Second, and Third 
Grades. 

East-Side School. — Crissie Hill, Third, Fourth, and 
Fifth Grades ; Ellen Moore, I'irst, Second, and Third 
Grades. 

A two-story brick wing, sixty-four by forty and to co.st 
five thousand dollars, will be added to the union school 
building in season for the fall term of 1880. The corps 
of teachers will likewise be increased by the addition of 
Misses Cora Stout, Hattie Baldwin, and Alice Barstow. 

The Board of Education of St. Johns is composed of 
Messrs. O. W. Barker, D. C. Hurd, C. E. Grisson, R. 
Strickland, G. H. Stephenson, and Josiah Upton. O. W. 
Barker is president, Josiah Upton secretary, and Charles 
E. Grisson treasurer. 

ST. JOHNS POST-OFFICE. 

In 1852 the first post-office in the township of Bingham 
was established, and located at the house of George W. 
Estes, who was appointed postmaster. He lived then on 
section 17. The office was named Bingham, and was kept 
at the house of Mr. Estes until his removal, in 1854, to 
the site selected for the village of St. Johns. He carried 
the office with him, and kept it there until 1856, when 
Timothy Baker received the appointment, upon Estes' 
recommendation, and at that time too the name of the 
office was changed to St. Johns. To the time of the com- 
pletion of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad to St. Johns, 
' mail was received over the route from De Witt to the 
Rochester Colony over the State road. 

The postmasters succeeding Mr. Baker in regular order 
were Thomas J. Urie, H. S. Gibbons, Richard Baylis, J. M. 
Carter, and George A. Wells. Mr. Wells, the present in- 
cumbent, was appointed in 1875. It is related that the 
first mail brought to St. Johns was carried in the mail- 



VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



373 



rider's liat, and that the first postmaster kept his office in 
a cigar-box, but these stories are probably pure iiuagina- 
tion. The early history of the St. Johns po.st-ofiice boasted 
no incident out of the ordinary course of such business. 

The business of the St. Johns post-office during ll'.e 
three uioutlis ending March 31, 1880, aggregated as fol- 
lows : 

Receipts for st.imps, envelopes, etc $1004.00 

Money- orders issued $417 1 .0.'> 

" paid $3992. :10 

Registered letters mailed 143 

SOCIETIES AND ORDERS. 
ST. JOHNS LODGE, No. 105, P. AND A. M. 

This, the first lodge of a secret order organized in St. 
Johns, received a dispensation from the Grand Lodge Sept. 
23, 1857, and held its first communication December 3d 
of that year. On that occasion the officers present were 
Timothy Baker, AV. M. ; George F. Mead, Sec. ; W. W. 
Brainard, S. W. ; J. E. Leech, J. W. ; H. C. Hodge, 
Treas. ; John Ransom, S. D. ; L. S. Conn, J. D. ; George 
Richmond, Tiler. At the next lodge-meeting, Dec. 7, 
1857, A. M. Crawford, George F. Mead, C. A. Lamb, and 
George W. Richmond were presented as candidates and 
duly elected. 

Jan. 14, 1858, the lodge received a charter, and Janu- 
ary 25th elected officers as follows : Timothy Baker, W. 
M. ; W. W. Brainard, S. W. ; L. C. Conn, J. W. ; George 
F. Mead, Sec. ; H. C. Hodge, Treas. ; J. Ransom, S. D. ; 
A. M. Crawford, J. D. ; C. A. Lamb, Chaplain; J. B. 
Lucas, Tiler; George W. Richmond and 0. B. Swain, 
Stewards. 

The Masters of the lodge since Jan. 14, 1858, have been 
chosen as follows : December, 1858, W. \V. Brainard; 
1859-00, Ransom Plumstead ; 1861, J. W. Paine; 18G2, 
W. H. Mootc; 1863, J. W. Paine; 1864-65, W. H. 
Moote; 1866, 0. L. Spaulding; 1867, R. McFarlan ; 
1868-74, A. J. Wiggins; 1875-76, J. D. Henderson; 
1877-79, W. W. Brown; 1880, M. D. Brown. 

The lodge has now a flourishing membership of about 
two hundred, and is exceedingly prosperous. A hand- 
somely-appointed lodge-room in Ilicks & Steel's block has 
been the lodge quarters since 1867. 

The present officers are M. D. Brown, W. M. ; E. R. 
Sanford, S. W. ; George H. Stephenson, J. W. ; J. D. 
Henderson, Treas. ; A. S. Fildew, Sec. ; J. H. Ingalls, S. 
D. ; H. P. Adams, J. D. ; George Hicks, Tiler. 

ST. JOHNS LODGE, No. 81, I. 0. 0. F. 

This, the second secret order instituted in St. Johns, was 
organized in 1859, and chartered Jan. 12, 1860. The 
charter members numbered seven, — William L. Hicks, 
William Jones, Gardner Conn, Henry Walbridge, N. C. 
McC(.llum, W. H. Plumstead, and A. Plumstead. The 
early records of the lodge having been burned, only meagre 
details can be gleaned touching that portion of the lodge 
history to which they had reference. St. Johns Lodge has 
now forty-one members, and has officers as follows : Wil- 
liam Bishop, N. G ; S. E. Allen, V. G. ; N. D. Hotch- 
kiss. Recording and Financial Sec. ; F. R. Butler, Treas. ; 
L. Z. Munger, Warden. 



ST. JOHNS ENCAMPMENT, No. S3, I. 0. 0. F. 

A charter to the encampment was i.ssued Feb. 11, 1876, 
to P. E. Vauconsant, J. H. Ingall, H. P. Adams, William 
P. Tiomp, W. J. Esler, N. W. Bush, and L. Z. Munger. 
The membership July 1, 1880, was twenty-two, and the 
officers Charles M. Merrill, C. P. ; N. W. Bush, Ac. S. W. ; 
L. Z. Munger, H. P. ; N. D. Hotehkiss, Scribe and Finan- 
cial Sec. ; F. R. Butler, Treas. ; I. D. Richmond, J. W. 

CORINTHIAN LODGE, No. 241, F. AND A. M. 

This lodge was organized early in 1867, in the major part 
by members demittod from St. Johns Lodge. The charter 
was issued Jan. 9, 1868, and at the first meeting there- 
after there were present the following officers : J. H. Cran- 
,son, W. M ; W. W. Brainard, S. W. ; J. M. Carter, J. 
W. ; William Sickels, Treas. ; Charles E. Grisson, Sec. ; 
J. L. Paldi,S. D. ; 0. M. Hidden, J. D. ; A. M. Steel 
and J. Blown, Stewards ; G.H.Stephenson, Tiler. The 
Masters since the organization have been J. H. Cranson, 
W. W. Brainard, C. I'j. Grisson, James H. Collins, and 
William Cochran. The jiresent membership roll bears 
fifty-eight names. The officers are William Cochran, W. 
M. ; O. W. Miller. S. W. ; J. C. Watkins, J. W. ; C. E. 
Grisson, Treas. ; William M. Leland, Sec. ; Henry Filden, 
S. D. ; N. A. Oleson, J. D. ; George Hicks, Tiler. Meet- 
ings have been held in Masonic Hall — Hicks and Steel's 
block — since organization. 

ST. JOHNS COUNCIL, No. 21. 

The council received a dispensation Nov. 24, 1866, and 
a charter June 6, 1867, but held no meeting until Sept. 
17, 1867. Upon that occasion the following-named officers 
were installed : 0. L. Spaulding, T. L G. M. ; Joseph W. 
Bromley, D. T. L G. M. ; Robert McFarlan, M. E. P. C. ; 
G. H. Stephenson, Treas. ; Sylvester Hoyt, Recorder. On 
the same night petitions were received liom Companions 
William Sickels, M. F. Fasquelle, Charles E. Grisson, R. 
M. Steel, 0. H. Wood, William H. Sexton, A. J. Wiggins, 
and John Hale. The membership is now sixty, and the 
officers George H. Stephenson, T. I. G. M. ; J. N. Frisbie, 
D. T. L G. M. ; J. D. Henderson, P. C. W. ; C. E. Gris- 
son, Treas.; Q. E. Bridgman, Recorder. 

ST. JOHNS CO.MMANDERY, No. 24, K. T. 

The commandery received a dispensation Dec. 24, 1868, 
and a charter June 2, 1869. At the first conclave, held 
Feb. 6, 1869, the officers present were Sir Knight H. M. 
Curdy, E. C. ; Sir Knight O. L. Spaulding, G. ; Sir 
Knight E. S. Converse, C. G. ; Sir Knight E. Sprague, 
Prelate; Sir Knight J. Gute, S. \V. ; Sir' Knight W.^H. 
Sexton, J. W. ; Sir Knight A. J. Wiggins, Treas. ; Sir 
Knight J. L. Paldi, Recorder; Sir Knight R. McFarlan, 
Standard- Bearer ; Sir Knight J. S. Ranney, Sword- Bearer ; 
Sir Knight T. W. Lusk, Warden ; Sir Knight II. Boyd, 
Sentinel. Petitions were presented from Companions John 
B. Nixon, Charles E. Grisson, William Sickels, R. Strick- 
land, H. C. Smith, R. M. Steel, Jesse Dunn, J. C. Dayton, 
J. R. Hale, E. L. Smith, Sylvester Hoyt, M. S. Fa.squelle, 
and J. M. Frisbie. The present membership is sixty-seven, 
and the official list for 1880 as Ibllows : Sir Knight O. 



374 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



L. Spaulding, E. C. ; Sir Knight F. B. Cutler, G. ; Sir 
Knight C. E. Grisson, C. G. ; Sir Knight R. B. Emmons, 
Prehite ; Sir Ktuu;ht Jesse Dunn, Treas. ; Sir Knight J. 
M. Frisbic, Recorder ; Sir Knight W. W. Brown, S. W. ; 
Sir Knight C. P. Wickes, J. W. ; Sir Knight G. Pennell, 
Standard-Bearer ; Sir Knight J. D. Henderson, Swoid- 
Bearer; Sir Knight 0. H. Stephenson, Warden; Sir 
Knight George Hicics, Guard. 

ST. JOHNS CHAPTER, No. 45, R. A. M., 
was organized April 13, 18G6, and chartered Jan. 8, 1867. 
The charter members were J. B. Lucas, T. Baker, O. L. 
Spaulding, W. W. Brainard, William S. Lazelle, J. B. 
Nixon, J. M. Carter, S. Steele, R. M. Steel, Elijah Peck. 
The chapter has now one hundred and twenty-seven mem- 
bers. The officers for 1880 are J. D. Henderson, H. P. ; 
G. H. Stephenson, K. ; W. W. Brown, Scribe ; E. R. 
Santord, C. of H. ; J. G. Watkin.s, P. S. ; Joseph H. In- 
gails, R. A. C. ; 0. L. Vreeland, M. of 3d V. ; J. K. Bale, 
M. of 2d v.; Charles Pattison, M. of 1st V. ; C. E. Gris- 
son, Treas. ; C. P. Wickes, Sec. ; George Hicks, Guard. 
Since the organization the High Priests have been 0. L. 
Spaulding, J. B. Nixon, S. Hoyt, A. J. Wiggins, R. Mc- 
Farlan, J. W. Lewis, C. E. Grisson, and J. D. Henderson. 

BINGHAM LODGE, No. 439, KNIGHTS OF HONOR. 
This lodge, organized Jan. 11, 1877, has a membership 
of iwenty-eight and the following officers : J. G. Wise, D. ; 
Peter iMead, \. D. ; A. L. Butler, F. R. ; William H. 
Tripp, Reporter ; G. E. Corbin, Treas. Regular sessions 
are held once each fortnight. 

ST. JOHNS LODGE, No. 2S, A. 0. U. W., 
was organized Dec. 20, 1877, and has now sixty-five mem- 
bers. Regular meetings are held twice a month in the 
Odd-Fellows' Hall. The officers for 1880 areL. Z. Munger, 
M. W. ; W. F. Troump, Foreman ; T. Hart, O. ; A. L. 
Butler, Financier; William Cochran, Sec; diaries E. 
Grisson, Treas.; E. B. Bailey, Guide. 

ROYAL TE.MPLARS OF TEMPERANCE. 

This lodge was organized Feb. 17, 1880, with seventeen 
members. Meetings are held in the Teachout building. 
The officers are James D. Estes, S. C. ; George H. Stephen- 
son, V. C. ; George W. Estes, P. C. ; W. J. Smith, Sec. ; 
Frederick Lee, Treas. ; Jolin Stitt, Herald ; James Thomp- 
son, Chaplain ; James Gibbs, Guard ; S E. Wilson, Sen- 
tinel. The members number now twenty-two. 

ST. JOHNS GRANGE, P. OF H., 
was organized in 18(i9, with thirteen members. The pres- 
ent membership is upwards of forty, and the condition of 
the grange exceedingly prosperous. Meetings are held 
every Saturday in the Teachout building. The officers for 
1880 are George Arnold, M. ; B. P. Conn, 0.; Richard 
Moore, L. ; Frank Ridenour, Chaplain ; Frank Hale, Sec. ; 
A. O. Huntly, Treas. 

THE ST. JOHNS RED RIBBON CLUB 

was organized in February, 1876, when the temperance 
movement was at its height, and enrolled a membership of 
two hundred, with D. S. French as president. Now the 



membership is forty. Meetings are held once a week. E. 
P. Bailey is President ; G. H. Stephenson, Vice-President ; 
M. J. Bassett, Secretary ; and D. C. Hurd, Treasurer. 

LADIE.S' LIBRARY ASSOCIATION. 

The Ladies' Library Association of St. Johns was organ- 
ized under the laws of the State Feb. 1, 1871, with Mrs. 
G. M. Tuthill, Mrs. M. Babcock, Mrs. R. M. McFarlan, 
Mrs. S. S. Walker, Miss Frances E. Tuekerman, Mrs. J. 
B. McLean, Mrs. H. M. Lee, Mrs. C. S. Wells, Mrs. Celia C. 
Smith, and Mrs. J. H. Collins as charter members. The ' 
association was chartered for a period of thirty years for 
" the diifusion of knowledge and intellectual culture or 
literary pursuits." An active organiz:ition has been main- 
tained since 1871, and during that period the valuable 
benefits steadily flowing from the association's efforts have 
njet with earnest popular appreciation. The " Directory for 
1880" is composed of Mrs. G. E. Corbin, Mrs. S. S. Wood- 
ruff, Mrs. C. E. Grisson, and Mrs. J. Dunn. Mrs. M. 
Babcock is the President ; Mrs. R. Strickland, Vice-Presi- 
dent ; Jlrs. S. S. Walker, Secretary ; Miss F. E. Tucker- 
man, Treasurer; Mrs. C. E. Ball, Librarian; Miss C. 
Shaver, Assistant Librarian. 

THE ST. JOHNS CEMETERY ASSOCIATION 
was incorporated July 28, 1863, for the government and 
control of the cemetery grounds donated by the village 
proprietors. Since the organization 0. L. Spaulding has 
been the president and G. H. Stephenson tre.osurer. 

BANKS. 

The pioneer bank of St. Johns was started in 18.57 by 
H. C. Hodge, on the west side of Clinton Avenue, south 
of Walker Street. The bank was a small affair, but Mr. 
Hodge contrived nevertheless to do a good deal of banking 
business, and he found frequent opportunities for making 
loans. He made them, too, at a good living rate of interest 
for himself. He carried on his bank until some time in 
18()4, just before which period Timothy Baker and A. G. 
Higham opened a banking institution in a small building 
which stood upon the site now occupied by the First 
National Bank. Baker & Higham's business did not last 
very long, and ended ratlier abruptly. 

In January, 1865, S. S. Walker opened a banking-office 
in 0. W. Munger's store, and shortly after that Mr. Walker, 
in conjunction with others, organized 

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK. 
The first meeting of the stockholders was held .May 31, 
lS6.i,at the office of P. K. & H. M. Perrin, when Charles 
Kipp was chosen President; John Hicks, Vice-President; 
and S. S. Walker, Cashier. The directors elected were R. 
M. Steel, Charles Kipp, John Hicks, Josiah Upton, II. M. 
Eddy, R. Strickland, 0. W. Munger, H. .M. Perrin, and 
Ransom Plumstead. Aug. 28, 1865, the bank was char- 
tered, with a capital of fifty thousand dollars, limited to 
two hundred thou.sand dollars, and Sept. 4, 1865. began 
business in the building originally used by Baker & High- 
am, for which the bank paid seventeen dollars. Directly 
afterwards a new bank building was put up on the same 



53 

o 



o 

Co 




IT ^ ■ ■ 



VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



375 



site, the old structure occupying meanwhile a place on the 
avenue, and there for thirty days the banking business was 
done until the new building was ready for occupation. 
This latter served until 1870, in which year it was replaced 
by the present fine brick structure. The old bank building 
was moved around upon Walker Street, and now does duty 
as the St. Johns post-ofl5ce. Mr. Walker continued to be 
the cashier until his resignation, in July, 1877. Gr. W. 
Ball succeeded him, but retired in December of that year. 
His successor was Galusha Pennell, who is the present 
cashier. The directory of the bank is composed of Charles 
Kipp, President; John Hicks, Vice-President ; Galusha 
Pennell, Cashier; Joshua Upton, and A. H. Walker. The 
working capital of the institution remains at fifty thousand 
dollars. At the close of business, IMay 10, 1880, the bauk 
statement showed the circulation to be forty-five thousand 
dollars ; loans and discounts, one hundred and six thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-eight dollars and fifty-nine cents; 
deposits, seventy six thousand six hundred and ninety-four 
dollars and eighty-one cents ; surplus, twelve thousand and 
twenty-eight dollars and ninety-six cents ; profit and loss, 
five thousand four hundred and ninety-six dollars and 
ninety -six cents ; undivided earnings, five thousand five 
hundred and twenty-two dollars and thirty-three cents. 

SHAVER & GRISSON'S BANK. 
The firm of Shaver & Grisson carry on a private bank- 
ing institution, which they founded in September, 1877. 
They occupy fine quarters in Steel's Block,aDd conduct a 
general banking business. 

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES. 
THE ST. JOHNS MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 

This corporation, the most important of the industries of 
St. Johns, is an enterprise of more than ordinary preten- 
sions. Devoted to the general manufacture of furniture, it 
contributes towards the support of upwards of one hundred 
families, and employs a capital of one hundred and twenty 
thousand dollars. 

Its origin dates back to April, 1857, when W. W. 
Brainard came to St. Johns from Ohio with a chest of car- 
penter's tools (having previously — in July, 1S5G — been out 
prospecting for a location), and fixed his carpenter's bench 
in the lower portion of the village company's saw-mill, 
which latter he rented and carried on in connection with 
his business as carpenter and builder. In 1858 he gave up 
the mill and moved up town, where he bought, on Walker 
Street, a building which had been erected by Wilbur Ash 
in 1857 as a carpenter-shop, and occupied a little later by 
James Hungerford as a cabinet-shop. The building was 
afterwards remodeled, and is now used by the American 
Express Company. Mr. Brainard put in machinery and 
started a cabinet-making establishment of respectable pro- 
portions. He carried on busines.s at that place two years, 
and then moved to a place on S|iriiig Street, just scjuth of 
Walker Street, where he had built a pretty good-sized fac- 
tory. He associated with him Charles B. Andrews, and 
at that stand Brainard i Andrews carried on the manul'ac- 
ture of furniture until January, 18G8. On the 'Jth of that 
month the St. Johns Manutacturing Company was organ- 



ized by R. M. Steel, William Steel, W. W. Brainard, Oli- 
ver Hiddon, and J. L. Paldi, who bought the business of 
Brainard & Andrews with a view of continuing it upon a 
more extensive plan. 11. M. Steel was chosen president, 
J. L. Paldi secretary, and W. W. Brainard superintendent. 

The company was chartered with a capital of one hun- 
dred and twenty thousand dollars, and proceeded to erect 
new and spacious factory buildings at the north end of the 
village, near the railway-track. While the new works were 
being constructed the old factory on Spring Street was de- 
stroyed by fire in December, 1868. The only article saved 
was an adze, and that relic has ever since been in use at the 
new works. The fire did not, however, retard the com- 
pany's business very much, for in March, 1869, the new 
factory was started with a force of thirty men. The main 
building was ninety-six feet in length by fifty feet in width, 
with a height of two stories and a basement. There was 
also a brick structure three stories high, used on the ground- 
floor for a boiler- and engine-room, and above for shop- 
rooms. During the same spring additions were made of 
two store-houses, each two stories high and twenty-four by 
sixty. The company purchased also extensive tracts of 
timber-lands in Gratiot County, put up a good saw-mill, 
and trafficked largely in lumber. 

In 1874 further additions were made to the factory 
buildings, so that now the works, including a mill for the 
sawing of hard woods, cover about six acres. Since the 
organization 11. M. Steel has been the president and W. 
W. Brainard the superintendent of the company. J. L. 
Paldi was secretary until June, 1870, when he was suc- 
ceeded by D. S. French, the present secretary. The com- 
pany's capital remains at the original sum of one hundred 
and twenty thousand dollars. Its stockholders are but 
three in number, — II. M. Steel, William Steel, and W. W. 
Brainard. 

One hundred and twenty men are employed in the manu- 
facture of all kinds of furniture, of which the especial 
features for the past three years have been extension-tables 
and extension slides, upon which latter a valuable patent is 
held. These latter are marketed in all parts of the country. 
The furniture product is generally sold within the State. 
During the year 1879 there were used in the manufactory 
two million feet of pine and five hundred thousand feet of 
hard wood. 

HICKS' FOUNDRY. 

Archelaus Silsbee opened a foundry in 1857 for the mak- 
ing of plow-points and general castings, and soon took in 
as a partner Wm. H. Moote, of the firm of Corbit & Moote, 
hardware merchants. The business passed through fre- 
quent changes in ownership, and lastly to John Hicks, who 
has been interested in it since 1873. The establishment 
is known as the St. Johns Foundry and Agricultural 
Works, and is engaged in the manufacture of general ma- 
chine castings, but more especially iti the manufacture of 
the " Victor Mower," in which a good deal of business is 
done. 

THE ST. JOHNS COOPERATIVE COMPANY. 

Ill 1875, Messrs. A. S. Fildew, Ira D. Nichols, E. L. 
Nichols, and Frank Fildew founded the St. Johns Co- 



376 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



operative Company for the extensive manufacture of doors, 
sash, and blinds. In the summer of 1879, I. D. Nichols 
was accidentally killed in the factory, and cunsequeut upon 
that event the establishment passed by purchase into the 
hands of the Fildcw Brothers, present proprietors, who 
have added a spoke-factory to the original works. 

WIGGINS & FAIRCniLD'S MILL. 

The firm of Wiggins & Fairchild has been engaged since 
1878 in the operation, on Iligham Street, of an elm-bark 
mill, to which was added in the fall of 1879 the business 
of a bed-spring manufactory that is rapidly developing into 
a business of considerable importance. 

ST. JOHNS FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

At a meeting of the village trustees held June 12, 1858, 
a petition was presented by W. H. Moote, signed by J. W. 
Hungerford, H. C. Hodge, George F. Mead, William H. 
Moote, and thirty-five others, praying that they might be 
enrolled as firemen in Hook-aud-Ladder Company No. 1. 
It was thereupon " Resolved, That the following-named 
persons be organized into a fire company, to be denominated 
Hook-and-Ladder Company No. 1, of the village of St. 
Johns, in accordance with the provisions of act No. 168, 
section 39, .session laws of 1857: James W. Hungerford, 
Hiram C. Hodge, Henry Walbridge, II. Plunistead, George 
F. Mead, W. W. Brainard, T. H. Poland, O. W. Munger, 
J. H. Corbit, George W. Stephenson, S. W. Ingraham, 
William A. McOmber, William Wicks, William H. Vol- 
leau, John Turner, John D. Cain, George W. Estos, George 
W. Carly, Z. C. Cheney, C. W. Palmer, William H. Moot^e, 
George L. Patch, H. A. Smith, Charles F. Smith, John 
Ransom, Wilson Curtiss, W. W. Flagler, T. R. Burns, D. 
P. Bissell, George W. Emmons, Abijah Schaff', S. T. Hay- 
ward, L. McCabe, C. O. Stiles, William J. McKay, N. 
Grummons, John Travis, G. B. Stevens, and George H. 
Stephenson." 

This hook-and-ladder company, so called, was simply 
the addition of a ladder attachment to the old-time bucket 
brigade. There was no " truck," but what ladders were 
provided were kept in various convenient places to serve in 
time of need. 

On the 14lh of March, 18G0, the trustees received from 
citizens and tax-payers a petition asking for the purchase 
of hose and a fire engine, and the construction of capacious 
water-tanks on Clinton Avenue At the meeting of April 
3, 18G0, the trustees resolved to purchase for five hundred 
dollars the engine belonging to Eagle Engine Company, 
No. 2, of Detroit, to secure a hose-cart and three hundred 
feet of hose, and to construct two reservoirs on Clinton 
Avenue. 

At a trustees' meeting, June 2, 1860, the matter of or- 
ganizing Pioneer Fire Company, No. 1, being under con- 
sideration, William H. Moote and Charles Pluiustead 
were appointed a committee to take such measures as were 
necessary for such organization. June 4th the committee re- 
ported, and upon their report the following ordinance was 
adopted : 

'• Be it ordained by the president and trustees of the 
village of St. Johns that we hereby establish and organize 



a fire company, to be known and designated as Eagle Com- 
pany, No. 1, consisting of the following-named persons, to 
wit : William H. Moote, B. M. Shields, J. H. Corbit, C. 
B. Holiday, Charles F. Smith, James H. Alward, Charles 
Pluinstead, Marvin E. Palmer, W. E. Servis, Charles Kipp, 
William W. Flagler, James Vanrice, S. T. Hayward, James 
Travis, Asher Teachout, John W. Paine, George W. Estes, 
Richard Moore, James B. Wait, Jerome Bacheler, W. H. 
Edick, G. 51. Farnham, John Dunn, Henry Hunn, Lorenzo 
Hall, John Turner, Robert G. Shaw, Alfred B. Olin, An- 
thony Cook, John Hicks, Jacob Brown, H. Walbridge, 0. 
W. Munger, Jerry Dobin, Charles McColifF, and James 
W. Hungerford. 

The civil officers were William H. Moote, President; 
Charles Kipp, Vice-President ; Richard Moore, Secretary ; 
Marvin E. Palmer, Treasurer. The fire officers, Charles 
Plumstead, Foreman ; John W. Paine, First Assistant; S. 
T. Hayward, Second Assistant ; William W. Flagler, Pipe- 
man ; George W. Estes, Steward. 

The cause of change in the name of the company from 
" Pioneer" to " Eagle" was a fancy of the majority to 
adopt the latter because it had been borne by the company 
from whom the engine was purchased, — " Eagle," of De- 
troit, being somewhat noted as a company of elite young 
men. 

The hand-engine purchased in 1860 continued to do 
duty for the Eagle Company of St. Johns until May, 1880, 
when it was superseded by a fine third-class steamer of the 
Silsbee make, costing three thousand dollars. 

Firemen's Hull, now the headquarters of the department, 
is a fine two-story brick structure, embellished with a mas- 
sive bell-tower. The hall was erected in 1874, upon the 
ground occupied by the old frame engine-house destroyed 
by fire in 1873. 

William Hoffman is chief engineer of the fire depart- 
ment, and John Tramper first assistant. The department 
consists of Eagle Steam Fire Company, C. B. Stout, fore- 
man, with forty men ; Rescue Hook-and-Ladder Company, 
No. 1, William W. Leland, foreman, with twenty-four men ; 
and Alert Hose Company, C. E. Pulfrey, foreman, with 
sixteen men. George W. Estes is president, F. Fairchild 
secretary, and Miner Boyd treasurer. 

MEMORABLE FIRES IN ST. JOHNS. 

The first village conflagration of any consequence oc- 
curred in 1858, in the burning of Swegles' grist-mill. April 
14, 1860, a fire originated in the second story of the 
building occupied by John Hicks as a store, and swept away 
every building save one on the west side of Clinton Avenue 
between Walker and Higham Streets. In 18G3 the Amer- 
ican House was destroyed; in 1867 the Clinton House and 
three or (bur stores were burned ; in 1875 four stores on 
Clinton Avenue south of Walker Street and the etigine- 
house on Walker Street; and in 1878 several stores on 
the west side of Clinton Avenue south of Walker Street. 

These fires destroyed in each case frame structures, and 
inasmuch as they called into existence brick blocks to fill 
the vacant places, the disasters proved to be in the end 
benefits to the village. 



o 

o 
Co 

?1 



to 




VILLAGE OF ST. JOHNS. 



377 



PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BUILDINGS IN ST. JOHNS. 

St. Johns has much of which to be proud in the way of 
residences as well as business blocks, while it may be truly 
said ill respect to the court-house that few buildings of 
the kind in the State can approach it in point of massive 
and imposing proportions and architectural beauty. It was 
built at an expenditure of forty-five thousand dollars, of 
which the village of St. Johns contributed five thousand 
dollars, Oct. 3, 1868, by a popular vote of 167 to 11. 

The first brick structures in the town were John W. 
Paiue's store and residence. Both were built in 1860. The 
best block of its day, and now a conspicuous feature of the 
town, was the Hicks & Steel Block, built by John Hicks 
in 1867. There are besides the Hicks Block, numerous 
fine brick blocks deserving of more than passing mention, 
among them being the Opera-House building. There are, 
moreover, other brick blocks in course of construction, and 
these when completed will add materially to the present 
attractive appearance of the chief business thoioughfaie of 
the village. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



OLIVER LYMAN SPAULDING. 

Oliver Lyman Spaulding was born at Jaffrey, N. H., 
Aug. 2, 1833, and is the son of Lyman and Susan (Mar- 
shall) Spaulding. He prepared for college at Melville 
Academy, in Jaffrey, working on the farm during the 
time. In 1851 he entered Oberlin College, from which 
he graduated in 1855. He then spent three years in 
teaching, devoting his leisure to the study of law. He 
taught successively in the union schools at Medina, 
Ohio, and Hillsdale, Mich., and in the academy at Me- 
dina, Mich. In 1858 he was admitted to the bar, and 
settled at St. Johns, where he has since continued to prac- 
tice his profession, with the exception of the time spent in 
the civil war. In 1862 he began military service as cap- 
tain in the Twenty-third Michigan Volunteer Infantry, 
and was appointed, successively, major, lieutenant-colonel, 
and colonel, having been senior officer in command of the 
regiment from the time of receiving his commission as 
major in 1863. At the close of the war he was in com- 
mand of the Second Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, 
and was brevctted brigadier-general of United States vol- 
unteers, June 25, 1865, '' for faithful and meritorious ser- 
vices during the war." In 1858 he was elected a regent 
of the State University, and held the ofiice until 1864. In 
1866 he was elected Secretary of State, and was re-elected 
in 1868. In 1875 he was appointed by President Grant 
Special Agent of the Treasury Department, which office he 
still holds. 

Gen. Spaulding has for a number of years been actively 
connected with the Masonic fraternity. In 1869 he was 
Grand Master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select 
Masters; in 1872, Grand Commander of the Grand Com- 
mandery of Knights Templar ; in 1877, Grand High Priest 
of the Grand Chapter ; and for several years has been 
chairman of the standing committee on appeals in the 
48 



Grand Lodge. He is at present Deputy Grand Master of 
the Grand Lodge of the State of Michigan. 

Gen. Spaulding was reared a Congregationalist, but in 
1866 became connected with the Episcopal Church, and 
since that time has been senior warden. 

Politically he has been an active member of the Repub- 
lican party since its organization, and an ardent member of 
the State Central Committee since 1870. In the Repub- 
lican Convention held at Owosso, he was nominated by 
acclamation, Aug. 5, 1880, for member of Congress from 
the Sixth District. 

His family consists of a wife and three children. Mrs. 
Spaulding was the daughter of the Hon. John Swegles, 
who was the founder of the village of St. Johns. 



JOHN H. FEDEWA. 

Among the honorable names in the county of Clinton 
that recall the qualities of energy and force of character as 
the chief elements in a successful career, no finer example 
is discovered than that presented in the life of John H. Fe- 
dewa. With ■ two hundred and fifty dollars given him in 
early life, — a mere adjunct to the capital which his own in- 
dustry and ambition supplied, — he has at the age of thirty- 
one years not only acquired a thorough legal education 
but been the recipient of many ofiices of trust, and is now 
filling for the second term the ofiice of prosecuting attor- 
ney for the county. 

His father, Morris Fedewa, was born in Germany, in 
1812, the birth of his mother, also a native of Germany, 
having occurred the year following. They emigrated to the 
hospitable shores of America during the year 1842, and at 
once embarked in agricultural pursuits in the township of 
Dallas, Clinton Co. Here their son was born May 8, 1849, 
having been the eighth in a family of twelve children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fedewa experienced all the hardships of 
the early settler, the former having borne his grist many 
miles to Lyons, to avail himself of the nearest mill. Until 
the age of eighteen years John H. led the accustomed life 
of the farmer's son, having labored in summer and studied 
in winter. He later enjoyed for two years the advantages 
of the St. Johns High School, after which he taught for a 
brief period. In 1870 he entered the law-school at the 
University of Michigan, from which he graduated May 27, 
1872. He then began the practice of his profession in 
Westphalia, and in 1873 was elected supervisor of the 
township. He was re-elected the following year, and soon 
after honored with the ofiice of prosecuting attorney of 
the county, which occasioned his removal to St. Johns, 
where he remained until 1877. He returned again to his 
former residence, and was soon recalled to the office of su- 
pervisor of the township, which he filled for two successive 
terms. The ability with which he discharged the onerous 
duties of prosecuting attorney during a previous term in- 
sured his re-election in 1878, and his removal again to St. 
Johns as a result. Mr. Fedewa was on the 27th of No- 
vember, 1876, married to Miss Lizzie Petsch, of Fowler, 
Clinton Co., Mich. Their home i.s graced by the presence 
of one little daughter, named Pauline May. 



378 



HISTORY OF CLINTOJ^ COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



ROBERT M. STEEL. 

Robert M. Steel was born in the town of Craftsbury, Vt., 
Oct. 21, 1833. His father, William Steel, a native of Scot- 
land, emigrated to America in 1830, and settled in Vermont. 
He was a contractor and builder. Robert M. Steel took an 
academic course in that State. After having received a 
thorough training in tlie carpenter and joiner business from 
his father, at the age of twenty-one he went to Toronto, 
and was employed as time-keeper on the Grand Trunk 
Railroad. After two months he was appointed foreman on 
the road that was building between Sarnia and Toronto, 
and held the position fur fifteen months. His employers, 
Hayden & Ross, taking a contract to lay the superstructure 
on the Detroit and jVlilwaukeo Railroad, he entered into a 
partnership with them. In 185(5 he removed to St. Johns 
as the most convenient point, and was engaged in com- 
pleting this contract until the fall of 1858. In 1859 he 
took a contract to lay the superstructure on the Grand 
Trunk Railroad from Detroit to Port Huron, and at the 
same time was interested, with W. A. Stearnes & Co., in 
building a road from Three Rivers, on the St. Lawrence 
River, to Athabaska, a distance of thirty-eight miles. He 
finished these contracts in December, 1853. On the 9th 
of September, 1862, he entered into partnership with one 
of his first employers, Mr. Ross, under the firm-name of 
Ross, Steel & Co., to build the Kansas Pacific Railroad 
from Kansas City to the one hundredth meridian, a distance 
of three hundred and sixty miles. They had one hundred 
miles located and about twenty-five graded when the com- 
pany disposed of their franchise to Samuel Hallett and J. 
C. Fremont. Mr. Steel then entered into partnership with 
Ellethorpe & Adams, under the firm-name of Ellcthorpe, 
Adams & Steel, and was engaged in building stone bridges, 
etc., for the city of Leavenworth. He was subsequently 
engaged in rebuilding the Hannibal and St. Joseph Rail- 
road, and continued in this work until December, lStJ9. 
In 1807 he made an individual contract with James F. 
Joy to build the accretions at Burlington, Iowa, for the 
union depot of Burlington and Missouri, and Chicago, Bur- 
lington and Quiucy Railroads. This contract was com- 
pleted in the fall of 18G8 by working night and day. In 
1870 he made a contract to build ninety miles of the St. 
Louis and Southeastern Railroad, which was completed 
November, 1871. In January, 1872, he took a contract 
on the Cairo and Vincenncs Railroad, having the entire 
road to build through two counties, a distance of one hun- 
dred and sixty-eight miles, and the building of culverts, 
bridges, etc. This was completed in December, 1872. In 
1873 he took the contract to build the superstructure of 
forty miles on the Paducah and Memphis Railroad, and 
completed that in thirty-five days. In May, 1875, Mr. 
George Mason, of Toronto, made a contract to build seventy 
miles of railway between the Great Western Railway of 
Canada on the south, and the Wellington, Grey and Bruce 
Railway on the north, to be opened for traffic on the 1st 
day of January, 1876. Mr. Steel received the contract to 
grade thirty miles of t)ie .same ; also, the fencing of the 
whole line, one hundred and forty miles of posts and board 
fence. The following is an extract from a letter from Mr. 
Mason : 



" The whole work is completed to my entire satisfaction, 
and I have no hesitation in saying that to your skill, ex- 
perience, and energy as contractor, I consider I am indebted 
in a great measure for the successful completion of the 
undertaking. 

" Believe me faithfully yours, 

" George Mason, 
" Chief Engineer, L. 11. and B. R. R., mid D. and 
M. R. R." 

Besides his extensive railroad contracts Mr. Steel was 
connected with the government work at Chicago, Calumet, 
Ludington, Manistee, and Frankfort. In the year 1857 
he became a Freemason, and is now a member of the St. 
Johns Commaudery. In 1848 he visited England, Ireland, 
and Scotland, and was absent one year. He is a Republi- 
can, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. In all 
matters that pertain to the advancement of St. Johns or 
Clinton County, Mr. Steel is ever ready to assist by his 
counsel or capital. He largely engaged in agriculture, and 
is the president of the Clinton County Agricultural Society. 
He was instrumental in organizing the St. Johns Manu- 
facturing Company, having a paid-up capital of one hundred 
and fifteen thousand dollars. He owns ninety per cent, of 
the capital, and holds the office of president. In social 
relations genial and companionable, in business matters 
he is prompt and reliable, as a citizen respected and in- 
fluential, at home cordial and hospitable; to the poor he 
has been a quiet, unostentatious friend. He married, March 
13, 1860, Miss Carrie A. Hyatt, daughter of James M. 
Hyatt, of New York State. They have three children, — 
George A., Robert G., and Carrie L, 



JOHN HICKS. 



Mr. Hicks may with justice be regarded as one of the 
foremost men of Clinton County in business enterprises, 
and one who in certain specialties of trade has no com- 
petitor. He is a Canadian by birth, having been born in 
Kingston, Canada West, in 1824, his father, Samuel Hicks, 
and mother, Eunice Bailey, having both been natives of 
Connecticut. The former was a patriot of the war of 1812, 
and was an active participant in the battle of Sackett's 
Harbor. Mr. Hicks is of English extraction, and the first 
twenty-six years of his life were spent mostly in Canada, 
after which he came to the States, and repaired at once to 
Michigan, having located in De Witt, Clinton Co., and en- 
gaged as clerk and book-keeper with Hon. David Sturgis, 
who was in the milling and mercantile business. A year 
later he became a partner, and remained until 1856, when, 
St. Johns presenting a wider sphere for his remarkable 
business abilities, he became a resident of the county-seat, 
meanwhile having disposed of his interest at De Witt to 
James Sturgis. Since then he has been actively engaged 
in mercantile enterprises, first as a dealer in dry goods and 
later as an extensive dealer in wheat. In the latter branch 
of trade Mr. Hicks is one of the largest, if not the largest, 
shippers of wheat in his portion of the State, and had the 
satisfaction of forwarding the first ear-load of that grain 
by rail from St. Johns. 



BINGHAM TOWNSHIP. 



37a 



Mr. Hicks was chairman of the committee on the erec- 
tion of the court-house and jail at St. Johns, and has been 
the vice-president of the First National Bank of the city 
.since its organization. He was married in 1855 to Miss 
Eliza Huston, of Vermont, and has three children, who 
with their parents share the comforts of the most attractive 
home in St. Johns. Mr. Hicks, in connection with other 
extensive business interests, is the proprietor of a foundry. 
His integrity of character and fairness have not only mate- 
rially contributed to his financial success, but established 
for him an enviable reputation in all mercantile circlas. 



CHAPTER LT. 
BINGHAM TOWNSHIP.* 

Pioneers and .Settlements — Township Organization and Civil List — 
Township Highways — Educational — Religioiis. 

Bingham is conspicuous among the townships of Clinton 
County because it contains within its territory the village 
of St. Johns, the county-seat. Its designation upon the 
government survey is town 7 north, in range 2 west. Its 
boundaries are Greenbush on the north, Olive on the south, 
Ovid on the east, and Bengal on the west. 

Originally including in many places considerable tracts 
of waste land, Bingham still contains some swampy country, 
— notably east and southeast of St. Johns village, — but the 
rapidity with which this has been drained and improved 
during late years makes its complete reclamation only a 
question of time, and probably of the near future. 

The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway 
pa.sses through the town from east to west upon almost an 
air-line, and has in Bingham the station of St. Johns, the 
market- and shipping-town for a wide stretch of surrounding 
country. 

THE PIONEERS OF BINGHAM. 

Bingham township received its first settlers upon section 
10, in the fall of 1887. The land there located covered two 
eighty-acre lots, which Lucius Morton bought in 1837 for 
his father-in-law, Thomas Neal, who with Morton and two 
other sons-in-law, named Jo.seph Russell and Benjamin 
Finkle, was living in Lenawee County. In the autumn of 

1837, Lucius Morton and his brother Herod came to the 
place and rolled up the body of the first house built in 
Bingham. Their intention was to stop until they could 
complete the house and make a small clearing ; but their 
provisions gave out before their allotted task was done, and 
so they had to return to Lenawee County. When they got 
back there, Lucius hired Benjamin Finkle and Runah Mor- 
ton to go out to Bingham and finish what had been begun. 
They reached the ground December, 1837, and in the fol- 
lowing summer Thomas Neal came out. In September, 

1838, Lucius Morton followed. Upon his arrival he found 
that Silas Parks had joined the settlement and was on sec- 
tion 3, where John Avery now lives, and that Joel Bebee 
was on section 10. In February, 1839, Joseph Russell lo- 

* By David Scbwnrtz. 



oated likewise on section 10. At that time, therefore, the 
settlers in the northern part of the township included 
Thomas Neal, Benjamin Finkle, Runah Morton, Lucius 
Morton, Joel Bcbec, Joseph Russell, and Silas Parks. 

The first child born in the settlement was Lewis, son of 
Lucius Morton, whose birth occurred in 1838. In 1803 
he was drowned in the Maple River while fishing from a 
boat. He was subject to fits, and being attacked by one 
while in the boat fell overboard. The first deaths in the 
town occurred in 1 8-tO, when by scarlet fever, which raged 
in a violent form, Benjamin Finkle lost three children, all 
of whom died in the same week. At the same time Silas 
Parks also lost two children by the same disease. Other 
children of the neighborhood wore sick with the fever, but 
those mentioned were the only ones who died. • 

Silas Parks, already named, gained some notoriety during 
the year 1839 by rea.son of the mysterious disappearance 
of his four-year old boy under circumstances that were said 
to have pointed strongly to Parks as the author of his 
death, although nothing tangible was adduced against him. 
Parks gave out that his child was lost, saying that the little 
fellow had set out to visit a neighbor's house, and after that 
had not been *een. Intelligence of the disappearance of 
the child quickly spread, and people to the number of one 
hundred or more promptly gathered and organized a search- 
ing-party. They hunted for a week or ten days, and pur- 
sued thsir work with unceasing vigilance until all hope of 
discovery was given up, and then they came to the conclu- 
sion that Parks had in a fit of anger made away with the 
child and concealed the body. He stoutly maintained that 
the Indians '' must have done it.'" Of course everybody 
knew that story to be an improbable one, and that Parks in 
a moment of impetuous rage had fiitally injured another of 
his children ; but no legal investigation followed, and Parks 
went unscathed, at least by the law. 

The first grown person who died was Thomas Neal, 
whose death occurred in 1841. He was buried on William 
Russell's farm in Greenbush, and was the first one buried 
in the Greenbush cemetery (on section 8). The first 
marriage is supposed to have been that of Ann Morton 
and Stephen W. Downer, in 1841, at the house of the 
bride's father. Bishop Morton, on section 20, the ceremony 
being performed by Joel Bebee, J. P. 

The pioneers were obliged to go to Ionia or De Witt for 
physicians, and when milling was necessary, to Ionia, Wa- 
cousta, or Shiawasseetown. When Lucius Morton made 
his first trip to mill after settling in Bingham, he had first 
to start on a tour of exploration among older settlers to 
buy or borrow some grain, and then, having found it, to 
undertake the wearisome journey to mill, upon which he 
was absent four days, during which his lodging at night 
was in the open air under his wagon. Mr. Morton's first 
cabin had the trough-roof common enough in those times, 
but, more aristocratic thau his neighbors, whose windows 
and doors were blankets, he whittled with liis jack-knife 
thin sticks for window-sash, and over thom pasted greased 
paper to serve as lights. Morton one day wished to start 
for De Witt by a shorter way than usual, and with Runah 
Morton, Joel Bebee, and Sylvester Carter worked four days 
underbrushing a roadway. At the end of that time they 



380 



HISTOKY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



came to a swamp, and seeing no way to cross it, gave up 
the tabk of load-building, and Morton, to get around the 
swamp, which turned out to be less than half a mile across, 
made a journey of twenty-four hours by way of Shiawas- 
see. Working on the highways for the non-resident taxes 
was a boon to the pioneers, as it gave to many of them the 
only means of earning a subsistence while waiting for their 
crops to mature. It was not always, however, that they 
could get cash for their labor, and quite frequently county 
or town orders were doled out to them. These orders were 
good enough for taxes, but in trade they were current only 
at a discount of forty per cent. Still they were welcome, 
as being better than nothing. 

Wheat was salable only at about fifty cents a bushel, 
and at that no money could be got for it short of Detroit. 
Hauling it that far for that price was far from profitable, 
and in some cases farmers preferred to feed it to their cattle. 
During Lucius Morton's first winter in the settlement he 
could give his cattle no grain or hay, for he neither had any 
nor could he buy any, and so during the season he cleared 
fifteen acres to provide browse or tree-tops for nine cows. 
In reply to the question, " Where did the people of the 
settlement go to church ?" he said, " Why, bless your soul, 
we didn't have any time to go to church ; we were too much 
pressed for time to stop for church. Neither snow, nor 
rain, nor Sunday made any dilFerence in our ordinary pro- 
gramme. We were out chopping at all times and in all sea- 
sons, and begrudged even the night-time, which compelled 
us to desist from labor, we were so anxious to hurry for- 
ward." 

Thomas Fisk, a resident of Greenbush, came occasionally 
into the Bingham settlement and held religious services. 
Fisk claimed to be a member of the Christian faith, but his 
followers were popularly known as Fiskites. He grew into 
disfavor in his own town, and was by reason of public 
prejudice against him compelled to seek a home elsewhere. 

Among other early comers into the Morton neighborhood 
were Charles Simpson, William Silverwood, John Avery, 
and Samuel Gardner. In the year 1840 the extreme north- 
western corner of Bingham came to be known as Gardner's 
Corners, and for many years thereafter the Corners had a 
reputation that reached far and wide. It was there that 
Samuel Gardner located a piece of land in 1839, and in 
February, 1840, he occupied the place as a permanent 
settler. He was located on the De Witt road, passing via 
the west town-Hue of town 7 (now Bingham) to Gratiot 
County, and in the year 1840 there was a good deal of 
travel over that road by land-seekers bound for Gratiot 
County. Travel naturally suggested a tavern, and during 
1 840 Mr. Gardner put up a log tavern upon the spot now 
occupied by one of his grandsons in the northwestern corner 
of section 6. 

Mr. Gardner called his tavern the Gardner House, and 
the locality Gardner's Corners. At the time mentioned 
(1840) he had but few neighbors in Bingham. Lucius 
Morton, Benjamin Finkle, and Joel Bebee were living in 
the town east of him, but south of him, on the De Witt 
road, he knew of no one but William H. and Reuben 
Norris between Gardner's Comers and De Witt. Travel 
on that highway increased as time moved on, and in 1843, 






to meet the demands of the occasion, Gardner replaced his 
log tavern with a more pretentious and commodious framed 
hotel. A portion of it he set apart as a store, and there- 
after, between selling goods and keeping tavern, drove a 
brisk trade. The Gardner House was, too, a place of 
popular resort for the pleasure-seekers and merry-makers of 
the adjoining country, and the many jolly dances and simi- 
lar festive gatherings that marked its busy era are still sub- 
jects of enjoyable remembrance among those who took part 
in them. The country belles in those days were inordi- 
nately fond of dancing opportunities, and although they did 
walk barefooted many miles to a Gardner House ball and 
carry their shoes to the ball-room door to save the wear of 
them, they enjoyed the hilarious reunions none the less nor 
missed one when they could help it. 

Business at Gardner's tavern was during the briskest 
season of travel so great that upwards of sixty teams were 
kept there overnight, and the receipts of money before 
ten o'clock in the morning were more than a hundred dol- 
lars. Gardner kept the tavera until his death in 1SG7, 
and after that his widow carried it on until it was burned 
in 1872. During 1854, Mr. Gardner built at St. Johns 
the first tavern put up at the village, although he was him- 
self at no time the landlord of it. In 1857 a post-office 
called Gardner's Corners was established at Gardner's 
Hotel, and Mr. Gardner given charge of it. Mail was re- 
ceived from St. Johns, the route being from the latter 
place to Maple Rapids. Mr. Gardner remained in charge 
of the office as postmaster until 18G3, when it was abolished. 

The following list of resident tax-payers in Bingham in 
] 840 shows very nearly who had been the settlers in the 
township prior to that time, and the sections on which they 
had located their liomes : 

Acres. 

Silas Parks, section 3 40 

Joel Bebee, section 10 80 

Lucius Morton, section 10 80 

Josepii Russell, section 10 40 

Benjamin Finkle, section 10 40 

Reuben Norris, section 32 40 

William H. Norris, section 32 120 

Levi Frost, section Zb 80 



The resident tax-payers of the township in 1841 were : 

Acrea . 

Silas Parks, section 3 80 

Benjamin Finkle, section 10 40 

Thomas Neul, section 10 40 

Lucius Morton, section 10 80 

.Joel Bebee, section 10 80 

Reuben Norris, section 32 80 

William H. Norris, section 32 80 

W. C. Gardner, sections 1 iind 6 320 

S. C. Vandcventer, section 35 80 

The following- named persons were drawn as jurors in the 
township of Bingham in the year 1839 : 

Enos Kinyan, William Swarthout, Charles Simpson, Joel 
Bebee, Nathan Lowe, Samuel Barber, Francis Faxon, Henry 
M. Sever, John Burnet, Charles Stevens, Sydney L. Smith, 
Beojamin Carpenter, Oliver Bebee, Grove Cooper, John 
Ferdon, Sylvester Carter, John Jessop, Allen Lounsbury. 

Following is the list of jurors drawn for the year 1841 : 

Grand. — Horace Avery, Joel Bebee, John Avery, Herod 
Morton. 



BINGHAM TOWNSHIP. 



38 



Petit. — Moses Phillips, John Ferdon, J. I. Tinklepaugh, 
Marvin Greenwood. 

The residents in Bingham in 1842 liable to do mili- 
tary duty were William C. Gardner, Samuel H. Gardner, 
Stephen W. Downer, William H. Norris, Reuben S. Nor- 
ris, C. Vandeventer, Joel Bebce. 

The number of votes cast at the township election in 
1845 was eleven, and they were cast by the following-named 
persons : Samuel H. Gardner, Joseph A. Sperry, John 
Avery, John Dickerson, William C. Gardner, John Avery, 
Jr., Reuben S. Norris, Christopher Vandeventer, Samuel 
Gardner, H. S. Harrison, Benjamin Finkle, William H. 
Norris, Bishop Morton. 

Stephen W. Downer, famous for his successes as a bear- 
hunter and the hero of a desperate bear-fight, located on 
section 20 in 1841, and in 1849 exchanged his farm with 
C. A. Lamb, of Oakland County, for a place in the latter 
county. Lamb, who .settled in Oakland in 1829, was a 
Baptist preacher, and during his fifteen years' residence in 
Bingham labored zealously in his ministerial calling. J. 
R. Hale settled in that neighborhood in 1846, and in 1847 
was followed by his brother. Homer W. Hale. At that 
time the settlers in the vicinity were Lucius Morton, Ste- 
phen W. Downer, David Snow, Bishop Morton, George 
W. Estes. Later came A. 0. Huntley and A. Warren. 
In 1847 the only settler in Bingham between H. W. Hale 
and William H. Norris was J. R. Hale. 

Daniel Ridenour made a settlement in 1852 upon land 
in sections 5 and 6, where he still lives. Some time after- 
wards Simeon Haynes, Patrick Whittlesey, Richard Moore, 
and J. H. Van Sice made settlements in the neighborhood. 
Ridenour had a number of adventures with bears, although 
none of them, as far as report goes, were of a dangerously 
exciting character. He was out after a cow in 1852, when 
his dog started and made chase for a bear. Ridenour joined 
the pursuit and came to close quarters with Bruin, who 
turned and made a show as if for battle. Ridenour beinsr 
unarmed retreated in tolerable haste, but still in good order, 
for William Silverwood's, and besought Silverwood to go 
with him that they might slay the brute together. Silver- 
wood admitted that the sport would be grand and that of 
course the victors would be heroes, but however much he 
might wish to immortalize himself, he was warned that his 
lame back totally unfitted him for a bear-fight, and must 
therefore decline to share in the honor. Ridenour smiled 
at the lame-back story, but he had to be content with it, 
and not feeling particularly ambitious to engage single- 
handed in the conflict, abandoned his purpose. Upon 
another occasion Ridenour was aroused from his "midnight 
slumbers by a commotion indicative of the presence of a 
bear among the pigs. Rushing hastily forth, he found sure 
enough that an old bear and her two cubs were on the 
ground actively engaged in preparations for the removal 
of a promising porker. Ridenour seized a cudgel and 
boldly attacked the entire family. The old one aTid one 
of the cubs fled ingloriously into outer darkness, while the 
second cub took to a tree. Ridenour hurried into his house 
for a gun, but while he was gone the cub backed down 
the tree and was gone by the time his would-be slayer 



returned, and thus in smoke ended the valiantly-directed 
eflbrts of the intrepid Ridenour. 

John Avery, now living on section 3, located some land 
in Greenbush, on section 33, in 1838. To earn sufiicient 
money to carry him eastward to his family, he cleared ten 
acres for Marvin Greenwood, and in 1839 brought his fam- 
ily out. In 1840 he bought his present place of Silas 
Parks, but did not permanently occupy it until 1842. 
Avery's first mill journeys were made in a canoe, by way 
of the Maple River to Ionia; and when he wanted to reach 
a market-town he journeyed to Detroit, which place he 
reached at times by ox-team and at others on foot. In the 
winter of 1842 he cut out a road four rods wide and two 
miles in length, and assisted later in the foundation of the 
village of St. Johns, by hauling from the Rochester Colony 
mill the boards for the first frame house built in the vil- 
lage, — the Whittemore house, owned by Cornelius Vroo- 
man. Mr. Avery was esteemed a hunter and trapper of 
consummate skill, and carried on an active and profitable 
campaign against wolves and other wild animals, the scalps 
of the wolves yielding a handsome bounty. 

Charles Simpson was a settler upon section 8 about the 
time of Avery's location, and made himself famous chiefly 
by reason of the fact that when he came in he brought 
two barrels of pork and two barrels of whisky. The former 
he peddled out to his neighbors. The latter he kept for 
his own use, and used so freely that by the time the supply 
was exhausted, he himself was nearly in the same condition. 

Among other early settlers iu that vicinity were the 
Davisons, Boughtons, Wykofis, Krolls, Balcoms, Doyns, 
Shulters, Laphams, Tranchells, Williams, Hugus, and 
Warrens. 

In the southern portion of Bingham the earliest settle- 
ment was made by William H. Norris in 1838, upon one 
hundred and twenty acres in section 32, where he still lives. 
From a recently-published sketch of Mr. Norris' pioneer 
experiences is given the following : 

" Ben Merrihew, of Olive, had built a shanty on a piece 
of land owned by him, and quite near to Mr. Norris, and 
being unoccupied the latter took possession of it until he 
could build upon his own. At this time he sold forty 
acres of his farm to his brother, R. S. (now deceased), and 
the two families lived together in the house which Mr. 
Norris immediately erected. During the latter part of fall 
and the early part of the winter following the logs were 
gotten together and hewn for the brother's house, and 
between Christmas and New Year they raised it. On the 
same day, while they were at work at the new house, the 
first one took fire, and for all they could do burned to the 
ground with all its contents, although, happily, it was so 
soon after their arrival that the better part of the household 
goods had not yet come from the former home in Washte- 
naw. At this critical juncture some hardships were endured 
which, even looked back upon through the soltening screen 
of many years of plenty, bring with them no sensations of 
plea.sure. Of course there was nothing to do but to finish 
the brother's house, and all occupy it until the burned spot 
could be covered by another home. In about two weeks 
from the lime of the fire the father came from Superior 



382 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



witli the expected goods, together with some eatables, put 
in witli an especial reference to the late fire, all of which 
exactly fitted into the niche which hard circumstances had 
chiseled. The rest of the winter was spent quite comfort- 
ably in spito of the uninviting outlook a little before, and 
in the spring enough land was stripped of trees and logs to 
allow of the sowing of two bushels of spring wheat on as 
many acres ; and a little later three acres of corn were 
planted, although the ground for this was not cleared of 
logs, but the corn was thrust into the soil wherever a spot 
could be found. One acre and a half of exceedingly rough- 
looking ground was given to a scattering of oats, and thus 
the new farm was cropped. In the following August the 
burned house was replaced, and soon after, harvest coming 
on, the crops were taken from the ground. A thrashing- 
floor was made of split plank, a flail prepared, and the 
yellow sheaves of wheat yielded up their golden treasure to 
the amount of twenty bushels of clean, plump kernels. 
The corn had eared splendidly, and two hundred bushels 
were securely cribbed ; but the oats had been sown so late 
that they could not ripen, and were cut and stacked for 
fodder. Thus diligent hands, aided by a kind Providence, 
managed to gather through the summer an encouraging 
plenty for the winter, and these things provided for, what 
if the home-nest was a little crude and frontier-looking? 
It was comfortable and was home. To them " Be it ever 
so humble, there's no place like home" was true, and hunger 
was not to gnaw nor cold to pinch. 

" After grain had been grown, harvested, and thrashed, 
the work of putting it into a condition from which it could 
be moulded into eatables was by no means accomplished, 
for the milling in those days was a very important factor in 
this preparation. Mr. Norris had come into the place well 
provided with provisions, and not until August of the fol- 
lowing year did he have to perform the laborious task of 
going to mill. But at that time it must be done, and throw- 
ing ten bushels of wheat into a wagon, and hitching on a yoke 
of oxen, he started ofi" to find the mill at Delta, Eaton Co. 
Persons not familiar with pioneer life can but illy imagine 
what were the difficulties of team travel in those days of 
footpaths and tree-blockaded roads. To the mill at Delta 
he went until one was built at Rochester Colony in 1841 
or 1842. 

" Mr. Norris, as well as some others, was a religious man, 
and realizing the need of gospel services in a place so emi- 
nently calculated to breed a forgetfuluess of God and the 
incalculable interests of the soul, he, with others, organ- 
ized a Methodist society in 1840, and they were soon shep- 
herded by the Rev. Lewis Coburn. Revs. Lapham and W. 
Jackson, respectively, followed him in the gospel work in 
those extreme early days of Bingham." 

The next settler after Norris in the southern portion of 
the township was Levi Frost, who in 1838 made a home 
on section 35. While raising a barn. in 1844, Frost was 
crushed and killed by a falling log. Christopher Vande- 
venter married the widow and lived on the place. He was 
much given to hunting bears and wolves, and made a com- 
fortable living on tlie soalpbounties he obtained. 

The place now occupied by William H. Krepps was first 
settled by Nathan Flint about 1840. Flint claimed to be 



a physician, and did doctor a good many people effectively 
with roots and herbs, although ho was looked upon by reg- 
ular practitioners as an impo.stor. Still he was gladly wel- 
comed by sick settlers, and he did some good service. 
While chopping. Dr. Flint was badly hurt by a falling tree. 
Dr. HoUister, of Victor, called to see him, and pronounced 
his left leg so badly shattered, and Flint himself so pros- 
trated, that it would be useless to attempt to set the leg, for 
the patient was bound to die. Nevertheless, Dr. Flint 
insisted that he would not die, and after nine days of suf- 
fering, finding no one to set his leg, he set it himself and 
finally recovered. 

Moses D. Tabor settled in 1843 across the southern 
town-line, opposite section 34, when the only settler west of 
there was William H. Norris, and the only ones eastward 
were Levi Frost and Dr. Flint. Tabor lodged his family at 
J. W. Merrihew's while he was getting his cabin ready, and 
although Merrihew's cabin had but one room in it, the two 
families of nine persons managed to exist there, although 
with little comfort or convenience. When Tabor had got 
out logs for his cabin and was ready to raise it there came 
on a heavy snow-storm and buried his logs so that he 
could not well get at them. In this emergency he put up 
a shanty in the snow as best he could, and for the next two 
weeks his family lived without a pound of flour in the 
house, but got along instead on hulled corn. What neigh- 
bors he could reach were as badly off' for flour as he was, 
and getting to mill was out of the question by reason of the 
impassable condition of the few roads. 

William Faucett, who in 1848 made a settlement on sec- 
tion 34 (where he now lives), took a tract upon which 
not a stick had been cut. In 1850, Ezekiel Lamphei'e lo- 
cated on section 35, about a half-mile north of Dr. Flint. 
Norman Williams came to section 35 in 1855. In the 
southern portion of the town the early settlers included also 
J. N. De Witt, 0. M. Brooks, William Gigler, George 
Waldron, Carr, Richardson, Gillison, Newman, Barnes, 
Hicks, Atkinson, and Beach. 

L. S. Conn joined the settlers in Bingham in 1847, and 
occupied a place on section 21, where a Mr. Halsinger had 
made a clearing of two or three acres. Mr. Conn's neigh- 
bors were Benjamin Brown on the west, and Aslier Hath- 
away on the north, both within easy call. Although the 
surrounding neighborhood contained quite a number of 
settlers, settlements had not in that quarter more than 
fairly commenced. 

South of Conn, and near the south line of the town, 
Joseph Sperry had been living on sections 33 and 34 since 
1844. When he came in for a settlement he had to cut 
out a road from Laingsburg to his place. His nearest 
neighbor was Moses D. Tabor, in Olive, on the north town- 
line, where he had been living about a year. Christopher 
Vandeventer was on section 35, near where W. H. Krepps 
now lives. Sperry was the only one in the neighborhood 
boasting the possession of a wagon, and he was therefore 
the one'who went to mill for all the neighbors, — the mill in 
question being at the Rochester Colony. The pay he got 
from those whom he thus served was daily labor on his place, 
for money was too scarce to be paid out unless other means 
failed. Sperry was a cooper, and made a good many barrels, 




Residence of JOH^ A'.'LHy. a in sham, uuitonCo.Mich. 



BINGHAM TOWNSHIP. 



383 



which he marketed at Do Witt, where also the settlers 
found their post-office as well as their church. 

Sperry's cabin had a bark roof, but neither window nor 
door, and many a night Mrs. Sperry was left alone with her 
children to brave the terrors of loneliness, emphasized by 
the presence of howling wolves. One night, while her hus- 
band was gone on a journey to the Colony mill, Mrs. Sperry 
was awakened by the pandemonium of what appeared to 
her to be an hundred wolves howling about her cabin. 
Terrified, she fled with her two small children into the 
darkness and made for the house of Christopher Vande- 
venter, nearly two miles distant, where she craved shelter, 
and remained until morning calmed her fears and enabled 
her to return home. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

Bingham was organized under act of Legislature ap- 
proved March 21, 1839, and included towns 7 and 8 north, 
in ranges 1 and 2 west, previously a portion of De Witt 
township. Towns 7 and 8 in range 1 were detached in 
1840, and called Ovid and Dupl:iin respectively. Town 8 
in range 2 was set off Feb. 1(3. 1842, and named Green- 
bush. The name of Bingham was bestowed in honor of 
Governor K. S. Bingham. 

The first town-meeting in Bingham was held, in accord- 
ance with the provisions of the organizing act, at the hou.se 
of Joseph Sever, April 3, 1839. The record of the proceed- 
ings of that meeting has been lost, and nothing can, there- 
fore, be said touching the list of officers then elected. At 
a special meeting held at Grove Cooper's house April 27, 
1839, it was voted to raise one hundred dollars to defray the 
expenses of the town for the ensuing year, that a pound 
should be established at John Ferdon's barn free of ex- 
pense, and that no money should be raised for the support 
the poor. 

Below is given a list of persons elected annually from 
1840 to 1880 to the offices of supervisor, clerk, treasurer, 
and justice of the peace in the township of Bingham : 





SUPERVISORS. 


1840. R. K. Criivcn.* 


1864-65. Oeorge R. Hunt 


1811. Lucius Morton. 


1866. 0. L. Spauliling. 


1842-48. S. W. Downer 


.f 1867. Vf. S. Lazello. 


]84y-52. «. W. Eftos. 


1868. George Serviss. 


185.3. W. SilvcrwooJ. 


186U. George R. Hunt. 


1S54. G. W. Estcs. 


1870. 11. C. Smitli. 


185.5. J. 0. P.almer. 


1871. George R. Hunt. 


185fi-58. W. H. Mooto. 


1872. A.J. BaMnin. 


1859-60. C. Kipp. 


1873. 0. AV. Munger. 


1861. T. Baker. 


1874. J. M. Easton. 


1862-63. IL M. Perrin. 


1875-80. Josiah Uplou. 



1840. S. Pcarl.» 

1841. R. Morton. 

1842. N. W. AlJrich.f 

1843. W. U. Norris. 



CLERKS. 

1844. W. C. Gardner. 

1845. J. Avery, Jr. 

1846. W. C.Gardner. 
1847-48. J. M. Estoa. 



* Township divided. At the first election this year fifty-seven 
votes were polled. At the special election the same year, after the 
division, twenty-five votes were cast, Thomas Fisk hcing chosen 
Supervisor; David Sevey, Clerk; John Ferdon, Treasurer; and 
David Sevcy, Marvin Green, and Joel Behee, Justices of the Peace. 

I Grecubush detached. Nino votes cast at this year's election in 
Binghuui. 



1849-51. J. R. Halo. 
1852. H. G. Tyler. 
1853-54. William C. Gardner. 
1855-57. William IL Conn. 
1858. R. Plumstead. 
1859-60. H. M. Perrin. 
1861-63. George R. Hunt. 
1864-65. AV. S.' Lazelle. 



1866. A. 0. Hunt. 

1867. AV. S. Lazelle. 

1868. I. H. Cranson. 
1869-71. A. J. Baldwin. 

1872. M. J. Bassett. 

1873. R. J. Woodruff. 
1874-75. M.J. Bassett. 
1876-80. AV. M. Leiand. 



1840. S. L. Smith.* 

1841. H.Morton. 
1842-43. L. Morton.f 
1844-46. W. H. Norris. 
1847-48. H. Avery. 

1849. Isaac AA'ait. 

1850. L. Morion. 

1851. R. AVilco.x. 

1852. N.Doty. 

1853. C. A. Lamb. 
1854-56. N. Doty. 
1857-58. C. A. Lamb. 



TREASURERS. 

1859-61. W. H. Conn. 
1862-63. S. Hunt. 
1864-65. J. AV. Ash. 
1866-67. James Kipp. 

1868. L Gabrien. 

1869. S. J. AVright. 
1870-71. E. L.Smith. 
1872. C. B. Andrews. 
1873-74. IL S. Hilton. 
1875-76. AV. H. Turner. 
1877-78. 0. M. Brooks. 
1879-80. 0. B. Swain. 





JUSTICES OF THE 


PEACE. 


1840. 


S.Penrl.® 


1861. 


D. Sturgis. 


IS41. 


M. Greenwood. 


1862. 


0. L. Spaulding 


1842. 


J. Behie-t 


1863. 


W. Sicliels. 


1843. 


S. Morion. 


1864. 


George Serviss. 


1844. 


C. Vandeventer. 


1865. 


AV. N. AVilley. 


1845. 


R. S. Norris. 


1866. 


E. D. Tripp. 


1846. 


B. Morton. 


1867. 


G. AV. Barker. 


1847. 


M. Greenwood. 


1868. 


J. M. McFarlan 


1848. 


H. S. Harrison. 


1869. 


AV. N. AVilley. 


1849. 


R. S. Norris. 


1870. 


E. D. Tripp. 


1850. 


Isaac AVait. 


1871. 


AVillLim Taylor. 


1851. 


H. AA'. Hudson. 


1872. 


J. N. McFarlan. 


1862. 


Z. H. Harrison. 


1873. 


S. Hoyt. 


1853. 


I. C. Palmer. 


1874. 


E. D. Tripp. 


1854. 


G. Conn. 


1875. 


A. Stout. 


1855. 


C. Higgins. 


1876. 


J. N. De AVitt. 


1856. 


Z, IL Harrison. 


1877. 


AV. H. Moote. 


1857. 


J. 0. Palmer. 


1878. 


H. P. Adams. 


1858. 


0. L. Spaulding. 


1879. 


C. M. Merrill. 


1859. 
1860. 


J. H. Cranson. 

George Serviss. 


1880. 


AV. Brunson. 



TOWNSHIP HIGHWAYS. 

The first liighways recorded in the township records were 
laid out by Highway Commissioners Barker and Stevens, 
July 15, 1839. lload No. 1 is described as follows: 

" Commencing at the southeast corner of section 26, in 
town 8 north, of range 2 west; thence north, 52° west, 30 
chains and 37 links to angle; thence north, 57° west, 1 
chain and 03 links to angle; thence north, 53i° west, 73 
chains and 75 links to the west line of said section 26; 
thence north on section-line 11 chains and 26 links to the 
northwest corner of said section ; thence north on section- 
line 200 chains to the quarter-stake on the east line of 
section 10; thence west, 2J° south, 144 chains and 50 
links to niajile stub; thence west, 30° south, 15 chains 
and 50 links to (|uarter-stake-on the east side of section 8; 
thence west, 2i° south, 152 chains to the quarter-post on 
the west line of section 7, — all in said town 8 north, of 
range 2 west. 

" No. 2.-rAlso a road beginning at the .southwest corner 
of section 30 in the above-named township ; thence east, 
4i° north, 6 chains and 90 links to post and angle; thence 
south, 41° east, 4 chains and 92 links to buttonwood-tree ; 
thence south, 54° east, 5 chains and 45 links to a post; 



384 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



thence south, 48° east, 50 chains and 50 links to post ; 
thence south, 52° east, 10 chains to post ; thence south, 43° 
east, 5 chains to post; thence south, 50° east, 151 chains 
to beech-tree ; thence south, 46° east, 6 chains and 25 links 
to post ; thence south, 48° east, 7 chains to post ; thence 
east, 2i° north, 120 chains to post; thence south, 66° east, 
5 chains to beech-tree ; thence south, 77° east, 10 chains 
and 65 links to beech-tree ; thence east, 3i° north, 6 chains 
and 60 links to post ; thence south, 65° east, 13 chains and 
75 links ; thence south, 59° east, 4i chains to basswood- 
tree; thence south, 58° east, 19* chains to beech-tree; 
thence south, 80° east, 8 chains and 40 links to maple-tree; 
thence south, 85° east, 15 chains and 38 links to post; 
thence south, 75° east, 30 chains and 38 links to post ; 
thence east, 17° north, 4 chains and 96 links to elm-tree; 
thence east, 18 chains and 25 links to post ; thence east, 
27° north, 7 chains to basswood-tree ; thence east, 14° 
north, 11 chains and 56 links to post; thence south, 85° 
east, 19 chains and 87 links to post; thence east, 4° north, 
4 chains; thence north, 37° east, 3 chains; thence east, 
29° north, 1 1 chains and 81 links ; thence east, 5° south, 
9 J chains ; thence east, 13° south, 7 chains and 56 links; 
thence east, 5° south, 12 chains and 30 links; thence east, 
10° north, 15 chains and 12 links; thence 39° north, 4 
chains and 11 links; thence east, 43 J° north, 5 chains and 
75 links; thence east, 32J° north, 6 chains; thence east, 
48° north, 24 J chains to the south [east] corner of section 
36 in said town 8 north, of range 2 west. 

" No. 3. — Also commencing 2i° north, 40 chains east of 
quarter-post, on the west line of section 6, town 7 north, of 
range 1 west; thence east, 2^° north, 36 chains and 5 
links to post ; thence north, 5° west, 46 chains to the north 
line of said section 6, 5 chains and 17 links west of the 
northeast corner of said section 6." 

COPY OP ENTRY IN HIGHWAY RECORDS. 

" Mr. Stephen Pearl, T.C., of the township of Bingham : 
We the undersigned, highway commissioners of the said 
town, having determined to lay out the following roads, do 
hereby order you to record the same. 

" The minutes of the surveys of the several roads are as 
follows : 

" Toum 8 north, of range 2 west. 

" No. 1 . — Beginning at the west quarter stake of section 
No. 23; thence running north 87 J ° east, 80 chains to the 
east quarter post of 23. 

" No. 2. — Beginning at the northeast corner of section 
No. 27; thence running south, 87i° west, 160 chains to 
the southwest corner of section No. 21. 

" Town 7 north, of range 1 west. 

" No. 1. — Beginning at the southwest corner of section 
No. 36 ; thence running south, 87° west, 19 chains ; thence 
north, 52J° west, 8 chains; thence south, 5H° west, 17 
chains and 3 links ; thence south, 87° west, 32 chains and 
13 links to the southwest corner of section No. 35. 

" No. 2. — Beginning at the southwest corner of section 
No. 36; thence running north, 3° west, 92 chains; thence 
north, 45° east, 37 chains and 70 links to a stake 59 links 
north, J° west, from w. oak 18 inches in diameter. 



" Toion 8 north, of range 1 west. 
" No. 1. — Beginning at a stake bearing south 87i° west, 
20 chains from the northwest corner of section No. 33 ; 
thence running south, 21° east, 80 chains and 24 links; 
thence south, 15° west, 3 chains and 75 links; thence 
south, 26° west, 13 chains and 52 links ; thence south, 2i° 
east, 12 chains and 59 links to a stake standing in the 
centre of the highway. 
"Recorded Dec. 14, 1839. 

"Samuel Barker, 
" Charles Stevens, 
" Stephen Pearl, T. C, 
"Commissioners of Highways.'^ 

EDUCATIONAL. 

Bingham's first school was taught on the Silas Parks 
place by Mary, daughter of Nathan Smith, of Olive. The 
school-house was an abandoned cabin, and the pupils were 
from the families of Lucius Morton, Silas Parks, and Ben- 
jamin Finkle. Mary Smith taught the school two terms, 
and after that Orpha Fisk taught in the same house. The 
next teacher was Lucinda Richmond, who kept school about 
two years in Lucius Morton's house, Morton having built 
an addition to his residence for this purpose. He hired 
Miss Richmond at one dollar a week, and charged a certain 
sum per capita for each child to cover expenses. Some of 
the pupils were boarded by him and others brought their 
dinners. 

The records of an early date having been lost, very little 
touching the history of township schools from the begin- 
ning can be gleaned. There is, indeed, nothing to be 
gathered from the records antedating 1855. On the 6th 
of October in that year it appears of record that district 
No. 4 was organized to contain the south half of section 9 
and the whole of section 16, except the southwest quarter 
of the southwest quarter. On the same day district No. 5 
was formed, and contained sections 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24. 
Fractional district No. 6 was formed Oct. 27, 1855, of a 
portion of Olive and section 26, the east half of section 34, 
and the whole of section 35 in Bingham. Oct. 27, 1855, 
No. 7 was organized to contain section 29, the south half 
of section 30, the whole of section 31, the north half of 
the northwest quarter, the southwest quarter of the north- 
west quarter, the southwest quarter, and the west half of 
the west half of the southeast quarter of section 32. No. 
8 was organized Feb. 2, 1856, and comprised the northwest 
quarter of section 28, the north half of section 29, and the 
north half of section 30. 

From 1853 to 1858 teachers were appointed as follows: 

Nov. 20, 1853.— Pamelia Bliss. 

May 6, 1854.— Jane Clark. 

May 29, 1854.— Stella Ferguson. 

Nov. 6, 1854.— S. J. Wilcox. 

Dec. 2, 1854.— Tamour Doty. 

Dec. 5, 1854. — Catherine A. Fenner. 

May 7, 1855. — Mary C. Richmond. 

Nov. 3, 1855.— R. Dubois. 

Dec. 15, 1855. — William Silverwood. 

Dec. 21, 1855.— C. A. Lamb. 



BINGHAM TOWNSHIP. 



385 



Jan. 17, 1856. — Susan Gardner, Emily Rowan. 

April 29, 1856. — Nancy M. Richmond, Adelaide Smith. 

Nov. 1, 1856.— Charles T. Eaoe. 

Nov. 19, 1856.— George L. Wait. 

Dec. 17, 1856.— Catherine A. Fenner. 

Jan. 1, 1857. — John 0. Palmer. 

Jan. 26, 1857.— George W. Doty. 

April 13, 1857. — Sally Lamphere. 

April 21, 1857. — Ann Davidson. 

May 1, 1857.— Lucy M. Palmer. 

June 19, 1857. — Betsey Warren. 

Nov. 7, 1857. — Seth Hunt, Jr., Anthony Swarthout. 

Nov. 12, 1857.- John Van Horn. 

Dec. 2, 1857.— John R. Pond. 
. Dec. 12, 1857.— Esther Powell. 

Jan. 5, 1858.^ — Nancy Sewell. 

March 4, 1858. — Jeanette E. Newell. 

April 10, 1858. — Elizabeth Severance, Rosina Severance, 
Sophronia Corbin. 

The annual school report for 1879 gives the following 
details : 

Number of districts (whole, 5 ; fractional, 5) 10 

" scholars of school age 1,049 

Average attendance 889 

Value of .<tcbooI property $17,725 

Amount of teachers' wages 85,014.50 

The school directors for 1879 were H. W. Hale, C. H. 
Sebert, Lyman Sperry, Josiah Upton, William Atkinson, 
N. Williamson, Jans Purvis, Eugene Shulters, Frank 
Sacket, and Richard Gay. 

RELIGIOUS. 

THE WEST BINGHAM UNITED BRETHREN CLASS. 

In September, 1867, Rev. William Palmer, of the Ben- 
gal Circuit, organized the West Bingham United Brethren 
class, with five members, viz. : D. C. Nonis, Henry Lar- 
kens, George Yallap, Mary Larkens, and Mary Yallap, the 
class-leader being Henry Larkens. The Peck school-house, 
in district No. 3, has been used as the place of worship 
since the class organization. The class has now a member- 
ship of thirteen, and meets for worship once a fortnight. 
Mr. Palmer's successors on the work have been Revs. Dor- 
rance, Beechler, Shelley, Barnuby, Older, Duryea, Lane, 
Maynard, and Mowers. There is also a union Sunday- 
school, of which Robert Larkens is superintendent, and in 
which the attendance averages forty. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKIiTCHES. 



JOHN R. HALE. 

John R. Hale was born at Sanger.sfield, Oneida Co., N. Y., 
Feb. 5, 1822, on the same farm and in the same house 
where his father, Seneca Hale, was born in 1790. John R. 
lived at home until he was twenty-one, and that year ( 1 842) 
came to Michigan with one hundred dollars, bought land 
in Ingham County, where he remained some three years, 
exchanging that property fur one bundled and sixty acres 
49 



of land where he now resides, and upon which he moved in 
1845. The whole county was then a wilderness, scarcely 
settled and all new beginners, — not more than fifty acres 
of land at that time had been plowed in the town of Bing- 
ham. Mr. Hale's first dwelling was a log cabin of the most 
primitive kind, where he and his mother lived for several 
years. To supply the necessaries of life Mr. Hale was 
obliged to seek employment in the more populous portions 
of the State, consequently the improvements upon his own 
land were made with the greatest diSiculty. In 1852 he 
went to California; was absent two and a half years, when 
he returned with sufficient money to enable him to purchase 
other lands, erect a more pretentious log house, and make 
substantial improvements from time to time until he now 
has a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres and a 
commodious brick residence, a view of which may be seen in 
this work. Mr. Hale has been twice married: first to Cor- 
delia E. Redfield, June 2, 1847. She died Dec. 26, 1876, 
leaving two children, — Emma, married Milton Smith; 
the son, Frank 0., lives at home. Mr. Hale was again 
married August, 1877, to Dorissa Miles, by whom he has 
one daughter. Politically, Mr. Hale is a Democrat, has 
held several town offices, and is classed among the substan- 
tial and reliable men of Clinton County. 



JOHN AVERY. 

John Avery was born in the town of Lyme, Conn., May 
4, 1798, and is of English and Scotch descent. When six 
years of age his parents moved to Jefierson Co., N. Y., and 
when the war of 1812 broke out, John Avery, then a lad 
of thirteen years, moved by a spirit of adventure and 
independence which has characterized him through life, 
enlisted in the Twenty-third Regiment of United States 
Infantry. He participated in the capture of Fort George, 
and nearly all the engagements on the frontier during the 
war, and took part in the capture of the brigs " Adams" 
and " Caledonia ;" was taken prisoner at the battle of Fort 
Erie by the Indians, who took him to the forests of Canada, 
where he remained more than a year in charge of Jack 
Brandt, when his freedom was purchased by Adams & Ball, 
merchants at Twelve-Mile Creek. He then returned to 
Adams, Jefferson Co., N. Y., where he was married, August, 
1821, to Sarah Cooper, of Watertown. After a few years 
they went to Chautau(|ua County, and in 1830 came to 
Michigan, stopping in Oakland County two years, arriving 
in Clinton County the fall of 1838 with fifty dollars; pur- 
chased forty acres of land in the town of Greenbush, 
where he remained five years, then purchased eighty acres 
in Bingham, where he has since resided. At that time 
this part of the county was sparsely settled, and all new 
beginners, with limited means. Mr. Avery cut out the 
road for two miles, and put in the first log bridges on that 
road. Xl'e country was heavily timbered, and the process 
of making a farm was slow, but by the indomitable perse- 
verance and strong arm of this pioneer the improvements 
were made, other lands added, until at one time he had 
more than four hundred acres of land, with large and sub- 
stantial improvements. He has rai.sed a family of .seven 
children, — five sous and two daughters, — besides three chil- 



388 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



able there were several in addition to those given in the list 
of oflBcers for that year. 

By vote the following persons were elected pathmasters 
in the several districts : 

Silas W. Rose, district No. 1. 

William Young, district No. 2. 

Philemon Newman, district No. 3. 

W. J. Partelo, district No. 4. 

Jesse Jameson, district No. 5. 

John Collister, district No. 6. 

The first meeting of the town board of the township of 
Ossowa, to audit its accounts, was held Nov. 18, 1839, at 
which time the following accounts were entered : 

James Smith $10.50 

W. E.Young 2.25 

Jonathan Burke 2.50 

Daniel M. Blood 3.110 

S. W. Rose 28.00 

Alva Coddington 8.00 

Jesse Jameson 21.00 

Hugh Hagerty 18.00 

Hosea Root 4.50 

John Collister 8.50 

Philemon Newman 10.50 

W. J. Partelo 7.15 



Total $120.00 

On Jan. 23, 1840, "James M. Blood, in consideration 
of twelve and one-half cents, received to [his] full satisfac- 
tion," leased to school district No. 3 of the township of 
Ossowa one-quarter of an acre in the northwest corner of 
section 13, now in the township of Victor, " to have and 
to hold the same for the use of said district as long or as 
mapy years as the school district desire to occupy it as a 
site for a school-house." This was the first lease made and 
recorded in the township. 

The first license to keep a tavern was granted to James 
M. Blood. A few days after, the following one was granted 
to Samuel Chappel, in the following words : 

" County op Clinton, "> 
State op Michigan, j 

" At a meeting of the town board [of the township of 
Ossowa], at the house of James M. Blood, for the purpose 
of granting permits to tavern-keepers and common victual- 
sellers, on the 11th day of April, 1840, Samuel Chappel 
was allowed to keep a tavern in all its various branches, ex- 
cepting the privilege to retail ardent and spirituous lickours, 
which privilege the board do not grant or permit ; said license 
to take effect on the 1st day of May of the present year, 
and to expire on the last day of April, 1841, in hid house, 
formerly belonging to Chancey Davis, on section 27, town 
6 north, range 1 W., and no other. 

"James M. Blood, 

H. Hagerty, 

Jesse Jameson, 

John Collister, 



Town Board." 



As has been stated, Ossowa was divided in 1843 and the 
township of Bath was organized. The first election held 
in Bath as a distinct township was at the house of Silas 
W. Rose, on the 18th day of April, 1843, on which occa- 
sion the whole number of votes cast was twenty-five. 

The township oflBcers of Ossowa and Bath annually 
elected from 1839 to 1880, inclusive, have been as named 
ip the following list, vi)!. : 



OSSOWA. 

1839. — Supervisor, Silas W. Rose ; Clerk, C. Davis* ; Com- 
missioners of Highways, James Smith, Hosea 
Root, Jesse Jameson ; Assessors, Hugh Hagerty, 
A. Coddington, Philemon Newman ; School In- 
spectors, Silas W. Rose, W. J. Partelo, A. Cod- 
dington ; Justices, Hugh Hagerty, Jesse Jame- 
son, P. Newman, S. W. Rose ; Collector, Jona- 
than Burke; Constables, Jonathan Burke, Peter 
Finke, Chauncey Davis, J. Canklin ; Directors 
of the Poor, Robert Finch, James Smith ; Treas- 
urer, Jesse Jameson. 

1840. — Supervisor, James Blood; Treasurer, Jesse Jame- 
son ; A.ssessors, A. Coddington, D. H. Blood, 
Hugh Hagerty ; Collector, P. Finch ; School 
Inspectors, W. J. Partelo, R. Collister, Jr., 
Jonathan Burke ; Directors of the Poor, Robert 
Collister, W. E. Young ; Commissioners, Robert 
Finch, Joseph Parsons, James M. Blood ; Jus- 
tices, W. J. Partelo ; Constables, Peter Finch, 
Stephen Finch, Samuel Chappel, W. Calkins. 

1841.— Supervisor, W. W. Upton ; Clerk, Silas W. Rose ; 
Treasurer, 0. A. Phelps ; Assessors, Hugh 
Hagerty, Henry Goodrich, Jesse Burke ; Col- 
lector, John Crist ; School Inspectors, Walter 
Laiug, John G. Brindle, W. W. Upton ; Com- 
missioners, Edwin L. Phelps, C. Potter, Went- 
worth Calkins ; Justice, Walter Laing ; Consta- 
bles, John Crist, William Culver, W. Calkins ; 
Directors of the Poor, James Smith, Jesse Jame- 
son. 

1842.— Supervisor, W. W. Upton; Clerk, D. H. Blood; 
Treasurer, Ainsworth Reed ; Assessors, John 
Groom, Walter Laing; Commissioners, Howe 
Covert, John Collister, Joshua Priest ; Justice, 
Stephen Smith ; School Inspectors, John Brin- 
gle, John Groom, W. W. Upton ; Directors of 
the Poor, David B. Cranson, D. S. Coates ; Con- 
stables, William Finch, C. S. SwegleS; A. Groom ; 
Sealer of Weights and Measures, James Calkins. 

BATH. 

1843.— Supervisor, 0. A. Phelps; Clerk, S. W. Rose; 
Treasurer, E. L. Phelps ; Assessors, R. J. Burt, 
H. Culver ; School Inspectors, R. J. Burt, A. 
Priest ; Directors of the Poor, Jacob Conklin, 
S. W. Rose ; Commissioners, P. Newman, Wil- 
liam Cass, James Smith; Justices, S. Call, Wil- 
liam Cass, J. Burke ; Constables, R. J. Burt, 
H. Stevens, J. Persons, M. W. Newman. 

1844.— Supervisor, O. A. Phelps; Clerk, S. W. Rose; 
Treasurer, E. L. Phelps ; Assessor, A. Eldrich ; 
School Inspector, R. J. Burt. The minutes of 
the meeting of this year are incomplete and in- 
definite. 



* At a special election called on May 11, 1839, for the purpose of 
tilling vacancies, the following-named persons were chosen : Clerk, 
John Collister; Assessor, Jesse Burke; School Inspector, William E. 
Young. 



BATH TOWNSHIP. 



389 



1845.— Supervisor, S. Cole ; Clerk, W. H. H. Culver ; 

Trcisurer, ; Assessors, John Covert, 

I. B. Towner ; Commissioner, J. Calkins ; School 
Inspector, S. B. Smith ; Directors of the Poor, 
J. Smith, I. Fletcher; Justice, R. Burt; Con- 
stables, T. Newman, L. Priest. 

184C. — Supervisor, Samuel Cole; Clerk, Israel R. Trem- 
bley ; Treasurer, Jesse Burke ; Commissioners, 
Edwin L. Phelps, Stephen Gregory, Montgomery 
Burt ; School Inspectors, D. L. Elert, Samuel 
B. Smith ; Justices, Ezias A. Phelps, Isaac 
Fletcher ; Directors of the Poor, Isaac B. 
Towner, Isaac Fletcher ; Constables, Montgom- 
ery Burt, Harrison Levanway, Hamilton Stevens, 
William H. Culver. 

1847. — Supervisor, D. Levanway; Clerk, John Crist; 
Treasurer, Jesse Burke ; Commissioners, George 
Smith, William Coss, E. L. Phelps ; School In- 
spector, Richard Burt ; Justices, Samuel Cole, 
John Tyler ; Directors of the Poor, Jacob Conk- 
lin, Harrison Levanway ; Constables, Hamilton 
Stevens, Alexis Tyler. 

1848. — Supervisor, Dorus Levanway; Clerk, Sylvanus 
Bachelder ; Justice, Isaac Fletcher ; Treasurer, 
Jesse Burke ; School Inspector, Dorus Levan- 
way ; Commissioner, A. Tyler ; Assessors, Joseph 
Piersons, Isaac B. Towner ; Directors of the 
Poor, J. Couklin, James Smith ; Constables, 
A. Stevens, S. Tyler, P. Conklin, W. H. Culver. 

1840.— Supervisor, R. Burt; Clerk, S. Bachelder; Justice, 
R. Burt ; Treasurer, J. Burke ; School Inspec- 
tors, W. H. Culver, J. Marsden ; Commission- 
ers, J. Tyler, S. Cole ; Assessors, R. CoUister, 
J. B. Towner; Directors of the Poor, J. Smith, 
J. Conklin ; Constables, L. Tyler, M. Cushman, 
T. Newman. 

1850.— Supervissor, S. B. Smith; Clerk, S. Bachelder; 
Treasurer, A. Tyler ; Justice, Thomas Peacock ; 
School Inspector, J. R. Trembley ; Commissioner, 
James Smith ; Assessors, E. L. Phelps, W. H. 
Culver ; Directors of the Poor, James Smith, 
Jacob Conklin ; Constables, Stephen Tyler, 
James Smith, Peter Conklin, Morris Cushman. 

1851.— Supervisor, S. B. Smith; Clerk, S. Bachelder; 
Treasurer, J. Burke ; Justice, S. Cole ; School 
Inspector, R. Burt ; Commissioner, D. P. Dryer ; 
Assessors, J. Piersons, T. Peacock ; Directors of 
the Poor, J. Smith, J. Tyler; Constables, A. 
Sweet, P. Rose, L. Tyler, S. Cole. 

1852.— Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, S. Fletcher; 
Treasurer, A. Cole ; Justice, S. 11. Trembley ; 
School Inspector, S. Bachelder; Commissioner, 
J. Tyler ; Directors of the Poor, R. Burt, D. P. 
Dryer ; Constables, A. Crane, A. Sweet. 

1853. — Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, I. Fletcher; 
Treasurer, S. Cole; Justice, E. L. Phelps; 
School Inspector, A. Crane; Commissioner, 
Joseph Pierson ; Directors of the Poor, S. Cole, 
A. Sweet ; Constables, A. Crane, W. Peacock, 
R. Rose, James Smith. 



1854. — Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, I. Fletcher, Jr.; 
Treasurer, S. Cole ; Justice, D. P. Dryer ; 
School Inspector, S. Bachelder ; Commissioner, 
E. Trumble ; Directors of the Poor, S. Cole, E. 
L. Phelps ; Constables, S. Hunt, R. Rose, L. 
Tyler, S. Tyler. 

1855. — Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, I. Fletcher, Jr.; 
Treasurer, I. Cole ; School Inspector, W. R. 
Norton ; Commissioner, A. Smith ; Directors of 
the Poor, R. Collister, Jr., E. R. Phelps ; Con- 
stables,' J. Burke, J. Spangler, W. Stevens, S. 
R. Tyler. 

1856. — Supervisor, James H. Cayvett; Clerk, Jacob Spang- 
ler ; Treasurer, D. P. Dryer ; School Inspector, 
James H. Cayvett ; Justice, John Watlin ; Com- 
missioner, Benjamin Martin ; Directors of the 
Poor, A. K. Shay, Henry Goodrich ; Constables, 
L. Potter, N. P. Gallup, D. Marr, Wm. Stevens. 

1857. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, Samuel Cole; 
Treasurer, I. Fletcher, Jr. ; Justice, A. Crane ; 
School Inspectors, John G. Brindle, P. R. S. 
Crage ; Commissioners, Walter Love, Oney 
Davis ; Directors of the Poor, E. L. Phelps, 
Henry Goodrich ; Constables, William Stevens, 
Walter Coss, Jared Debar, Robert Rose. 

1858. — Supervisor, Thomas Woodman ; Clerk, W. M. Van 
Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher, Jr. ; Jus- 
tices, E. L. Phelps, Samuel Bender ; School 
Inspector, Jacob Spangler ; Commissioners, A. 
Debar, Silas W. Rose ; Directors of the Poor, 
Joseph Piersons, Henry Goodrich ; Constables, 
A. Debar, E. Smith, W. Love, M. Cushman. 

1859. — Supervisor, Thomas J. Woodman ; Clerk, W. M. 
Van Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; School 
Inspectors, John M. Easton, John G. Brindle ; 
Justices, Walter Love, Isaac M. Dryer; Direc- 
tors of the Poor, E. L. Phelps, Albert Smith; 
Constables, James Culver, R. C. Comstock, 
Abraham Smith, P. N. Galliger. 

1860. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, William M. 
Van Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; School 
Inspector, Hiram Rathburu ; Justices, Samuel 
Cole, John G. Brindle ; Commissioner, Silas W. 
Rose ; Constables, Alexander McKibbin, R. C. 
Comstock, James L. Culver. 

1861. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, W. M. Van 
Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; Justice, 
T. J. Woodman ; School Inspectors, John M. 
Easton, W. R. Norton ; Commissioner, James L. 
Culver ; Constables, William P. Trembly, Lyman 
S. Potter, Ransford C. Comstock, Silas W. Rose. 

1862. — Supervisor, Thomas J. Woodman ; Clerk, Wash- 
ington Youry ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; Jus- 
tice, Marion Smith ; Commissioner, Daniel Sober; 
School Inspectors, Jacob Spangler, John Seoly ; 
Constables, Albert P. Smith, Charles Cushman, 
George H. Spangler, Wilber Thompson. 

1863. — Supervisor, Thomas J. Woodman; Clerk, Washing- 
ton Youry ; Treasurer, Stephen B. Roby ; Jus- 
tices, Samuel Hunt, Elisha Abel ; Commissioner, 



388 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



able there were several in addition to those given in the list 
of ofiBcers for that year. 

By vote the following persons were elected pathmasters 
in the several districts : 

Silas W. Rose, district No. 1. 

William Young, district No. 2. 

Philemon Newman, district No. 3. 

W. J. Partelo, district No. 4. 

Jesse Jameson, district No. 5. 

John Collister, district No. 6. 

The first meeting of the town board of the township of 
Ossowa. to audit its accounts, was held Nov. 18, 1839, at 
which time the following accounts were entered : 

James Smith $10.50 

W. E. Young 2.25 

Jonathan Burke 2.50 

Daniel M. Blood 3.00 

S. W. Rose 28.00 

Alva Coikiington 8.00 

Jesse Jameson 21.00 

Hugh Iliigerty 18.00 

Hosea Root 4.50 

John Collister 8.50 

Philemon Newman 10.50 

W. J. Partelo 7.15 



Total $120.00 

Oq Jan. 23, 1840, "James M. Blood, in consideration 
of twelve and one-half cents, received to [his] full satisfac- 
tion," leased to school district No. 3 of the township of 
Ossowa one-quarter of an acre in the northwest corner of 
section 13, now in the township of Victor, " to have and 
to hold the same for the use of said district as long or as 
mapy years as the school district desire to occupy it as a 
site for a school-house." This was the first lease made and 
recorded in the township. 

The first license to keep a tavern was granted to James 
M. Blood. A few days after, the following one was granted 
to Samuel Chappel, ia the following words : 

'' County of Clinton, i 
State op Michigan. | 

" At a meeting of the town board [of the township of 
Ossowa], at the house of James M. Blood, for the purpose 
of granting permits to tavern-keepers and common victual- 
sellers, on the 11th day of April, 1840, Samuel Chappel 
was allowed to keep a tavern in all its various branches, ex- 
cepting the privilege to retail ardent and spirituous lickours, 
which privilege the board do not grant or permit ; said license 
to take efiFect on the 1st day of May of the present year, 
and to expire on the last day of April, 1841, in hi^ house, 
formerly belonging to Chancey Davis, on section 27, town 
6 north, range 1 W., and no other. 

"James M. Blood, 

H. Hagerty, 

Jesse Jameson, 

John Collister, 



Town Board." 



As has been stated, Ossowa was divided in 1843 and the 
township of Bath was organized. The first election held 
in Bath as a distinct town.ihip was at the house of Silas 
W. Rose, on the 18th day of April, 1843, on which occa- 
sion the whole number of votes cast was twenty-five. 

The township officers of Ossowa and Bath annually 
elected from 1839 to 1880, inclusive, have been as named 
ip the following list, vi?. : 



OSSOWA. 

1839. — Supervisor, Silas W. Rose ; Clerk, C. Davis* ; Com- 
missioners of Highways, James Smith, Hosea 
Root, Jesse Jameson ; Assessors, Hugh Hagerty, 
A. Coddington, Philemon Newman ; School In- 
spectors, Silas W. Rose, W. J. Partelo, A. Cod- 
dington ; Justices, Hugh Hagerty, Jesse Jame- 
son, P. Newman, S. W. Rose ; Collector, Jona- 
than Burke; Constables, Jonathan Burke, Peter 
Fiuke, Chauncey Davis, J. Canklin ; Directors 
of the Poor, Robert Finch, James Smith ; Treas- 
urer, Jesse Jameson. 

1840. — Supervisor, James Blood ; Treasurer, Jesse Jame- 
son ; Assessors, A. Coddington, D. H. Blood, 
Hugh Hagerty ; Collector, P. Finch ; School 
Inspectors, W. J. Partelo, R. Collister, Jr., 
Jonathan Burke ; Directors of the Poor, Robert 
Collister, W. E. Young ; Commissioners, Robert 
Finch, Joseph Parsons, James M. Blood; Jus- 
tices, W. J. Partelo ; Constables, Peter Finch, 
Stephen Finch, Samuel Chappel, W. Calkins. 

1841.— Supervisor, W. W. Upton ; Clerk, Silas W. Rose ; 
Treasurer, 0. A. Phelps ; Assessors, Hugh 
Hagerty, Henry Goodrich, Jesse Burke ; Col- 
lector, John Crist ; School Inspectors, Walter 
Laiug, John G. Brindle, W. W. Upton ; Com- 
missioners, Edwin L. Phelps, C. Potter, Went- 
worth Calkins ; Justice, Walter Laing ; Consta- 
bles, John Crist, William Culver, W. Calkins ; 
Directors of the Poor, James Smith, Jesse Jame- 
son. 

1842.— Supervisor, W.W. Upton; Clerk, D. H. Blood; 
Treasurer, Ainsworth Reed ; Assessors, John 
Groom, Walter Laing ; Commissioners, Howe 
Covert, John Collister, Joshua Priest ; Justice, 
Stephen Smith ; School Inspectors, John Brin- 
gle, John Groom, W. W. Upton ; Directors of 
the Poor, David B. Cranson, D. S. Coates ; Con- 
stables, William Finch, C. S. Swegles, A. Groom ; 
Sealer of Weights and Measures, James Calkins. 

BATH. 

1843.— Supervisor, 0. A. Phelps; Clerk, S. W. Rose; 
Treasurer, E. L. Phelps ; Assessors, R. J. Burt, 
H. Culver ; School Inspectors, R. J. Burt, A. 
Priest ; Directors of the Poor, Jacob Conklin, 
S. W. Rose ; Commissioners, P. Newman, Wil- 
liam Cass, James Smith ; Justices, S. Call, Wil- 
liam Cass, J. Burke ; Constables, R. J. Burt, 
H. Stevens, J. Persons, M. W. Newman. 

1844.— Supervisor, 0. A. Phelps; Clerk, S. W. Rose; 
Treasurer, E. L. Phelps ; Assessor, A. Eldrich ; 
School Inspector, R. J. Burt. The minutes of 
the meeting of this year are incomplete and in- 
definite. 



'*' At a special election called on May 11, 1839, for the purpose of 
filling vacancies, the following-named persons were chosen : Clerk, 
John Collister; Assessor, Jesse Burke; School Inspector, William E, 
Young. 



BATH TOWNSHIP. 



389 



1845.— Supervisor, S. Cole; Clerk, W. H. H. Culver; 

Treasurer, ; Assessors, John Covert, 

I. B. Towner ; Commissioner, J. Calkins ; School 
Inspector, S. B. Smith ; Directors of the Poor, 
J. Smith, I. Fletcher; Justice, 11. Burt; Con- 
stables, T. Newman, L. Priest. 

1846.^Supervisor, Samuel Cole ; Clerk, Israel R. Trem- 
bley ; Treasurer, Jesse Burke ; Commis.sioners, 
Edwin L. Phelps, Stephen Gregory, Montgomery 
Burt ; School In.spectors, D. L. Elert, Samuel 
B. Smith ; Justices, Ezias A. Phelps, Isaac 
Fletcher ; Directors of the Poor, Isaac B. 
Towner, Isaac Fletcher ; Constables, Montgom- 
ery Burt, Harrison Levanway, Hamilton Stevens, 
William H. Culver. 

1847. — Supervisor, D. Levanway ; Clerk, John Crist ; 
Treasurer, Jesse Burke ; Commissioners, George 
Smith, William Coss, E. L. Phelps ; School In- 
spector, Richard Burt ; Justices, Samuel Cole, 
John Tyler; Directors of the Poor, Jacob Conk- 
lin, Harrison Levanway ; Constables, Hamilton 
Stevens, Alexis Tyler. 

1848. — Supervisor, Dorus Levanway; Clerk, Sylvanus 
Bachelder ; Justice, Isaac Fletcher ; Treasurer, 
Jesse Burke ; School Inspector, Dorus Levan- 
way ; Commissioner, A. Tyler ; Assessors, Joseph 
Piersons, Isaac B. Towner ; Directors of the 
Poor, J. Conklin, James Smith ; Constables, 
A. Stevens, S. Tyler, P. Conklin, W. H. Culver. 

1849.— 'Supervisor, R. Burt; Clerk, S. Bachelder; Justice, 
R. Burt ; Treasurer, J. Burke ; School In.spec- 
tors, W. H. Culver, J. Marsden ; Commi.ssion- 
ers, J. Tyler, S. Cole ; Assessors, R. Collister, 
J. B. Towner ; Directors of the Poor, J. Smith. 
J. Conklin ; Constables, L. Tyler, M. Cushman, 
T. Newman. 

1850.— Supervisor, S. B. Smith; Clerk, S. Bachelder; 
Treasurer, A. Tyler ; Justice, Thomas Peacock ; 
School Inspector, J. R. Trembley ; Commissioner, 
James Smith ; Assessors, E. L. Phelps, W. H. 
Culver ; Directors of the Poor, James Smith, 
Jacob Conklin ; Constables, Stephen Tyler, 
James Smith, Peter Conklin, Morris Cushman. 

1851.— Supervisor, S. B. Smith; Clerk, S. Bachelder; 
Treasurer, J. Burke ; Justice, S. Cole ; School 
Inspector, R. Burt ; Commissioner, D. P. Dryer ; 
Assessors, J. Piersons, T. Peacock ; Directors of 
the Poor, J. Smith, J. Tyler; Constables, A. 
Sweet, P. Rose, L. Tyler, S. Cole. 

1852.— Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, S. Fletcher; 
Treasurer, A. Cole ; Justice, S. R. Trembley ; 
School Inspector, S. Bachelder; Commissioner, 
J. Tyler ; Directors of the Poor, R. Burt, D. P. 
Dryer ; Constables, A. Crane, A. Sweet. 

1853.— Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, I. Fletcher; 
Treasurer, S. Cole; Justice, E. L. Phelps; 
School Inspector, A. Crane; Commissioner, 
Joseph Pierson ; Directors of the Poor, S. Cole, 
A. Sweet ; Constables, A. Crane, W. Peacock, 
R. Rose, James Smith. 



1854. — Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, I. Fletcher, Jr.; 
Treasurer, S. Cole ; Justice, D. P. Dryer ; 
School Inspector, S. Bachelder ; Commissioner, 
E. Trumble ; Directors of the Poor, S. Cole, E. 
L. Phelps ; Constables, S. Hunt, R. Rose, L. 
Tyler, S. Tyler. 

1855. — Supervisor, S. Bachelder; Clerk, I. Fletcher, Jr.; 
Treasurer, I. Cole ; School Inspector, W. R. 
Norton; Commissioner, A. Smith; Directors of 
the Poor, R. Collister, Jr., E. R. Phelps ; Con- 
stables," J. Burke, J. Spangler, W. Stevens, S. 
R. Tyler. 

185G. — Supervisor, James H. Cayvett; Clerk, Jacob Spang- 
ler ; Treasurer, D. P. Dryer ; School Inspector, 
James H. Cayvett ; Justice, John Watlin ; Com- 
missioner, Benjamin Martin ; Directors of the 
Poor, A. K. Shay, Henry Goodrich ; Constables, 
L. Potter, N. P. Gallup, D. Marr, Wm. Stevens. 

1857. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, Samuel Cole; 
Treasurer, 1. Fletcher, Jr. ; Justice, A. Crane ; 
School Inspectors, John G. Brindle, P. R. S. 
Crage ; Commissioners, Walter Love, Oney 
Davis ; Directors of the Poor, E. L. Phelps, 
Henry Goodrich ; Constables, William Stevens, 
Walter Coss, Jared Debar, Robert Rose. 

1858. — Supervisor, Thomas Woodman ; Clerk, W. M. Van 
Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher, Jr. ; Jus- 
tices, E. L. Phelps, Samuel Bender ; School 
Inspector, Jacob Spangler ; Commissioners, A. 
Debar, Silas W. Rose ; Directors of the Poor, 
Joseph Piersons, Henry Goodrich ; Constables, 
A. Debar, E. Smith, W. Love, M. Cushman. 

1859. — Supervisor, Thomas J. Woodman ; Clerk, W. M. 
Van Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; School 
Inspectors, Jojin M. Easton, John G. Brindle; 
Justices, Walter Love, Isaac M. Dryer; Direc- 
tors of the Poor, E. L. Phelps, Albert Smith; 
Constables, James Culver, R. C. Comstock, 
Abraham Smith, P. N. Galliger. 

I860.— Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, William M. 
Van Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; School 
Inspector, Hiram Rathburn ; Justices, Samuel 
Cole, John G. Brindle ; Commissioner, Silas W. 
Rose ; Constables, Alexander McKibbin, R. C. 
Comstock, James L. Culver. 

1861. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, W. M. Van 
Leuven ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; Justice, 
T. J. Woodman ; School Inspectors, Johu M. 
Easton, W. R. Norton ; Commissioner, James L. 
Culver ; Constables, William P. Trembly, Lyman 
S. Potter, Ransford C. Comstock, Silas W. Rose. 

18C2. — Supervisor, Thomas J. Woodman ; Clerk, Wash- 
ington Youry ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; Jus- 
tice, Marion Smith ; Commissioner, Daniel Sober; 
School Inspectors, Jacob Spangler, John Seely ; 
Constables, Albert P. Smith, Charles Cushman, 
George H. Spangler, Wilber Thompson. 

1863. — Supervisor, Thomas J. Woodman; Clerk, Washing- 
ton Youry ; Treasurer, Stephen B. Roby ; Jus- 
tices, Samuel Hunt, Elisha Abel ; Commissioner, 



390 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Milo Mead ; School Inspector, Isaac M. Dryer ; 
Constables, John L. Tyler, Albert P. Smith, 
Milo Mead, John Thompson. 

1864. — Supervisor, John M. Easton; Clerk, David M. 
Knox ; Treasurer, Isaac Fletcher ; Justice, D. 
M. Knox ; Commissioner, Sihis W. Rose ; School 
Inspector, John M. Easton ; Constables, Charles 
W. Smith, George W. Fletcher, Daniel Peacock, 
P. N. Gallup. 

1865. — Supervisor, T. J. Woodman ; Clerk, Washington 
Y^oury ; Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justices, T. 
J. Woodman, David P. Dryer, Albert Smith ; 
School Inspector, Albert Watson ; Commissioners, 
I. M. Dryer, Stephen B. Roby ; Constables, 
Milo Cushman, Robert Rose, George Spangler, 
Stephen B. Roby. 

1866. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, Hiram L. 
Tooker ; Treasurer, Albert Watson ; School In- 
spector, J. N. Smith ; Commissioner, G. S. Cul- 
ver ; Justices, James Conkright, Levi Randall ; 
Constables, F. M. Randall, W. H. Rose, George 
W. Fletcher. 

1867. — Supervisor, John M. Ea.ston ; Clerk, Hiram L. 
Tooker ; Treasurer, Leon Benson ; School In- 
spector, W. W. Bowdish ; Commissioner, Silas 
W. Rose ; Justices, Levi Randall, John Read ; 
Constables, Lawrence Price, Francis M. Randall, 
Edward F. Riggs, William Rose. 

1868. — Supervisor, Washington Youry ; Clerk, Hiram 
Tooker ; Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justices, 
T. J. Woodman, Richard Trumbull ; School In- 
spectors, R. C. Robinson, A. Watson ; Commis- 
sioners, Henry Ousterhout, L. W. Knapp ; Con- 
stables, Lyman Douglas, Isaac Chapman, Warner 
Coston, A. M. Towner. 

1809. — Supervisor, John M. Easton ; Clerk, Hiram Tooker ; 
Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Commissioner, Peter 
W. Sleight; Justice, David Donaldson; School 
Inspector, Henry Ousterhout ; Constables, Ly- 
man Douglas, William Goodrich, William Sleight, 
Jared De Bar. 

1870. — Supervisor, Sylvanus Bachclder; Clerk, Willard 
A. Corn ; Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justices, 
Nathaniel J. De Bar, W. W. Bowdish ; School 
Inspector, Newell A. Dryer ; Commissioner, 
Silas W. Rose ; Constables, Jared De Bar, David 
Wherry, Edward Southworth, Charles B. Cole. 

1871. — Supervisor, John Read; Clerk, A. B. Gregory; 
Treasurer, A. Watson ; Justices, Stephen B. 
Rowley, H. H. Hawley ; School Inspector, C. B. 
Church ; Commissioner, W. H. Famill ; Con- 
stables, A. Sheffield, Daniel Peacock, C. W. Smith, 
P. N. Gallup. 
1872. — Supervisor, John Read; Clerk, Hiram Tooker; 
Treasurer, Elijah M. Hawley ; Justices, W. W. 
Bowdish, A. H. Clark ; School Inspector, N. A. 
Dryer ; Commissioner, Oscar T. Place ; Drain 
Commissioner, Hiram Tooker; Constables, Hel- 
mer Gardner, David Wherry, Ira 0. Fletcher, 
A. W. Sheffield. 



1873. — -Supervisor, Isaac M. Dryer ; Clerk, Hiram Tooker • 
Treasurer, Elijah M. Hawley ; Justice, Hanford 
H. Hawley; School Inspector, 0. S. Trumbull ; 
Highway Commissioner, G. W. Fletcher; Drain 
Commissioner, Silas W. Rose ; Constables, W. 
H. Sweeny, C. W. Austin, Isaac Chapman, 
Amos Phelps. 

1874. — Supervisor, Isaac M. Dryer ; Clerk, Hiram Tooker ; 
Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justice, T. J. Wood- 
man ; Highway Commissioner, L. W. Knapp ; 
Drain Commissioner, Milo Mead ; School In- 
spector, Washington Youry ; Constables, Charles 
W. Austin, Mitchell Hyler, Alfred Sprague. Al- 
bert Hyler. 

1875. — Supervisor, Isaac M. Dryer; Clerk, Hiram Tooker; 
Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justice, Ross Brown ; 
School Inspector, Washington Youry; School 
Superintendent, T. A. Stephens ; Highway Com- 
missioner, George W. Fletcher; Drain Commis- 
sioner, Sylvanus Baeheldcr ; Constables, Charles 
W. Austin, William Mitchell, Bradley T. Whit- 
ney, Charles R. Cushman. 

1870. — Supervisor, Isaac M. Dryer ; Clerk, A. W. Johnson ; 
Treasurer, A. Watson ; Justice, T. K. Makley ; 
School Inspector, Washington Youry ; School 
Superintendent, T. A. Stephens ; Highway Com- 
missioner, Job Sleight; Drain Commissioner, T. 
J. Woodman ; Constables, T. B. Whitney, James 
Terry, T. M. Goodhue. 

1877. — Supervisor, Ross Brown ; Clerk, A. W. Jehnson ; 
Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justices, Sylvanus 
Bachelder, Isaac Fletcher, Edwin Clark ; School 
Inspector, Daniel Peacock ; School Superintend- 
ent, T. A. Stephens ; Highway Commissioner, 
F. H. Mackley; Constables, John G. Smith, 
Warren Trumbull, C. B. Gillingham, C. J. 
Martin. 

1878. — Supervisor, Isaac M. Dryer; Clerk, H. L. Tooker ; 
Treasurer, Albert Watson ; Justices, A. H. 
Clark, Silas W. Rose, E. M. Hawley; School 
Inspector, Henry Talmage ; School Superintend- 
ent, Edward Barber; Highway Commissioner, 
James Sweeny ; Drain Commissioner, T. J. Wood- 
man ; Constables, Edward Everett, Nelson W. 
Torrey, Denis Robey, George Van Scoy. 

1879. — Supervisor, Isaac M. Dryer ; Clerk, Albert Watson ; 
Treasurer, W. H. Rose; Justice, T. J. Wood- 
man ; School Superintendent, T. A. Stephens ; 
School Inspector, George H. Carl; Highway 
Commissioner, James Sweeny ; Constables, Ed- 
ward Everett, llolin Crandall, Samuel Cushman, 
John Woodman. 

1880.— Supervisor, Ross Brown; Clerk, Abel W. John- 
son ; Treasurer, William H. Rose ; Justice, Silas 
W. Rose; School Superintendent, T. A. Ste- 
phens ; School Inspector, George W. Fletcher ; 
Highway Commissioner, C. B. Church ; Drain 
Commissioner, James N. Smith ; Constables, 
Nathaniel J. De Bar, Charles E. Phelps, Charles 
W. Austin, Tunis Cronkite. 



BATH TOWNSHIP. 



391 



SCHOOLS. 

The schools of Bath had their beginning in a little log 
cabin, built by Peter Finch, on the farm now owned by 
William Peacock. But the exact time in which this be- 
ginning was made it is now impossible to say with certainty. 
It was probably in the summer of 1840. Mrs. Finch, who 
had taught before she came to the township, commenced a 
school, and several days had glided peacefully away, with 
from seven to ten scholars in attendance, when a minister 
of the Christian Church came to the house of Silas W. 
Rose, and signified his intention to hold public worship, 
and this school-house was selected as the place in which it 
was to be held. 

Several boys in the neighborhood, thinking to give him 
a warm reception, built a rousing fire in the fireplace, which 
was made of stones, sticks, and mud, and the result was 
that the building took fire and was destroyed. This ter- 
minated the school until another log school-house was built 
in this district. This second one stood where the one now 
in use stands. It was the first frame schuul-housc built in 
the town.ship. ^ A school had been taught as early as 1831), 
in the northwest part of the township of WoodhuU, and 
this continued in active operation iur a number of years, 
and to it the settlers in the adjoining part of Bath sent 
their children. A school was also opened in Ingham 
County, near the southeastern part of Bath. The second 
school in the township was in a diminutive cabin, built by 
Jo.shua Priest, on the farm of Jacob Wesner, during the 
summer of 1844. This, as well as several succeeding terms 
(taught in another cabin built by Stephen Gregory, on the 
farm now owned by Isaac Fletcher), was conducted by Miss 
Mary Ann Young. In the log .school-house which was 
built subsequently, Mi.ss Celesline Freeman taught the first 
term ; and Miss Kate Hardy taught the first term in the 
frame school-house built in this district by Silas W. Rose 
and James L. Culver. 

The following table gives the number of scholars in each 
school district (whole and fractional) in the township, and 
the total amounts of moneys rai.scd for various school pur- 
poses for the year 1879 : 

Dlatrict. Siholnre. Amount. 

No. 1 (whole) .'iS $l7il.7l) 

•' 2 /' :n 211.14 

" ■'> '" 32 0:fS.il2 

" 4 " 125 4n.i.l4 

" 5 " 43 181.66 

" 10 " 4.5 193.45 

" B (fractional) 3'J 250.99 

" 7 " 19 142.35 

" 8 " 42 214.76 

" 9 " 19 143.82 

" 12 " 55 133.11 

CHURCHES. 

As has already been stated, a minister of the Christian 
Church came to the house of Silas W. Rose about the year 
1840. His efforts resulted in the organization of a society 
of that denomination, the original members of which were 
five in number, as follows: Mr. and Mrs. Silas M. Rose, 
Cornelius Potter and wife, and William Culver. 

The society prospered for some years, and at one time 
became quite strong, but as some of its best members died, 
and others moved away, it declined and was at last dis- 
continued. 



The next society organized was that of the United Breth- 
ren, but it was discontinued in a short time. 

The Methodists also made several attempts to establish 
their society in the township in an early day, but their 
efiurts were unsuccessful. 

FIRST FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH. 
This church was organized by S Courier and William R. 
Norton, in April, 1855. A series of revival-meetings had 
been conducted with gratifying success, and at the first 
meeting called for the purpose fifteen names were enrolled. 
In 1872 the society built a meeting-house, which cost 
about two thousand five hundred dollars. The present 
membership is ninety. 

CLOSE-COM.MUNION BAPTIST CHURCH OF BATH. 

On the 16th day of March, 1868, the friends of this 
society met, in compliance with the recommendation of 
Rev. A. H. Parsons. At this meeting a vote to organize 
was unanimously adopted, and the following-named per- 
sons became the constituent members of the church : 
Charles, Samuel, and Samantha Vandeventer, Sarah Cheney, 
Abiram Riggs, Amanda Cronkite, Lucina Ellsworth. 

These were admitted by letter from other Baptist socie- 
ties to which they had belonged. There were also a num- 
ber admitted on probation. 

FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF BATH. 

This society owes its organization to Rev. A. A. Ralph, 
who, in the winter of 1869, conducted a series of revival- 
meetings with notable success. These meetings were con- 
tinued about four weeks, during which time a large number 
of converts were made, and the class which, prior to this 
time had belonged to the Okemos charge, received many 
additions and became a distinct organization and the centre 
of the circuit. Rev. A. A. Ralph was succeeded by B. S. 
Pratt. The society is now under the charge of Rev. J. 
Hills. It has a membership of eighty-one. A class of 
the same society, numbering fourteen members, meets at 
school-house No. 10, but it is not a chartered society. 
The Methodist Episcopal Society at Pine Lake was organ- 
ized about the same time as the one mentioned above. In 
1879, while Rev. McEwing was in charge, it built the 
" Pine Lake Meeting-House," which cost fifteen hundred 
dollars. 

VILLAGE OF BATH. 

The village of Bath is situated upon land which was 
entered and settled by Dustin Marr, a soldier of the Mexi- 
can war. He received a land-warrant from the government, 
and came to Bath and located on the southeast quarter 
of section 17. He subsequently sold it to Charles Tomp- 
kins. 

When the railroad was completed into the township, the 
people, desirous to secure a depot, offered the company 
various inducements to that end. A sum of money was 
raised by subscription, and in addition Mr. Tompkins offered 
the undivided one- half of forty acres, favorably located, 
for depot and yard purposes. The proposition w;is accepted 
and a depot immediately built. It was the first house built 
in the village, which was platted .soon after. A lot was 



392 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



soon sold to Israel Van Ostran, who built a small tavern. 
This was remodeled and a large addition built to it in 1879 
by John Reade. 

The first store in the village was opened by F. Kelly 
and John SteflFee, in the house now occupied by John 
Smith. Charles Farrer opened a blacksmith-shop, and 
after some years sold it to Walter Snell. The first post- 
master in Bath was H. H. Culver. Artemas H. Clark, the 
present postmaster, was appointed in 1873.- About the 
year 1864 a saw-mill was built by Mr. Lee, which did good 
service. Since then several have been built and two have 
been destroyed by fire. The one now standing was built 
by Watson & Everetts. On the 20th day of January, 1880, 
the Bath Flouring-Mill, built by Leach, Ray & Company, 
commenced operations. It has one run of stones for flour, 
and one for coarser grinding, with room for another run. 
It has a forty-five horse-power engine. It was a valuable 
addition to the business interests of the village. 



There are now in the village four general stores, one 
drug-store, one shoe-store, a carriage- and wagon-shop, etc., 
in addition to the business places already mentioned. The 
population of the village is three hundred and fifty. 

Dr. Newell A. Dryer and Dr. Albert Hicks are practicing 
physicians of Bath. 

BATH LODGE, No. 124, I. 0. O. F. 

This lodge was organized Dec. 1, 1868, with N. A. 
Dryer, I. M. Dryer, W. S. Hall, Martin Neichswander, C. 
J. Hyler as its charter members. The lodge is now in a 
prosperous condition, having seventy members. The founda- 
tion of a hall, twenty-four by fifty-five feet, is completed, 
and the building will be at once erected and furnished for 
the use of the lodge. 

The present officers are N. Watson, N. G. ; J. Sweeney, 
V. G. ; A. H. Clark, Recording Secretary ; A. Webster, 
P. Secretary ; Thomas Witchel, Treasurer. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 




JAMES N. SMITH. 



This gentleman, one of the leading agriculturists of 
Clinton County, was born in the town of Hector, Tompkins 
Co., N. ¥., April 20, 1830, and was the eldest in the family 
of Jonas and Mary (Gilmore) Smith, which consisted of 
six. The elder Smith was a fiirmer, and was born in 
Tompkins County in 1807, and was married in February 
of 1829. In 1833 he removed with his family to San- 
dusky Co., Ohio, where he resided until his death. He 
was a man of more than ordinary ability, and was one of 
the prominent citizens of the county. He held various 
positions of trust and responsibility, notably among the 



number that of sherifi' and county commissioner ; the 
latter position he filled acceptably for six years. He held 
the ofiice of justice of the peace for eighteen years. He 
was an energetic and successful farmer, and acquired a 
competency. James received a common-school education, 
and remained at home until he was twenty-four years of 
age. He studied civil engineering and surveying, and for 
several years was engaged as a teacher. In 1854 he met 
his destiny in the person of Miss Rachel Short, whom he 
married in that year. Shortly after his marriage he pur- 
chased a farm, which he carried on in connection with that 



BENGAL TOWNSHIP. 



393 



of his father. He took an active interest in political mat- 
ters, and in 1858 was elected county clerk. At the ex- 
piration of his term of office he was re-elected. He dis- 
charged his duties with fidelity to the trust reposed in him, 
and with credit to himself 

In 186-t, IMr. Smith disposed of his property in Ohio 
and came to Bath, where he purchased seven hundred acres 
of land, which is a part of his present estate of twelve 
hundred acres, a large portion of which is under a high 
state of cultivation. Since coming to Michigan Mr. Smith 
has eschewed politics, and has devoted himself to farming 
and stock-growing. He has a large herd of Galloway cattle, 
of which he is said to be the largest breeder in the United 
States. 

Mr. Smith has devoted much time and study to the 
subject of draining, and is considered to be standard au- 
thority on anything pertaining thereto. He is county 
drain commissioner, and in this capacity his services are of 
immense value to the farming community. As a farm en- 
gineer he is undoubtedly one of the most proficient in this 
part of the State, and his services are in great demand. 
He is one of the organizers and charter members of the 
Central Michigan Agricultural Society, and has probably 
done more to advance its interests than any other member 
of the organization. The society was born under adverse 
circumstances, and has had to contend with many difficul- 
ties and embarrassments, and its success is largely attributa- 
ble to the untiring efforts of its present superintendent, 
James N. Smith. The exhibition of the centennial year 
was highly successful, and the officers of the society,— 
business men of the city of Lansing, — knowing that it was 
due largely to the efforts of Mr. Smith, and to show their 
esteem and appreciation of his services, presented him with 
an elegant cane suitably engraved. 

Altogether, Mr. Smith is one of those leading spirits 
whose identification with any community is always produc- 
tive of good. 



CHAPTER LIIL 
BENGAL TOWNSHIP.* 

Description — Original Lanil-EDtiics — Eiirly Settlements and .Settlers 
— Organization and Civil List — lleligiuus Ilistury — l!urial-(il rounds 
— Agricultural Statistics — Bengal Grange — Population. 

This is an interior township, its southeast corner being 
the centre of the county. It is designated by the United 
States survey as township No. 7 north, of range No. 3 
west. The southern boundary was surveyed in 1826 by 
Lucius Lyon ; the east, north, and west boundaries were 
surveyed in 1831 by Ilobert Clark, Jr. The subdivision 
was made by Joel Wright and certified to June 28, 1831. 
Essex, which was formerly included in this township, lies 
on the north ; Bingham township, with the village of St. 
Johns, the county-seat, is on the ea.st; Riley lies .south, 
and Dallas is on the west. The area of the township is 



50 



* By Charles A. Chapin, 



23,300y|-j- acres. The surface is gently undulating, the 
elevations being about fifty feet above the general level. 
From these elevations some beautiful views of the surround- 
ing country are had. The soil is remarkably fertile, pro- 
ducing large crops of grain, fruit, and vegetables. Origi- 
nally the township was heavily timbered with ash, basswood, 
beech, cherry, elm, maple, oak, and walnut. Robert Clark, 
Jr., deputy surveyor, in his field-notes, Feb. 10, 1831, 
speaking of Stony Creek, says, " i have ascertained that 
this stream is called by the French traders La Riviere aux 
Roche, or Stony Creek." This stream runs through the 
southern portion of the town from east to west, entering 
the town on section 25, receiving a branch from section 24, 
and running thence through sections 26 and 27 and in sec- 
tion 34, receiving Bad Creek ; thence through section 33 
and in section 31, mingling its waters with those of the 
Muskrat, it pas.ses out of the township into Dallas. 

The northerly portion of the town is drained by Hay- 
worth Creek and a branch, being principally on sections 2 
and 3. The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Rail- 
way runs through this town from east to west, having a side- 
track and station at Lyon's Mills. Bengal has no water- 
power; it is entirely an agricultural town, and is justly 
entitled to its fame of being one of the best townships in 
the county. Its farmers are well to do, and their wcll- 
tilled acres are second to none. 

Its first pioneer (Judge Cortland Hill) says, " Bengal 
was heavily timbered, and the early pioneers had but little ' 
inducement to stay in such a wilderness, to fight wolves 
and work their way up to civilized society. Several of the 
first settlers who could get away left for other parts, but 
those who remained acquired a competence, and some an 
independent fortune. The wild beasts of the forests, the 
deadly foes to flocks and herds, have been utterly destroyed ; 
the forest has melted away before the hand of industry, and 
orchards and fruitful fields now fill its place. The log 
cabins that sheltered the early settlers from the storm have 
rotted down, and elegant mansions stand in their stead. 
In forty years Bengal has constructed two hundred and 
eighty dwellings, sixty miles of good wagon-roads, and 
spanned the crossing on every stream with a good, substan- 
tial bridge. Fron 1837 to 1850 Bengal was considered 
the mo.st worthless town in the county, — away back in the 
woods, outside the boundaries of civilization. Land was of 
no value, for no one would buy it; grain was not worth 
raising, for it could not be shipped ; cattle would not pay, 
for it was too far to drive them to market ; sheep could 
not be raised, for the wolves would eat them up ; yet amidst 
all these difficulties her progress has been steadily onward, 
until she stands the peer of any of her sister towns in the 
county." 

OKIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

The following list shows the names of those wlio bought 
land of the gencrill government in this township, and also 
gives their residence, date of entry, and description : 

SRCTIOlV I. 

Ezra J. Mundy, Livingston Co., Mich., Nov. 4, IS3G, northeast frac- 
tional quarter. 

James S. Wadsworth, Genesoo, N. Y., April 5, 1837, southwest quarter 
and south half of northtvcst quarter. 



394 



HISTORY OF CLIxNfTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



William D. RobiDson, Wayne Co., Mich., Aug. 21, 1S37, southeast 
quarter. 

Section 2. 

Jnmcs S. Wadsworth, Genesee, N. Y., April 5, IS.ST, south half of 
northwest quarter and south half of northeast quarter. 

Potor Larkings, Washtenaw Co., Mioh., May 12, 1837, southwest 
quarter. 

Anna Denton, Seneca Co., N. Y., May 12, 1837, southeast quarter. 

William D. Robinson, AVayne Co., Mich., Aug. 21, 1837, north half of 
northwest quarter. 

Section 3. 

James S. Wadsworth, Genesco, N. Y., April 5, 1837, south half of 
northwest quarter and south half of northeast quarter, 

Hannah Green, Wayne Co., Mich., May 12, 1837, southeast quarter 
and southeast quarter of southwest quarter. 

William D. Robinson, Wayne Co., Mich., Aug. 21, 1837, north half 
of northeast quarter. 

Section 4, 

Seymour H. Sutton, Ionia Co., Mich., Dec. 13, 1836, south part of 

east fractional quarter, 
James S. Wadsworth, Geneseo. N. Y., April 5, 1837, southwest quarter 

and west half of southeast quarter, and south half of northwest 

quarter. 

Section 5, 

James S. Wadsworth, Geneseo, N. Y., April 5, 1837, south half and 
south half of northeast quarter. 

Section 6, 
Mortimer C. Rice, Juno 9, 1852, southeast quarter of soulheastquarter. 

Section 7, 

Abel Dcnsmore, Calhoun Co., Mich., Nov, 7, 1836, east h.alf. 
James K. Guernsey, Monroe Co., N. Y., Deo. 13, 1836, southwest 
fractional quarter. 

Section 8, 

John Easton, Trumbull Co., Ohio, Nov. 7, 1836, southwest quarter 
and west half of southeast quarter; Dec, 12, 1836, northeast 
quarter and northwest quarter. 

Section 9, 
Bush and Eailey, Lansing, Jlich., Aug. 6, 185.3, whole section. 

Section 10. 

Sarah H. Porter, Lancaster Co., Pa., Nov. 5, 1836, cast half. 
Wheaton Eldrich, Genesee Co., N. Y., Nov. 7, 1836, southwest qu.arter. 
Uazen Jaquish, Elton, N, Y., June 19, 1852, northwest quarter. 

Section 11. 

Sarah H. Porter, Lancaster Co., Pa., Nov. 5, 1836, northwest quarter, 
William B. Waldo, Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, northeast quarter 

and east half of southeast quarter. 
Jeremiah Groat, Montgomery Co., N. Y., Nov, 5, 1836, southwest 

quarter and west half of southeast quarter. 

Section 12. 

Daniel Starr, July 18, 1836, northwest quarter and west half of south- 
west quarter, 

James K. Guernsey, Monroe Co., N. Y., July 18, 1836, northeast 
quarter and east half of southwest quarter. 

Section 13. 

William B. Waldo, Brooklyn, N, Y., Nov. 5, 1836, west half of south- 
west quarter. 

William Farley, Calhoun Co., Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, west half of north- 
east quarter. 

Daniel Z. Ostrim, Orleans Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, cast half of north- 
east quarter. 

Section 14. 

William B. Waldo, Brooklyn, N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, cast half. 
Austin R. Gordon, Savannah, Ga., Nov. 5, 1836, west half. 



Section 15. 

B. Bartow, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, southwest quarter. 

Caleb Ticknor and George M. Hickok, New York City, Nov. 5, 1836, 
northwest quarter. 

Nathan Smith, Allegany Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, west half of north- 
east quarter. 

Section 16, 
School lands. 

Section 17, 
Charles Osgood, Monroe Co., Mich., Dec. 12, 1836, westh.ilf. 

Section 18. 

B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Nov. 7, 1836, west half of southwest 

fi'actional quarter. 
B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Deo. 13, 1836, northwest fractional 

quarter and east part of southwest fractional quarter. 
Charles Osgood, Monroe Co., Mich., Dec. 12, 1836, east half. 

Section 19. 

Abram II. Stevens, Ontario Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, east half of 
southeast quarter. 

H. S. Vandcrbilt, Ontario Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, west half of south- 
east quarter and east half of southwest quarter. 

William Case, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 7, 1836, northwest frac- 
tional quarter, 

Lucinda Perkins, Allegany Co., N. Y., Nov. 8, 1836, west part of 
southwest fractional quarter. 

Section 20. 

Abner Perkins, Allegany Co., N. Y., Nov, 8, 1836, southwest quarter 
and west half of northwest quarter. 

George M. Ilickok, Salisbury, Conn., Nov. 8, 1836, east half of north- 
west quarter. 

Section 21, 

Wheaton Eldrich, Genesee Co,, N. Y., Nov. 7, 1836, northeast quarter. 
N. and D. F. Horton, Jackson, Mich., Nov. 8, 1836, south half. 
Robert D. Swagart, Broome Co., N, Y,, April 18, 1851, west half of 
northwest quarter. 

Section 22, 

B, Bartow, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, northwest quarter and west 

half of northeast quarter. 
AVheaton Eldrich, Genesee Co., N. Y., Nov. 7, 1836, southwest quarter. 
Luther Ticknor, Salisbury, Conn., Nov. 8, 1836, southeast quarter. 

Section 23. 

B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, southeast quarter, 

S. V. R. Trowbridge, Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, northeast 

quarter. 
William Reynolds, Portage Co., Ohio, Nov. 8, 1836, northwest quarter. 
Luther Ticknor, Salisbury, Conn., Nov. 8, 1836, southwest quarter. 

Section 24. 

Sherman Page, Feb. 19, 1836, cast half of northeast quarter. 
Andrew T. Judson, April 27, 1836, east half of southeast quarter. 
Stephen L. Gage, Oakland Co , Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, northwest quar- 
ter and west half of northeast quarter. 

Section 25. 

A. Montgomery, Lenawee Co., Mich., Sept. 21, 1S36, southwest 
quarter. 

David Blakely, Jr., Otsego Co., N. Y., Sept. 23, 1836, west half of 
northwest quarter. 

Aldrich Knapp, Oakland Co., Mich., May 12, 1837, cast half of north- 
oast quarter. 

Ezra Thornton, Oakland Co., Mich., May 12, 1837, west half of north- 
east quarter and cast half of northwest quarter. 

Section 26. 

Mary Cronkhitc, Lenawee Co., Mich., Sept. 21, 1836, south half. 
George Lewis, Essex Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836, west half of northwest 
quarter. 



BENGAL TOWNSHIP. 



395 



Barid F. Farley, Oakland Co., Mich., Nor. 5, 1836, northeast quarter 
and east half of northwest quarter. 

SEl■TIO^J 27. 
F. A. Kennedy, Lenawee Co., Mich., Sept. 21, 1836, south half. 
George Lewis, Kssex Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 183G, northeast quarter and 

east half of northwest quarter. 
Sanford Lacey, Livingston Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, lS,'ifi, west half of 

northwest quarter. 

Section 28. 
Sanford Lacey, Nov. 5, 1836, cast half of northeast quarter, 
Enos Dutton, Calhoun Co., Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, west half and west 

half of northeast quirter, and west half of southeast quarter. 
D. Lacey, Livingston Co., N. Y., Nov. 6, 1836, cast half of southeast 

quarter. 

Section 29. 
Hiram Godfrey, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, east half of 

northwest quarter. 
Lemuel Dwelle, Jr., Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, west half of 

northwest quarter. 
Lemuel Brown, Ionia Co., Mich,, Nov. 8, 1S36, southwest quarter. 
Walter W, Deanc, Wayne Co., Mich., Jan. 18, 1837, southeast quarter. 

Section 30. 
Ebenezcr Spraguc, Allegany Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1836. east half of 

northwest quarter, nnd east half of southwest quarter. 
li. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, west part of northwest 

fractional quarter and we.'^t part of southwest quarter. 
Lemuel Dwelle, Jr., Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, east half. 

Section 31. 

Henry M. Moore, Genesee Co., N. Y., Sept. 21, 1836, east half of 
northwest fractional quarter and east half of southwest fractional 
quarter. 

James Grant, Oakland Co., Mich., Sept. 23, 1836, west half of north- 
east quarter and west half of southeast quarter. 

Thomas Palmer, Ionia Co., Mich., Sept. 28, 1836, west half of south- 
west fractional quarter, and southwest quarter of northwest frac- 
tional quarter. 

Walter W. Doane, Wayne Co., Mich., Jan. 18, 1837, cast half of 
southeast quarter. 

Daniel Merrill, Hancock Co., Me., Sept. 23, 1837, east half of north- 
east quarter. 

Section 32. 

Daniel Merrill, Sept. 23, 1836, south half. 
Walter W. Deane, Jan. 18, 1837, north half. 

Section 33. 
Arunah Soper, Hartford, Conn., Sept. 28, 1836, south half. 

Section 34. 

Elijah L. Waller, Washtenaw Co., Mich., April 28, 1837, west half of 

southwest quarter. 
Huldah Curtis, Washtenaw Co., Mich., April 28, 1837, northwest 

quarter. 
Laura U. Curtis, Washtenaw Co., Mich., June 27, 1837, cast half of 

southwest quarter.' 

Section 35. 

Miles E. Chapman, Medina Co., Ohio, Juno 12, 1819, northwest quar- 
ter of northeast quarter. 

Henry T. Truman, June 12, 1849, northwest quarter. 

Stephen F. Hammond, Medina Co., Ohio, July 17, 18.52, south half of 
northeast quarter and southwest quarter of northeast quarter. 

Section 36. 
Sherman Pago, Feb. 19, 1836, east half of southeast quarter. 
Andrew T. Judson, April 27, 1836, cast half of northeast quarter. 
Benjamin .Stanton, Medina Co., Ohio, Juno 16, 1852, northwest quarter 
of northeast quarter. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLEKS. 

Cortland Hill and Lucinda, liis wife, having just been 
married, and having concluded to seek a new home in the 



far West, packed up their goods and left their home in 
Cortland Co., N. Y. Proceeding to Syracuse they took a 
canal-boat for Buffalo, and at that port took passage on a 
steamboat for Detroit, which they reached in about four 
days. In Detroit Mr. Hill hired two teams for one hun- 
dred dollars to take them and their household goods 
through to Scott's (now De Witt). On arriving there 
they met II. M. Moore and James Grant, who had just 
come in from Ionia, where they had each entered one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land on section 31. Mr. Hill 
bought this land of them at two dollars per acre, and then 
hired a man to go on before him and put up a log cabin. 
Mr. Hill hired from Capt. Scott two wagons drawn by oxen 
to convey his goods to their location in the unbroken wil- 
derness. The road which they traveled was the State road 
and Dexter trail, which had been underbru.shcd and made 
passable for wagons. On the 26th day of September, 1837, 
they arrived at their new home, and found a log cabin ready 
for occupancy. This cabin stood a few feet west of their 
present residence. Its size was fourteen by eighteen, with 
shanty roof covered with shakos. The floor was of white- 
ash split thin ; the opening for a window was filled with 
sash and glass, which they brought with them. The door 
was made from the boards of their packing-boxes. The 
fireplace was omitted, for they brought a cook-stove. Two 
years later another and better log house was erected in 
front of their first cabin. In 1856 the frame house which 
they now occupy was built. Mr. and Mrs. Hill have had 
one son and live daughters born to them, but they have 
been called upon to mourn the loss of their daughters, who 
were cut down in the flower of their youth. 

Clinton J. Hill was born on the homestead in 1838, and 
is married and still living on it with his parents. Judge Hill 
has been supervisor of Bengal fifteen years, and at times 
has filled all the minor oflices. He was the first justice of 
the peace, having been elected while the town was a part 
of Lebanon. In the county he has been judge of probate, 
serving from 1850 to 1856. He has been postmaster for 
thirty years, and still enjoys the position and its emoluments, 
though the latter are but nominal. 

In the fall of 1838 the second family moved into the 
township; they were William Drake and wife, with three 
sons, two married and one single. They settled on the east 
half of the northwest and southwest quarter of seetioD 30, 
which was divided among the sons, — C. U. taking the south 
part containing fifty-five acres, Uriah the mid-portion of 
fifty acres, and Levi the north part of fifty-five acres. 
The widows of C. R. and Uriah are still living on their 
homesteads. Levi moved into Dallas, where he now lives. 

The next pioneer was Adam Laughlin, a native of Ash- 
tabula Co., Ohio, who in 1836, a young and single man, 
settled in Oakland County. The next year, 1837, he bought 
from David F. Farley the east half of the northeast quarter 
of section 26, and in the beginning of winter came in to 
chop and clear ten acres for Farley, to make a payment on 
his purchase. His first work on the section was to cut 
down a large beech-tree which stood on the corner of his 
land, northeast of his present residence ; this tree served 
as a back-log for his camp-fiie, in front of which he camped 
three nights ; during the day he was occupied in putting 



39G 



HISTOKY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



up a log cabin on the land he was to clear. After clearing 
the ten acres he went back to Oakland County, where he 
married, and in January, 1840, with his family, moved in 
and occupied the cabin which he built three years before. 
In the spring he built a log house near his present resi- 
dence, which he built in 1&66. Of six children four are 
now living, — Charles is married and lives on the homestead ; 
Lydia (Mi's. Gibson) lives in Bingham ; Jane (Mrs. Clark) 
lives in Danby, Ionia Co. ; Mary (Mrs. Prudy) lives in De 
Witt. 

Charles Grant, of Wyoming Co., N. Y., having lost his 
second wife, took their two children (boys) and came to 
this State in October, 1836. Stopping in Ann Arbor, he 
left his children with their grandparents and then went to 
Mason, Ingham Co., where he built a saw-mill, which was 
the firet erected there. Proceeding to Lyons, Ionia Co., he 
helped build the first bridge which spanned the Grand 
River at that place. He then went back to New York and 
married Emeline Gillett, of Gainesville, Wyoming Co. 
Returning to Lyons in the winter of 1838, he lived there 
working at his trade until the spring of 1840, when he 
moved to Bengal and settled on the south half of the north- 
east quarter of section 4. Being a carpenter he built a 
frame hou.se, which was the first in the town. He lived 
on this place till 1849, when he moved to the south half 
of the northwest quarter of section 3. His house, which 
was in an unfinished condition, was taken down and trans- 
ferred, and now forms a portion of his present residence. 
When they moved into the town there were no roads, and 
their only way out and in was by a trail marked by blazed 
trees. 

Mr. Grant is a veteran of the war of 1812, and served 
his country at Sacket's Harbor. Charles W. Grant, a son 
by his first wife, lives at East Saginaw ; Elihu lives at Fall 
River, Mass. ; Eugene, a son by his second wife, lives in 
Minnesota. The children by the thifd wife are Julia D. 
(Mrs. B. F. Young), lives west of and adjoining the school- 
house ; Sylvia lives west of her sister Julia ; Eliza lives in 
Erie, Pa. ; Isaac lives in Lake Co., Mich. ; Phoebe J. lives 
in Ovid ; Loring is married and lives on the homestead. 

Mr. Grant is now eighty-seven years of age, and, in the 
full possession of his faculties, has lived to see the township 
rise from an unbroken forest to one of the principal agri- 
cultural towns in the county. 

William C. Gardner was farminsr in Hambur" Livin<r- 
ston Co., Mich., but in the beginning of 1840 he traded 
his farm with E. J. Mundy for the northeast fractional 
quarter of section 1, and in February of same year settled 
upon the land, and is still residing on it. He claims to 
have set out the second orchard in the township. 

Joshua li'rink and family, from Williamstown, Mass., 
emigrated to Farmiogton, Oakland Co., Mich., and in 1838 
from the latter place moved to Essex (then a part of Ben- 
gal) and settled on section 34. 

Miner R. Frink, a young man and unmarried, came with 
his father into the wilderness. He married Lucinda Nich- 
ols, and in the spring of 1841 settled on section 3 of Ben- 
gal. They began the journey of life together by living in 
a cabin built of split logs and covered over with a board 
roof Their next dwelling was of logs, but in the usual 



style, with gables, and was more commodious. The neat 
and tasteful frame house which they now occupy was erected 
in 1861. 

Their son, Murrett, married a daughter of B. F. Knee- 
land, and is living on the west half of the northwest quar- 
ter of section 11. Amelia, their daughter, married H. B. 
Kneeland, and lives in the neighborhood. 

Jonathan Young emigrated from Yorkshire, England, 
about 1834, and settled first in Northville, Wayne Co., 
Mich., and while living there married Mrs. Hannah Green. 
She had on May 12, 1837, entered two hundred acres of 
land on section 3. In the fall of 1841 they moved in and 
settled on this land. Their first habitation was of logs, in 
the cabin style, covered with bark. In this humble log 
cabin they lived about three years, and then built a log 
house larger and better suited to their needs. This .stood 
on the hill, about seventy rods back from the road, and 
near the barn. Benjamin F., a sou, is owner and occupant 
of the homestead on which he was born. He married Oct. 
7, 1867, Julia, daughter of Charles Grant; they have four 
children. Their cottage was erected in 1867. 

The following list comprises the names of the resident 
tax-payers of the township of Bengal in 1840, with addi- 
tional names to 1846, inclusive, together with the sections 
upon which they paid taxes : 

Charles Grant, 1840, section 4. 

Cornelius R. Drake, 1840, section 30. 

Uriah Drake, 1840, section 30. 

Levi Drake, 1840, section 30. 

Cortland Hill, 1840, section 31. 

Miner R. Frink, 1841, section 3. 

Benjamin Thompson, 1843, section 19. 

Jonathan Young, 1844, .section 3. 

Benjamin F. Kneeland, 1844, section 3. 

Willard Knowles, 1844, section 13. 

Samuel N. Bentley, 1844, section 13 ; sold and moved 
away. 

David Storms, 1844, section 13. 

Amasa Johnson, 1844, section 13. 

Ira S. Thornton, 1844, sections 24, 25. 

Adam Laughlin, 1844, section 26. 

Justus Vaughn, 1844, section 27. 

Lyman Swagart, 1844, section 28. 

Herod Morton, 1845, section 13. 

R. B. Crowner, 1846, section 1 ; in 1848 moved to sec- 
tion 26. 

Levi Jones, 1846, section 27. 

Harrison Sutton, 1846, section 29. 

John N. Plowman, 1846, section 26. 

Some of the above names should have appeared earlier 
on the rolls, but their taxes were assessed to non-residents. 

In October, 1842, Ira S. Thornton, wife, and three chil- 
dren moved from Oakland County into the town and settled 
on .sections 24 and 25. A log cabin was erected on section 
25 ; the roof was made of hollow logs split in two pieces, 
the floor was of black-ash puncheons, the door made from 
boards, and in the windows greased paper took the place of 
gl.ass. The frame hou.se situated on section 24 was built 
in 1857. Of eight children, six are now living. Whipple 
A., the eldest son, died while in the army; Sarah, the 



BENGAL TOWNSHIP. 



397 



eldest daughter, died in April, 1880; Mrs. Acker lives on 
a farm in the neighborhood; Mrs. Plowman lives in Water- 
town ; Napoleon is married and lives on the homestead ; 
Mrs. Cronkhite lives in St. Johns ; Mrs. Keller lives in 
Gratiot County ; Douglas lives at home. 

Lyman Swagart, from Windsor, Broome Co., N. Y., 
came to Michigan and settled in Calhoun County. Here 
he married, and in 1842 moved to Bengal and settled on 
section 28, on land bought of Enos Dutton. His log cabin 
stood in front of where his barn now stands. William 
Swagart, a son, now lives on the homestead. George lives 
on a farm on section 20, and a half mile north. Mrs. 
Sturges lives about a half-mile east. 

Benjamin F. Kneeland and wife in the fall of 1843 set 
out from Geneseo, N. Y., and came to Michigan to settle 
in the township of Bengal, having previously purchased 
land on section .3. On arriving here they stopped with 
Miner R. Frink in his log cabin until they could build a 
log house. The house stood on the south bank of a small 
stream which runs through his farm. It was built of 
hewed logs, with a shingle roof, matched floors, brick chim- 
neys, panel doors, etc. The house when finished was the 
envy of all who saw it. 

Mr. Kneeland built the first steam saw-mill in the town. 
It was put in running order in the spring of 185(5, and was 
situated on the south side of the brook. After being in 
operation nine years it was taken down and moved to 
Maple Rapids. The frame house in which they now live 
was erected in 18G1. Their five children living are Edwin, 
on a farm on section 13; Mrs. Walcott lives in Essex; 
Mrs. Frink lives about one mile south ; Horace B. on a farm 
east of the school-house; Mrs. Whitlock in Greenbush. 

Harrison Sutton came from Oakland County about thirty- 
four years ago (1846) to Bengal, and here married Enieline 
Nichols and settled on section 29, upon which farm he has 
built two log houses, the last one in 1855, which is still 
standing and occupied as a home. Their children are : Celia 
(Mrs. Sutton) lives in the neighborhood; Louisa (Mrs. 
Kimball) lives on a farm adjoining on the east ; Miner is 
married and lives on the homestead ; Milo and Byron are 
living in Gratiot County ; Harrison, Jr., is at home. 

Andrew Weller and family moved from Geneseo, N. Y., 
in October, 1847, and settled on the north half of the 
northwest quarter of section 2. Their first house was of 
hewed logs, in which they lived until they built their frame 
hou.se, which they now occupy. Of four children, three 
are living. Frank, the eldest son, is married and lives in 
St. Johns. The other sons are studying medicine at Ann 
Arbor. 

Among those who moved into Bengal in 1852 were 
Russell Harper and William F. Clark and families, from 
Ashtabula Co., Ohio. They settled on section 26. Mr. 
Harper had been in four years before and purchased his 
land and cleared five acres, which he put into wheat. He 
sold the crop on the ground, and went back to Ohio. 
David, a son of William F. Clark, lives in Montcalm 
County. The children of Russell Harper are George A., 
living on a farm two miles west; William N. lives in 
Gratiot County ; Edwin F. lives at home; Kitty and Etta, 
twin daughters, live at home. 



Edward Jones, wife, and family came from Tompkins 
County, N. Y., in July, 1850, and settled on section 27, on a 
farm now owned by Silas Chapman. Luther, the eldest son, 
came in April, and began working on the land. He mar- 
ried in 1852 Sarah E. Plowman ; they moved to their pres- 
ent location on section 23 in 1861. Edward Jones lives 
at this time on section 24. Names of children as follows : 
Isaac V. died while in the army ; Eliza (Mrs. L. M. Lyon) 
lives on section 22 ; George M. lives in Carson City ; Hiram 
P. enlisted in the army and died in the service. 

Dorr K. Stowell, son of Dr. Hiram Stowell, one of the 
pioneer physicians of De Witt, married Louisa Nichols, Oct. 
10, 1862 ; settled on the east half of northeast quarter of 
section 15, and began housekeeping in a log house which 
is still standing. Of six children three are now living, — 
Clark, Fred, and Emma. In 1864 he bought eighty acres 
across the road, for which he paid ten dollars and fifty cents 
per acre. His present substantial dwelling, built in 1874, 
stands upon this land, and is opposite the log house. Mr. 
Stowell has been supervisor and treasurer of his town, hold- 
ing each office three years. Mrs. Stowell's father^ Samuel 
D. Nichols, moved from Genesee Co., N. Y., to Farmington, 
Oakland Co., Mich., in 1825, and in April, 1854, came to 
Bengal, settling upon the nortlieast quarter of northeast 
quarter of section 22. Mr. Nichols was a veteran of the 
war of 1812, and was at Buffalo when it was burned by 
the British. Ho died in September, 1860. Mrs. Nichols 
lives on the farm with her son Alien. 

Emmons Blakeslee, from Medina Co., Ohio, came into 
Michigan in April, 1852, looking for a suitable location 
for a farm. In August of that year he was in Bengal, 
and selected land on section 23. In October of same year 
he chopped and cleared two acres, and built a small frame 
house. May, 1853, saw him with his wife and four chil- 
dren moving from the old home to the new one in the 
woods. Mrs. Blakeslee died in June, 1874. The children 
are: Eliakim II. lives on the farm next north ; Charles E. 
lives on southwest corner of section 13 ; Henry N. lives in 
Lebanon ; Cornelia (Mrs. Charles Travis) lives on the 
homestead ; Mabel A. (Mrs. Harper) lives on section 23, 
south side. 

October, 1853, saw another family moving from Medina 
Co., Ohio, into the forests of Bengal. R. C. Lyon, wife, 
and five children settled on a farm purchased from Luther 
Jones, now owned by I. M. Bray. In 1857 they moved to 
the northwest corner of section 26. Mr. Lyon died in 
1873. Mrs. Lyon still resides on the homestead. They 
had six children, — Willard lives on a farm about a half-mile 
west ; Sarah married Charles W. Lyon, and is living at 
Lyon's Mills; Dow lives on a farm across the road, west 
of homestead ; Delight married Clinton Hill, she died in 
May, 1875; Virginia E. died in 1871 ; Emma (Mrs. Charles 
Pope) lives near the United Brethren church. 

Alonzo E. Jaquish located on the northwest quarter of 
section 10 in 1852, and went back to Cattaraugus Co., N. Y. 
In 1854 with his wife they came on to occupy the prom- 
ised land in the wilderness. They lived at first in a board 
shanty, but next year built a part of their present dwelling. 

John Travis, with his wife and a part of his family, 
came from Shelby, Orleans Co., N. Y., in the fidl of 1856, 



398 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



and settled whore he now lives. Two sons preceded them 
in 1855, — James settled in St. Johns and Isaac in Bengal 
(died in 1879) ; Mrs. Dane now lives in lliley ; Parker is 
living on the homestead ; Leonard moved back to New 
York ; Frances (Mrs. Blakeslec) lives in the vicinity ; 
Charles Travis is married and living on the Blakeslee 
homestead. 

Many other persons who have lived in the town and 
been connected with its early history deserve mention ; 
but as it is difficult to obtain facts and data of their early 
settlement, they must necessarily be omitted. 

The first death in the township was that of a child of 
Judge S. W. Dexter. Mr. B. 0. Williams, of Owosso, says : 
"At that point (Muskrat Creek) a son of Mr. and Mrs. 
Dexter, a child about two years old, died of scarlet fever. 
We buried the child by torch and candle-light in a box im- 
provised by the party. Never shall I forget that scene. 
The whole family, and most if not all others, in tears ; the 
gray-haired sire, after inviting the heads of other families to 
lead the exercises of the mournful occasion, with tears 
streamiag down his cheeks, read a burial service, amid the 
sobs that nearly drowned his voice in that deep, dark, 
gloomy forest, the gloomiest spot of the whole route.'' The 
grave was made and is still seen on the farm of Judge Hill, 
on the bank of Muskrat Creek. 

The first child born in Bengal was Clinton J. Hill, son 
of Judge Cortland and Ijucinda Ilill, who was born on the 
homestead in 1838, and named Clinton from the name of 
the county. 

Judge Ilill, in his official capacity as justice of the peace, 
officiated at the first wedding, by uniting in the holy bonds 
of matrimony Miss Julia Ann Avery and Nelson Delong. 

The first post-office in Bengal was established in 1850, 
with Cortland Hill postmaster. The post-office at Lyon's 
Mills was established a few years since, and Charles W. 
Lyon appointed postmaster. 

The first highway through the town was the De Witt and 
Lyons road, occupying the same ground taken by the Dex- 
ter trail in 1833, coming into the township on section 31, 
and passing through it in a northwesterly course into the 
township of Dallas. 

The first blacksmith in the town was Jerry Waldron, who 
had a shop on section 31, on the corner west of Cortland 
Hill's. 

There have been two physicians in the town, — Dr. Bates, 
who moved to another field of practice, and Dr. Messenger, 
who moved to Grand Ledge. 

ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

Before the organization of this township names were se- 
lected and sent to Hon. Lemuel Castle, of Shiawassee, then 
representing both counties in the Legislature ; he was re- 
quested to have the newly-organized town called after one 
of these names ; but of those sent none seem to have favor- 
ably impressed the mind of the legislator, and, at the sug- 
gestion of some member who had a fancy for Oriental names, 
that of Bengal was substituted and adopted. 

Act No. 58 of the Legislature, approved March 19, 1840, 
is as follows : 



" Sec. 10. All that part of the county of Clinton desig- 
nated in the United States survey as townships 7 and 8 
north, of range 3 west, be and the same is hereby set off 
and organized into a township by the name of Bengal, and 
the first township-meeting therein shall be held at the house 
of James Sowle, Jr., in said township." 

In accordance with the above act, the first township-meet- 
ing was held at the house of James Sowle, Jr., on the 18th 
of April, 1840, and the following officers were elected : Su- 
pervisor, Hiram Benedict ; Town Clerk, Timothy H. Pcttit ; 
Treasurer, Charles Grant ; Assessors, Cortland Hill, Sylves- 
ter Stephens, Hiram Benedict; Commissioners of Highways, 
Hiram Benedict, Lyman Webster ; Collector, Nelson Ben- 
edict; School Inspectors, Cortland Hill, James Sowle, Jr. ; 
Directors of the Poor, Joshua Frink, Daniel Kellogg ; Jus- 
tices of the Peace, Timothy H. Pettit, Cortland Hill, Ly- 
man Webster; Constables, Nelson Benedict, Miner Frink, 
Julius Bishop, Sylvester Stephens; Overseers of Highways, 
Hiram Benedict, Sylvester Stephens, Lyman Webster, 
Charles Grant, Cortland Hill ; Poundmaster, Cortland Hill, 
James Sowle, Jr. 

It was voted to pay two dollars for each and every wolf 
that shall be killed in the town. It was also voted to raise 
two hundred and fifty dollars for the contingent expenses 
of said town. It was voted that the next township-meet- 
ing should be held at the house of Sylvester Stephens. The 
oath of office was then administered to the officers elect, and 
the organization of the township of Bengal was complete. 

The following men were selected for jurymen for the year 
1840 : Uriah Drake, Lucene Eldridge, Orlow W. Holmes, 
James Sowle, Jr., Marcus Rowley, Joshua Frink. 

The following is a list of all the legal voters in Bengal 
township at its organization (all but three of these, how- 
ever, were resident in what is now the township of Esses) : 
Cortland Hill, Charles Grant, Uriah Drake, James Sowle, 
Jr., Hiram Benedict, Timothy H. Pettit, Joshua Frink, 
Sylvester Stephens, Chauncey I\L Stebbins, Lyman Web- 
ster, Daniel Kellogg, Alonzo Vaughn, Nelson Benedict, 
Julius Bishop, Joshua Coomer, Lucene KIdridge, Orlow W. 
Holmes, Marcus Riley, Miner Frink. 

The second township-meeting was held at the house of 
Sylvester Stephens, April 23, 1841. The whole number 
of votes cast at this election averaged twenty-four. The 
officers elected were as follows : Supervisor, Hiram Benedict, 
Jr.; Clerk, Henry M. Starks; Treasurer, Henry M. 
Starks; Assessors, Hiram Benedict, Jr., Chauncey M. 
Stebbins, Miner R. Frink ; Directors of the Poor, James 
Sowle, Jr., Nelson Benedict; Highway Commissioners, 
Hiram Benedict, Jr., Joshua Coomer, Cortland Hill; Con- 
stables, Nelson Benedict, Uriah Drake, Bliner R. Frink, 
James Sowle, Jr. ; Inspectors of Schools, Miner R. Frink, 
Lyman Webster, Cortland Hill ; Collector, Nelson Benedict. 

At this meeting it was voted that two cents a head be 
paid for every blackbird killed in the town up to the 1st 
day of November. The wolf-bounty of two dollars per head 
was renewed, and one hundred and fifty dollars was voted 
for contingent expenses of the town. Voted that the next 
township-meeting be held at the house of Chauncey M. 
Stebbins. Th(? following names were returned as jurors 
for the year 1841 : grand jury, Lucene Eldridge, Chaun- 



BENGAL TOWNSHIP. 



399 



cey M. Stebbins, Nelson Delong ; petit jury, Joshua 
Coonier, Joshlia Frink, Lyman Webster. 

The third township-iueeting was held at the house of C. 
M. Stebbins. The average number of votes was twenty- 
three. The oflBcers elected were : Supervisor, Chauncey M. 
Stebbins; Clerk, Lyman Webster; Treasurer, Daniel Kel- 
logg ; Justice of the Peace for four years, Samuel M. Bent- 
ley; Commissioners of Highways, Samuel N. Bentley, 
Uriah Drake, William L. Delbridge. The wolf-bounty was 
increased to five dollars per head. 

The next township-meeting was appointed at the barn of 
Jaraes Sowle, Jr., April 3, 1843. The third township- 
meeting was held, and the following persons were elected : 
Supervisor, Hiram Benedict, Jr. ; Clerk, James Sowle, Jr. ; 
Treasurer, Daniel Kellogg; School Inspectors, Cortland Hill, 
Samuel N. Bentley ; Assessors, William Bentley, Lyman 
AVebster ; Justices of the Peace (four years), Solomon Moss 
(three years), Samuel N. Bentley ; Highway Commissioners, 
Nelson Benedict, Sylvester Stephens ; Overseers of the Poor, 
Timothy H. Pettit, Cortland Hill ; Constables, David Scott, 
John W. Armstrong, Uriah Drake, Ira S. Thornton. 
This election, however, was set aside, for the reason that 
the north half of Bengal (in which most of the elected offi- 
cers resided) had been set off and erected as the township 
of Essex by an act of the Legislature approved March 9, 
1843. A special election was then ordered in each town- 
ship. That in Essex was held April 21st, and in Bengal 
April 26th, at the house of William Bentley, at which 
time the following persons were elected (whole number of 
votes, twelve) : Supervisor, Cortland Hill ; Clerk, William 
Bentley ; Treasurer, Charles Grant ; Commissioners of 
Highways, Samuel N. Bentley, Willard Knowles, Lyman 
Swagart ; School Inspectors, Charles Grant, Benjamin C. 
Thompson ; Constables, Ira S. Thornton, Willard Knowles, 
Uriah Drake, Levi Drake ; Directors of the Poor, Cortland 
Hill, Charles Grant ; Overseers of the Poor, Charles Grant, 
Miner R. Frink, B. C. Thompson, S. N. Bentley, William 
Bentley. A bounty of twenty dollars was voted on every 
full-grown wolf, and eight dollars on each bear killed in the 
town. The next township-meeting was appointed at the 
house of Lyman Swagart. 

Sept. 22, 1843, the township board met and ordered the 
general election (in November) to be held at the house of 
Cortland Hill, November Gth, and at the house of Samuel 
N. Bentley, November 7th. 

Below is given a list of persons who have held the offices 
of supervisor, town clerk, treasurer, justice of the peace, and 
school in.spector from 1844 to 1880, inclusive: 
1844. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill; Clerk, Lyman Swagart; 
Treasurer, Uriah Drake* ; Justices of the Peace, 
Cortland Hill, Ira S. Thornton, Lyman Swa- 
gart, School Inspectors, Cortland Hill, Ilcrud 
Morton. 
1845. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill; Clerk, Benjamin F. 
Kneeland ; Treasurer, Ira S. Thornton ; Justices 
of the Peace, Herod IMorton (four years), Cort- 
land Hill (three years, vacancy), Adam Laugh- 
lin (one year) ; School Inspector, Herod Morton. 

* Resigned; I. S. Thornton appointed to fill vacancy. 



1846. — Supervisor, Lyman Swagart; Clerk, Benjamin F. 
Kneeland ; Treasurer, Ira S. Thornton ; Justice 
of the Peace, L. Swagart (four years), Herod 
Morton (vacancy), Levi Jones (vacancy). 
1847. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland ; Clerk, Levi 
Jones ; Treasurer, Harrison Sutton ; School In- 
spector, M. R. Frink. 
1848. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland ; Clerk, Levi 
Jones ; Treasurer, Harrison Sutton ; Justice of 
the Peace, Ira S. Thornton ; School Inspector,' 
Uriah Drake. 
1849. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland ; Clerk, Levi 
Jones; Treasurer, Harrison Sutton: Justice of 
the Peace, Heman Lake ; School Inspector, 
Cortland Hill. 
1850. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill ; Clerk, Ira S. Thornton ; 
Trea.surer, Lyman Swagart; Justices of the 
Peace, Cortland Hill, Peter Strickland (va- 
cancy); School Inspector, Alanson Giledet. 
1851. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland; Clerk, John 
N. Plowman ; Treasurer, Andrew Weller ; Jus- 
tices of the Peace, Andrew Weller (four years), 
Seth Morton (three years), Lyman Swagart (two 
years); School Inspector, Cortland Hill. 
1852. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland ; Clerk, John 
N. Plowman ; Treasurer, An'drew Weller ; Jus- 
tices of the Peace, Ira S. Thornton (four years), 
John C. Irons (vacancy), James L. Hamer (va- 
cancy) ; School Inspector, Cortland Hill. 
1853. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill; Clerk, Edward Jones; 
Treasurer, Lyman Swagart ; Justice of the 
Peace, William Bartholomew (four years) ; 
School Inspectors, Dorr K. Stowell (two years), 
Stephen P. Hammond (one year). 
1854. — Supervisor, Ira S. Thornton ; Clerk, Emmons 
Blakeslee ; Treasurer, Samuel H. Griffith ; Jus- 
tice of the Peace, Uriah Drake. 
1855. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill ; Clerk, Emmons Blakes- 
lee ; Treasurer, Nathan A. Elliott ; Justices of 
the Peace, John C. Irons, Edward Jones, Stephen 
Hammond. 
1856. — Supervisor, Ira S. Thornton; Clerk, Edward 
Jones; Treasurer, Nathan A. Elliott; Justices 
of the Peace, Miner R. Frink, Levi Jones (va- 
cancy) ; School Inspector, Dorr K. Stowell. 
1857. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland ; Clerk, Edward 
Jones; Treasurer, Dorr K. Stowell ; Justices of 
the Peace, Levi Jones, Alonzo Jaquish ; School 
Inspectors, Alfred II. Lyon, D. D. T. Smith. 
1858. — Supervisor, Benjamin F. Kneeland ; Clerk, Edward 
Jones; Treasurer, Dorr K. Stowell; Justice of 
the Peace, John Travis ; School Inspector, An- 
drew Breakins. 
1859. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill ; Clerk, Emmons Blakes- 
lee ; Treasurer, Dorr K. Stowell ; Justices of 
the Peace, John C. Irons, Stephen F. Hammond 
(vacancy) ; School Inspectors, James II. Bush, 
Alfred H. Lyon, Cortland Hill. 
ISGO. — Supervisor, Israel M. Bray ; Clerk, Leonard Travis; 
Treasurer, Willard Lyon; Justice of the Peace, 



400 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Emmons Blakeslee ; School Inspector, Alfred B. 
Bloomer. 

1861. — Supervisor, Dorr K. Stowell ; Clerk, Leonard 
Travis ; Treasurer, Benjamin I. Sheldon ; Jus- 
tices of the Peace, D. D. T. Smith, Levi Jones, 
Alonzo Jaquish ; School Inspector, Israel M. 
Bray. 

1862. — Supervisor, Dorr K. Stowell ; Clerk, Isaac C. Jones ; 
Treasurer, Willard Lyon ; Justices of the Peace, 
Alonzo Jaquish, Miner R. Frink ; School In- 
spectors, Willard Lyon, Dqrr K. Stowell. 

1863. — Supervisor, Leonard Travis; Clerk, Lyman Swagart; 
Treasurer, Willard Lyon ; Justice of the Peace, 
Cortland Hill ; School Inspector, Leonard Travis. 

1864. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill ; Clerk, Willard Lyon ; 
Treasurer, Israel M. Bray ; Justices, James L. 
Hamer, Edward Jones (vacancy) ; School In- 
spector, Charles E. Blakeslee. 

1865. — Supervisor, Dorr K. Stowell; Clerk, Leonard 
Travis ; Treasurer, E. G. Wellington ; Justice, 
William Sutton ; School Inspectors, Willard 
Lyon, I. M. Bray (vacancy). 

1866.— Supervisor, B. F. Kneeland ; Clerk, William W. 
Humaston ; Treasurer, Leonard Travis ; Justices, 
Israel M. Bray, John C. Sewell (vacancy) ; School 
Inspectors, Charles Travis, Edward Brown (va- 
cancy). 

1867. — Supervisor, Richard S. Coshun ; Clerk, Eliakim R. 
Blakeslee ; Treasurer, John Brown ; Justices, 
Edward Mack, Stephen F. Hammond, John N. 
Van Duyn ; School Inspector, Edward Brown. 

1868.— Supervisor, Cortland Hill; Clerk, Charles H. 
Palmer; Treasurer, Joshua Brown; Justices, 
Ebenezer W. Buck, Ira S. Thornton ; School 
Inspector, James H. Bush. 

1SG9. — Supervisor, Cortland Hill; Clerk, Edward Brown; 
Treasurer, Harrison Sutton ; Justices, Miner R. 
Frink, Cortland Hill (vacancy) ; School Inspec- 
tor, Stephen F. Hammond. 

1870. — Supervisor, Joshua Brown ; Clerk, Dorr K. Stowell ; 
Treasurer, Edward Brown ; Justices, Charles 
Rider, John N. Van Duyn ; School Inspector, 
Willard Steward. 

1871. — Supervisor, Joshua Brown; Clerk, Charles H. 
Palmer; Treasurer, Edward Brown; Justices, 
Cortland Hill, 11. Coshun, William Hammond; 
School Inspector, S. F. Hammond. 

1872._Supervisor, Cortland Hill; Clerk, Charles H. 
Palmer ; Treasurer, Joshua Brown ; Justices, 
Parker Travis, William II. Sutton ; School In- 
spector, Warren Jennings. 

1873.— Supervisor, Charles H. Palmer; Clerk, D. K. 
Stowell ; Treasurer, John Brown ; Justices, 
Ebenezer Buck, Newton Baker ; School Inspec- 
tor, L. Grant. 

1874. — Supervisor, Edward Brown ; Clerk, Oliver Wright ; 
Treasurer, John Brown; Justices, George Brown, 
William W. Humaston, Ebenezer W. Buck ; 
School Inspector, Warren Jennings. 

1875. — Supervisor, Edward Brown; Clerk, H. S. Frisbie; 



Trca.surer, John Brown ; Justice, Ormel Whit- 
taker ; School Inspector, Lorcn Grant ; School 
Superintendent, Eliakim R. Blakeslee. 
1876. — Supervisor, Newton Baker ; Clerk, Oliver Wright ; 
Treasurer, Isaac Travis; Justice, David Weather- 
wax ; School Inspector, George Brown ; School 
Superintendent, Charles Travis. 
1877. — Supervisor, Edward Brown ; Clerk, Warren Hal- 
sey ; Treasurer, Isaac Travis ; Justice, Dorr K. 
Stowell ; School Inspector, P. W. Buck. 
1878. — Supervisor, Edward Brown ; Clerk, Warren Hal- 
sey ; Treasurer, Isaac Travis ; Justice, Ebenezer 
W. Buck, George Brown (vacancy) ; School In- 
spector, Peter Frisbie ; School Superintendent, 
Charles Travis. 
1879. — Supervisor, Charles H. Palmer; Clerk, Warren 
Halsey ; Treasurer, Edward Brown ; Justices, 
Riley Rice, A. Y. Boak (vacancy) ; School In- 
spector, John Love, Jr. ; School Superintendent, 
Alva H. Corwin. 
1880. — Supervisor, Edward Brown ; Clerk, Alva H. Cor- 
win ; Treasurer, Edward H. Lyon ; Justice, 0. 
C. Whittaker; School Inspector, Frederick 
Stowell ; School Superintendent, Abram R. 
Brown. 

SCHOOLS. 
The first school district organized in the township was 
what is still known as district No. 1, commonly called the 
Sutton School. Herod Morton, Uriah Drake, and Ben- 
jamin F. Kneeland, school inspectors, mot May 2, 1846, 
at the house of Lyman Swagart, and organized the district, 
which comprLsed the southwest quarter of the township. 
The first school-house was built of logs and stood west of 
the present frame building, which was erected about 1858. 
Mr. Dorr K. Stowell was the first teacher in the log school- 
house. The school report for 1878-79 gives the follow- 
ing : Children in district, 73 ; attending school, 73 ; one 
frame school-house, value $500 ; teachers employed, 1 male 
(wages $112), 2 female (wages $76); resources for the 
year, $323.75. 

District No. 2 was organized Dec. 29, 1859, and com- 
prised sections 16 and 17, the south half of sections 14 
and 15, and the west half of section 9. The first school- 
house, a small frame structure, stood on the same ground 
now occupied by a neat and substantial brick building, and 
the only one in the township. It is in the centre of the 
town, on the southeast corner of section 16. The school 
report for 1878-79 is as follows : Number of children, 59 ; 
attending school, 47 ; one brick school-house, seats 68, 
value $1100; 1 male teacher, pay $80; 1 female teacher, 
pay $48 ; resources for the year, $654.52. 

District No. 3 was laid out April 24, 1847, and embraced 
all the sections in the southeast quarter of the town. The 
first meeting was held at the house of Adam Laughlin, and 
very soon after its organization a school-house of logs was 
built on land given by John N. Plowman, and across the 
road from the present site. The first frame school-house 
was erected on the present site. The building was poorly 
built, and was not satisfactory to the inspectors or to the 
inhabitants of the district. It was never occupied for school 



BENGAL TOWNSHIP. 



401 



purposes. The school, meanwhile, was taught in a log 
building which stood opposite the house of Luther Jones, 
and was used as a church by the United Brethren. The 
structure in dispute finally gave place to the present neat 
edifice, which was built in the year 1870. The school re- 
port for 1878-79 gives the following : Number of children, 
73 ; attending school, 63 ; frame school-house, will seat 60 
pupils, value $700 ; 1 male teacher, pay $144 ; 1 female 
teacher, pay $56 ; resources for the year, $347.99. 

District No. 4 (commonly called the Frink School) com- 
prised when organized sections 2, 3, 10, and 11, and was 
organized April 14, 1851, at a meeting held at the house 
of B. F. Kneeland. The first school building was of logs, 
and was situated about forty rods north of Miner R. Frink's 
house, on the west side of the road. The first teacher was 
Mary L. Nichols, now Mrs. D. K. Stowell. Succeeding 
teachers were Esther Hammond, Eunice Randolph, Martha 
Avery, Mary J. Corwin, Nancy Sewell. The new school- 
house was built in the spring of 1858. The first teacher 
was Jennie Kneeland. She taught the summer term and 
Abel Wightman taught the winter term. Robert Lyon 
taught the winter term of 1859-60. Tlie report of the 
district for 1878-79 is as follows: Children, 03; attending 
school, 55 ; one frame school-house, value $100, seats 36 ; 
male teacher, pay $96 ; female teacher received $56 ; re- 
sources for the year, $230.44. 

District No. 5 has a frame school-house, situated on the 
northeast quarter of section 7. The district was organized 
Aug. 10, 1872, and at that time comprised sections 5, 0, 7, 
8, and 18 (except southeast quarter on soutiieast corner). 
The school-house will seat 40 pupils, its value is $400 ; 
scholars in district, 69 ; in school, 60 ; pay of male teacher, 
$120 ; female, $54 ; resources for the year, $240.68. 

Fractional school district No. 1 (Bengal and Riley) was 
formed by the inspectors Nov. 18, 1850, at a meeting held 
at the house of Cortland Hill. The district at that time 
was composed of sections 31, 32, 33, and the west half of 
section 34 in Bengal, and the north half of sections 4, 5, 
6, and the northwest quarter of section 3 in Riley. The 
first school-house in this district was a log structure, which 
stood on the .southeast corner of Mr. Hill's farm. The first 
teacher was Maria T. Dryer. The nest school-house was 
located about a half-mile farther east. It is a frame build- 
ing, and was erected about 1864. Children in the district, 
52 ; attending school, 44 ; value of school-huuse, $600, 
will seat 46; 1 female teacher received for services, $188.60; 
resources, $227.32. 

Fractional district No. 2 ( Bengal and Riley) was organ- 
ized at a meeting held at the house of John M. Jones 
June 26, 1852. The district then embraced sections 34, 
35, and 36 in Bengal, and sections 1 and 2 and east half 
of section 3 in Riley. The school-house is a frame build- 
ing, valued at $300 ; the district contains 67 children, and 
all attend school ; the seating capacity of school-house is 
50 ; the male teacher was paid $130 ; female teacher, $61). 

The following are the names of teachers who taught 
school in this township from lS46 to 1860: Dorr K. Sto- 
well, Mary L. Nichols, Esther Hammund, Mary F. Pratt, 
Elizabeth Pratt, A. Benedict, Martha Lowell, lluldab Taft, 
Utensia Gee, Martha Avery, H. M. Sage, Mary Jane Cor- 
51 



win, Jane Bartholomew, Charlotte Thomas, Sarah J. Ten 
Eyck, Ann E. Shoemaker, Nancy E. Sewell, B. S. Pratt, 
B. C. Macomber, Charles J. Eno, Lovisa A. Densmore, 
Margaret A. Davenport, Harriet Hall, Pembroke S. Buck, 
Ellen Cronin, Ellen M. Face, Sarah Thompson, Jane 
Kneeland, Robert Lyon, Betsey M. Parker, Mary A. Hal- 
sey, Jane Walker, Emerett E. Hill, Leonard Travis. 

KELIGIOUS HISTORY. 

The Methodist Episcopal society or class was organized 
about 1844, at the house of John N. Plowman. Among 
the early members were John N. and Sarah Plowman, 
Mrs. Sarah Swagart, David and Agnes Houghtaling, and 
Mr. Day and wife. The meetings were held in the dwel- 
ling-house of J. N. Plowman until the log school-house 
was built. The loss of the class-book makes a gap in the 
history of the cla.ss until 1856, when a new book was sub- 
stituted and the record is as follows : 

The additional members were Juliana Plowman, Edward 
Jones, Lois Jones, George Jones, Joseph G. Plowman, 
Francis Lyon, Dow Lyon, L. M. Lyon, William Houghtaling, 
Eliza A. Shoemaker, and Charlotte Ames. The pastors have 
been J. Harder, T. J. Hill, N. L. Brockway, J. W. Caw- 
thorne, J. Fowler, D. 0. Fox, S. Steele, L. Hutt, William 
McKnight, F. I. Bell, H. H. Hulbert, B. S. Pratt, C. A. 
Jacokes, S. G. Blanchard, J. S. Harder, Hiram B. Nichols, 
and S. Snyder. This class has been merged with the 
Bengal Centre, formerly the West Bengal class, and trans- 
ferred to Bengal Centre, and now worship in the brick 
school-house. Present membership, twenty-four, under the 
pastoral charge of Rev. L. M. Garlick. 

The North Bengal class was organized in the fall of 
1867, by Rev. F. I. Bell, at the Frink school-house. The 
members then were John N. and Angeline Van Duyn, 
Andrew and Charlotte Weller, Emeline Grant, and Julia 
D. Young. The pastors include some of those named above. 
While in charge of Rev. William McKnight a revival oc- 
curred, which added some twenty-five to the class. Pres- 
ent membership, twenty-six. Present pastor Rev. L. M. 
Garlick. 

The only church edifice in the township of Bengal is 
that of the United Brethren in Christ.* The society was 
organized Oct. 1, 1855, by Rev. William L. Kennard, cir- 
cuit preacher of Pine Lake Mission, Michigan Conference. 
The first members were Emmons and Sarah L. Blakeslee, 
Abraham and Lydia Ten Eyck, and Betsey Lyons. For 
church oSicers Emmons Blakeslee was elected class-leader, 
and Abraham Ten Eyck steward. 

During the next winter a revival was had, which added 
some thirty to the church. In the summer of 1856 a log 
church, size thirty by thirty feet, was built, located on sec- 
tion 26, on land opposite the present residence of Luther 
Jones. 

Their new frame church edifice was erected in 1877, at a 
cost of about twenty-eight hundred dollars ; size thirty-six 
by fifty, with a vestibule eleven by sixteen ; the tower and 
spire rises ninety-six feet high. The inside is neatly fin- 
ished and furnished. It was dedicated by Bishop J. Weaver. 



* Contributed by Kminqns Blakesle^. 



402 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



The present class numbers twenty-three. The pastor is 
l{ev. B. H. Mowers ; class-leader, John Brown. The so- 
ciety has a good parsonage for their minister. The Sunday- 
school was organized in 1854, with thirty scholars; the 
present school numbers seventy in all. John Brown is 
superintendent. The school is in a very prosperous condi- 
tion. The church society, though few in numbers, is doing 
very well. 

BURIAL-GKOUNDS. 

The Bengal Cemetery Association was organized in 1 863, 
John Travis, President ; Israel M. Bray, Secretary and 
Sexton ; Dorr K. Stowell, Treasurer. This society owns a 
half-acre of land adjoining the Bray farm. It is neatly laid 
out and fenced. 

There is another burying-ground in the northern part of 
the town, in the Frink neighborhood. 



AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS. 

In 1879 there were sown 5337 acres of wheat, against 
4985 in 1878 and 2829 acres in 1874; and there were 
1375 acres of corn planted in 1879, against 945 in 1874. 

The crop of 1874 yielded 41,674 bushels of wheat, 
58,963 bushels of corn, and 6721 bushels of potatoes. The 
crop of 1879 yielded 141,064 bushels of wheat, 105,722 
bushels of corn, and 12,656 bushels of potatoes, 62,909 
bushels of oats, 1395 bushels of clover-seed, 2227 tons of 
hay, 15,191 pounds of wool from 3050 sheep. 

The yield of maple-sugar in 1854 was 6582 pounds ; 
1860, 20,095 pounds; in 1874, 11,778 pounds. 

The amount of butter made in 1854 was 8485 pounds; 
in 1864, 20,700 pounds; in 1874, 67,381 pounds. 

In 1860 there were 80 horses, 249 milch cows, 134 oxen, 
and 794 swine in the town. The year 1879 shows the in- 
crease to 662 horses, 644 milch cows, and 1075 swine. 

The following is a list of names of flirmers in the town- 
ship who produced one thousand bushels of wheat or over 
during the year 1879 : 

Philip Sturgis, 33 acres, 1000 bushels; Corwin Sturgis, 
34 acres, 1000 bushels; H. B. Kueeland, 36 acres, 1170 
bushels; George Seifert, 36 acres, 1015 bushels; James 
Strong, 40 acres, 1056 bushels; Mrs. Isaac Travis, 40 
acres, 1260 bushels; Harrison Sutton, 42 acres, 1300 
bushels; Henry Sheldon, 42 acres, 1064 bushels; George 
Brown, 42 acres, 1420 bushels ; John Brown, 43 acres, 
1343 bushels; C. W. Lyon, 48 acres, 1720 bushels; B. F. 
Young, 50 acres, 1404 bushels ; William Swagart, 50 acres, 
1480 bushels; Hiram Nestle, 50 acres, 1100 bu.shels ; 
Loren Grant, 58 acres, 1560 bushels; William Byrne, 54 
acres, 2500 bushels; M. Ryan, 56 acres, 2300 bu.shels; 
M.R. Georgia, 58 acres, 1586 bushels; William Polhemus, 
60 acres, 1764 bushels; Miner R. Frink, 60 acres, 1800 
bushels ; Dorr K. Stowell, 63 acres, 1920 bushels ; E. Plow- 
man, 63 acres, 2400 bushels; William Mack, 65 acres, 
1597 bushels; J. S. Sturgis, 70 acres, 2262 bushels; J. 
N. Parker, 75 acres, 2550 bushels ; A. Rasenkrans, 75 
acres, 1848 bushels ; James L. Hamer, 80 acres, 2200 
bushels ; B. F. Kneeland, 80 acres, 27OO bushels. 



PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 

Bengal Grange, No. 225, was organized Dec. 28, 1878. 
The oflBcers for 1880 are. Master, Warren Halsey ; Over- 
seer, Dorr K. Stowell ; Lecturer, Mrs. Willard Steward ; 
Steward, Darius Pectil ; Asst. Steward, Frederick Stowell ; 
Lady Asst. Steward, Mrs. Riley Rice ; Chaplain, Willard 
Steward ; Treasurer, Hiram Tubbs ; Secretary, Dow Lyon ; 
Gatekeeper, L. Hammond ; Ceres, Mrs. W. Jennings ; 
Pomona, Mrs. Emma Chapman ; Flora, Miss Flora Plow- 
man. The grange has a hall situated on section 23, about 
one mile east of the town-house. 

POPULATION. 

In 1847 the inhabitants of the township numbered 49. 
In 1854 they had increased to 350, and in 1860 to 638. 
In 129 families there were 148 dwelling-houses ; 99 farms 
were occupied. The State census for 1864 gave 706. The 
United States census, 1870, showed 1086, which was in- 
creased in 1874 to 1200; and the census of 1880 shows 
1295, a gain of 95 in six years. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



B. F. YOUNG. 

Jonathan Young, father of B. F. Young, was a native 
of Yorkshire, England, born in 1778. He was about sixty 
years of age when he came to America. 'First settled in 
Wayne Co., Mich., and married Mrs. Hannah Green, a 
native of Massachusetts. From Wayne County they removed 
in 1841 to Bengal township, where Mrs. Young had en- 
tered a piece of government land, upon which they settled. 
Here their three children were born : B. F. Young, born 
in 1844, being the youngest and only surviving child, the 
others dying when infants. Here Jonathan and his wife 
resided until their deaths, which occurred in 1856, — his 
January 14th, hers November 1st. 

Benjamin F. continued to reside on the old homestead 
after the death of his parents, and in 1867 married Miss 
Julia D., daughter of Charles Grant. Mr. and Mrs. Young 
are the parents of four children, — Viola A., Myron, Charles 
L., and Ida M. 

Mr. Young at the age of twenty enlisted in the army 
for the suppression of the Rebellion. He was a member of 
Company A, Twenty-third Michigan Infantry, and his term 
of service was from March 23, 1864, to June 10, 1866. lie 
participated in the battles of Ken&saw Mountain, Atlanta, 
Nashville, Franklin, and Fort Anderson. 

Mr. Young's farm now consists of two hundred acres, 
one hundred and twenty of which he inherited from his 
mother, which were purchased with her earnings, eighty 
having been added by Mr. Young. In politics he is Re- 
publican ; in religion, both himself and wife are members 
of North Bengal Methodist Episcopal Church. 



m 

I 

I 
I 



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DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 



403 



CHAPTER LIV. 
DE WITT TOWNSHIP.* 

Boundaries, Soil, and Streams — Land-Entries — Early Villages in 
Do Witt Township — Settlement and Progress — Early Highways — 
Township Organization and Civil List — Schools — Keligions Organ- 
izations — De Witt Grange. 

The township of De Witt, the scene of the early labors 
of the first pioneer to the south half of the county, as 
also of the earliest session of the county court, may be geo- 
graphically described as bounded on the north by the town- 
ship of Olive, south by Ingham County, east by Bath, and 
west by Watertown. It is designated by the United States 
survey as township 5 north, of range 2 west. 

The township is watered by numerous streams of greater 
or less magnitude, the most important being the Looking- 
Glass River, which enters it from the north at section 1, 
and flowing southwest through sections 2, 3, and 4, di- 
verges to the west, passing through the village of De Witt, 
and again to the south at section 7, making its exit into 
Watertown at section 18. This stream, which affords a 
considerable water-power, is fed by Prairie Creek, which 
rises in a marsh in the southeast portion of the township, 
and flowing north and west while pursuing a tortuous course, 
enters the main waters at the village of De Witt on sec- 
tion 8. 

The soil of the township embraces sand, gravel, and 
clay, the former prevailing to a greater extent on the south- 
erly border, while clay is found in the north and north- 
west. Gravel in limited amount is distributed generally 
throughout the township. The southwest abounds in ex- 
tensive marshes and swamps of tamarack, though an elabo- 
rate system of drainage has greatly improved much of this 
land. The surface of De Witt is somewhat rolling in 
character and offers a pleasing variation to the eye. The 
landscape from all points is attractive, and in many places 
impressive in its beauty, vying in this regard with the 
most beautiful portions of the county. The soil is well 
adapted to grains of all kinds, wheat and corn being es- 
pecially prolific in their yield. The average harvest of 
wheat in localities is twenty-five bushels to the acre, though 
this is exceptional. The various fruits find here a congenial 
soil, and orchards producing the choicest grafted fruit 
abound in all parts. Peaches are being cultivated with 
much success, and the smaller fruits are abundant in their 
yield. Most of the woods peculiar to the State flourish in 
De Witt, oak, maple, ash, and walnut being very thrifty in 
their growth. The marshes produce the usual growth of 
tamarack, which prevails principally in the south and south- 
west. The township is not unlike other portions of the 
county in its destitution of pine-lands, a single tree of that 
kind being almost a curiosity in De Witt. 

LAND-ENTRIES. 

The following-named persons wore the original purchasers 
from the government of the land in township 5 north, of 
range 2 west : 

• By E. 0. Wagner. 



SECTION 1. 

AcreB. 

John Low'erv, 1S35 65.28 

Dewitt Parshnll, UM -320 

Samuel Sherman, 1836 89.28 

John Dodge, 1836 148.69 

SECTION 2. 

Cynthia M.Collins, 1834 112.70 

John Lowery, 1835, 1836 295.48 

SECTION 3. 

Henry Miller, 1835 81.62 

Erastus S. lugersoll, 1836 80 

H. H. Leroy, 1835 129.96 

Elias Daniels, 1836 81.70 

D. E. Matthews, 1836 39.14 

Piatt Smith, 1836 206.97 

SECTION 4. 

S. Beckwith, 1835,1836 160 

Leah Packard, 1836 80 

S. Beckwith, 1836 232.03 

D. E. Matthews, 1836 78.61 

Daniel Moore, 1836 78.45 

SECTION 5. 

David Scott, 1833 240 

Sylvester Scott, 1833 80 

Randolph Manning, 1836 80 

J. R. LangdoD, 1836 158.16 

D. E. Matthews, 1836 77.40 

SECTION 6. 

C. S. Ferguson, 1834 160 

William II. Webb, 1835 169.44 

Alanson Goodrich, 1836 84.73 

J. R. Langdon, 1836 157.20 

E. H. Utley, 1836 82.11 

SECTION 7. 

C. S. Ferguson, 1834 9.13 

Calvin Marbin, 1835 55.52 

E. H. Utley, 1835 203.04 

Franklin Oliver, 1835. 204.16 

Alanson Goodrich, 1836 166.27 

SECTION 8. 

David Scott, 1833 82.81 

Hiram F.Sheldon, 1833 107.80 

George Pearsall, 1835 80 

William A. Hewitt, 1835 40 

F. R. Bolles, 1835 197.54 

J. R. Langdon, 1836 120 

SECTION 9. 

S. Beckwith, 1835 34.47 

William Utley, 1835 234.17 

George Pearsall, 1836 40 

David Scott, 1836 80 

Piatt Smith, 1836 80 

Fitzalan Oardner, 1836 160 

SECTION 10. 

Philip French, 1836 160 

John Groves, 1830 160 

Fitzalan Gardner, 1836 80 

Salam F. King, 1836 240 

SECTION 11. 

>yilliam S. Warner, 1836 160 

Edward Townley, 1836 160 

Flatt Smith, 1836 320 

SECTION 12. 

Stephen P. Morehouse, 1836 160 

William M. Lowell, 1836 320 

^.cvi A.Mills, 1830 160 

SECTION 13. 

S. S. Bullock, 1836 80 

William Packard, 1836 80 

William G. Smith, 1836 40 

E. L. .«mith, 1836 160 

John Taylor, 1836 80 



404 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Acres. 

Lewis Boyd. 1836 SO 

Russel CuFhinnn, 18+6 80 

Ellen Cushuiiin, 1S52 40 

Hiram Rathburn, 1864 40 

SECTION 14. 

Elihu Jamison, 1835 160 

William Moore, 1836 40 

8. S. liiilloek, 1836 80 

S. P. Morehouse, 1836 240 

Philip French, 1836 80 

Harvey C. Boyd, 1836 40 

SECTION 15. 

William Hunt, 1836 40 

L. D. Jcnnison, 1836 40 

William Roo5e, 1836 80 

Harvey C. Boyd, 1836 120 

Joshua Cushman, 1836 80 

David Scott, 1837 40 

L. D. Jennison, 1837 40 

Thomas Bobbins, 1843 40 

Elvira Robbins. 1847 .' 40 

Samuel Smith, 1851 80 

Thomas Robbins, 1854 40 

SECTION 16. 
School section. 

SECTION 17. 

J. R. Pearsall, 1835 80 

J. R. Langdon, 1836 80 

David Scott, 1836 160 

John Gould, 1836 160 

Elisha Lester, 1836 , 160 

SECTION 18. 

Ephraira H. Utley, 1835 20.96 

Daniel Ferguson, 1836 80 

H. N. Andrus, 1836 92.08 

James Gay, 1836 80 

John Gould, 1836 160 

Philip Burnett, 1836 160 

James Dean, 1836 66.76 

SECTION 19. 

Samuel Crowell, 183G 346.68 

J. D. Child, 1836 160 

Amos Waterhouse, 1837 80 

De.\ter White, 1837 80 

SECTION 20. 

De-xter White, 1836 80 

James Perkins, 1836 160 

J. S. Ilollister, 1837 .'.... 320 

Lucinda Colburn, 1838 80 

SECTION 21. 

Lewis Boyd, 1836 80 

Frederic Perkins, 1836 80 

Barnabas Bassett, 1836 80 

Thompsons. Hollister, 1837 240 

William 11. Hockenbury, 1849 40 

Samuel Steele, 1850 40 

Margaret Steele, 1854 40 

SECTION 22. 

H. C. Boyd, 1836 160 

Joshua Cushman, 1836 SO 

Sizar L. Stoddard, 1836 80 

Samuel Higgins, 1836 80 

Daniel Gunderman, 1848 40 

E. A. Gunderman, 1850 40 

William Vail, 1850 40 

SECTION 23. 

Francis Moore, 1836 80 

William Moore, 1836 240 

Ruth A. Gunnison, 1843 40 

Stephen W. Downer, 1850 280 

SECTION 24. 

William Moore, 1836 80 

J. B. Ackley, 1836 160 

Gilbert Cushman, 1837 80 

S. W. Downer, 1850, 1851 80 



Acres. 

Morris Cushman, 1854 40 

jDse])h C. Bailey, 1854 80 

A. M. Crawford, 1854 40 

SECTION 25. 

J. B. Bennett, 1852 40 

SECTION 26. 

Allen Ilutcbins, 1836 160 

Charles M. McKenzie, 1846 80 

Anson Simmons, 1847 40 

Nathan Weldon, 1850 40 

S. \V. Downer, 1851 40 

Ira Durand, 1852 ■. 40 

J.B.Bennett, 1852 120 

SECTION 27. 

M. M. Boyd, 1836 80 

G. W. Boyd, 1836 80 

W. D. Hurd, 1836 80 

0. H. Lvoo, 1842 80 

Nelson H. King, 1847 80 

Donnell Mclntire, 1847 80 

William Moon, 1847 80 

G. R. Culver, 1848 40 

H.H.Smith, 1854 40 

SECTION 28. 

O.H.Lyon, 1842 40 

Stephen F. Dexter, 1847 160 

John Gundermiin, 1848 80 

R. R. Quiglev, 1848 160 

William C. Biangwin, 1848 160 

SECTION 29. 

Henry Moon, 1837 160 

Richiird Moon, 1838 80 

L. A. Ayers, 1838 40 

J. R. Jeuett, 1847 80 

N. II. Wing, 1847 120 

J. R. Jewett, 1847 40 

James Sickles, 1851 80 

SECTION 30. 

William Congdon, 1836 174.68 

K. S. Van Scoy, 1847 40 

Orville Bacon, 1849, 1850 80 

James Sickles, 1851 80 

Henry Gibbs, 1852 47.53 

SECTION 31. 

M.L.Stanley, 1837 240 

D. S. Iiigersoll, 1837 95.52 

E. F. Sweet, 1850 47.74 

E. Richardson, 1851 80 

Andrew Shadduck, l.'<52 40 

Allen Goodridge, 1852 ... 40 

George J. Parson and F. M. Cowles, 1854 40 

SECTION 32. 

James Cram, 1836 320 

Samuel and Elias Bliss, 1836 160 

Matthew Dearin, 1847 40 

Robert Dearin, 1847 40 

David Westeott, 1852 40 

John F.Welsh, 1854 40 

SECTION 33. 

Allen Hutchins, 1836 160 

Jonathan Birdsall, 1836 80 

Nelson II. AVing, 1847 160 

David Slurgis, 1847 40 

Calvin Woodward, 1849 160 

SECTION 34. 

Samuel Higgins, 1836 320 

Warner D. Hurd, 1836 80 

Stephen A. Smith, 1839 160 

William Moon, 1847 : 80 

SECTION 35. 

William Birge, 183B 160 

Samuel Higgins, 1836 160 

B. P. Kercheval, 1836 160 

Samuel Cutler, 1848 160 



BE WITT TOWNSHIP. 



405 



SECTION 36. 

Acres. 

Eliza Jane Bennett, 1852 40 

Jacob B. Bennett, 1852 80 

Robert West, 1853. 40 

EARLY VILLAGES IIJ DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 

The lands lying along both sides of the Looking-Glass 
River, at and opposite the mouth of Prairie Creek, were, 
about the year 1836, selected as locations for a cluster of 
(prospective) villages. The old Indian trail which after- 
wards became the Pontiac and Grand River road, passed 
along the north bank of the river at this point, and in that 
year, as for many years later, it was the principal thorough- 
fare through this portion of country. 

The first of these embryo villages was Middletown or 
Middleton. The land on which it was laid out was entered 
from the United States by Sebastian Beckwith, in 1835, 
but at the time it was platted the proprietors were Sebastian 
Beckwith, Joel Wicks, and George J. Goodhue. It was 
situated on the north side of the river east of the present 
village of Do Witt, and was the north fraction of the north- 
west quarter of section 9 and the southwest (|uarler of sec- 
tion 4. It was surveyed on the 25th uf January, 1836, and 
the original map filed in Kalamazoo County, February 6th 
of that year. The plat shows the village to have been di- 
vided into eighty-six blocks, each block containing one and 
three-fifths acres. Block No. 36 was reserved fur a public 
square. Each block was subdivided into eight lots, each of 
which was four by eight rods. The streets were laid out 
four rods wide, except Clinton and Detroit, which were six 
rods in width. From the north to the south the streets 
were named as follows: Huron, Superior, Ontario, Detroit, 
Erie, Michigan, Mason, St. Joseph, Mill, and Ionia. From 
east to west. Quay, Toledo, Chicago, Main, Clinton, Monroe, 
Jefferson, and Washington. 

This pretentious array of streets, however, did not cause 
the village to thrive, as on the 12th day of October, 1842, 
the lots of the village were sold for unpaid taxes to Milo 
H. Turner, David Sturgis, Hiram Stowell, W. H. Case, and 
W. A. Hewitt. 

NEW ALBANY. 

The land on which this village was laid out was entered 
by Hiram F. Sheldon, of Cleveland, Ohio, Oct. 21, 1833, 
and by him the village was laid out and mapped. This 
map was not recorded and is lost. On the 1st day of Oc- 
tober, 1836, he sold the land on which the village was sit- 
uated to George F. Clark, of Albany, N. Y., it being de- 
scribed as the .south fraction of the northeast quarter of 
section 8, containing 107y\j''j acres, ''saving and reserving 
certain village lots as laid down on a map made for said 
Sheldon" (eighteen lots in different blocks). Milo H. 
Turner, of Rochester, N. Y., was the agent for Mr. Clark, 
and managed the sale of the property. The village was 
divided into twenty-nine blocks ; many lots were sold, but 
the anticipations of the proprietors soon came to naught, 
and in 1840 the lots were advertised to be sold for unpaid 
taxes. The prices paid ranged from a dollar and six cents 
to a dollar and seventy-four cents per lot, and were pur- 
chased as follows : Milo H. Turner, fifty-five lots ; David 
Sturgis, five; Scth P. Marvin, two; J. F. Turner, two; 



William E. Turner, one ; George F. Clark, one. They 
were not all sold, however, in 1840, for the sale continued 
for several years, the last being sold in 1848. 

OLD DE WITT. 

On the second day of January, 1837, there was offered 
for record at the county of Washtenaw a map of the plat 
of De Witt, Clinton Co., Mich. Frederick A. Bolles ap- 
peared before James Kingsley, notary public, of that county, 
on the 23d day of December, 1836, and acknowledged the 
execution of the plat and map to be his act and deed for 
the purposes therein expressed, and to answer the require- 
ments of the statute in such cases provided. Frederick 
A. Bolles entered the land from the United States on which 
this village was platted, and on the 12th day of December, 
1836, it was surveyed by William Finley, Jr., laid out on 
a scale of thirty-two rods to an inch, and platted by Dr. 
Bennett and J. M. Wilcox. The map contains the follow- 
ing remarks : " All lots are (4) rods wide and eight rods 
deep, except on block five, six and seven, which are four 
rods by five deep, and the water-lots and other fractions are 
variable in depth. This plat contains according to original 
surveys one hundred and ninety-seven j^^^ acres. All streets 
in plat are (4) rods wide, and intended as public highways, 
and the Timber in the same at the proprietor's service, if 
required ; if not, the buyers of lots are to have it. Lots 
No. 3, 4 in Block No. 51, and Lots No. 3, 4 in Block No. 
54 are given for the firm established church in said Plat, 
and also said named Publick Square for publick purposes, 
and all other lots in the proprietor's name for his own use. 
" Frederick A. Bolles, 

" Proprietor." 

This village was situated.- east of and adjoining New 
Albany. The streets were named as follows : From the east 
to the west, Newton, Wayne, Main (these three streets ran 
from the river south to the section-line). Park, Hall, Lyon, 
and Lynn. From the river and parallel with it. River, Wall, 
Spring, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Brighton, Church, 
Summer, Green, St. Ann's, Catharine, St. Mary's, and 
Frederick. 

In the sales-book of Clinton County in the treasurer's 
office is an account of the " Village of De Witt, south of 
the Looking-Glass River," advertised for unpaid taxes of 
1842. Seventy-eight blocks are described with the lots, 
numbering eight lots to each block. The taxes due on 
each block arc given, ranging from ninety-five cents to one 
dollar and twenty-four cents. It docs not appear that these 
lots were sold, as no account is made of sale. The follow- 
ing statement is appended to the description : 

" The entire descriptions of the above village of De 
Witt, south side of the Looking-Glass River, was passed 
to the State of Michigan at the sales in account of 1844 
for the tax of 1842." 

DE WITT. 

The land on which the present village of De Witt is 
located was entered by Capt. David Scott in 1833, and 
platted by him on the 20th of October, 1841. It is .situ- 
ated on the north side of Looking-Glass River, on sections 
5 and S, and was the county-site of Clinton County until 



406 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTS', MICHIGAN. 



1857, when, by a vote of the various townships of the 
county, the seat was removed to St. Johns, the recorded 
vote of De Witt having been two hundred and thirty- 
three against and three in favor of the measure. 

The settlement of De Witt, as of the south half of the 
county, began with the coming of Capt. David Scott, who loft 
Ann Arbor with his wife and two sons, David and Charles, 
in September of 1833. They began their pilgrimage in 
wagons drawn by ox-teams and laden with their household 
goods, their objective point being the land he entered in 
Clinton County, embracing altogether fourteen hundred 
and twenty-six acres in various portions of the township. 
They forded rivers, drove into lakes, were frequently mired 
in dismal marshes, and pitched their tents where night 
overtook them, until their arrival at the present De Witt 
village on Oct. 4, 1833. Capt. Scott obtained the consent 
of the Indians to occupy one of their wigwams for several 
weeks, when their own cabin was completed, to which they 
then removed. This Indian house was constructed of bark, 
with bunks on the sides, and a fire was built in the centre, 
the smoke of which escaped through a hole or remained in 
the room. While dwelling in this rude habitation a party of 
English travelers on their way to Grand River, now Port- 
land, tarried and sought shelter for the night. One of the 
party, overcome with fatigue, died soon after,' and was 
buried in a coffin of bark taken from the wigwam. The 
funeral was attended by Capt. Scott's family, the only in- 
habitants of the county, except the people at the trading- 
post on Maple River, the physician from an adjoining 
county, and the hin d companion of the captain. The log 
cabin of Capt. Scott, twenty feet square, was begun the 
5th of October and occupied soon after with demonstra- 
tions of great joy. Seventeen head of cattle and one hor.se 
were brought by them into the wilderness, whose broad 
pasture-land was the whole of Clinton and portions of 
Ionia, Eaton, Ingham, and Shiawassee Counties. There 
being uo fodder for winter, trees were felled, upon which 
they browsed, the sound of the axe being the only call 
needed. They were all attracted by the falling of a tree. 
Ground was broken for wheat in July, 1834, twenty acres 
was sown, and harvested the following year during the 
same month, yielding thirty-two bushels to the acre. A 
piece of ground was leveled, logs laid round it, when a 
flooring of wheat was placed over it, and thrashed by four 
yoke of oxen. 

The earliest settlers made journeys to Pontiac to have 
their grain ground until 1837, when a grist-mill was com- 
pleted at Wacousta. 

Capt. Scott built in 1839 a frame building for a store- 
room and grocery, and the point having been established 
the following year as the county-seat the early sessions of 
the court were there held. Judge Hubbard presiding. 

In 1840 a school-house was built on the present school- 
house site, which was at that period the most spacious and 
convenient of the buildings yet erected in the embryo vil- 
lage. Here court was held at a later date, and the Board 
of Supervisors also convened within its walls. In 1842 a 
spacious and well-appointed hotel was erected by Capt. 
Scott, the hall of which for years afibrded a place of meet- 
ing for the county court, small buildings having been 



previously provided for the convenience of the county 
officers. 

Capt. Scott early received his commission as postmaster 
of the hamlet, and established an office at his house. He 
continued to reside in Dewitt until his death, in 1851, 
having been the leading spirit in all business enterprises. 
His son, David Scott, still occupies a portion of the land 
he entered. Another son, Sylvester Scott, made his advent 
the month succeeding that of his father, and located on a 
portion of the land entered by the former. His wife, Mrs. 
Sophronia Scott, who is still living in De Witt, and one son 
arrived soon after, and Sept. 15, 1836, a second son,' 
Charles, was born, he having been the first white child 
born in the county. 

Sylvester Scott did not long survive his early pioneer 
experiences. Hiram Wilcox had in 1837 erected the first 
saw-mill in the county, on the south side of the river, upon 
tlTe plat known as New Albany. It was completed and in 
running order early in 1838, and a party of settlers having 
assembled at Capt. Scott's one Sabbath afternoon, it was 
suggested that they should visit the mill on a tour of in- 
spection. On their arrival, Mr. Scott with others was ex- 
amining the construction of the machinery and had uncon- 
sciously placed hiuLself in a position of great danger. One 
of the party, not aware of this fact, suddenly turned on the 
water, which set the mill in motion and instantly killed the 
unfortunate man. This event caused profound sorrow in 
the little community. 

Milo H. Turner arrived in 1838, as the agent of George 
T. Clark, who had previously purchased the land platted on 
the south side of the river known as New Albany. He 
brought with him a stock of goods, erected a log house, 
and opened the first store in the village of De Witt. He 
leased the saw-mill of Hiram Wilcox, and after efi'ecting a 
considerable clearing, built a large frame structure, which 
was devoted to the uses of a hotel. His brother, Jesse 
Foot Turner, arrived the following year, and embarked with 
Milo H. in business enterprises. In 1844 they erected on 
the Look ing-G lass River a grist-mill, which was consumed 
by fire in 1847, but soon after rebuilt. The brothers 
Turner were men of much activity, and largely identified 
with the interests of the township and the county. They 
remained residents until 1850, when the gold fields of 
Calilbrnia lured them to the Pacific coast. George T. Clark 
also became a resident at a later period. 

The earliest store on the north side of the river was 
built by David Sturgis, who came from Portland, louia Co., 
in 1840, with a stock of goods which he oB"ered for sale, 
as the agent of Messrs. Abbott & Beecher, of Detroit. 
He soon after built an ashery near by, and remained in 
business at De Witt until 1850, when he removed to St. 
Johns, and later to Gratiot County, where he died. He at 
one time filled the position of associate judge of the county 
court. 

The distinction which was accorded to De Witt as the 
centre of the judicial business of the county attracted 
many representatives of the bar, and made it for a period 
of many years the centre of legal talent. A brief review 
of the advent and subsequent career of the lawyers 
of the village is embodied in a chapter on the Bar of 



DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 



407 



the County in a preceding portion of this work. The 
uncertain tenure by which De Witt maintained its prestige 
as the county-seat offered strong obstacles against the erec- 
tion of county buildings, and on the occasion of its later 
removal to St. Johns not a single structure of importance 
had been devoted to county uses. This fact also materially 
influenced the growth of the village, and has effectually 
checked the development of its business interests since 1857. 
The village now has one hotel, of which R. Durham is the 
landlord ; two general stores, kept by J. E. Jayne and A. 
A. Woodruff; one drug store, owned by Dr. G. W. Top- 
ping ; two millinery-shops, kept by Mrs. Ware and Mrs. 
Woodruff respectively ; one shoe-store, by J Averill ; one 
wagon-shop, of which A. Lott is proprietor ; and three 
blacksmith-shops, owned by Messrs. Tout, Pilbeau, and 
Worden. J. A. Sweet holds the commission as postmaster. 
There are two saw-mills, owned by William M. Potter and 
E. G. Holmes & Son, and a completely-appointed flouring- 
mill, equipped with four run of stones and enjoying an ex- 
tensive custom trade, of which Messrs. O.sgood & Co. are 
proprietors. There is also a foundry, owned by R. Merritt. 
De Witt has two churches, whose early history, found else- 
where, is coexistent with the primitive days of the hamlet. 

The second pioneer in the township of De Witt came 
there to settle in 1834. This was Chauncey S. Ferguson, 
who brought with him his family, including his father, 
Daniel Ferguson, and located upon section 6, where he 
entered in the same year one hundred and sixty acres of 
land. He removed from Oakland County, and at once 
erected a log house, but effected little in the way of clear- 
ing. Mr. Ferguson seems not to have been well satis- 
fied with the advantages Clinton County offered to the set- 
tler, for the year 1837 found him a pioneer to the wilds of 
Ionia County, where he became a land-owner. Mr. Fer- 
guson exercised a generous hospitality to subsequent comers, 
who never failed to receive a cordial welcome to his humble 
home and frugal board on their arrival. 

The third pioneer in order of arrival was Franklin Oliver, 
who came from Niagara Co., N. Y., in 1835, and settled 
upon two hundred and four acres, which he entered the 
same year. He remained with Chauncey Ferguson while 
building a house, and very early effected a considerable 
clearing. Four years later he constructed a saw-mill, which, 
however, for want of power, was never operated successfully, 
and was ultimately abandoned. Mr. Oliver died a few 
years later, and the estate was purchased by Morris S. 
Allen. 

William M. Webb has with justice advanced his claim 
to having been the fourth settler. He entered, in 1835, 
one hundred and seventy acres on section G, upon which he 
located in the same year, having come from Piynioutli, 
Wayne Co., Mich. The land he found entirely uncleared, 
and for four weeks enjoyed the ho.spitality of Mr. Fergu- 
son's log cabin afforded while constructing a temporary 
abode for his own family. At De Witt there was an Indian 
village, .several families of whom were still enjoying peace- 
able po.ssession of their wigwams. Bears and wolves were 
frequent visitors, and caused consternation among the sheep 
and swine. Mr. Webb was very successful in construct- 



ing pitfalls by which the stock of bears was considerably 
diminished. He still resides upon the land he at first en- 
tered, where a highly-improved farm is the result of his 
industry. The first Fourth of July a gathering of a social 
character was held at the house of Mr. Webb in 1837, 
dancing having been enjoyed upon a puncheon floor. 

The next settler in order of arrival was Ephraim H. 
Utiey, who also came from Plymouth, Wayne Co., and 
arrived the day following Mr. Webb's coming. He entered 
thirty plats of eighty acres each in De Witt and elsewhere, 
and made a settlement upon section 7. He cleared and im- 
proved this farm, but ultimately removed to Newaygo 
County, where he died on Big Prairie, in 1860. Mr. Ut- 
iey held office the first year of the township organization, 
and was also at one time county commissioner. He occa- 
sionally practiced as a lawyer, and was a man of influence 
during his brief residence in De Witt. 

Alanson Goodrich was among the pioneers of 1835, as 
stated by his early neighbors, though he does not appear to 
have made an entry of land until 1836, when he secured 
one hundred and sixty-six acres on section 7, and resided on 
it until his death. The earliest school-house in the county 
was built upon this land, and the Goodrich neighborhood 
was, until 1840, the centre of the educational interests of the 
township. 

Isaac Hewitt arrived in 1835 and located on section 17, 
where he had one hundred and twenty acres, having been 
a former resident of Steuben Co., N. Y. He devoted him- 
self with much energy to the clearing of his farm, being 
greatly aided by his six sons, but one of whom — Edmond 
— now resides in the township, where he has a farm on 
the same section. 

Gilbert Cushman came from Putnam Co., N. Y., in 
1836, three of his sons having preceded him to this State 
and located in Bath. He remained with them until a 
house was built upon eighty acres on section 24, when all 
removed to the township of De Witt. There was no 
neighbor within five miles, and Dexter, sixty miles away, 
was the most convenient milling point. With the circuit- 
ous route usually followed the distance wa.s increased to 
nearly one hundred miles. A mill was later built at Wa- 
cousta, which enjoyed a very liberal patronage from the ad- 
jacent country. On the farm of Mr. Cushman, and those 
of his six sons, forty acres were cleared the first year. Of 
this large family, embracing the parent and six sons, all of 
whom followed agricultural pursuits, but two survive, both 
of whom reside on section 24, in De Witt. George Cush- 
man has one hundred and twenty acres, and an additional 
forty on section 13, while Russell has one hundred and 
twenty on each section. The father's death occurred in 
De Witt during the year 1855. 

In 183(;, among the prominent arrivals, was that of 
Jonathan K. Pearsall, who in the year previous had entered 
eighty acres on section 17. He found this land uncleared, 
and began at once the work of chopjiing, with a view to 
the erection of a log^ house, and became soon alter absorbed 
in the improvement of his farm. He was an industrious 
farmer and a leading man in ail religious enterprises. Mr. 
Pearsall .served among the earliest township officers, and 
held many positions of influence in De Witt. 



408 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Peter Lott, who had formerly located in Washtenaw 
County, purchased in 1837, ou sections 19 and 30, three 
hundred and fifty-five acres, and settled on the former the 
same year. With him came five sons, all of whom camped 
out while building a house of logs. Benjamin Lott, a 
brother, followed him soon after, and, purchasing eighty 
acres on section 19, remained with him while building a 
house and making a preliminary clearing. He later re- 
moved to his present residence on section 3, where he has 
one hundred and sixty acres. Two sons of Peter Lott — 
Chauncey and Albert Lott — still survive, and reside in the 
township. 

Henry Moon entered, in 1837, one hundred and sixty 
acres on section 29, embracing the southeast quarter of the 
section. He remained at the house of Mr. Utley while 
building a cabin in the forest that covered his land. Mr. 
Moon improved his purchase and converted it into a pro- 
ductive farm, but ultimately removed to the village of De 
Witt, where he now resides in advanced years. 

Dr. Levi D. Jenison, who was the earliest resident 
physician in the township, and for a period of some years 
enjoyed an extended practice, entered in 183(5 forty acres 
ou section 15, and subsequently purchased other land in 
the township. His career will be more fully mentioned in 
a chapter on the medical fraternity of the county, as will 
also that of Dr. Hiram Stowell, who settled in 1837 on 
section 2, on a farm originally owned by Capt. Lowry, 
of Watertown. The doctor was originally from Cayuga 
Co., N. Y., and came from Ann Arbor to this township, 
where he followed his profession and agricultural pursuits 
until his death, in 1857. His widow resides in De Witt. 

Barnabas Bassett entered eighty acres on section 21 in 
1836 and became a resident. He improved the land after 
having built a house upon it, and converted it into a farm 
which has well repaid the labor bestowed upon it. After 
a life of activity, Mr. Bassett removed to the village of 
De Witt, where the advancing years of his life are spent 
among scenes familiar to him since his settlement in the 
township. 

The earliest circuit preacher in De Witt was Washington 
Jackson, of Wayne County, who in 1838 held services at 
the various log houses in De Witt. Later, school buildings 
were erected, and Elders Cole and Bigelow ofiBciated. The 
townspeople, while devoted to the word as expounded by 
these gospel messengers, were not without occasional social 
diversions as well. The log cabins of the day, though lim- 
ited in dimensions, were the scene of many terpsichorean 
revels, at which music of a novel character was introduced. 
For want of better melody, a venerable pioneer, still resident 
in the township, regaled them with a whistle, and this 
music is said to have often furnished inspiration and pleas- 
ure to the dancers from " early candle-lighting till dawn." 

From Lockport, N. Y., in 1839 came Theodore Cliapin 
and his son De Witt C, who located in the village of De 
Witt and followed for years their profession as lawyers, 
where they were known as successful practitioners. They 
subsequently removed to Ionia, and then to Allegan County, 
where De Witt C. attained some distinction in his profes- 
sion. He returned again to De Witt and was elected 
county clerk in 1856, and died at his later residence in 



Gratiot County in 1874. The father's death occurred in 
Allegan. 

Nelson K. Allport came to De Witt as early as 1839 
and opened a store, having erected a building for the pur- 
pose. He later purchased the hotel formerly kept by Milo 
H. Turner and built by David Scott. 

Elihu Gunnison, formerly of Livingston Co., Mich., 
settled in Bath in 1836, and three years later removed to 
the township, where he found an attractive location on sec- 
tion 14, embracing one hundred and sixty acres. He first 
built a cabin, and later a log hou.se, having remained upon 
the farm until his death in 1877. Three sons, Alfred, 
Jo.seph W., and James H., now reside in the town.ship. 
Alfred has eighty acres on section 23, Joseph W. is on 
section 9, and James H. occupies the homestead. The 
widow still survives and resides in the township. 

William A. Moore became a settler at nearly the same 
period, having entered forty acres on section 14, two hun- 
dred and forty on section 23, and eighty on 24. He im- 
proved the land on which he located, and was not only a 
successful farmer but a man of some influence in the town- 
ship. 

Erastus S. Ingersoll entered land on section 3 in 1836, 
and became a settler. He was a man of excellent judg- 
ment in his agricultural pursuits and of much public spirit, 
having during his residence taken an active part in the 
administration of township affairs. 

George Allen, a venerable pioneer of 1841, still living, 
is a native of Oneida Co., N. Y., and removed from Oak- 
land County to this township, where he purchased forty 
acres on section 19. His father, Barney Allen, had pre- 
ceded him by four years, and located upon the same sec- 
tion. With him ho found a temporary habitation while 
erecting a log house on the eighty acres he had purchased. 
The father survived until 1847, and died at the home of 
his son. His neighbor was Elder Lewis Coburn, who re- 
sided upon eighty acres ou section 20, and combined the 
sacred office of a preacher with that of farming pursuits. 
Elder Coburn entered his land in 1838 and occupied it a 
year later, was the earliest resident minister, and conducted 
most of the religious services of that early day. There 
were no roads at this period, and Mr. Allen on his arrival 
followed the Grand River road, then only partially under- 
brushed, to his land. Indians were numerous, and wolves 
and bears were very destructive to cattle. With his own 
hands Mr. Allen has cleared two hundred acres of land, 
and is still actively employed in the superintendence of his 
home interests. 

Dr. Seth P. Marvin was one of the earliest representa- 
tives of the medical profe.«sion, and followed Dr. Jenison 
to this township. He came with his father, Calvin Marvin, 
to Watertown in 1835, and soon after removed to De Witt. 
He engaged actively in political contests, and filled many 
important township and county offices, among them that of 
register of deeds. 

James Collins came from Marshall, Mich., to the town- 
ship in 1845, and located upon one hundred and sixty acres 
on section 21. He temporarily occupied with his family 
a cabin on the farm of Mr. Hewitt, and later erected a 
substantial house of logs upon his own farm. He raised 



DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 



409 



little grain at first, but devoted his spot of cleared land to 
garden products for fiimily use, though a fine farm was 
ultimately improved, upon which he resided until his death, 
in 1860. The widow and son still occupy the homestead, 
upon which an elegant brick residence was erected in 
1876. 

Edward A. Gunderman came from Orange County in 
1847, and selected a farm of forty, acres on section 22 and 
an additional forty upon section 16. The former was pre- 
empted by him, and entered in 1850. 

Barnabas Bassett and Charles Cushman were near neigh- 
bore, the former having preceded Mr. Gunderman and died 
on the farm he then occupied. Indians were numerous, 
there being a small encampment of them on the land, which 
was vacated on his arrival. They paid him frequent visits, 
principally in pursuit of fire-water, and were occasionally 
boisterous. Mr. Gunderman still occupies the land he first 
purchased, and is engaged in farming. 

Stephen W. Downer came from Bingham to this town- 
ship in 1849, and located upon one hundred and sixty 
acres on section 22, which has since been increased to eight 
hundred. He first built a cabin, which was occupied for a 
period of nine years, after which his present residence was 
erected. Thomas Lester was a near neighbor, as was also 
William A. Moore, who later removed to Iowa. Mr. Dow- 
ner's progress was at first moderate, much of his land being 
marshy. This when drained, however, was converted into 
the most productive land in the township. 

In reviewing the long list of pioneers or settlers who 
though not early in point of arrival still did much to level 
the forests of the township, it will be possible to give only 
a brief mention of mauy names that are justly entitled to 
notice. 

Levi Townson came in 1840, having been the first lawyer 
in the county, and also prosecuting attorney and judge of 
probate from 1846 till his death in 1849. Mark A. Ciiilds 
was a lawyer of prominence, and the founder of the Cliii- 
toniiDi newspaper, established in 1842. 

Joseph Hollister, who came to De Witt in 1846, was ac- 
tively engaged in the practice of law until his departure for 
Dowagiac, where he died. Joseph Baker came from Ionia 
in 1847, and remained ten years in De Witt. Randolph 
Strickland, who arrived in 1847, is now one of the promi- 
nent lawyers of St. Johns, his brother 0. P. Strickland, 
who came in 1851, as did also D. U. Wiley, having both 
been practitioners, the former being now a resident of St. 
Johns, and the latter of Lansing. Dr. G. W. Topping 
came from Ann Arbor to the village of De Witt in 1854, 
and engaged in the practice of medicine, being still in the 
enjoyment of an extended practice. John Gould settled 
early on section 18, where he had one hundred and sixty 
acres. D. Ward had eighty acres on section 18, and later 
removed to St. Johns. Roland S. Van Scoy resided upon 
one hundred and sixty acres on section 17. Samuel B. 
Smith owned forty acres on section 4. Benjamin Van 
Louven located one hundred and sixty acres in tlie nortli- 
east corner of De Witt on section 1. Samuel Sherman 
also settled upon the same section. John S. Swezey had 
two (juarttrsections on 10 and 12, and Sanborn S. Matthews 
purchased forty acres on' section 2. 
52 



Below are given lists of persons who were resident tax- 
payers in De Witt in 1839 and 1840, showing very nearly 
who were the settlers who had located in the township prior 
to that time. The lists are taken from the original assess- 
ment rolls of the township for the years indicated : 

1839. 

Tmon 5, Range 2, West. 
Names. Acres. 

Peter Lott, section 19 160 

George Pearsall, section 8 100 

Alanson Goodrich, section 6 250 

Daniel Moon, section 4 80 

S. B. Smitli, section 4 40 

Hiram Wilcox, section 8 40 

M. H. Turner, section 8 148 

S. D. .Jenison. section 15 100 

Robert M. Folb, section — 

Ephraiin H. Utley, section 7 420 

Richard Moon, section 27 SO 

Ch.auucey Lott, section '^0 SO 

Thomas M^'ers, section 17 80 

William W. Webb, section 6 166 

William Utley, section 9 162 

John Berry, section 2 40 

Benjamin Van Louven, section 1 IfiO 

Samuel Sherman, section 1 89 

E. S. Ingersoll, section 3 161 

Elihu Gunnison, section 14 160 

William Moon, sections 24, 14 440 

Gilltert Cushman, section 24 SO 

Russell Cushman, section 24 160 

Warren Cushman 

Hiram Stowell, section 2 113 

Trustees of Sylvester Scott, sections 5, 6 243 

Charles Lent, section 34 40 

David Scott, sections 5, 8, 2, 36, 35, 9, 15, 6 1420 

1840. 

Acres. 

David Scott, sections 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 15, 25, 35, 36... 1426 

Isaac Hewitt, section 17 120 

J. R. Pearsall, section 17 80 

Asa Parker, section 17 80 

.John tjould, section 18 160 

Franklin Oliver, section 7 204 

D. Ward, section 18 80 

Cheney Lott, section 30 80 

Barney Allen, section 19 80 

Benjamin Lott, section 19 80 

Peter Lott, section 19 l»il 

Lewis Cobanc, section 20 80 

R. S. Van Scoy, section 17 160 

Thomas Myers, section 17 80 

Henry ]\Ioon, section 29 160 

Richard Moon, section 29 80 

Levi D. Jenison, sections S, 15 100 

Hiram Withou, section 8 40 

William Utley, section 9 162 

.John S;iiids, section 9 72 

Samuel B. Smith, section 4 40 

Alanson tioodrich, sections 6, 7 253 

AVilliam W. Webb, section 6 166 

E. H. Utloy, sections 7, 9 353 

Sophronia Scott, sections 5, 6 249 

M. H. Turner, section 17 40 

Charles Cushman, section 22 80 

David Otis, section 23 80 

William A. Moore, sections 14, 23, 24 360 

Gilbert Cushman, section 24 80 

RuSKcl Cushman, section 24 160 

David 0. Wilsey, section 26 120 

Benjamin Van Louven, section 1 «.. 160 

Samuel Sherman, section 1 89 

Sanborn S. Matthews, 6ections2, 35 120 

Hiram SlowcU, section 2 112 

.John S. Swcezey, sections 10, 12 320 

James Sweezey, section 14 320 

E. S. Ingersoll, section 3 160 

Elihu Gunnison, section 14 160 

Daniel Moore, section 4 80 

Lyman J. Hewitt, section 31 80 

Almanzo Eldred 

Morris Cushman 

George Smith 

The following list embraces the names of the jurors 
drawn in De Witt for the year 1839 : E. S. Ingersoll, Elihu 
Gunnison, William Moore, Benjamin Van Houvcn, Orange 



410 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Ferguson, Ephraiin Mcrrihew, James Annis, Ransom Read, 
William W. Webb, Ilarvcy Alexander, Franklin Oliver, J. 
11. Pearsall, Alanson Goodrich, Barney Allen, Thomas 
Myers, William Utley, Asa Parker, Levi I). Jenison, 
Orange Cushnian, Lyman J. Hewitt. 

" Jurors for 1842. — David Scott, Jesse Foot Turner, 
assessors, and Seth P. Marvin, township clerk of De Witt, 
Clinton Co., having convened at the office of the township 
clerk of De Witt for the purpose of revising the assess- 
ment rolls for the year 1842, agreeable to notice given pur- 
suant to law, do at said meeting, as the law directs, propose 
a test of such inhabitants of said town as we deem well 
qualified for serving as jurors in the circuit court of said 
county of Clinton, being of good moral character, sound 
judgment, and free from all legal exceptions, which list in- 
cludes not less than one for every one hundred inhabitants 
of said township, computing from the last census, and which 
were not returned as jurors at the last preceding review of 
its assessment roll, from the best of our knowledge. 

" Grand Jurors. — William Utley, Elihu Gunnison, Jon- 
athan R. Pearsall, Samuel Greeley, Lewis Coburn, Charles 
Cushman. 

" Petit Jurors. — John S. Sweezey, George Smith, John 
Scott, Edward Greeley, Thomas H. Myers, William Rouse. 

" David Scott, 
"Jesse Foot Turner, 

^'Assessors. 
"Seth P. Marvin, 

" Township ClerJc." 

EARLY HIGHWAYS. 

The earliest highway that traversed De Witt was the old 
Indian trail, subsequently known as the Pontiac and Grand 
River road, which ran from Pontiac and followed the north 
line of the township to the northeast corner of section 3, 
where it diverged to the southwest and into the village of 
De Witt. The earliest pioneer, David Scott, followed this 
trail in making his advent to the township in 1833. 

In an examination of the early highway records, road 
No. 1 is described as " beginning at the northwest corner of 
section No. 7, in township No. 5 north, of range 4 west, 
and running easterly along the line of sections through the 
3d and 4th ranges, and terminating at the quarter section 
post on the north line of section 7, in township 5 north, of 
range 2 west. 

"E. H. Utley, 

" David Scott, 

" Commissioners of Highwai/s." 

The above road was continued as follows : 

" Beginning at the quarter section post on the north line 
of section 7, township 5 north, of range 2 west, and run- 
ning east along the section-line fifteen chains; thence north 
seventy-four and a half degree.s, east three chains ; thence 
easterly nearly parallel to the section-line fourteen chains ; 
thence south seventy-three degrees, east two and a half 
chains to the section-lino ; thence continuing east on said 
line to the northeast corner of section No. 8 in said town." 

Recorded March 0, 1837. 



Road No. 2 was established by William A. Hewitt and 
David Scott, highway commissioners, and recorded Dec. 3, 
1837, commencing one hundred and five rods west of the 
northeast corner of section 8, in township 5 north, range 2 
west, and terminating on the south line of section 34, in 
township 5 north, of range 1 west. Said road was to be 
six rods wide from the first to the second section, and the 
remainder to bo four rods wide. The commissioners of 
highways continued to survey and award contracts for the 
construction of highways as the presence of settlers de- 
manded them. 

The township in the spring of 1840 was divided into 
the following road districts, a meeting for the purpose 
having been held March 24, 1840, at the house of David 
Scott : 

District No. 1 to include south half of sections 10, 11, 
12, sections 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 20,27, 34, 35, 36, 
township 5 north, range 2 west. 

District No. 2 to include sections 31, 32, 33, south half 
of section 30, and all of sections 28, 29. 

District No. 3 to include north half of section 30, all of 
sections 19, 20, 21, and the south half of section 18. 

District No. 4 to include sections 16, 17, north half of 
18, and the south half of sections 7, 8, 9. 

District No. 5 to include north half of section 7, north 
fraction of 8, 9, south half of sections 5, 6, south fractional 
half and northwest fractional quarter of section 4. 

District No. 6 to include north half of sections 10, 11, 
12, and south fraction of sections 1, 2. 

District No. 7 to include sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, north 
half of sections 7, 8, 9, 10, and all of sections 11, 12, 
township 6 north, range 2 west. 

District No. 8 to include the south half of .sections 7, 8, 
9, 10, all of 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, township north, 
)-ange 2 west. 

Di-strict No. 9 to include north half of sections 5, 6, 
township 5 north, range 2 we.st ; south half of sections 2, 8, 
29, 30, all of 31, 32, west half of 33, township 6 north, 
range 2 west. 

District No. 10 to include sections 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 
36, township 6 north, range 2 west, east half of section 
33, of same township, north fraction of the northeast 
quarter of section 4, and north fraction of sections 1, 2, 3, 
township 5 north, range 2 west. 

District No. 11 to include sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 
24, north half of 28, 29, 30, township 6 north, range 2 
west. 

District No. 12 to include the south fraction of the north 
half of sections 8, 9, township 5 north, of range 2 west. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 
The act of the State Legislature organizing the township 
of De Witt was approved March 23, 1836, and provides: 
" That the county of Clinton be and the same is hereby set 
off and organized into a separate township by the name of 
De Witt, and the first township-meeting therein shall be 
held at the dwelling-house of David Scott in said town- 
ship." As specified in the above act, the township of De 
Witt early embraced the whole of the county of Clinton. 
The township of Watertown, embracing the west half of 



DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 



411 



the county, of ranges 3 and 4, was erected March 20, 1837. 
The township of Bingham, including the present Bingham, 
Ovid, Greenbush, and Sena (now Duplain), was set oflF 
March 21, 1839. Ossowa, including Bath and Victor, was 
erected March 22,1839, and Olive was erected March 20, 
1841, leaving De Witt a township with boundaries as at 
present existing. 

At the earliest meeting of the electors of the township 
of Dc Witt, held at the house of David Scott on the 8th 
day of April, 1836, R. H. Utley was chosen moderator 
and Sylvester Scott clerk. The following township officers 
were elected for the year : Supervisor, Welcome J. Partelo ; 
Township Clerk, Sylvester Scott ; Justices of the Peace, 
W. J. Partelo, E. II. Utley, Henry Rowland, John Ben- 
son ; Collector, Chauncey S. Ferguson ; Directors of the 
Poor, David Scott, Anthony Niles ; School Commission- 
ers, Alexander Chappel, Calvin Marvin, W. J. Partelo ; 
Assessors, John Benson, Calvin Marvin, Elihu Gunnison; 
Highway Commissioners, David Scott, E. H. Utley, Stephen 
B. Groger; Constables, Chauncey S. Ferguson, Ezekiel 
Niles. 

The township officers annually elected from the organiza- 
tion to the present time have been as follows: 



SUPERVISORS. 



] 8.37-38. Welcome J. Partelo. 

1839. AVilliam Utley. 

1840. Hiram Wilcox. 

1841. Franklin Oliver. 

1842. Jesse Foot Turner. 
1843-44. David Scott. 
1845. Milo H. Turner. 
1846-48. Jesse F. Turner. 

1849. William W Webb. 

1850. David Sturgis. 

1851. Je,?se F. Turner. 

1852. F. R. Read. 

1853. David .Sturgis. . 

1854. Jonathan R. Pearsall. 



1837. Sylvester Scott. 
1838-40. J. R. Pearsall. 

1841. Milo H. Turner. 

1842. Sith P. Marvin. 
1843-44. Sylve,«ter Town.son. 

1845. Seth P. Marvin. 

1846. George 0. Wells. 
1847^8. Joseph 11. Ad;ims. 
1848-53. John F. McKeen. 
1854-55. James M. Esles. . 
1856-57. Elisha C. Cook. 
1858-59. 0. F. Strickland. 
1800. Eben W. Dart. 
1801-62. Jonathan A. Sweet. 



1355. 
1856. 
1857- 
1800. 
1861. 
1862- 
1864. 
1865. 
1866- 
1870- 
1872. 
1873- 
1875- 
ISSO. 

CLERKS. 

1803. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866- 
1871. 
1872. 
l!>*3. 
1874. 
1875. 
1876. 
1877- 
1879. 
1880. 



F. R. Read. 
S. W. Downer. 
59. Asahel R. Marvin. 
A. R. Marvin. 
Randolph Strickland. 
63. Frederick A. Read. 
A. G. Gunnison. 
Charles Day. 
69. David Scott. 
71 Samuel B. McPherson. 
James Cortright. 
74. Galusha Pennell. 
79. Willinm Collins. 
Charles Bauerly. 



A. J. Bcmcnt. 
R. J. Woodruff. 
Tobias Foreman. 
70. Milton F. White. 
Benton Bement. 
J. A. Sweet. 
Mark Scott. 
J. A. Sweet. 
Odell Brinkerhoff. 
G. AV. Smith. 
78. A. A. WoodrulT. 
Horace S. Holmes. 
A. A. Woodruff. 



TREASURERS. 



1811. Samuel B. Smith. 
1842-57. David Scott, Jr. 

1858. George W. .Scott. 

1859. William R. Allen. 
1800. David Scott. 
1861-62. William R. Allen. 



1863. Parker Webber. 
1804. George W. .Scott. 
1865-71. Parker AVebber. 
1872-77. Charles Bauerly. 
1878. Sylvester Moon. 
1879-80. Mark Scott. 



1838. William W. Webb. 
J. AV. Merrihew. 
Oliver Bebee. 

1839. AVilliam AV. AVebb. 
Daniel Ferguson. 
Hiram Stowcll. 

1840. Isaac Hewitt. 
Daniel Ferguson, .Jr. 
Elihu Gunnison.- 

1841. AV. W. AVebb. 



1841. Hiram Stowell. 

Elihu (xunnison. 
1S42. David Scott. 

AVilliam Utley. 

1843. AVilliam Utley. 
Charles Cushman. 

1844. John S. Sweezey. 
William A. Hewitt. 

1845. Charles Cushman. 
William A. Hewitt. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



ASSESSORS. 



1837. SamacI Barker. 
C. S. Ferguson. 



1837. Elihu Gunni.son. 
I83S. Hiram Stuwell. 



1837. 


Orange Ferguson. 


1855. 


C. W. Leffingwell. 




John Ferdon. 


1856. 


D. C. Chapin. 




AVilliam A. Hewitt. 




Sylvester Hoyt. 




Sylvester Scott. 


1857. 


Seth P. Marvin. 


18.38. 


E. H. Utley. 


1858. 


Theron AVinans. 




John Ferdon. 


IS59. 


AVilliam Utley. 


1839. 


William A. Hewitt. 


1800. 


Sylvester Hoyt. 




Hiram AVilco.v. 


1S6I. 


Daniel Kurd. 




Orange Ferguson. 


1862. 


Chauncey Lott. 


1840. 


Hiram AVilco.^. 


1863. 


J. P. AVillet. 




Orange Ferguson. 




S. E. Scott. 


1841. 


Elihu Gunnison. 


1864. 


J. A. Sweet. 




J. F. Turner. 


1S(;5. 


Daniel Hurd. 


1842. 


Charles Lent. 


1.SC6. 


Chauncey Ijott. 




Lewis Coburn. 


1867. 


Charles A. Sloan. 


1843. 


Martin Moore. 


1808. 


Enoch Lewis. 


1844. 


J. F. Turner. 


1869. 


S. B. McPhersqn. 


1845. 


J. S. Swezey. 




Newton Mc Loath. 


1846. 


R. S. Van Scoy. 


1870. 


AVilliam Calkins. 


1847. 


Morris S. Allen. 


1871. 


Charles A. Sloan. 


1848. 


AValter Hubbell. 




Chauncey Lott. 


1S43. 


Daniel Hurd. 


1872. 


Chauncey Lott. 


1850. 


AVilliam A. Hewitt. 


1873. 


J. A. Sweet. 


1851. 


Corydon Lee. 


1874. 


AVilliam Collins. 


1852. 


John Gunderman. 


1875. 


Charles A. Sloan. 




S. W. Downer. 


1876. 


A. J. Bement. 




Joab Baker. 


1877 


J. A. Sweet. 


1853 


John H. Bacon. 


1878 


Charles Day. 




R. Strickland. 


1879 


AVilliam A. Partridge. 


1854 


Joab Baker. 


1880 


Jotham Averill. 



HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 



is;i7. 

1838. 
1839. 

IS4(). 

181 1. 

1842. 

1843. 
1844. 
1845. 
184(1. 
1847. 



William A. Hewitt. 
Orange Ferguson. 
David Scott. 
John Gould. 
Samuel Barker. 
Orange Ferguson. 
Harvey Alexander. 
John Berry. 
John W. Merrihew. 
Harvey Alexander. 
J. S. Sweezey. 
Jesse F. Turner. 
John Gould. 
Elihu Gunnison. 
Charles Lent. 
William A. Hewitt. 
Elihu Gunnison. 
Charles Lent. 
William E. Turner. 
Elihu Gunnison. 
William E. Turner. 
R. S. Van Scoy. 
E. Gunnison. 
W. Rouse. 
Charles Lent. 
Elihu Gunnison. 
Charles Scott. 
AVilliam Rouse. 
David Sturgjs. 
pharles Scott. 



1847. 


J. R. Pearsall. 


1848. 


Morris S. Allen. 


1849. 


R. B. Pennell. 




George Allen. 


1850. 


John Gunderman. 


1851. 


AVilliam Rouse. 


1852. 


No record. 


1853. 


M. P. Headley. 


1854. 


AVilliam Rouse. 




John Gunderman. 


1855. 


A. J. Bement. 




Daniel Hurd. 


1856. 


Benjamin Cushman. 




K. AVebber. 


1857. 


.John AVoodbury. 




Robert Smith. 


1858. 


Charles Day. 




John P. Willet. 


1859. 


Robert Smith. 




Charles Sloan. 


1860. 


Robert Smith. 




Charles Lott. 


1861. 


Morgan Christopher. 


1862. 


B. AV. Cushman. 


1863. 


U. P. Clark. 


1864. 


R. AVebber. 




J. AV. Peavy. 


1865. 


David Knight. 


1866 


Egbprt Hurd. 


1867 


Joseph Sahneborger. 



412 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1868. William Calkins. 

1869. George W. Scott. 

1870. Edmund Hewilt. 

1871. David Knight. 

1872. E. P. Wells. 

1873. J. H. Gunnison. 



1874. L. E. Worden. 

1875. James Cartwright. 

1876. Philip Kraus. 
1877-78. L. E. Worden. 
1879-80. Edward Hewitt. 



SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



1837. 


J. R. Pearsall. 


1862. 


John H. Bacon. 




S. Scott. 


1853. 


Joseph H. Adams. 




W. J. Partelo. 


1854. 


John H. Bacon. 




E. H. Utley. 


1855. 


J. W. Ransom. 


1838. 


John Gould. 


1856. 


J. H. Bacon. 




Hiraiti Stowell. 




J. H. Adams. 




J. R. Pearsall. 


1857. 


E. M. Hutchins. 


1839. 


No record. 


1858. 


John D. Woodbury. 


1840. 


Hiram Wilco.x. 


1859. 


Elihu Gunnison. 




Daniel Ferguson, Jr. 


I860. 


John H. Bacon. 




J. R. Pearsall. 


1861. 


George W. Topping. 


1841. 


Lewis Osborn. 


1862. 


Frank Webb. 




Hiram Stowell. 


1863. 


A. G. Gunnison. 




J. R. Pearsall. 


1864. 


G. W. Topping. 


1842. 


S. P. Marvin. 


1865. 


H. P. Bartlett. 




Lewis Osborn. 


1866. 


Frank Webb. 




J. R. Pearsall. 


1867. 


James Gunnison. 


1843. 


Lewis Coburn. 


1868. 


Mark Scott. 




Levi Townson. 


1869. 


Charles Moon. 


J 844. 


J. R. Pearsall. 


1870. 


Edward M. Webb. 




S. P.^Iarvin. 


1871. 


William Collins. 


1845. 


Lemuel Woodhouse. 


1872. 


William D. Bird. 


1846. 


Lewis Coburn. 


1873. 


J. W. Gunnison. 




William W. Upton. 


1874. 


William D. Bird. 


1847. 


Levi Townson. 


1875- 


77. Alfred G. Gunnison 


1848. 


J. R. Pearsall. 


1878. 


J. W. Gunnison. 


1849. 


Joseph H. Adams. 


1879. 


0. G. Peunell. 


1850. 


Hiram Stowell. 


1880. 


Albert Rouse. 


1851. 


Joseph H. Adams. 







SCHOOLS. 

The early records of the board of school inspectors of 
the township of De Witt have not been preserved, and facts 
regarding its division into school districts and the subse- 
quent progress of the educational interests of the township 
are not accessible. 

The earliest school building was a log structure erected 
on section 7, upon the farm of Alanson Goodrich, and 
known as the " Goodrich School-House." Miss Betsey 
Gooch was the pioneer instructress. The second school- 
house was built in district No. 2 (the first having been in 
district No. 1) in the village of De Witt in 1840. Both 
Dr. Seth P. Marvin and J. H. Adams are given as early 
teachers, and it is difficult to say which was the first. This 
first building was replaced by one of more extended pro- 
portions, in which the sessions of the court were for a time 
held, it having been at that period the most pretentious 
structure at the county-seat. 

In 1870 the present spacious edifice of brick was erected, 
and the school is now conducted on the graded plan, with 
Prof Coriel as principal. Miss Edith Williams as assistant, 
and Miss Josie Holmes in charge of the intermediate de- 
partment. The present school territory of De Witt is divided 
into one fractional and five whole districts, with the follow- 
ing as a board of directors : Robert MoConkey, James 
Hath, A. A. Woodrufi", Christian Kraus, A. S. Weste, and 
Edgar Hurd. The value of .school property is eleven 
thousand nine hundred dollars, embracing one brick and 
five frame buildings. Three male and eleven female 



teachers are employed. They have under their care three 
hundred and twenty-sis scholars, all residents of the town- 
ship. 

KELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The first class connected with the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of De Witt was organized by Elder Bennett, the 
pioneer in religious labor in the township, in 183G. Its 
earliest members were John Gould, Pamelia Gould, Asa 
Parker, Mary Parker, Samuel Smith, Lewis Coburn, and 
Lucinda Coburn. 

Without information from church records it is impossible 
to give a sketch of the early piogress of the church, though 
from various sources has been gleaned a list of the pastors 
who in turn were appointed to the charge. The date of 
their .service is not obtainable previous to 1854. They 
were Rev. Zebulon C. Brown, Rev. Washington Jackson, 

Rev. Loriman Chatfield, Rev. Allen Staples, Rev. 

Warner, Rev. Nathan Mount, Rev. Jeremiah Boynton, 
Rev. T. A. Blades, Rev. Whitmore, Rev. Ely West- 
lake, Rev. Stephen Woodard, Rev. E. H. Pilcher, who was 
the first presiding elder in the district with which the cir- 
cuit was connected. Rev. Bradley, Rev. Shaw, 

Rev. Brown, Rev. Peofield, Rev. Hem- 

mingway, Rev. Seth Reid, Rev. T. S. Hill, Rev. Samuel 
Bessey, Rev. William E. Bigelow, Rev. William F. Coles, 

Rev. Joseph Sutton, Rev. Fowler. The parsonage 

was erected in 1846, but it is not apparent under whose 
ministry this was accomplished. In 1854 Rev. Dun- 
ton had the care of the flock, and was succeeded as follows : 
1855, Rev. D. D. Young; 1856, Rev. E. D. Young and 

T. J. Hill ; 1857, T. J. Hill and Rev. Fowler; 1858, 

Rev. Almon Gore and Henry P. Parker; 1850, Rev. A. 
L. Cullenden and C. B. Holbrook ; 1860, Rev. William 
Stafford and Rev. F. J. Freeman; 1861, Rev. William 
Stafford; 1862, Rev. Charles Chick; 1863, Rev. L. M. 
Garlick; 1864, Rev. James Roberts; 1865, Rev. William 
F. Jenkins, under whose ministry the present church was 
built; 1867, Rev. E. Wilkinson; 1868, Rev. Thomns 
Clark ; 1869, Rev. H. D. Jordan ; 1870, Rev. F. J. Free- 
man ; 1872, Rev. J. R. Chadwell ; 1873, Rev. William J. 
Swilt ; 1876, Rev. J. Garlick ; 1878, Rev. W. R. McEwing, 
the present pastor, who etubraces in his field of labor the 
following appointments : De Witt, Riley, Wacousta, South 
Riley, Jason's School-House, and Gunnison's School-House, 
the whole being known as the Wacousta circuit. The De 
Witt church has a membership of sixty, under the direction 
of William Roberts and Seth M. Cook as class-leaders. 
A Sabbath-school is also connected with the organization, 
under the superintendence of Mrs. D. 0. Topping, with 
Myron Clary as assistant. 

The board of trustees are H. W. Springstead, S. M. 
Cook, J. A. Sweet, William Roberts, Jotham Averill, 
George Allen, Barnabas Bassett. 

CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

A meeting of per.sons resident in the township of De 
Witt and desirous of forming a Congregational Church 
was held at the school-house in the village of De Witt 



DE WITT TOWNSHIP. 



413 



April 21, 1851, for the purpose of organizing a society and 
electing a board of trustees. The following gentlemen were 
chosen : Adam W. Ruttridge, Jesse Foot Turner, Joseph 
Hollister, J. W. Gardner, Nelson J. Allport, Frederick R. 
Read, Rowland S. Van Scoy, James Sturgis, and Morris S. 
Allen. 

This board having been disorganized, a new board was 
formed in 1853, embracing Riley A. Hoyt, James M. 
Estes, and Frederick R. Read. Services were held in the 
school-house at De Witt for a brief time, but the organi- 
zation seemed not to possess the elements of permanent ex- 
istence, and was eventually disbanded. 

BAPTIST CHURCH. 

Meetings under the charge of the Rev. John Gunder- 
nian, in connection with the Baptist denomination, had 
been held prior to 1850 at the .school-house in De Witt. 
On the 20th of September a public meeting was convened 
at the above school-house, for the purpose of organizing a 
church in accordance with the statutes of Michigan. Dea- 
con Jonathan R. Pearsall and Rev. Thomas W. Merrill 
were chosen to preside, and an election was held, the fol- 
lowing trustees having been chosen : Jonathan R. Pearsall, 
Rowland S. Van Scoy, David Sturgis, J. B. Clark, Orville 
Bacon, David Olin, N. B. Allen, Silas Walton, and Na- 
thaniel Foreman. It was on this occasion resolved " that 
the trustees elected be and their successors are forever 
hereafter called the ' The First Baptist Church and Society 
of De Witt,' and that Rev. John Gunderman is declared 
president of the said association and Jonathan R. Pearsall 
secretary." The meeting then adjourned subject to the call 
of the president. Rev. John Gunderman. 

This society grew in numbers and influence, and at one 
period of its existence embraced one hundred and sixty 
members on its church-roll. An edifice was erected and 
services were regularly maintained. 

It afterwards sufiFered a period of decline, which seems to 
have reached a culmination with its present membership of 
thirty, all of whom are residents of the adjacent country 
and not of the village. Under the present pastorale of 
Rev. A. N. Niles new life has been infused into the con- 
gregation, and with a revival of interest a more extended 
membership and greater activity is hoped for. 

GEKjMAN JIETUODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

This society was formerly connected with the Lansing 
charge, having been associated with it under the ministry 
of Rev. Jacob Krehbeil in 1854. The members continued 
their connection with the Lansing organization for many 
years, services having usually been held at the Allen school- 
house in the township of Dc Witt. The pastors after Rev. 
Jacob Krehbeil, in succession, were : 1855, Rev. Gu.stav 
Bertrams; 1856, Rev. Henry Krill ; 1857, Rev. John F. 
Jahraus; 1S5'J, Henry Mcntz ; 1860, Daniel Meyer; 
1862, Adolph Heluker; 1863, Gustav Bertrams; 1865, 
Andreas Meyer; 1867, Jacob Bram ; 1868, Gustav Ber- 
trams; 1869, C. F. Hcitmeyer; 1870, C. A. Mitilzer; 
1874, William Audran ; 1877, C. F. Hictmeyer; 1879, 
Conrad Wehnes, the present pastor. Under the ministra- 
tions of Rev. William Audran, in 1874, a church edifice 



was erected on section 18, at a cost of two thousand one 
hundred and seventeen dollars and fifty-four cents, the 
board of trustees who superintended its construction hav- 
ing been C. F. Heitmeyer, John Schlee, Gebhart Gude- 
kunst, and John Stutts. The present church-roll embraces 
eighty members, and a flourishing Sabbath-school is con- 
nected with the charge, embracing fifty scholars, with Theo- 
dore Shaffer as superintendent. Adjoining the church is a 
comfortable parsonage in which the pastor resides, services 
being held each Sabbath. The present board of trustees 
are John Schlee, Gebhart Gudekunst, John Fell, Gottlieb 
Schrey, and Charles Stebler. 

DE WITT CHANGE, No. 4.59. 

The De Witt Grange was organized in the year 1875, 
with the following ofiBcers : Galusha Pennell, Master ; 
George W. Scott, Overseer ; 0. G. Pennell, Lecturer ; M. 
L. Alexander, Chaplain ; S. E. Scott, Steward ; Bishop 
Downer, Sec. ; De Witt Brinkerhofi", Treas. Its present 
officers are R. G. Mason, Master; J. T. Morris, Overseer; 
0. G. Pennell, Lecturer; Mrs. 0. G. Pennell, Chaplain ; 
William Collins, Sec; Newton McClough, Treas. The 
meetings, which are well attended, are hold at Bates' Hall. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



GEORGE ALLEN. 

George Allen, one of the first settlers of the town of De 
Witt, was born in Rome, Oneida Co., N. Y., Aug. 23, 1806. 
His father was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was born 
in Washington Co., N. Y., Nov. 12, 1786. At the age of 
eighteen he was married to Miss Betsey Heath, and shortly 
after removed to Oneida County, where he resided until 
1816, when he emigrated with his family to Niagara County, 
then an almost unbroken wilderness. But little is known 
of his history ; he was a farmer by occupation, but never 
attained special prominence in any way. When George was 
nine years of age he went to live with a Baptist minister, 
with whom he was to remain until he was twenty-one ; 
but after five years of toil and inhuman treatment he ran 
away and returned to his home in Niagara County. At 
the age of fourteen he was thrown upon his own resources. 
lie obtained employment of a farmer, with whom he re- 
mained nearly four years, hen, with an idea of bettering 
his condition, he went on to the Erie Canal, but that life 
was not a congenial one, and he returned to the farm. In 
1831 he was married to Miss Margaret Laughlin. She was 
born in Ashtabula Co., Ohio, April 17, 1810 ; she has been 
the partner of all his pioneer experiences, and has shared 
with him the hardsliips and privations incident to a life in 
a new country. Six years after their marriage they came 
to Michigan, and first settled in I'iymouth, Wayne Co., 
where he rented a large farm ; shortly after, however, he 
disposed of his interest for eighty acres of land in the town 
of De Witt, upon which he now resides. During his resi- 
dence in De Witt, a period of over forty years, he has 
demonstrated his general worth as a citizen, and has ideuti- 



414 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 




GEORGE ALLEN. 

fied IiiuLself largely with the development of the town. He 
has attracted to himseir a large circle of friend.s, by whom 
he is appreciated for his integrity as a man, and as a kind, 
obliging neighbor and friend. He is an honored and con- 
sistent member of the Methodist Church, aud a generous 
supporter, so far as his means will allow, of all religious and 
benevolent enterprises. In his political belief he is a staunch 




MRS. GEORGE ALLEN. 

Republican, but has never desired or sought office, prefer- 
ring rather the retirement of the farm, the companionship 
of his family, and the good-will and esteem of all to the 
slight distinction gained by the occupancy of a subordinate 
position. 

Mr. and Mrs. Allen are the parents of two children, — 
Oscar, born Aug. 23, 1832, and Mary, born Aug. 28, 1834. 



CHAPTER LV. 
DALLAS TOWNSHIP.* 

Description — The Pioneers of Dallas — Townsliip Organization and 
List of Officers — Schools — Township Roads — Village of Dallas — 
Fowler Village — Religious Organizations-^Societics. 

The township of Dallas, known in the United States 
survey as town 7 north, in range 4 west, lies upon the 
western line of Clinton County, and is bounded on the 
north by Lebanon township, on the south by Westphalia, 
on the east by Bengal, and on the west by the Ionia 
County line. 

The Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway 
passes through Dallas on an air-line between east and west, 
and traverses sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, aud 12. Stony Creek, 
a stream of some water-power, flows northward and west- 
ward from section 3G through sections 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 
20, and 19. Following the course of the creek the old 
State road gave iu the pioneer days convenient passage 
westward to Lyons, and even before the settlement of the 
town was a much-traveled highway. The country is gen- 
erally level and the soil clayey. There is some waste land, 
but only a trifle compared to the area of similar nature 
presented to the first comers. Fowler, a station on the 
Detroit, Grand Haven and Milwaukee Railway, is a grow- 
ing village, aud a wheat-market of some pretensions, as 
well as a lively business centre. 

■■■' By David Schwartz. 



THE PIONEERS OF DALLAS. 

In the year 1836, Morris Boughton and his brother-in- 
law, Benjamin Welch, came westward, in company with 
their families, and founded each a settlement in a Clinton 
County town, — Boughton in Riley and Welch in Dallas. 
Welch made his commencement upon section 36, on the 
line of the road chopped out by Dexter while pushing on 
for Ionia some time before, the place being now known as 
the Feldpanoch farm. Welch was for some little time the 
only settler in Dallas, until 1837, when a man by the 
name of Simeon McCoy rolled up a cabin on section 27 and 
started a clearing. McCoy owned no land, but came on for 
Giles Isham, of Lyons, who owned a tract of four hundred 
acres on section 27. McCoy did not, perhaps, fancy the 
work of pioneering, for after clearing about eleven acres he 
concluded he had had enough of it, packed his traps, 
migrated, and was heard of no more. 

Following close upon that event came George F. Dutton, 
who in 1835 first pitched his tent in Michigan, upon the 
Grand River, at Lyons, and exchanged that location for one 
in Dallas, upon section 22, where his widow still lives 
with her son George. Mr. Dutton was a solitary settler in 
a wild tract of some extent, for his nearest settled neighbor 
was no nearer than Lyons. McCoy had been in and gone, 
and a mile east Nathan Bigelow and his wife had been 
living on section 23 since the previous September, in a 
wagon-box. Bigelow was the owner of one hundred and 
sixty acres of laud, but did not seem to care to exert him- 
self to put up a cabin until his neighbors rallied and a.s- 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



415 



sisted him to one. Keeping house in a wagon-box ap- 
peared to suit him and his good wife quite well enough 
while the luild season endured, and they were probably 
happy enough. Daniel Dutton, now living on section 14, 
was George F. Dutton's younger brother, and lived awhile 
with Mr. Dutton in Dallas. After a sojourn of a few 
years he moved to Portland ; became a settler in West- 
phalia in 1851, and some years later upon the place in 
Dallas where he now lives. George P. Dutton built the 
first framed barn in Dallas, and when he got ready for the 
raising could not find neighbors enough to assist him without 
going to the Reynolds settlement, five miles or more away. 
There were sixteen men at that raising, and they were 
entertained by Mrs. Dutton in a hearty and hospitable, if 
not an elegant, manner. Hospitality was in those days a 
crowning virtue of the time, and was a spirit so broad and 
large-hearted that it pervaded every pioneer home and 
made itself felt wherever a stranger or wayfarer applied for 
food or shelter. 

George F. Dutton owned one of tlio i't^\v pairs of horses 
boa.sted by the neighborhood, and the business of hauling 
goods from Detroit to Lyons and other places, which he 
entered upon soon after his sell lenient at Lyons, he con- 
tinued after he located in Dallas. The road now known as 
the State road follows essentially the path marked by Dexter, 
Ionia's first settler, when he pa.'-sed on to his destination 
and cut out his road as he traveled (wherefore it was known 
for a long time as the Dexter road) over that highway. 
Dutton made many a trip as freighter between Detroit and 
points in Clinton and Ionia Counties. There was another 
early road through the town, passing between east and west, 
upon a line about one mile south of the present line of the 
Detroit, Grand Haven and iMilwaukee Railroad. It was 
originally intended for the Northern Railroad, the bed of 
which was constructed in 1837 or thereabouts, but liever 
came to any further conclusion. The line of that road, 
straightened so as to pass along section-lines, is now a town- 
ship road. 

Off at the north, Andrew R. A'^ance, one of the Vance 
families whose members made an important settlement in 
the locality known as the Plains, came in about the time of 
Dutton's advent and located on section 4, close to the Vances 
of the I'lains. He was a bachelor and lived for several 
years alone in his primitive shanty. His was the first set- 
tlement in the northern portion of Dallas. 

The entrance of the Parks families and the numerical 
strength of the various branches thereof who became pio- 
neers in the township marked an event of some conse- 
quence in the early history of Dallas. Smith Parks, with 
a family of seventeen children, led the Parks' advance into 
Dallas close upon the appearance of the Duttons. Smith 
Parks and his wife were married at the respective ages of 
sixteen and fifteen, and, as has been seen, boasted at the 
time of their settlement in Dallas the possession of a small 
army of descendants. It is further worthy of remark that 
of the.se seventeen children all lived to become men and 
women. Parks' location was on section 27, upon a portion 
of the four hundred acres owned by Giles Lsham, of Lyons, 
who in 1837 had sent Simeon McCoy over to make a 
clearing upon it. Davis Parks, now living in the village of 



Fowler at the age of eighty-six, and the oldest living male 
settler in the town, was the next to follow his brother 
Smith, and settled likewise upon section 27, on Stony Creek, 
where there was a mill-site, and where in 1840 he and 
Smith Parks, Jr., built the first saw-mill in the township. 
The lumber for the mill they got at Miles Mansfield's mill, 
on the Looking-Glass in Eagle township, whence they 
hauled it over a rough <\nd roadless country. Davis Parks 
had a considerable lot of supplies to bring in when he 
settled, and before he could get his goods to his clearing 
made no less than five trips over the State road, with an 
ox-team, between Dallas and Oakland County, his former 
homo. 

As before mentioned, that State road was much trav- 
eled. It was chopped out four rods wide, but cleared only 
two rods, and was for a long time at best a pretty wild and 
stumpy track. On Smith Parks' place a fine black-walnut, 
measuring twenty-eight feet in circumference, bordered 
the highway, and at its foot a flowing spring cheerily in- 
vited passing travelers to halt. This spot was a favorite 
one for night encampments, and the spring and walnut-tree 
came to be gratefully known by many a tired- traveler. 
Although every man's house was a " house of entertain- 
ment," there were no licensed inns on the road in Dallas. 
Those who chose to " keep people" for pay obtained excel- 
lent financial returns, for entertainment was in demand and 
the entertained were usually quite willing to pay whatever 
was asked. Ben Welsh used to keep people very often, and 
charged them good round prices. When he got a chance 
to keep a man over night with a pair of oxen, he put up 
his bill to a couple of dollars or so for the man and an extra 
dollar for cornstalks enough to fodder the cattle. Some- 
times he kept parties conveying wagon-loads of money be- 
tween the Ionia land-office and Detroit, and then he rolled 
up an account for lodging and subsistence that leaped fairly 
into the atmosphere of the bonanza world. At a later 
period stages ran over the road between Portland and 
points eastward, and the mail was also carried over it, but 
neither the stage nor the mail-route era lasted very long. 

The first child born in Dallas was Phoebe, daughter of 
Benjamin Welch, her birth occurring in the spring of 
1837. She is now the wife of a Mr. Ballard, of Jackson, 
Mich., where at last accounts her father, Benjamin Welch 
(Dallas' first settler), was also living. The pioneer marriage 
was celebrated in 1839, at Benjamin Welch's house, on 
which occasion the bride was I^ydia Ann Ayers and the 
groom Nelson D. Long, — both bride and groom being in 
the employ of Mr. Welch. The ceremony was performed 
by 'Squire Cortland Hill, of Bengal. The first (loath in 
the town was the tragic taking off of Aniasa Dorn, brother- 
in-law to Smith Parks, with whom he came to the town 
and made a settlement. Dorn was somewhat noted as a 
hunter, and for being moreover chronically despondent, but 
whether for good rea.son or not cannot be .said. He was at 
all events much disposed to rail at fortune and make him- 
self desperately unhajipy by reflections ujion what he was 
pleased to term " his hard lot." One day, while more than 
ordinarily depres.sed, he called one of his children to him, 
patted her on the head, told her he had made up his mind 



416 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



to kill himself, placed the muzzle of his gun against his 
head, pulled the trigger with his toe, and blew his head to 
pieces. The incident was of course a sensation in the in- 
fant settlement, and rather supplanted for a time the prac- 
tical considerations of everyday life, for the course of com- 
mon events in that neighborhood was naturally simple and 
even in its flow, and thus roughly disturbed did not soon 
regain its customary placidity. Dorn was buried upon 
Cortland Hill's farm in Bengal, where his bones still lie, 
although the traces of his grave have been swept away by 
the plowshare. 

Davis Parks relates an instance of starvation diet in- 
flicted upon the Parks families during the absence, in De- 
troit, of Davis and his brother Smith. They went over to 
Ionia to sell a cow, and took in part exchange a little bar- 
ley flour. This happened to be all the flour they could 
secure, and so leaving it at home they hurried away to De- 
troit for a larger supply ; but hasten as they would they 
were six days making the trip, and meanwhile the band of 
little ones at home had eaten of the barley flour, and were 
endeavoring to sustain life on roasted leeks, which were not 
the most palatable food in the world. The struggle was a 
tough one, and promised to end in disaster, but finally the 
wanderers appeared with the long-expected flour, and star- 
vation was averted. 

The widow of George F. Dutton, in dwelling upon the ex- 
periences that assailed the pioneers of Dallas, remarks that 
hardships were not exceedingly rigorous among those who 
sturdily and bravely pu.shed their energies to the tasks be- 
fore them, — that those who tried to do so got along well 
enough, — and that there were, of course, a sufficiency of 
those who sought to shirk the serious issues of bread- 
winning, and found themselves, accordingly, the subjects of 
privations and sufiuring, which, instead of rightly charging 
to their own improvidence and love of ease, they imposed 
as a complaint against the country and circumstances over 
which they had no control. 

The earliest school taught in the township was one over 
wliich one Sheldon Sherman presided. Sherman was a 
resident of Oakland County, where Smith Parks had been 
his neighbor. The latter induced him to come out to Dal- 
las and open a school, but the recollection of that school by 
Stephen Parks, one of the pupils, is to the effect that Slier- 
man was so full of mischief and play that keeping school 
was a farce that encouraged the scholars in their fondness 
for sport rather than for book-learning. The school-house 
was the abandoned cabin of Amasa Dorn, on section 36, — 
the building in which Dorn killed himself, — and the pupils 
not more than a half-dozen in number. Smith Parks and 
Benjamin Welch agreed to pay the school-master and get 
what they could of other parents to reimburse themselves. 
Sherman was famous as the man with the clubfoot and a 
most extraordinary taste for dancing and cutting up all sorts 
of "shines." Just as school was over he would hurry the 
boys and girls to the school-house green and start himself 
and them upon a dancing-campaign that endured just as 
long as the physical forces could bear the burden. He 
was, moreover, inclined to romp with the children during 
school-hours, and as a consequence they learned very little. 
Charles Maynard, the second teacher, taught in a school- 



house on the State road just east of the Parks saw-mill, 
and was accounted a pedagogue of much worth. In 1849 
a log school-house was built on section 22, and in that 
house the first teacher was Christina Hutchinson, of Ionia. 
Early religious services in the settlement were held by 
Methodist exhorters, among whom the most prominent were 
Mr. Deitz and James Moore, of Maple Rapids, and " Bible- 
back" Reynolds, of the Reynolds settlement in Ionia 
County. Reynolds was a good deal of a character in those 
days, and devoted himself earnestly and steadily to the 
work of furthering public religious worship wherever it 
appeared to be in demand. 

Among the early settlers in Dallas were some Germans, 
who drifted into the town by way of Westphalia, and 
located chiefly south of Stony Creek, where the residents 
of to-day are nearly all of German extraction. Among 
the German pioneers alluded to were John Shaffer, who 
bought land on section 31, originally improved by Mr. 
Chamberlain; Henry Bartow, on section 31; John A. 
Fedewa, who kept a store at an early date on the southern 
town line in section 32 ; the Sniders, Hafners, Dunne- 
backers, Millers, Lehmans, and others. Richard Welling 
was an early settler on section 25, and the Sargents like- 
wise, on section 23. Upon section 22, in May, 1847, Ze- 
bina Rice, of Oakland County, became a settler upon a 
tract of which George F. Dutton had cleared ten acres. 
He used to find a road out of town over the old Northern 
Railroad bed, and when he did not wish to travel that way 
he had to manufacture a road of his own. Three miles 
west of him was Hiram Willis, who had moved into the 
town in the fall of 1814, at which time al.so Marcellus 
Vangeison made a location on the State road, in section 25. 
South of Vangeison's, on section 35, William Hayes was 
living in 1845, as was Israel Smith, while on section 36 
Samuel Sterns was one of the new-comers. 

RKSIDENT TAX-PAYERS OF DALLAS IN 1845. 

Acres. 

Isauo FifieUl, section 3 30 

Samuel Filield Personal. 

Andrew R. Vance, section 4 99 

Iliram De;in, section 6 162 

Orrin I'aiks, sections 26, 27 120 

Vincent Parks, sections 15,26 180 

Sniitli I'arks, section 26 190 

^ Smith Parks, Jr., section 26 TO 

William Hayes, section 35 80 

Alexander Parka Personal. 

Marcellus Vangeison, section 25 SO 

Nathan Bigelow, sections 23,36 li'O 

Uriah Drake Personal. 

Samuel Sterns, section 36 160 

Samuel H. Parks, section 35 80 

William Bartow, section 34 160 

Constance Shaw, section 33 80 

Israel Smith, section 35 80 

Henry Bartow, section 31 160 

Peter Shaffer, section 32 40 

J. A. Fedewa, section 32 20 

Richard Welling, sections 15-26 240 

Hiram F.Willis, sections 18-17 120 

George F. Dutton, section 22 2J0 

Davis Parks, section 27 80 

Sidney Parks, section 25 80 

Frederick Myers, living now on section 16, was a farm 
hand with George F. Dutton in 1852, and remained in Mr. 
Dutton's employ upwards often and a half years. In 1869 
he took possession of the farm he now owns on sections 16 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



41? 



and 21, which was at that time an untouched forest. Wil- 
liam Hayes, who penetrated the township of Riley as a set- 
tler as early as 1837, became subsequently a moderately 
early settler in Dallas, and lives now therein upon a place 
previously settled by Alexander Parks. 

THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE TOWNSHIP. 

North of the centre of the township, settlements pro- 
gressed much more slowly than elsewhere until about 
1856, when the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad line 
traversed that quarter, and called settlers to its vicinity in 
rapidly swelling volume. Andrew R. Vance, who opened 
bachelor's hall on section 4, was the first settler in that 
quarter, and on sections 3 and 6 Isaac Fifield and Hiram 
Dean were early on the ground. One Sever made a begin- 
ning in 1845 on section 17, where J. W. Shumway now 
lives, and in 1852 Josephus Mundell came to section 14, 
then a wild tract. Mr. Mundell occupied, with his family, 
temporary quarters in an abandoned lumberman's shanty 
that he found hard by on section 11, where somebody had 
chopped a five-acre tract. Upon section 14, southward, 
Sidney Parks and Stephen Parks, with their families, were 
living at the period of Mr. Mundell's arrival. North of 
them Peter Strickland was living, on the old Andrew Vance 
place. Their nearest neighbors on the west were the Severs, 
on section 17, three miles away. 

In 1853, P. T. Jolley, now living on section 11, made a 
location on the south town line of Lebanon, north of where 
he now lives. James McRoberts, a settler in Westphalia, 
as early as 1839, had moved to section 4 in Dallas before 
Jolley got in, and a man, by name Seaton, was on the place 
now occupied by William N. Upson, who came in during 
1853. Jolley was a cooper, and made pork-barrels, which 
he carried over south into the Parks settlement for sale. 
The road he traveled was a trail he cut out himself, and as 
he passed straight southward on that line, the first house 
he encountered was that of a Mr. Smith, just three miles 
distant from the north town-line. Mr. Jolley says that when 
he made his settlement in 1853 the neighborhood in which 
he now lives was but little better than a swamp, and he 
ventured then the remark that he really would not live there 
if he could get a farm for nothing. In 18G4 he did move 
there, however, and then found that time had vastly im- 
proved matters. Following close upon Mr. Jolley, in 1854 
and afterwards, came the Mankeys, — Charles and Frederick, 
— James Pierce, Thomas and James Long, Samuel Sage 
(April, 1854), G. N. Clark (where Mr. Hyams had made 
some improvement), the Krugers, Samuel Green, the 
Wrights, Tellers, Millers, Kincaid, Salisbury, Nowland, and 
others. 

The soil of Michigan gave birth in the pioneer days to 
many a counterfeiters' den, and although Dallas never cut a 
very important figure as a bogus neighborhood, there was, 
nevertheless, a trifling bit of business done on Stony Creek 
in the matter of manufacturing spurious coin. The coun- 
terfeiters were a shrewd lot, and kept them.selves .so shady 
that despite earnest efforts to unearth them they avoided 
detection a long time, and turned out counterfeit Mexi- 
can dollars upon an unsuspecting and innocent public. 
58 



When the search grew so hot that they could remain hidden 
no longer they made off, — that is, some of them made off, 
while some less fortunate were captured and eventually con- 
veyed to prison. For some reason, however, their punish- 
ment was light, and as a net result of their operations it is 
likely they gained much profit. 



TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION 
OFFICERS. 



AND LIST OF 



A legislative act, approved March 19, 1845, detached 
township 7 north, in range 4 west, from the township of 
Lebanon and named it Dallas. Davis Parks says that the 
naming of the town was left to him and George F. Dutton ; 
that he wi.shed to call it Dallas, in honor of the Vice- 
President-elect, while Dutton chose Polk, in honor of the 
newly-elected President; and that deciding the point by lot 
he (Parks) won, and thus christened the new township. 
The widow of George P. Dutton says that her hu.sband 
upon being asked to circulate a petition for organization, 
requested the privilege of naming the town, and the privi- 
lege being accorded him, he chose Dallas, through his 
admiration for the statesman of that name. 

The first township-meeting was held April 23, 1845, at 
the house of George F. Dutton. The inspectors of elec- 
tion were Davis Parks, Vincent Parks, Smith Parks, Jr., 
Smith Parks ; the moderator George F. Dutton ; and the 
clerk Zebina Rice. The votes cast numbered twenty-seven. 
The result of the election was as follows : 



SUPERVISOR. 

Votes. 

*Davis Parks 17 

Andrew R. Vance 10 

CLERK. 

SDavis Parks IB 

Uriah Drake 10 

Orrin Parks 1 

TREASURER. 

»George P. Dutton 17 

William Bartow 10 

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

»George F. Dutton 17 

*Smith Parks, Jr 18 

*Viucent Parks 17 

Marcellus Vangeison 10 

Hirara Dean 10 

Uriah Drake 9 

HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 

*Morris Parks 27 

"■'Smith Parks, Jr 17 

*\'incent Parks 17 

Isaac Fifield 1" 

Israel D. Smith 10 

SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 

»George F. Dutton 17 

*Smith Parks, Jr 16 

William liartow 10 

Andrew R. Vance 10 

CONSTABLES. 

«Orrin Parks 24 

»William Hayes 17 

»Uriiih Drake IS 

Morris Parks 10 

» Elected. 



418 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



POORMASTERS. 

»Smith Parks 25 

*George F. Dulton 17 

Hiram Dean 10 

Richard Welling 1 

HIGHWAY OVERSEERS. 

*Hiraiu Dean District No. 1 

«George F. Dutton " " 2 

«Smith Parks, Jr " " 3 

sWilliam Hayes " " 4 

POUNDMASTER. 
^'Samuel Sterns 

Following is a list of persons chosen annually between 
1846 and 1880 to be supervisors, clerks, treasurers, and 
justices of the peace : 

SUPERVISORS. 

1846. A. R. Vance. 1860. W. S. Green. 

1847. D. Parks. lS6I-6.'i. G. F. Dutton. 

1848. G. F. Dutton. 1864. W. N. Upson. 
1849-50. A. R. Vance. 1865. P. Ulrioli. 
1851. A. Parks. 1866. 0. R. Rice. 
1852-53. G. F. Dutton. 1867-68. A. Cook. 
1854-56. A. Parks. 1869. 0. R. Rice. 
1857-59. A. Cook. 1870-80. L. W. Baldwin. 

CLERKS. 



1872. J. F. Shraft. 

1873. J. D. Burns. 

1874. G. W. Parks. 

1875. J. BuUard. 

1876. J. P. Miller. 



1877. W. N. Upson. 

1878. G. Cuddeback. 

1879. G. W. Parks. 

1880. J. Bullard. 



1846. George F. Dutton. 


1860-61. J. Parks. 


1847. S. Parks, Jr. 


1862-63. W. N. Upson. 


1848. D. Parks. 


1864. M. Vangeison. 


1849. G. B. Tripp. 


1865. S. W. B. Temple. 


1850. D. Parks. 


1866. J. Shraft. 


1851-53. M. Vangeison. 


1867-74. J. F. Shraft. 


1854. M. Sargent. 


1875. N. H. Gcller. 


1855-56. A. Cook. 


1876. T. B. Mundell. 


1857-59. M. A^angeison. 


1877-80. J. F. Shraft. 




TREASURERS. 


1846-47. William Bartow 


1862. C. Qruler. 


1848. A. Bentley. 


1863. P. Simmons. 


1849. J. Parks. 


1864. J. P. Fo.^. 


1850. S. Parks, Jr. 


1865. J. Miller. 


1851. G. F. Dutton. 


1866. George Ott. 


1852. H. Sturges. 


1867. F. A. Rademacher. 


1853. M. Doll. 


1868. W. B. Rice. 


1854. H. Sturges. 


1869-70. J. P. Miller. 


1855. M. Vangeison. 


1871-73. N. Smith. 


1856. W. N. Upson. 


1874. M. Schafer. 


1857. J. Fodewa. 


1875. N. Smith. 


1858. H. Sturges. 


1876-77. B. Simmons. 


1859. A. Martin. 


1878-79. William Luttig. 


1860. J. Lance. 


1880. James Lance. 


1861. J. F. Shraft. 






JUSTICES. 


1846. H. Dean. 


1859. J. Parks. 


1847. D. Parks. 


1860. D. Richards. 


1848. No record. 


1861. T. J. Schonover. 


1849. A. R. Vance. 


1862. G. W. Parks. 


1850. J. Parks. 


1863. James Lance. 


1861. Hiram Dean. 


1864. W. N. Upson. 


1852. G. F. Dutton. 


1865. S. W. B. Temple. 


1853. T. W. Sever. 


1866. G. W. Parks. 


1854. M. Sargent. 


1867. W. N. Upson. 


1855. A. Parks. 


1868. J. Ludwig. 


1856. G. Salisbury. 


1869. D. Dutton. 


1857. A. Cook. 


1870. W. W. Lewis. 


1858. G. W. Parks. 


1871. G. W. Parks. 




* Elected. 



JURORS FOR 1846. 



Grand. — Fayette Bartow, Samuel Sterns, Hiram Dean, 
William Hayes. 

Petit. — Vincent Parks, Jesse Fifield, Israel D. Smith, 
William Bartow. 

THE TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1846. 

William Bartow, town treasurer, presented his annual 
report March 30, 1847, which shows as follows: 

Received from the previous treasurer (contingent funds) $13.67 

Amount of town orders received from Bartow 10.50 

Collections by the treasurer for contingent funds 134.97 

Collections by the treasurer for school funds 24.38 

Collections by the treasurer for highway funds 128.69 

Amount of town orders received of treasurer as collector 84.87 

Amount returned to county 45.57 

Amount of school funds returned to county 18.43 

Amount of highway funds returned to county 122.13 

THE POLL-LIST FOR 1855. 
There has been preserved no poll-list antedating the year 
1855, when at the annual township-meeting the voters num- 
bered eighty-five, as follows : James Clark, Jr., Anthony 
Cook, Alanson Parks, Smith Parks, Orrin Parks, Isaac 
Sage, Jesse M. Perry, Alanson Eddy, Conrad Martin, 
George Sargent, Frederick Mires, Richard Smith, Jackson 
Smith, Thomas Ferris, Mathias Doll, Richard Welling, John 
Fitzmire, Sinbad Hall, John White, Jr., Samuel H. Parks, 
Smith Parks, Jr., Philip Cock, Thomas W. Sever, Loren 
Day, Sidney W. Parks, George Parks, A. B. Horton, 
Patrick Kelly, N. R. Catlin, W. N. Upson, John Parks, 
A. W. Williams, P. Mills, T. W. Robinson, Stephen Parks, 
Mathias Taber, Peter Shafer, Lewis Feldpausch, Jacob 
Cook, Joseph Fox, John P. Smith, John Shafer, John P. 
Fox, Peter Fox, Alexander Parks, John George, John 
Dunlap, Daniel Pierce, Benjamin Snyder, David Richards, 
M.athias Weber, Mathias Simmons, Joseph Hiller, Garner 
Salisbury, G. B. Tripp, William Smith, Charles Smith, 
Frederick Shelhamer, Jacob Abfalter, Joseph Abfiilter, 
Andrew Shuler, Anthony George, John Fedewa, Samuel 
Green, Miron Sargent, R. C. Whitney, Peter Holfman, 
Hiram Briggs, W. R. Rice, S. B. Evans, William Miller, 
Henry Sturges, George F. Dutton, Marcellus Vangeison, 
Peter Whitmire, Levi Drake, Peter Strickland, W. G. 
Green, Joseph Dinerbacher, Henry Hover, Hiram M. Mil- 
lis, Morris Parks, Anthony Martin, Nathan Bigelow, John 
Whitmire. 

SCHOOLS. 

Allusion has already been made to a few of the incidents 
attendant upon the introduction of schools into the town- 
ship. The town records containing the history of the pub- 
lic schools since their foundation have disappeared, and all 
that can be added in the premises follows : 

The school inspectors' annual report for 1857 gave the 
following : 

Number of districts {whole, 6; fractional 1) 7 

Number of scholars of school age 252 

Average attendance 140 

Teachers' wages $288.35 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



41d 



The books in use in the township schools in 1857 were 
the Elementary Spelling Book, Saunders' Reader, Smith's 
Arithmetic, Mitchell's Geography, Smith's Grammar. 

The report for 1879 contained the subjoined details : 

Number of districts 8 

Number of scholars of school age 579 

Average attendance 422 

Value of school property $.3465.00 

Teachers' wages 1748.25 

The school directors for 1879 were William Luttig, P. 
T. Jolley, John Luttig, George Button, J. P. Miller, David 
Douglass, and F. Schemer. 

TOWNSHIP ROADS. 

The first township road recorded in the Dallas highway- 
book was recorded May 24, 1846. It was laid by A. R. 
Vance and Fayette Bartow, commenced at the southwest 
corner of section 6 and extended thence east on section-line 
six miles. The road was laid upon the application of Isaac 
Fifield, Hiram Dean, and James Hall. May 22, 1847, a 
road was laid out, commencing at the northeast corner of 
section 27 and running thence one mile on section-line to 
the northwest corner of section 27. This road was laid out 
upon the application of Davis Parks, Vincent Parks, Smith 
Parks, Jr. June 4, 1847, a road was laid on the quarter- 
line of section 35, running east and west one mile. 

Dec. 26, 1842, a road was laid out in town 7, commencing 
at the northeast corner of section 26, running thence north to 
the northwest corner of section 1 . A second road was laid 
out the same day, commencing at the northeast corner of sec- 
tion 16 and extending north on the said line to the road 
running up between towns 7 and 8. 

June 23, 1843, A. R. Vance and William Barton, high- 
way commissioners, laid out a road commencing at the State 
road between sections 27 and 28, and extending south to 
the town-line between sections 33 and 34. Aug. 7, 1841, 
the highway commissioners of Lebanon and Westphalia 
divided the road on the town-line between said townships, 
and agreed that Lebanon should take three miles of the east 
end and Westphalia three miles of the west end. 

June 10, 1848, J. W. Turner, special commissioner, no- 
tified the town clerk of Dallas that the portion of the De 
Witt and Lyons road lying in the township of Dallas com- 
menced eighty links ea.st of the southeast corner of section 
31, and extended thence north 89 degrees, west 309ylJAj^ 
rods to the southwest corner of said section. The annual 
highway fund of 1854 was divided as follows: 

District No. 1 $10 

" 2 25 

3.! !!!;]^!!^!!!!"!!]!!!!! 19 

" 4 12 

5 20 

" 6 35 

" 7 15 

" 8 19 

9 20 

10 25 

$200 

THE VILLAGE OF DALLAS. 

Late in 1856, or early in 1857, Robert Higham (chief 
engineer of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, then push- 
ing westward) and E. A. Wales, of Detroit, contracted for 
the purchase of one hundred and sixty acres of land lying 



on the line of the road, three-quarters of a mile eastward 
of the station now called Fowler, their purpose being to 
found a village there, as Higham had already settled upon 
the site as a place for a railway-station which he was to 
designate as Dallas. The tract was therefore laid out into 
village lots, and in 1857, when the construction of the rail- 
way reached that point, Hiram Marsh was appointed station 
agent, and the Dallas post-office, then in charge of Alanson 
Parks on Stony Creek, was transferred to the new town. 
Meanwhile, with an eye single to the rise and progress of 
the embryo city, E. A. Wales had erected a hotel and Hi- 
ram Marsh a store building, while other people, enthused 
with the prospect of a village, bought a few lots and began 
to make improvements. Nelson Kuhn opened a small 
grocery, and a Mr. Branswick, keeping abreast of the spirit 
of the times, set up in business as a shoemaker. Despite 
these efi'orts to trundle the village of Dallas into public 
favor, the affair was a dismal failure from the first. The 
surrounding country was so swampy that travel to and from 
the village, except in the dryest of weather or in the winter 
season, was a task of difficult accomplishment. As a conse- 
quence, the inhabitants of the outlying region came in to 
trade only under pressure of strongest necessity, and Dallas 
appeared to drag out a wearisome existence under protest. 

After thus struggling for the space of ten years the vil- 
lage found itself in 1867 no farther along in dignity or 
growth than it had progressed during the first year of its 
life. Recognizing, therefore, that if they were ever to own 
a village worthy the name it must be fixed at some other 
spot, citizens of Dallas township, as well as others near by, 
began to agitate the matter of a new location, and in this 
project they were materially aided and encouraged by J. N. 
Fowler, of Detroit, who owned considerable land in the 
vicinity. The upshot of the matter was that the railway 
company was induced in 1867, by the donation of seven 
hundred and fifty dollars, to transfer their depot buildings 
and station to a point three-quarters of a mile west, where 
there was a better outlook for a village. Fowler, who owned 
the land occupying the proposed site, surveyed and platted 
a village on the north side of the railway, on .sections 11 
and 12, in September, 1867, and called it Lsabella, after the 
county of Isabella, where he had large landed interests. 
Isabella was likewise the name chosen for the station, and 
simultaneously with the move of the railway-station from 
Dallas there ensued a transfer of the business population 
and every other feature that had contributed in any way 
to lift the town from the atmosphere of rural felicity into 
the domain of village life. Dallas was therefore relegated 
to obscurity, where for many a day had been domiciled the 
sanguine hopes born in the breasts of Wales and Higham 
when they fir.st set Dallas on its legs, so to speak, and 
awaited the coming of its future greatness. 

The hotel building put up at Dallas by Wales was moved 
bodily to Isabella, and upon the spot where it then landed 
still invites the attention of travelers as the Fowler House. 
James Lance was storekeeper and postmaster at Dallas 
when the change was made, and moving his establishment 
westward set it up again just south of Isabella village, 
upon land he owned, where he subsequently laid out an 
addition to the village of Fowler. The store he then 



420 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



started occupied the building now known as the Dallas 
House, and was the pioneer trading-post at Isabella, al- 
though, strictly speaking, it was not in Isabella. The second 
store was opened by Jacob Schraft in a log house just west 
of where the Fowler House stands. At this time Fowler 
moved the tavern from Dallas and leased it to Shemer & 
Grulcr, who carried on in the building a store as well as 
hotel business. Willey & Peterson kept the hotel after- 
wards, and after them a Mr. Stiles and Mathias Petsch 
were respectively the landlords. 

FOWLER VILLAGE. 

As the name of Isabella was not exactly to the liking of 
the villagers, Fowler agreed to change it, and, upon request, 
called it by his own name when, in May, 1869, he caused 
an addition to be platted on section 14, south of the rail- 
way. At that time, too, the name of the station was 
changed, as was the name of the post-oifice, which had thus 
far retained the name of Dallas. The plat of the village of 
Fowler, recorded Feb. 1, 1870, certifies that "the village 
is located on the line of the Detroit and Milwaukee Rail- 
road, on sections 11, 12, and 14." James Lance's addition 
was recorded May 31, 1873, and is described as " beginning 
at the northwest corner of section 13, running thence east 
on section-line sixty-six rods and six feet ; thence south 
parallel with the west section-line sixty-eiglit rods and six 
feet ; thence west parallel with the north line sixty-six rods 
and six feet to said west line ; and thence north on the sec- 
tion-line sixty-eight rods and six feet to the place of begin- 
ning." 

Of those who set the wheels of trade in motion when 
Isabella village was founded Messrs. Constantine Gruler, 
Frederick Shemer, and Jacob Schraft are now merchants in 
Fowler. Constantine Gruler is, moreover, a dealer in grain 
to a very large extent, and almost since his first appearance 
as a merchant in the town has been a heavy wheat-buyer. 
He has a commodious wheat-house at the station, and near 
there, too, P. L. Vancousant, of St. Johns, has a wheat- 
house. Fowler is esteemed an excellent point for wheat 
shipment, and the business carried on by Messrs. Gruler 
and Vancousant in that department is of valuable importance 
to the town. 

The first post-office established in Dallas township was 
created in 1855 and called Dallas. Alanson Paiks, living 
on the State road, was appointed postmaster, and upon the 
location of Dallas Station he transferred the office to that 
point. In 1859, James Lance succeeded to the office, and 
retiring for a brief period in favor of David Richards, he 
renewed his possession, and was the incumbent when the 
railway-station and village were moved westward. Fred- 
erick Shemer was postuia.ster for a short time after Lance's 
retirement, and in 1809 Jacob Shraft came in. During 
his occupancy tlie name of the office was changed from 
Dallas to Fowler. In 1874, Shraft was succeeded by 
William M. Youngs, and he, in 1877, by John Hicks, the 
present incumbent. 

Dr. L. A. Laurason, now a physician and druggist in 
Fowler, made his home upon the site of the village in 1866, 
and, fresh from the State University, there began his medi- 



cal career. Gustavus Miller had been practicing medicine 
in the township, but in the village Dr. Laurason was the 
pioneer physician. Other doctors followed the flow of pop- 
ulation, among them being Drs. Schmitten, Cole, Miller, 
and Spears, but neither tarried long enough to leave a mark 
upon the face of passing time, and may therefore be dis- 
missed with but casual notice. Drs. W. H. McKenzie and 
George E. Bliss, now in village practice, have been located 
some little time, and with Dr. Laurason divide the business 
of doctoring the people of the immediate and adjacent ter- 
ritories. John G. Patterson, engaged in the practice of law 
in Fowler, is the only person resident who ever ventured 
upon the enterprise of expounding the mysteries of Coke 
and Blackstone for the benefit of the villagers and towns- 
people. 

Fowler is a growing village of about three hundred and 
fifty people,^the entire township including seventeen hun- 
dred and thirty-two, — and enjoys much business prosperity. 
It supports two hotels and includes in its marts of trade the 
general stores of Constantine Gruler and Frederick Shemer, 
the hardware-store of Jacob Schraft, the hardware- and 
grocery-store of Baldwin & Gary, the boot- and shoe-store 
of Gillam & Doolittle, the groceries of N. H. Geller and 
J. T. Counell, the drug-stores of L. A. Laurason and S. 
G. McLaughlin, and the furuiture-store of Charles Bengal. 
There are also wagon-shops and minor village industries of 
a promiscuous character. 

EELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. 
UNITED BRETHREN CHURCU. 
One of the earliest religious organizations of Dallas was 
a United Brethren class, which was formed in the Sargent 
neighborhood and flourished apace for several years. As 
the members of the organization lived here, there, and 
everywhere, the place of worship was frequently changed as 
convenience demanded, and eventually settled at what was 
called the " Bell School-House" in 1868, where it remained 
until 1875, when a house of worship was built at Fowler. 
The class has now a membership of forty-four and is on the 
Bengal Circuit, in charge of Rev. Benjamin Mowers, who 
preaches at Fowler once a fortnight. The leader is W. B. 
Garrison, the trustees A. Compton, Miron Sargent, and 
Eli Grimes, and the Sunday-school superintendent Mrs. A. 
Compton. The school has an average attendance of thirty. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, FOWLER CLASS. 
Two Methodist Episcopal classes were organized after 
1860, one at the Bell school-house and one at the Nowland 
school-hou.se. The former failed to prosper beyond a 
weakly condition of being, and after persistent but fruitless 
efforts to reach a healthful atmosphere dissolved, and its 
members thereafter joined the class at Nowland's, which 
had got on excellently well from the outset. Class-meet- 
ings were also held at the village, as well as at Nowland's, 
until 1880, when the church at Fowler was built, and then 
all joined in common worship at that place. The class has 
now about fifteen members, and is attached to the Fowler 
Circuit, upon which Rev. Mr. Garlick is employed. Since 
1868 the pastors on the charge have been Revs. McKnight, 
Hulburt, Pratt, Jacokes, Harder, Nichols, Snider, and 



DALLAS TOWNSHIP. 



421 



Garlick. Calvin Coon, the present class-leader, has been 
leader since 1870. The church trustees are Calvin Coon, 

George Clark, and • Hanford. The Sunday-school is 

iu charge of G. W. Gillan and a corps of five teachers. 

GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH OF FOWLER. 
This church organization was formed in 1869 by mem- 
bers of a similar denomination in the southern portion of 
the township. The church at that point was at a tiresome 
distance for those of the faith who lived towards the north, 
and, as a matter of more convenience, they formed a second 
society in 1879, and in that year built a church. Rev. 
Mr. Wittey, who preaches for the church in the south, 
preaches also at Fowler three times each month. About 
twenty-five families are represented in the membership. 

GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH OF DALLAS. 
The German Lutherans of Dallas organized a church 
about 1869, under the direction of Rev. Mr. Fuer, of 
Owosso, and the same year built a neat house of worship 
on section 36. Besides Mr. Fuer, the pastors have in- 
cluded Revs. Smith and Wittey, the latter of whom is now 
in charge, preaching three times each month. Tiie mem- 
bership comprises now about thirty-five families, and that 
of the Sunday-school, which is iu charge of the pastor. 



about sixty scholars. The trustees are William Rossow 
August Schroeder, and Frederick Speerbrecker. 

SOCIETIES. 

FOWLER LODGE, No. 19, A. 0. U. W. 

This lodge was organized at Fowler in November, 1878, 
with ten members. It has now a membership of twenty- 
seven. Regular sessions are held weekly. The ofiicers for 
1880 are S. G. McLaughlin, M. W. ; Edwin Baldwin, G. 
F. ; R. L. Bunting, 0. ; Joseph Austin, P. ; L. W. Bald- 
win, Receiver ; J. F. Gary, Recorder ; John BuUard, 
Guide; Philo Parks, I. W. ; H. D. Welling, 0. W. ; 
Jacob Schraft, P. M. W. The Master Workmen of the 
lodge since its organization have been L. W. Baldwin, 
Jacob Schraft, and S. G. McLaughlin. 

DALLAS GRANGE, No. 505, P. OF H., 

was organized September, 1874, in the Bell school-house, 
Winchester Rice being then chosen Master. The oflScers 
for 1880 are H. D. Wellings, M. ; E. W. Buck, 0. ; 
George K. Bliss, L. ; F. S. Brooks, Sec. ; Maurice Drake, 
Trcas. ; J. H. Bush, Chaplain; Frederick Myers, Steward. 
Meetings are held at Fowler weekly. The membership is 
fifty-seven. 



BIOGEAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 




GEORGE. F. DUTTON. 

GEORGE 

George F. Dutton was born in Chenango Co., N. Y., 
April 27, 1814. His parents, Robert and Sarah (Fowler) 
Dutton, were of English extraction; lived to rai.se a fiimily 
of seven children. After the death of the elder Dutton, 
George with his mother moved to Detroit, where he be- 
came acquainted with and married Miss Sarah Horner. In 
the spring of 1835 they removed to Ionia County. Five 
years later exchanged for one hundred and sixty acres of 
wild land on section 22, the present home. The town had 
not yet received a name, and Mr. Dutton being elected 




Mils. GEORGE r. BUTTON. 

F. DUTTON. 

supervisor secured the name Dallas, in admiration of the 
candidate for national honors by that name. Mr. George 
F. Dutton died May 15, 1863, lamented by all. He had 
filled many places of public trust, and in departing this 
life left a name and reputation worthy the life of honor 
and integrity he had lived. He left a widow and five 
children, — Mrs. Julie A. Beldcn ; James; Adaline, died at 
six years of age; Richard; Mrs. Charlotta Myers; and 
George, born Oct. 9, 1851, grew to manhood upon the 
farm, and soon after his father's death assumed the man- 



422 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



agement of aifairs. April 8, 1872, he married Miss 
Nancy J., daughter of Thomas and Christa (Hutchinson) 
Rudgers, who were among the earliest settlers in Ionia 
County, having located in the town of Lyons in 1834. Mrs. 
Rudgers taught the first school in the town of Dallas. 



George and Nancy are the happy parents of one child, 
James, who was born on the 27th of December, 1876. 
Mrs. George Dutton still continues at the old homestead, 
beloved by her children and respected by a large circle of 
friends. 





DANIEL BUTTON. 



MRS. DANIEL DUTTON. 



DANIEL DUTTON. 



Daniel Dutton is one of the family of Robert and Sarah 
(Fowler) Dutton, a sketch of whose life we give in connec- 
tion with that of George F. Dutton in another place. Daniel 
was the youngest son and child ; his birth occurred at Co- 
lumbus, Chenango Co., N. Y., March 7, 1825. At the age 
of thirteen he came with an elder sister to Clinton Co., Mich., 
and lived with George P. three years ; then one season with 
William F. Dutton in Westphalia. Then lived with Rob- 
ert Dutton, Portland, Ionia Co., until past twenty. Then 
went to Cass County, obtained a few tools, and set himself 
up as a carpenter and joiner, commencing business for 
himself; remained four years ; returned to Clinton County, 
and in 1850 purchased forty acres in the town of West- 
phalia. Jan. 1, 1852, he married Mary R., daughter of 
Richard and Lucette (Wheeler) Farman, who emigrated 
from Oswego County in 1838. He continued at his trade 
and farming until 1864, when he exchanged for eighty 
acres on same section. Considerable clearing had been pre- 
viously made, but only a log house erected. He immedi- 
ately set about erecting a suitable building, and a few years 
sufficed to render it one of the pleasantest locations in 
town. Their large family of children were early taught 
that steady application to their calling, with economy, was 
the true way to success, as exemplified by them. Their 
children number ten, as follows : Alfred E., born Jan. 12, 
1853; Hattie L., Oct. 3, 1854; Ida S., June 24, 1857; 
Judson H., Nov. 2, 1858 ; Dora A., July 22, 1860 ; Emma 
I., Dec. 26, 1861 ; Charles R., July 2, 1863 ; Elmer E., 
Jan. 17, 1865; Laura A., Nov. 2, 1868; Ellen N., Jan. 
3, 1876. 

In politics he affiliates with the Republican party ; has 



several local offices, but has never sought or desired 
preferring the peace and comfort of home-life to the 



held 
them 
anxiety experienced by office-seekers. 



CHAPTER LVL 
DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP.* 

Location and Natural Features — Early Settlement of Duplain — Vil- 
lage of Mapleton — Early Religious Meetings — Town Roads — 
Schools — Township Organization and Civil List — Craven's Mills — • 
Village of Elsie — Societies and Orders. 

Duplain is town 8 north, in range 1 west, and occupies 
the northeastern corner of Clinton County, with the Gratiot 
County line as the northern boundaiy, Ovid township on the 
south, Shiawassee County on the east, and Greenbush town- 
ship on the west. There was originally much heavily tim- 
bered land in the town, and there was west of the river 
until 1870 a good deal of swampy region, but that quarter 
is now almost entirely free from waste lands, although the 
period of its reclamation was a late one, and settlements 
there were put back as a consequence. The Maple River, 
known early by the French name of Riviere Du Plain, pur- 
sues a winding course from south to north, and has since 
the foundation of the town been a mill-stream of more or 
less value. 

There is upon the northeastern corner of the town the 

■^ By David Schwartz. 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



423 



graded bed of what was once proposed to become the 
Owosso and Big Rapids Railway, but the enterprise stopped, 
as a failure, short of actual operation. The town voted 
Oct. 16, 1869, by a vote of two hundred and eighteen to 
one hundred and one, to appropriate ten thousand dollars 
towards the expenses of the road, only, however, upon the 
completion thereof, and therefore escaped a sacrifice. Du- 
plain contains two villages, called respectively Mapleton and 
Elsie. The former, laid out in 1S37, has declined to feeble 
proportions. Elsie is a small but active hamlet, and is by 
those who reside within its limits esteemed a place of much 
promise. 

EARLY SETTLEMENT OF DUPLAIN. 
THE ROCHESTER COLONY. 

The pioneer settlements in Duplain were made during 
the summer of 1836 by members of a community styled 
the Rochester Colony, so called because they lived previous 
to that in or near Rochester, in the State of New York. 
A discussion by a few persons living in that neighborhood 
touching advantages of a colony emigration to some point 
in the far West led to the formation in the city of Roches- 
ter of the Rochester Colony. The organization was effected 
at a meeting held Feb. 29, 1836, upon which occasion ar- 
ticles of association were subscribed to in substance as 
follows : 

Article one provided that the association should be 
called and known as "The Rochester Colony." The articles 
provided for the raising of a fund with which to purchase 
lands, and authorized any person to become a member and 
be entitled to a vote by subscribing for one share of one 
hundred and twenty-five dollars, and paying five dollars 
down and the balance on call. 

Article five provided that " Deeds for any purchase of 
lands may be executed to the agents as grantees, but ex- 
pressed to be to them as joint tenants in common, in order 
that there may be a survivorship on the death of either. 
The lands, although conveyed thus absolutely for the sake 
of convenience, shall be considered as purchased and held 
in trust for the subscribers who contribute to the funds." 

It was also provided that the lands purchased should be 
surveyed and laid out into farm lots of eighty acres each 
and village lots, and that one farm lot and one or more vil- 
lage lots should constitute a share, and that a drawing 
should be held in the city of Rochester, and that each 
shareholder should be entitled to draw one farm lot and one 
or more village lots, and that after the drawing the agents 
should give to each subscriber an article or contract for his 
portion of the land so drawn ; and as soon as any sub- 
scriber had actually settled with his family on his portion, 
and made aflSdavit of his bona fide intention to remain a 
settler, or, in lieu of settling, had made improvements on 
his portion to the value of one-fourth of the cost thereof, 
the agents should give him a deed in fee simple for his 
share. 

It was further provided that the balance of the land 
should be sold at auction, and the proceeds divided between 
the shareholders. And it was further provided that if any 
subscriber did not settle or make the requisite improve- 
ments on his land within eighteen months after the draw- 



ing he forfeit all his interest in the lands and property of 
the colony, and that the same should be sold at auction, 
and the proceeds, not exceeding the original cost, without 
interest, after deducting all taxes, charges, and assessments, 
should be paid to such delinquent subscriber, and the 
balance divided among the shareholders. It was also pro- 
vided that the agents should not purchase any land con- 
tiguous to that purchased for the company until after the 
purchase for the company was completed and the agents 
had returned to their homes in Rochester, N. Y. 

The names of those subscribing to the articles embraced 
the following : E. R. Everest, W. Gr. Russell, Joseph Sever, 
W. P. Stanton, Jacob Martin, Oliver Bebee, Benjamin Car- 
penter, Joseph Atwood, Calvin Braiuard, William Chyn- 
worth, Samuel Barker, M. T. Croade, Francis Faxon, 
Samuel Graves, John Ferdon, Electus Boardman, E. W. 
Collins, Samuel Brass, Henry Wilson, Rufus Collier, Jr., 
Martha Osborn, V. R. Cook, P. A. Ford, Rowley & Brit- 
ton, and E. Rowley. At the next meeting, held April 2, 
1836, the association appointed W. G. Russell, Jo.seph 
Sever, and E. R. Everest to act as agents in the selection 
and purchase of lands, and being instructed to attend to 
the matter in hand without delay, Russell and Sever set out 
April 12, 1836, upon the tour of exploration. 

They were directed to proceed first to Ohio, and go up 
the Wabash and Erie Canal to Fort Defiance, examining 
the country in that section, and also to look at Perrysburg, 
on the Maumee. Thence they were to go to Fort Wayne, 
Ind., " and examine the country north and west of there, 
especially along the Eel River and all the northern coun- 
ties of Indiana." Then go to Michigan and " examine the 
Grand River and its tributary streams with great attention." 
They were told that " the head-waters of the Huron and 
the Grand are not far distant from each other, and it is con- 
jectured with strong probability that a canal will soon inter- 
sect those two streams ; look between those two points. 
The Grand River is said to embrace water privileges which 
must soon be of great value. Look well to the village of 
Grand Rapids and the country south of it, for that place 
must be of importance. We have heard that a railroad 
has been laid out from that place to Monroe village. The 
counties of Clinton, Ingham, Eaton, and Barry should not 
be passed unnoticed. You may be suited on the Thorn- 
apple River. We learn that there is a valuable tract of 
land near the centre of Barry County. If you should con- 
clude to go to Grand Rapids and examine as far north as 
Clinton County and the Maple River, you must not fail to 
go into Saginaw County. Dr. Fitzhugh thinks the Saginaw 
flats are equal to the Genesee flats. This is also the opinion 
of Dr. Town, who lives at Ypsilanti, and his partner, who 
have all purcha.sed there largely. Daniel Ball and his 
brother are now on a tour to that section." 

Within a month after their departure from Rochester 
Russell and Sever completed their land purchases, having 
selected a tract lying chiefly in what is now Duplain town- 
ship. Their purchase embraced sections 28, 29, 31, 32, 
and 33, and the southwest quarter of section 30, in town 8 
north, range 1 west, and the north halves of sections 5 and 
6 in town 7 north, range 1 west, aggregating 4003j-4^ 



424 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



acres. The stipulated price of $1.25 per acre gave the sum 
total of the purchase money as $5003.82. 

The story of Russell and Sever's land search, as told by. 
Russell in a letter to Everest, is comprehensive and inter- 
esting, and is given, as follows : 

" BnoNSON, Mich., May II, 1836. 

" E. R. Everest : Sir, — We arrived in Detroit Friday, 
22d of April, making ten days from Rochester; found the 
roads bad. The Ball horse tired and we had to put him off. 
We exchanged him for a pony and paid |35. We stayed 
in Detroit until the Monday following ; got what information 
we could from Messrs. Alcott, Ketchum, Strong, and others 
that we thought advisable to inquire, and started on the 
Pontiac turnpike leading through the northwest part of the 
Territory. We stopped and explored different sections of 
the country. We found all the important points taken, ex- 
cepting one which lies on the Maple River. We spent 
some four days in that part. We think that the water 
privileges are good and the land first best. Sever and my- 
self are much pleased with it, although it is timbered land. 
The timber is beech, maple, hickory, oak, bass, butternut, 
and black-walnut, and as handsome as you ever saw, and 
well watered with beautiful springs. There is a contem- 
plated canal to connect the Maple and Shiawassee together 
near this place, which, if that takes place, will cause a great 
drift of business through this section of the country, as it 
will save something like one thousand miles of water-car- 
riage around the lakes. We thouglit best to look further, 
and went to Barry County. We went, but soon returned. 
Got satisfied that it was too heavy timbered and rough, 
broken land for us. We then made up our minds that the 
Maple River must he tlie place. We started off for Bronson 
that night; rode until eleven o'clock, evening; put up at a 
tavern, and got permission to sleep on the floor. Started 
in the morning ; fell in company with a speculator ; was sat- 
isfied that he was after our land. Feeling determined not 
to give it up, I changed horses with Sever, the other man 
being ahead a mile or two. I set out, determined not to 
lose the prize if I lost the horse. After we got within four- 
teen miles of Bronson I had a fresh horse to contend with. 
For four or five miles I let him go ahead, until we got on 
the last ten miles to the office. I passed him within a few 
miles of the office, and got my application in a few minutes 
before him, after coming ten miles in forty minutes. The 
country around this place is new, and if any family should 
leave Rochester for this they had better bring everything 
they want for family use. There is no house near. If any 
one should set off before we get home you must direct them 
from Detroit to take the road leading northwest fifty miles 
to Grand Blanc; then take a west course to Mr. Williams', 
on the Shiawassee River, where they will get all the infor- 
mation necessary. We applied on Friday last, and are to 
have our duplicates at nine o'clock this morning. We are to 
leave this place for the Maple to-day, with Mr. Hill, to make 
the survey and lay the lots. We feel glad to get away. It 
is like town-meeting here every day (Sundays excepted). 
We shall be in Rochester about the middle of June, proba- 
bly. " William G. Russell, 

" For the Coloni/." 



According to the information in the closing portions of 
the letter, Russell and Sever went over to the Maple with 
Calvin G. Hill, the surveyor, who platted the colony lots. 
The plat, including the territory already mentioned, was 
received for record Oct. 27, 1837, from " E. R. Everest, 
acting agent for the Rochester Colony." The plat of the 
village received for record on the same day contains the 
following : " On the 27th day of October, 1837, personally 
appeared before me, a justice of the peace, Edward R. Ev- 
erest, now acting agent for the Rochester Colony, in the 
county of Clinton and State of Michigan, known to me to 
be the person who executed this plat, and acknowledged the 
same to be his free act and deed, and furthermore that this 
plat was made by Benjamin H. Brown. 

" JosiAH Pearce, J.P." 

June 15, 1836, Russell and Sever returned to Rochester 
and- reported the results of their labors. On the 29th instant 
the members of the colony met at the office of Edward R. 
Everest and drew each his share by lot. At a meeting 
held the 30th instant it was voted to dispose of the Maple 
River water-power on section 29 at auction. The power 
was estimated as capable of running two saws and three 
run of stones, and, precedent to the contract of sale, it was 
stipulated that the purchaser should bind himself in the 
sum of three thousand dollars to have one saw in operation 
within a year, and that within two years he should have 
erected a grist-mill with at least one run of stone. The 
mill-privilege was sold under the named conditions to 
Willis Thempshall for one thousand one hundred and 
fifteen dollars. 

The first movement towards an actual settlement upon 
the Colony lands was made early in July, 1836, by John 
Ferdon, Samuel Barker, and Oliver Bebee, who, with their 
families and Ellen Lowe, then set out for the West to take 
possession of the colony lots that had fallen to their shares. 
In the company were sixteen persons, of whom ten were 
children. They journeyed by water to Detroit, and thence 
by ox-teams to the place of proposed settlement. They fol- 
lowed the Grand River trail to a point some miles east of 
where Laingsburg now stands, and struck through the 
trackless forest northward. The distance to their destina- 
tion was full twenty miles, and over the entire route they 
were compelled to cut a road. So tedious was the progress 
that, although they persevered diligently, they were nine 
days making the trip of twenty miles. 

However long their road it had a turn, and so on the 
28th of July, 1836, they came to the end of their weari- 
some travels. Their first night upon the Colony land was 
spent upon Bebee's place, and on the day following they 
moved to Ferdon's lot, where it was proposed to put up a 
cabin. The shanty, built of logs with bark roof and bark 
floor, was finished within a day or two, but stood just over 
the town-line, in what is now the town of Greenbush, 
Ferdon's lot bordering upon the west line of town 8. 
Barker's cabin was next put up, and occupied a place on 
the north line of town 7 (now known as Ovid), in section 
6. It will have been seen therefore that the first improve- 
ment in the colony was made in town 7 by Barker, Ferdon's 
hut not being upon Colony land. It will be further seen 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



425 



that Ferdon and Barker built respectively the first houses 
in Greeubush and Ovid. The third Colony house, and the 
first in town 8, was Bebee's cabin, built directly after the 
completion of Barker's. It stood upon the south line of 
town 8, in section 31, directly opposite Barker's. 

Illustrative of the peculiar inflictions of the densely- 
wooded country into which these hardy pioneers had pene- 
trated, it may be mentioned that the multitudes of mosqui- 
toes they encountered made life well-nigh a burden. So 
thick were the pests that while two of the men labored at 
cabin building the third found his time and energies fully 
occupied in driving off mosquitoes. Veils were absolutely 
necessary as face coverings, and, at best, for some time the 
troubles that arose from the insect source were sorely 
distressing. 

Of the sixteen persons who came as the Colony pioneer 
advance-guard six still live, — Mrs. Henry S. Harrison (then 
Mrs. Barker), Mrs. Oliver Bebee (then Ellen Lowe), 
Thomas Bebee, Mrs. Z. H. Harrison (daughter of Mrs. 
Bebee), Lorenzo Ferdon, and Henry P. Barker. Mrs. 
Harrison lives in Elsie, and Mrs. Bebee upon the fiirm Mr. 
Bebee occupied in July, 1836. 

Barker, Bebee, and Ferdon were not joined by others of 
the Colony until September, although it was confidently ex- 
pected that they would be followed almost immediately by 
several families. As it was, the next to come were Joseph 
Sever and Francis Faxon, — only the former, however, bring- 
ing a family. Faxon put up a cabin and made a clearing, 
and returning eastward for his family brought them out in 
September, 1837. Until then (except David Watson, a 
blacksmith) there had been no fresh accessions to the Colony 
settlement, which progressed, indeed, at first very .slowly. 
Charles Baldwin came with his family Nov. 15, 1837, and 
after that the settlement began to slowly but surely receive 
numerical strength. In Deoembcr, 183G, Barker vacated 
his house in town 7, and passed over into town 8, where he 
had made a new location. He had but three miles to go, 
yet the journey consumed an entire day. In fording the 
liver his wagon came apart, and being covered with ice re- 
sii-ted ibr a long time the ettbrts of himself and wile to put 
it together. They conquered the emergency, however, by 
nightfall and pushed on. 

PASSING INCIDENTS. 

Getting to market or to mill was to the first comers a 
task of considerable magnitude, since either involved a 
journey to Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, or Pontiac, and some- 
times even to Detroit, while to obtain access to a post-office 
required a trip to Laingsburg or Owosso. After a little 
while Joseph Sever, Edward II. Everest, and Willis Themp- 
shall built a grist- and saw-mill at the colony. Everest 
opened a store and caused a postoBice to be established 
there, so that existence began to flow in sn^oother channels. 

The first birth in the settlement was that of William 
Henry, sun of Sterry Lyon, whose birth occurred in 1838. 
He died in 183!). Fidelia Carpenter, the ten-year-old 
daughter of Benjamin Carpenter, was the first person to 
die. She died in 1838, and was the first to be buried in 
the Colony cemetery laid out some time before and ever 
since continued in its original use. The funeral sermon 
54. 



was preached by Mr. Whiting, a member of the Colony, 
and a Methodist exhorter. The first marriage was that of 
Oliver Bebee and Ellen Lowe. They were married at Be- 
bee's house, by John Ferdon, then a justice of the peace, 
in July, 1837. The only wedding-guests were Mr. and 
Mrs. Barker and Mr. and Mrs. Ferdon. Mrs. Bebee still 
lives on the old Bebee place at the Colony. 

The first blacksmith was David Watson, who opened a 
shop on section 31, in the summer of 1837. Whiting, the 
exhorter, was also a blacksmith, but he did not set up his 
shop until 1843. Oliver Bebee was the first carpenter and 
Charles Stevens the second. Samuel L. Brass was the first 
shoemaker, and aflerwards kept a store at an early date. 

At the meeting held June 29, 1836, the result of the 
drawing for lots was as follows: 

Farm Village 
Lots. Lots. 

Edward R. Everest 4 12 

William U. Kussell 2 5 

Josepli Sever 2 7 

John Ferdon 2 7 

William Chynowortli 2 

Benjiiiiiin Carpenter .3 13 

Samuel Graves .1 ID 

Oliver liebee 2 5 

Samuel Barker 2 4 

M.T. Croade 2 8 

Jacob Martin 1 4 

John Uoardman 1 3 

Eleetus IJoardman 1 5 

Edwin W. Collins 1 1 

Rufus Collier, Jr 1 I 

Van Rensselaer Cook 1 1 

Joseph Atwood 1 I 

W. P. & H. Stanton 1 1 

George S. Shelmire 1 1 

Henry N. Sever 1 1 

Samuel Brass 1 3 

Sunauous Britton 1 3 

Martha Osborne 1 2 

P. A. Ford and E. Bliss 1 2 

Rowley tt Britton 1 2 

Eleazar Rowley 1 3 

Calvin Brainard 1 6 

Francis Fa.von 2 5 

Sylvester Bliss 2 5 

The drawing disposed of forty-five Colony lots. There 
were reserved to the Colony eighty acres in lots 11, 12, and 
13, lying ott' the Maple River, besides four large and forty- 
four small village lots, as well as a lot fur a burial-place and 
farm lots 9 and 42. 

RESIDENT TAX-PAYEKS IN TOWN 8 NOKTH, 
KANGE 1 WEST, IN 1839. 

Acres. 

B. Ilioks, section 11 40 

Thomas Craven, Sr., section 14 200 

R. E. Craven, sections 11, 14 3(i0 

Sydney L. Smith, sections 22, 23 240 

Charles Stephens, section 27 80 

Nathan Lowe, section 34 160 

IN THE COLONY PURCHASE. 

E. R. Everest 480 

Francis Fa.xon Ifilt 

Oliver Bebee 160 

Joseph Sever 160 

John Copeland 320 

Samuel Barker 160 

RESIDENT TAX-PAYERS IN SENA IN 1840. 

Acres. 

John Burnett, Colony lots 1 and 2 160 

Sterry Lyot, Colony lot 3 80 

" •' section 11 40 

Abraui Becker, Colony lot 21 80 

Francis Fa.\on, Colony lota 16 and 34 and south- 
west quarter of section 24 320 

Oliver Bobce, lots 32 and 33 160 



426 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Acres. 

Joseph Sever, lots 8 and 14 160 

Samuel Barker, lot HI 80 

Grove Coofier, lots 31 and 32 160 

H. M. Sever, lot IS 80 

Oliver Everest, lot 17 80 

John Ferdon, lot 29 80 

Benjamin Carpenter, lot 28 80 

David Watson, fraction of lot 26 20 

Samuel Brass, lot 25 40 

Tenii)shall A Sever, mill-lot 9 

Nathan Lowe, section 34 160 

Charles Stevens, section 27 80 

Sidney L. Smith, sections 27 and 23 240 

11. E. Craven, sections 11, 22, 23, 10 400 

Thomas Craven, Sr., section 14 160 

Thomas Craven, Jr., section 14 80 

Liberty Carter, section 24 160 

Patrick Galligan, section 12 80 

William B. Watson, sections 2 .and 21 160 

Chandler Coy, section 35 80 

Benjamin Hicks, section 1 1 40 



Soon after the coming to the town of the advance-guard 
of the Colony there came also other settlers, and they drift- 
ing to various portions of the township generally populated 
it at a comparatively early day. Nathan R. Lowe, a New 
Yorker, settled in 1838 on section 34, to which he had to 
cut his road from the Colony. Chandler Coy settled on 
section 35. Dexter Cooper was one of the earliest comers 
to the vicinity of the Colony, and in 1840 E. J. Stone 
made a home upon a farm in section 33, for which he ex- 
changed a farm in Calhoun County, whither he migrated 
from the East as early as 1835. Later comers to that 
neighborhood were Edward Paine, F. L. Hall, Robert Coy, 
George Wilcox, Benjamin Wilcox, Richard Tompkins, 
Henry Spencer, and John Spencer. 

About 1840 the northeastern and eastern portions of the 
town began to receive settlers, of whom several had located 
their lands in 1836. On the west side of the river the 
prevalence of lowlands repelled the pioneer, and in that 
quarter settlements were meagre until a late date. Liberty 
Carter entered land in section 24 in the fall of 1836, but 
did not occupy it until the spring of 1841, when he came 
with his father, and brother Sylvester, having meanwhile 
worked at the Colony on the places of Ferdon and Bebee. 
The only man north of Carter was Patrick Galligan, on 
section 12, where he had in the spring of 1841 just made 
a commencement. In that portion of the town Galligan 
and the Carters were the pioneci'S. Franklin, Baker, and 
H. B. Gleason came into the Carter neighborhood in 1841, 
and in 1844 E. W. Cobb, with his brother, Lyman, and 
father, Jo.shua, made settlements upon section 12. H. P. 
Cobb was on section 13, where he had been about two 
years ; the Cravens were in section 10, on the Maple, where 
they soon built a mill ; Charles Baldwin was near there, 
and afterwards kept a boarding-house for the mill hands, 
and on section 12 was Patrick Galligan. That portion of 
the town was heavily timbered, and had in 1844 scarcely a 
semblance of a road, except one the Craveus had cut out 
between their place and the Colony. In 1845, Levi Hicks 
settled in Livingston County, and when in 1854 he made 
a new home upon section 1 in Duplain the only other resi- 
dents upon that section were Abram Hobbs and A. J. Lin- 
man. Z. A. Ford came to the section in 1855, the Ben- 
netts to section 12 in 1855, and J. B. Moore to section 2 
in 1855. Among the settlers in the east were also W. 
WooU, E. N. Wait, Charles Sexton, E. Nethaway, Mr. 



Hickox, William Tillottson, and James Shaw, the latter in 
1845 to the place now occupied by A. B. Jeffrey. 

Upon the west side of the river the earliest settlements 
were made by C. Stafford, Thomas Leet, and Daniel Letts, 
who penetrated that quarter upon sections 9 and 15 in 
1850. After that C. Ranney located on section 3, J. W. 
Garrett on section 9, C. B. Dodge on section 10, and Israel 
Mead on section 16. 

VILLAGE OF MAPLETON. 

As alrctidy remarked, the village of Mapleton was platted 
by Edward R. Everest, as the Colony's agent, Oct. 27, 1837. 
The erection of the saw-mill and grist-mill in 1840, and the 
opening of a store by Edward 11. Everest, soon afterwards 
contributed something of a vigorous start to the little ham- 
let, and directly afterwards a post-ofiice was added to the 
conveniences, William B. Watson, a physician, having pre- 
viously located in 1830. Previous to Everest's time, some 
time in 1838 or 1839, John Ferdon had a small quantity 
of goods in his house, having taken them in Rochester, 
N. Y., on a debt, and these he doled out to whoever would 
buy, but the first regularly-equipped store was Everest's. 
The second store was set up by William Shepard, in 1844, 
and in connection with his store Mr. Shepard opened a 
tavern. In 1849, Shepard was still keeping store, and in 
1850, 0. M. Pearl became a Colony trader. Paine & Kipp 
opened a store in 1852, and in 1853, Faxon & Pearl suc- 
ceeded 0. M. Pearl. Among succeeding merchants at Ma- 
pleton were Henry Paine and Samuel L. Brass. 

A post-office was established at Mapleton about 1840, and 
given the name of Colony, but this being found to conflict 
with another office of a similar name in the State, a change 
was made to Duplain. Mail was at first delivered to Du- 
plain over the route between Owosso and Lyons once a 
week. Edward Everest, the first postmaster, continued in 
the office until 1847, when he was succeeded by James 
Tucker. Tucker stepped out in 1852, in favor of J. W. 
Paine, who gave way in 1853 to William Shepard, and he 
to William H. Faxon, whose term of service endured only a 
few months. Samuel L. Brass, the next incumbent, held 
the place from 1855 to 1861. R. Oowstoe served from 
1861 to 180(1, James Tucker (second terra) from 1866 to 
1869, and William Smead (who came to Mapleton in 
1850) from 1869 to the present time. 

In 1839 the village received its pioneer physician. Dr. 
William B. Watson, who, when he first set up in practice 
in the Colony, boarded with Francis Faxon, and married 
one of Mr. Faxon's daughters. Dr. Watsou lived in and 
near the Colony from 1839 until his death in 1875, and 
continued his professional pursuits to within a few years of 
his demise. For fifteen years Dr. Watson was the sole 
physician the Colony had. In 1854 came Dr. M. L. Leach, 
who practiced thereabout, with more or le.ss regularity, 
until his removal to Elsie in 1878. Dr. H. H. House 
opened an office in 1858, and remained cnntinuou.sly to 1876 
a village doctor there, except for a space of six years spent 
in Indiana. Dr. E. S. Leonard practiced one year, from 
1857 to 1858, and Dr. A. C. Joslyn, five years, from 1860 
to 1865. Dr. D. W. Emerson, now the only physician at 
the colony, has been located there since 1804. 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



427 



RELIGIOUS MEETINGS. 
The pioneer sermon in the Colony was preached at John 
Ferdon's house, in the fall of 1836, by Rev. Mr. Kanouse, a 
Pre.sbytcrian minister of Lodi, Mich., who, while on a 
land-looking tour, tarried at Ferdon's house. Mr. Kanouse 
preached from the thirty-second chapter and eleventh verse 
of Deuteronomy, — " As an eagle stirreth up her nest, flut- 
tereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh 
them and bearcth them on her wings." The choir was 
composed of Mrs. Samuel Barker and John Ferdon, and 
besides them there were in the congregation Mr. and Mrs. 
Bebee and four children, Mrs. Ferdon and three children, 
Mr. Barker and three children, and Mr. Ferdon's hired 
man, William. One Sunday in the summer of 1837 there 
came to Mr. Barker's house two men, who represented 
that they were laborers on the mill at Owosso, and that 
having heard there were occasional prayer-meetings at the 
Colony they were determined to come out; "for," added 
the spokesman, " we were so hungry for prayer and a 
prayer-meeting that we would have walked twice the dis- 
tance." The Barkers were of course glad to see them, 
and in the prayer-meeting that followed there was one 
Hicks, a land-looker, besides the Barkers and the two men 
from Owosso. Hicks was a powerfully-voiced singer, and 
Mrs. Harrison thinks his voice, when pitched to its highest, 
could have been heard well-nigh a mile. After prayers an 
excellent dinner followed, and the two pilgrims from Owosso 
departed on their return journey happy and refreshed. 
They walked thirty-two miles to participate in that prayer- 
meeting, but the satisfaction they derived was presumably 
more than enough to afford compensation for what weari- 
ness the walk may have occasioned. 

DUPLAIN METHODIST EPISCfOPAL CLASS 

In November, 1837, Revs. Washington Jackson and 
Isaac Bennett, sent out by the Michigan Methodist Epis- 
copal Conference, organized at the house of Joseph Sever 
the Duplain class. The members numbered ten, and in- 
cluded Francis Faxon and Betsey his wife, Joseph Sever, 
Jane his wife, and his two daughters, Sarali and Bathsheba, 
Charles and Sophronia Baldwin, Frederick Cranson, and 
Mrs. Cusick, Charles Baldwin being class-leader. The 
circuit embraced a tour of three hundred miles, and as 
there were but the two preachers on the work, the Du- 
plain class was not enabled to have public worship oftener 
than once in four weeks. In the December following a 
Sunday-school was organized in Francis Faxon's house 
with nine scholars, Charles Baldwin being chosen superin- 
tendent. Church and school have maintained from the 
first a continuous active existence, and are to-day flourish- 
ing organizations. The class is now on the Duplain Cir- 
cuit, in charge of Rev. C. A. Jacokes; has a membership 
of eighty and has worship every Sunday. 

A chureli edifice was built in 1855, and still continues 
in use. The present class-leader is Albert McEwen, who 
is also local preacher. The church trustees are J. H. Love, 
Lewis McKnight, J. H. Faxon, 11. Chapman, and E. J. 
Stone. Albert McEwen is superintendent of the Sunday- 
school, which has one hundred and ten scholars on the 
roll. 



FIRST DISCIPLE CHURCH OF DUPLAIN. 

The First Disciple Church was organized in the Colony 
school-house in 1870 by Polder Brooks, with about thirty 
members. A house of worship was begun the same year 
and completed in 1871. Elder Brooks preached a year, and 
was succeeded in regular order by Revs. Fraut, John A. 
Mafi'erty, La Grange, Cook, Hurd, and Sweatman. Rev. 
S. K. Sweatman is the present pastor, and preaches once a 
week. The membership is seventy-five ; the trustees and 
elders are Peter Moore, Looman Wilcox, and Clinton 
Shaw ; the deacons, T. C. Avery and P. Foss. The Sab- 
bath-school, organized in 1876, has an average attendance 
of six teachers and fifty scholars. The superintendent is 
Peter Moore. 

TOWN KOADS. 

The first road laid in town 8 north, range 1 west, while 
it was yet a portion of Bingham, was surveyed by Charles 
R. Spicer, and recorded Aug. 7, 1839, Samuel Barker and 
Charles Stevens being highway commissioners. The survey, 
made July 15th, commenced at the quarter post on the east 
side of section 31, thence running north two and a half de- 
grees, west twelve and a half chains to angle ; thence north 
forty-five degrees, west five chains and forty-five links to a 
beech-tree ; thence north twenty-nine degrees, west one 
chain and eighty-seven links to a post ; thence north twelve 
degrees, east three chains and twenty-five links to a post ; 
thence north seventy-one degrees, east five chains and twelve 
links to a post; thence north eighteen degrees, west six 
chains to the east line of said section 31, eleven chains and 
sixty links south of the northeast corner of said section. 

Survey No. 2 commenced at the quarter post on the 
north line of section 31, thence running south two and one 
half degrees, east twenty-four chains to angle ; thence south 
forty-seven and one-half degrees, east nineteen and one-half 
chains to a beech-tree ; thence south sixty-two degrees, east 
forty chains ; thence south seventy-three degrees, east six 
chains to post ; thence south forty-seven and a half degrees, 
east twenty-five chains and eleven links to a beech-tree ; 
thence south twenty degrees, east eleven chains and sixty-nine 
links ; thence south thirty-eight degrees, east forty chains to 
post; thence south forty-seven and a half degrees, east sixty 
chains ; thence south twenty-four degrees, east twenty-two 
chains and seventy links to a basswood-tree ; thence south 
sixty-two degrees, ea.st twenty chains and seventy-five links 
to a maple-tree ; thence south fifty-one degrees, east four- 
teen chains to post ; thence south nine degrees, east four 
chains and eighty-seven links; thence south fifty chains, 
east thirty and a half chains to the meridian line, three 
chains sixty-five links north of the southeast corner of sec- 
tion 12, town 7 north, range 1 west. 

Survey No. 3 commenced at a stake twenty chains twenty 
links east on the section-line from the southwest corner of 
section 29 ; thence north two and a half degrees, west forty 
chains to a point twenty chains twenty links east, two and 
a half degrees north of the quarter stake on the west line 
of section 29. 

Survey No. 4 commenced seventy-nine rods north on the 
section-line of the southeast corner of section 21, running 
thence forty-four and a half degrees, east four chains seventy- 



428 



HISTOllY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



three links ; thence north forty degrees, east forty-eight 
chains fifty links to the centre of the highway ; thence west 
and south to intersect road No. 3. 

The following road districts in Sena were set off and 
recorded March 30, 1840, by Charles Stevens and John 
Jessup, highway commissioners : 

District No. 1, bounded as follows, to wit: commencing 
at the quarter post on the meridian of the 25th section, 
thence running west on the quarter line through sections 
25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30, and including all the land north 
of said line in the town. 

District No. 2, bounded as follows : commencing at the 
quarter post on the east line of section 25, thence running 
west, on the quarter line, through sections 25, 26, and 27 ; 
thence on the section-line to the southwest corner of sec- 
tion 34 ; thence east on the town line to the meridian line ; 
thence north on the meridian to the place of beginning. 

District No. 3 comprised the remainder of the town not 
contained within the limits of districts Nos. 1 and 2. 

At a public meeting held Doc. 12, 1840, for the purpose 
of letting contraets for improvements upon the roads of 
Sena, contracts were awarded as follows, the work to be 
completed March 1, 1841 : 

Contract No. 1. — To build eight rods of causeway on the road 
leading from the mill to Dr. Watson's, near Austin's. Let 
to Silvester Carter at 97 cents per rod, said causeway to 
be laid on stringers or poles, and to be made in the best 
manner twelve feet wide $8.73 

No. 2. — To build six rods of causeway on the south line of sec- 
tion 21. Let to Silvester Carter at $1 per rod 6.00 

No. 3. — To build twenty rods of causeway on south line of sec- 
tion 21. Let to Henry M. Sever at $1 per rod, subse- 
quently taken by Abraham Becker and S. Carter at same 
rate 20.00 

No. 4. — To build twelve rods of causeway on south line of sec- 
tion 21. Let to Liberty Carter at $1.17 per rod 14.04 

No. 5. — To chop and clear one mile of the road from Barker's 
to Jessop's, two rods wide, of all timber under six inches 
in diameter, and otherwise to make the road passable. 
Let to Liberty Carter at 9.87 

No, 6. — To build eight rods of causeway on the "south line of 
section 29, and digging up a large pine-stump at the end 
of the same. Let to Oliver Bebee at 8.76 

No. 7. — To build seven rods of causeway on the south line of 

section 31. Let to Oliver Bebee at $1 per rod 7.00 

No. 8. — To log out and clear three acres of the Owosso road 

three rods wide. Let to Oliver Bebee at 8.75 

No. 9. — To build four rods of causeway over a brook on sec- 
tion 21. Let to R. E. Cr.aven at 94 cents per rod 3.76 

No. 10. — To choji alid clear one acre of the road leading to 
Owosso four rods wide. Let to Henry Faxon and Henry 
M. Sever at SIO per acre, all of the above jobs to be fin- 
i.-^hed according to specitications in contract No. 1 10.00 

No. 1 1. — To remove three stum()S out of the way of the six- 
rod causeway on the south line of section 21. Let to L. 
Carter 1.60 

No. 12. — To build a bridge over a ravine on section 22. Let 
to Robert E. Craven at S75, to be finished by the 1st of 
April 7.'i.00 

No. 13. — Allowed to Abraham Becker for clearing out the road 

from the school-house west thirty rods 1.50 

No. 14. — To chop one acre on the Owosso road four rods wide. 

Let to Francis Faxon at 6.00 

No. 15. — To chop one acre and a quarter on the Owosso road 

four rods wide. Let to Sydney L. Smith at 7.50 

No. 16. — To chop one acre on the Owosso road four rods wide. 

Let to Nathan Lowe at 5.00 

No. 17. — To chop and clear a job on the Owosso road four rods 

wide. Let to Charles Baldwin at -SU per acre 11.00 

SCHOOLS. 
One of the first two schools established in Clinton County 
was taught by Miss Bathsheba Sever (subsequently the wife 
of W. H. Faxon) in a school-house built at the Colony (on 
the present Peter Moore place) in February, 1838. Frac- 
tional school district No. 1 was organized May 20, 1843, 
to embrace the south half of section JO, the whole of sec- 



tions 30 and 31, the southwest quarter of section 32, and 
so much of the northwest quarter of section 32 as lay on 
the west side of Maple River, containing seventeen acres, 
all in the township of Duplain ; lots Nos. 45, 46, 47, 48, 
49, and 50 of the Rochester Colony tract, and the south 
half of section 25, the east half of section 35, and the 
whole of section 36 in Greenbush. 

District No. 2 was formed Sept. 13, 1845, of sections 1, 
2, and 3, the ea.st half of section 4, the east half of the 
northeast quarter of section 9, the whole of sections 10, 
11, and 12, and the north halves of sections 13, 14, and 
15. The first meeting of the district was ordered to be 
held at the house of Charles Baldwin, Sept. 26, 1845. 

District No. 3, organized Oct. 1, 1845, included the 
south halves of sections 13 and 14, southeast quarter of 
section 15, the east half of section 22, the whole of sec- 
tions 23 and 24, the north half of section 25, and the 
northeast quarter of section 26. 

Although district No. 1 must have been organized pre- 
vious to May 20, 1843, there is no reference in the records 
to district No. 1 until Oct. 1, 1845, when it was .stated 
that " School district No. 1 comprises within its limits sec- 
tions 33, 34, 35, 27, and 28, the east half and southwest 
quarter of section 29, the east half and northwest quarter 
of section 32, the west half and southeast quarter of sec- 
tion 26, the southwest quarter of section 22, and the south 
half of Section 21." 

Of the money received from the State school fund for 
1847 the apportionment was twenty-five dollars and twenty- 
eight cents to district No. 1, having seventy-nine scholars, 
and six dollars and seventy-two cents to fractional district 
No. 1, having twenty-one scholars. District No. 4 was 
formed April 4, 1850, to embrace sections 35 and 36 and 
the south halves of sections 25 and 26. The first meeting 
of the district was ordered to be held April 30, 1850, at 
the house of Thomas Leet. 

The apportionment of the primary-school fund for 1851 
was as below : 

District. Scholars. Amount. 

No. 1 77 $26.33 

" 2 27 9.23 

" 3 24 8.21 

" 4 14 4.79 

" 1 (fractional) 31 10.60 

173 _ $59.16 

For the year 1852 the apportionment was as follows: 

District. Scholars. Amount. 

No. 1 78 $25.38 

" 2 40 13.01 

" 3 27 8.77 

" 1 (fractional) 22 7.16 

167 $54.32 

For 1858 as follows: 



District. 
No. 1 


Scholars. 
75 


Amount 
$35.43 


" 2 


73 


34.50 


" 3 


62 


29.29 


" 6 


37 


17.48 


" 7 


13 


6.15 




48 


22.68 


Library money 


308 


25.00 




$170.53 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



429 



The first recorded appointment of a teacher is under date 
of Nov. 14, 1849. From that date to 1860 teachers' cer- 
tificates were issued by the school inspectors as follows : 

Nov. 14, 1849. — Arozina Chapman. 

April 13, 1850. — Ann S. Avery, Albina Chapman. 

March 29, 1851.— Eleanor M. Rockwell. 

May 24, 1851. — Mary Hill, Margaret Janes. 

Nov. 12, 1851. —Delia S. Janes. 

Dec. 1, 1851. — Stephen Chapman, Jr. 

April 10, 1852. — Mary A. Stevenson. 

May 8, 1852.— Mrs. Hicks. 

June 7, 1852. — Catherine E. Beebe. 

Nov. 6, 1852. — J. H. Faxon, Henry Harrison, Hannah 
Wilcox. 

Jan. 15, 1853.— William Tillottson. 

June 21, 1853. Shepard. 

Oct. 18, 1853. — Lounsberry Swarthout. 

April 8, 1854.— Mrs. Marshall Wilcox. 

April 17, 1854.— Nancy M. Gunsally. 

May 8, 1854. — Malinda Richmond. 

Nov. 4, 1854.— Samuel L. Brass. 
• Nov. 18, 1854.— Miss B. A. Sickels. 

Nov. 27, 1854.— Marshall L. Wilcox. 

Dec. 21, 1854.— Sylvia Guilford. 

Jan. 13, 1855.— Edward Clark. 

April 14, 1855. — Mary L. Kipp, Adelia Smith. 

April 27, 1855.— Mary A. Faxon. 

May 11, 1855.— Eleanor M. Rockwell. 

Nov. 3, 1855. — Morgan L. Leach, William L. Tillott- 
son, Delia A. Leckenby. 

Dee. 25, 1855. Gaskill. 

Jan. 5, 1856. — Margaret Janes. 

April 12, 1856.— Rebecca Salyer. 

May 8, 1856.— Elizabeth Borden. 

March 30, 1857. — Maria Wood, James Roberts, William 
Sickels. 

April 10, 1858. — Emory B. Hyde, Loren Shelley, Nancy 
Budd, and Marilla Nethaway. 

April 12, 1858.— Mary E. Kingsley. 

May 22, 1858.— Fanny Chapell. 

April 14, I860.— Miss Achsah Giddings, William H. 
Stone, and Marilla Nethaway. 

Below is a copy of the annual school report /or 1879 : 

Di.t. Director,. ^numer- ^J.^^gf Value of Teacher,' 

• anco. Property. Wages. 

No. 1 .). H. Faxon...; 64 57 $SOU SIS.'! 

" 2 M.W.Dunham* 192 123 1200 B:iO 

" 3 William Wooll 57 49 40C 236 

" 4t J. Meachcr 4B 27 400 144 

" 7 Morgan Morso 35 2S 375 07 

" 8 J.G.Wilcox 39 29 250 128 

" 1 Byron Brown 43 26 1200 131 

" 2t Bishop Miller 77 108 600 144 

" 31 A. McEwcn 60 44 200 110 

613 491 S5425 $1773 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

Under act approved March 19, 1840, town 8 north, in 
range 1 west was set off from Bingham and called Slmhi 
township. Whence came the name of Sena, or who the 
person that suggested it, the most diligent inquiry has 



■ * Elsie graded school. 



f Fractional. 



failed to reveal. It can only be said that with the petition 
for separate organization went also the three names Sena, 
Sinai, and Napanee, and that the former was selected. The 
name did not, however, suit upon closer acquaintance, and 
in accordance with a petition, the name of Duplaio was 
substituted March 20, 1841. The wife of Dr. William B. 
Watson is credited with having bestowed the new appella- 
tion, and with having taken it from the name given by the 
French Indian traders to the river now called the Maple. 
In the French the word is written Du Plain, — meaning 
"of the plain," — and should properly be so written now, 
but by custom it has somehow lost the feature of the capi- 
tal P, and is commonly written Duplain. 

March 9, 1848, towns 9 and 10 north, in range 1 west, 
being a portion of Gratiot County, were attached to Du- 
plain, and remained so attached until the organization of 
Gratiot County in 1855. 

The first meeting of the town of Sena was held in the 
school-house of school district No. 1 April 23, 1840, when 
twenty votes were cast, but one ticket being offered for the 
consideration of the suffragans. Appended is a full list of 
the persons chosen at that meeting to be town officials : 
Supervisor, Robert E. Craven ; Clerk, Francis Faxon ; Treas- 
urer, Sydney L. Smith ; Justices of the Peace, Joseph 
Sever, David Watson, Nathan Lowe, and Abram Becker ; 
Assessors, Samuel Barker. Francis Faxon, Oliver Bebee ; 
Commissioners of Highways, Robert E. Craven, Francis 
Faxon, Charles Stevens ; School Inspectors, William B. 
Watson, Chandler Coy, Sydney L. Smith ; Collector, Henry 
M. Sever, Liberty Carter, Henry M. Sever ; Overseers of 
the Poor, Joseph Sever, Thomas Craven, Sr. ; Overseers of 
Highways, Thomas Craven, Sr., in No. 1, Sydney L. Smith 
in No. 2, Joseph Sever in No. 3 ; Poundmaster, Samuel 
Barker. 

The names of the persons chosen annually from 1841 to 
1880 to be supervisor, clerk, treasurer, and justice of the 
peace will be found here appended : 





SUPERVISORS. 


1S4I. Nathan Lowe. 


1859. J. F. Glcason. 


1842-44. R. E. Craven.J 


1860-63. J. D. Sickels. 


1845. S. L. Smith. 


1864. Jos. Keen. 


1846. William Shepard. 


1865. A. Brown. 


1847-49. S. L. Smith. 


1866. E. Nethaway. • 


1850. R. E. Craven. 


1867-68. J. D. Sickels. 


1851. J. D. Sickels. 


1869. T. L. Hall. 


1852. R. E. Craven. 


1870. M. B. Kelly. 


1853-54. 0. M. Pearl. 


1871. J. D. Sickels. 


1855-57. J. D. Sickels. 


1872-78. E. V. Chase. 


1858. Levi Hicks. 


1879-80. L. G. Bates. 




CLERKS. 


1841. E. J.Stone. 


1S64. William H. Sexton. 


1842-46. F. Fa.ton. 


1865. M. L. Leach. 


1847. E. J. Stoue. 


1866. J. H. Lowe. 


1848-50. F. Ftt.ion. 


1867-69. W. A. Linman. 


1851. 0. M. Pearl. 


1670-71. T. C. Chase. 


1852-53. F. Fa.Non. 


1872-74. L. G. Bates. 


1854-55. Charles Kipp. 


1875. J. A. Watson. 


1850-57. M. L. Leach. 


1876. 0. 0. Perrin. 


1858-59. William Sickels 


1877-78. L. G. Bates. 


1860-61. S. L. Brass. 


1879-80. L. C. Shelley. 


1862-63. J. a. Lowe. 





i Name of township changed to Duplain. 



430 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



TREASURERS. 



1841. S. L. Smith. 


1860- 


-61. D. P. McPherson 


1842-46. N. Lowe. 


1862- 


-63. H. P. Barker. 


1847. C. W. Coy. 


1864. 


H. C. Hosley. 


1848-49. N. Lowe. 


1865- 


-69. S. R. Dewstoe. 


1850. J. D. Sickels. 


1870. 


G. W. Bates. 


1851-52. E. J. Stone. 


1871. 


J. A. Watson. 


1853-55. J. 11. Craven. 


1872. 


I. G. Eddy. 


185fi-57. H. Y. Sexton. 


1873. 


A. M. EiDcry. 


1858. H. Shaw. 


1874- 


78. r. G. Eddy. 


1839. H. Y. Sexton. 


1879- 


80. F. A. Faxon. 


JUSTICES 


OF THE 


PEACE. 


1841. James Gunsally. 


1862. 


J. D. Sickels. 


1843. David Watson. 


1863. 


J. T. Gle.ison. 


1844. James Gunsally. 


1864. 


6. R. Doty. 


1845. S. Barker. 


1865. 


R. Birmingham. 


1846. C. W. Coy. 


1866. 


E. W. Cobb. 


1847. J. Ferdon. 


1867. 


R. Birmingham. 


1848. G. W. Lewis. 


1868. 


G. W. Bates. 


1849. H. W. Janes. 


1869. 


E. Paine. 


1850. James Tucker. 


1870. 


I. G. Eddy. 


1851. 0. Bebee. 


1871. 


P. Moore. 


1852. G. W. Lewis. 


1872. 


G. W. Bates. 


1853. J. D. Siekels. 


1873. 


E. Paine. 


1854. J. T. Gleason. 


1874. 


T. C. Chase. 


1855. E. P. Chapman. 


1875. 


P. Moore. 


1856. J. Sloat. 


1876. 


6. W. Bates. 


1857. R. Birmingham. 


1877. 


D. W. Emerson. 


1858. J. D. Siokels. 


1878. 


J. J. Miller. 


1859. G. N. Roberts. 


1879. 


H. W. Sloat. 


I860. A. Brown. 


1880. 


G. W. Bates. 


1861. R. Birmingham. 







Herewith is presented a list of the voters of Sena at the 
general election in Sena, November, 1840, and a list of 
those who voted at the general election held in Duplain 
the 1st and 2d of November, 18-11. 



Oliver Bebee. 
Sterry Lyon. 
Grove Cooper. 
John Burnet. 
Henry M. Sever. 
James Gunsally. 
Samuel Brass. 
Charles Stevens. 
Francis Faxon. 
Charles Baldwin. 
Samuel Barker. 
Joseph Sever. 
Oliver Everest. 
George Burnet. 
Abraham Becker. 

Lsaac Second. 
Thomas Craven, Jr. 
Thomas Craven, Sr. 
Marvin Second. 
Charles Baldwin. 
Alfonso Brundage. 
Patrick Galligan. 
Samuel L. Whiiing. 
Sebert Carty. 
Sydney L. Smith. 



1840. 

Sydney L. Smith. 
Thomas Craven, Sr. 
Joseph Craven. 
James Stanley. 
Thomas Craven, Jr. 
Chandler Coy. 
Patrick Galligan. 
William B. Watson. 
Robert E. Craven. 
David Watson. 
Dexter Cooper. 
David M. Austin. 
Nathan Lowe. 
Twenty-eight in all. 

1841. 

Barnard McKnight. 
John Burnet. 
Joseph Craven. 
Sylvester Carter. 
S. A. Mitchell. 
Abraham Becker. 
Robert E. Craven. 
James Gunsally. 
Samuel Barker. 
Joseph Sever. 



Elijah J. Stone. Oliver Bebee. 

William B. Watson. Samuel Brass. 

Nathan Lowe. Grove Cooper. 

Francis Faxon. Benjamin Carpenter. 

Sterry Lyon. Martin Cranson. 

David Watson. Charles Marro. 

Oliver Everest. Henry I. Fisk. 

Henry M. Sever. David M. Austin. 

Chandler Coy. Thirty-eight in all. 
Dexter Cooper. 

The jurors drawn in this township for the year 1841 
were as follows : 

Grand. — Samuel Barker, Samuel Brass, Oliver Bebee, 
Sydney L. Smith, Liberty Carter, Chandler Coy, Sylvester 
Carter. 

Fellt. — John Burnet, Henry M. Sever, Francis Faxon, 
Nathan Lowe, Thomas Craven, Jr., S. L. Whiting, E. J. 
Stone. 

1842. 

Grand. — Benoni Kimble, Thomas Beach, George Bur- 
net, Salmon Mitchell. 

Petit. — Joseph Craven, William H. Faxon, Martin 
Cranson, Alphonso Brundage. 

The first treasurer's report on record, dated March 30, 
1844, shows as follows: 

Amount of money on hand at the last settlement $305.97 

Received from county treasurer 10.00 

Amount collected for 1841 261.43 

$577.40 

Paid for contingent expenses $102.53 

For clearing burying-ground 24.92 

Other jjayments 229.66 

Orders and funds on hand 220.29 

$577.40 $577.40 

CRAVENS' MILLS. 

About 1845 the brothers Joseph, Thomas, and Robert 
Craven, early settlers in the town, began upon the Maple 
River, in section 10, the erection of a saw-mill, and led to 
sanguine hopes by the excellence of the water-power, platted 
a village at that point, although they never got the village 
suiSciently far advanced to give it a formal name. After 
a while Alpheus Bebee opened a store there, and sold out 
within a short time to J. D. Sickels and his brothers Aaron 
and William. Bebee set up a wagon-shop, and in 185G 
built a tavern. Hiram Curtis had a cabinet-shop and 
Bruce Hunter a smithy at the Mills or " Corners," as the 
place was sometimes called. The village began sure enough 
to look up, and the Cravens began to have a bright hope 
that their bantling might come to healthful strength. The 
hope was, however, destined to die, for when Job D. and 
William Sickles concluded in 1857 to abandon their place 
at the Mills and start a village one mile east, the end of 
Cravens' enterprise had begun. 

THE VILLAGE OF ELSIE. 

It was on their farm that the Sickels brothers proposed 
to Construct their new village, and June 18, 1857, they 
recorded the plat which is described as " twenty-six rods 
wide, extending across the south part of the southeast 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



431 



quarter of the southeast quarter of section 1 1 , and twenty- 
six rods wide across the north part of the northeast quarter 
of the northeast quarter of section 14." The new village 
was named Elsie as a complinient to one of Franklin Tillot- 
son's daughters. 

Additions to the plat were made May 24, 1858, by 
Franklin Tillotson ; June 23, 1858, by Jonathan Hicks; 
July 26, 1870, by Elijah W. Cobb, Levi Kandall, and 
Kingston Wool! ; and June 23, 1871, by B. D. Hicks. 

The first improvement at Elsie was a framed store built 
by Job D. and William Sickels in 1857 on the first lot 
west of the present tavern, and in 1858 a second store was 
started by Aaron Sickels and E. AV. Cobb. When Elsie 
began to loom up. Cravens' Mills began to lose its vitality, 
and in a brief time boasted nothing save the mill. 

A. E. Gray, now an Ovid blacksmith, was early on the 
ground at Elsie with a smithy, and in 1858 Farwell & 
Son, of Detroit, .set in motion a chair-factory operated by 
steam and employing four people. They carried on the 
business until 18G0, when they failed. In 1858, Job and 
William Sickels sold their store business to Aaron Durfce, 
and in 1860 M. B. Kelly succeeded Cobb & Sickels. In 
1865, Kelly Brothers and Johnson launched out in a new 
big store, and built a grist-mill at Craven's old stand. In 
1870 they built a planing-mill, and, in connection with 
considerable timber-land interests, carried on an extensive 
business. 

The earliest shoemakers in the village were John Meacher 
and Henry Sexton. E. W. Gay opened a wagon-shop in 
1865, and still carries it on. In 1870, J. F. Hasty & Co. 
put up south of the village a stave- and shook-factory em- 
ploying thirty men, and when the concern burned in 1871 
started another one east of the village. In 1878 they re- 
moved the bu.siness to Detroit. 

Elsie village contains now among its business interests 
three general stores, hardware-store, grocery-, drug-, and 
boot-and-shoe stores. 

The Elsie post-ofiBce was established in 1857, and Frank- 
lin Tillotson appointed postma.ster. Mail was received by 
way of the Colony post-ofiice until ihe creation of the Ovid 
post-ofiice. In 1861, J. D. Sickels succeeded Tillottson, 
and gave way in 1866 to Ichabod Chase. J. D. Sickels 
was reappointed in 1867 and retained the office until 1878, 
when E. W. Cobb, the present incumbent, was appointed. 
The office receives now a daily mail by way of Ovid. 

TAVEIIN.S. 

D. B. Fox built Elsie's first tavern in 1859, forty rods 
west of the present tavern, which — the only one now open 
— was erected in 1865 by J. L. Doty, who has been its 
landlord continuously ever since. 

CEMETERY. 
The Elsie cemetery was laid out in 1851. The first per- 
son buried therein was Joshua W. Cobb, the date of whose 
burial was May 4, 1851. 

CUEESE-FACTORY. 
M. S. Doyle purchased in 1875 the cheese-factory estab- 
lished by Sheldon & Eddy, and still carries it on. In 1879 
he manufactured sixty-eight thou.sand seven hundred 



pounds of cheese, in the production of which six hundred 
and eighty-seven thousand pounds 6f milk were used. 

Elsie's first resident physician was one Dr. Taugersen, a 
Texan, who, during a few months' stay in the year 1858, 
divided his time between lecturing on temperance and prac- 
ticing physic. Dr. Leach, of the colony, practiced also 
medicine at Elsie and vicinity at that period, but did not 
take up his residence there until many years later. Dr. E. 
V. Chase, now in practice in Elsie, began his professional 
career in Clinton County at Ovid, in 1857, and removing 
thence in 1860 to Elsie, has practiced continuously at the 
latter place ever since, except for a period of four years 
and seven months passed in the military service. Follow- 
ing is a list of the physicians who appeared at P]l.sie subse- 
quent to Dr. Chase's coming, with date of each arrival and 
departure : 

Dr. Allen, 1861-63. 

De Los Starr,* 1863. 

J. B. Sweatland, 1861-66. 

A. T. Wordcn, 1863-70. 

S. E. Gillam, 1 869-79. 

J. H. Travis,* 1877 

A. M. Lawrcson,* 1878. 

M. L. licach, 1878-79. 

E. B. Taylor, 1878-79. 

CHURCHES IN ELSIE. 
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 
The Elsie Methodist Episcopal class was organized in 
1849, by Elder Noah Fassett, of the Colony, as the East 
Duplain class. The organization was effected in a log 
school-house, one and a half miles south of the site of 
Elsie. In 1851 the place of worship was changed to the 
school-house just west of the Elsie site, and the name of 
the class changed to North Duplain. The organizing 
members of the East Duplain cla.ss were few in number, 
and came to worship from far away ; but they prospered 
in their work, nevertheless, and so firmly established their 
purpose that from 1849 to the present day the class lias 
maintained an active existence and enjoyed regular periodi- 
cal worship. Services were held once in every two weeks 
until 1872 ; since then the service has been weekly. In 
1857 the place of worship was changed again, this time to 
Elsie, and then the class received the name it now bears. 
The erection of a church edifice was commenced in 1860, 
but progress was slow, and it was not until 1864 that the 
building was dedicated. The class is now on the Duplain 
Circuit, in charge of Rev. C. A. Jacokes. The leader is 
Lyman Cobb, and the trustees, J. D. Sickles, Alfred Lin- 
man, Lyman Cobb, John Curtis, Hiram Curtis, J. W. 
Curtis, and Liberty Carter. Alfred Linman is superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school, which has one hundred and 
thirty scholars and twelve teachers. 

FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH. 
This church was formed in 1851, by Elder Chauncey 
Reynolds, in the school-house west of the Elsie site. The 
organizing members were five in number, — George W. 

* In practice at Elsie at present. 



432 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Lewis, Samantha Lewis, Seth Richards, Mary Ann Rich- 
ards, and Moses Woull. Elder Reynolds eanie from Lyons 
to preach for the church, and for about a year held services 
once each fortnight. After tliat George W. Lewis, the 
first cliurch clerk, was ordained, and with Elders Parchal 
and Ross served the church until 1864. Then Elder Ira 
Allen took charge, and to the present time he has continued 
uninterruptedly to be the pastor. In 1865 the society's 
new church edifice was dedicated. Rev. William R. Norton, 
of Bath, preaching the dedication sermon. To the time of 
the completion of the church services were held at the 
school-house and the Methodist Episcopal church. The 
organization is now in a prosperous condition, and enjoys 
the support of a numerous congregation. 

PROTESTANT METHODIST CHURCH. 
The Elsie Protestant Methodist class was organized in 
the Baptist church by P. M. Rowell in 1870, and began 
straightway to increase in strength. A church edifice was 
built in 1875, but after that the church began to decline 
by reason of being set off into the Western Conference as 
the only church in the Conference, and inability to support 
a pastor unaided led to the practical dissolution of the or- 
ganization in 1S7S, although the society has yet a legal 
existence. The organizing members of the church were 
George W. Gillam and wife, Mrs. Icliabod Chase, H. E. 
Smith and wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Chase, T. C. Chase and 
wife. 

SOCIETIES AND ORDERS. 
MAPLE RIVER LODGE, No. 76, I. 0. 0. F. 

This lodge was organized at the Colony Jan. 16, 1856, 
and removed not long afterwards to Elsie. The charter 
members were B. W. Oarling, C. D. Searl, Alraon Brown, 
Henry Stebbins, William Oaks. At the first meeting after 
charter, held Feb. 15, 1856, E. S. Hamilton, Oscar Darling, 
W. H. Turk, Jcdediah Owens, and Edward Paine were re- 
ceived into membership. On the same night William Oaks 
was installed as N. G. ; Almon Brown, V. G. ; Chauncey 
D. Suarl, Secretary ; B. W. Darling, Treasurer ; and Jede- 
diah Owens, Warden. The lodge is exceedingly prosperous, 
with an active membership of ninety, and owns a lodge- 
room at Elsie. It has during its existence supplied organ- 
izing members for lodges at St. Johns, Ovid, Mungerville, 
Greenbush, and Chapin, in Saginaw County. The roll of 
officials is now C. Loyens, N. G. ; R. G. Van Deusen, 
V. G. ; George W. Davis, F. S.'; George Craddock. R. S. ; 
William W. Wooll, Treasurer. 

ELSIE LODdE, No. 2.'!8, F. AND A. M. 

The first recorded meeting of this lodge is under date 
of Nov. 6, 1867, when the organization was efi'ected. A 
charter was issued Jan. 9, 1868, to T. W. Lusk, E. V. 
Chase, W. A. Linman, L. D. Lusk, G. W. Gillam, G. W. 
Bates, A. D. Linman, G. C. Bell, and lehabod Chase. The 
first list of officials recorded, Nov. 6, 1867, was T. W. 
Lusk, W. M. ; E. V. Chase, S. W. ; (}. W. Gillam, J. W. ; 
W. A. Linman, Secretary ; L. D. Lusk, Treasurer; G. W. 
Bates, S. D. ; A. D. Linman, J. D. ; George C. Bell, Tiler. 
Since 1868 the lodge has received seventy-eight members, 
of whom fifty-five remain. The officers for 1880 are M. 



S. Doyle, W. M. ; T. W. Snelling, S. W. ; M. W. Dun- 
ham, J. W. ; L. F. Randolph, Secretary ; C. Powers, Treas- 
urer; J. C. Sickels, S. D. ; L. G. Bates, J. D.; L Eddy, 
Tiler. 

ELSIE LODGE, No. 926, I. 0. G. T. 

This lodge of Good Templars was chartered Dec. 23, 
1875, with thirty members, R. G. Van Dusen being W. 

C. T. and Ellen Austin W. V. T. The membership is 
now forty, and the officers as follows : Alice L. Sickels, 
W. C. T. ; Jasper Blayney, W. V. T. ; Marian Tillottson, 
W. S.; Irwin Wooll, W. T. : Orrin Dunham, W. F. S. ; 
Mrs. C. L. Chase, W. Chaplain ; Harry Sexton, W. M. 

GOOD INTENT REBEKAH LODGE, No. U. 

The Rebekah lodge was chartered Feb. 22, 1879, to 
Henry E. Smith, J L. Le Beau, D. A. Maynard, I. Chase, 
Levi Hicks, William Wooll, C. D. Searl, Z. A. Ford, J. T. 
Huston, Henry Wooll, Mary A. Smith, Elvira T. Le Blanc, 
Annie S. Maynard, Margaret B. Chase, I. C. Hicks, Ros- 
anna Wooll, Harriet Searl, Mary J. Ford, C. E. Huston, 
Vienna Wooll. The membership is twenty, and the official 
list, F]leanor Bennett, N. G. ; R. G. Van Deusen, Sec. ; 
George Davis, F. S. ; Sarah Linman, Trcas. ; J. B. Moore, 

D. D. G. M. 

ERIE GRANGE, No. 202, P. OF H. 

This grange, organized in the Baptist church Jan. 20, 
1874, with a membership of thirty-four, and chartered 
Aug. 1, 1875, has now ninety paying members, and meets 
every Monday night in the Odd-Fellows' Hall. The first 
list of officers included T. W. Lusk, M. ; W. T. Tillottson, 
O. ; W. A. Linman, Sec. ; W. W. Wooley, Treas. Since 
the organization the Masters have been T. VV. Lusk, W. T. 
Tillottson, M. W. Dunham, R. G. Van Deusen, W. A. Lin- 
man, and W. T. Tillottson (second term). The officers 
chosen ill 1880 were W. T. Tillottson, M. ; William War- 
ner, 0.; Abrain Sebring, L. ; Irwin 0. Wooll, Sec; J. 
J. Miller, Treas.; J. 0. Wool, Chaplain. 

PREHISTORIC RELICS. 

Prehistoric mounds are stated to have existed in Du- 
plain in considerable numbers, and the claim is still urged 
that marks of the presence thereof may yet be seen. Sec- 
tion 32 is said to contain the sit« of what was probably 
the largest mound in this portion of the country. It is on 
the farm of Edward Paine, and despite the fact that it has 
been plowed over year after year, there yet remain traces 
of it, although they are vague. It is thought to have been 
forty feet in lengtl^ extending east and west, and about five 
feet high, while upon its side grew an oak-tree fourteen 
inches in diameter. Three skulls and a number of bones 
were excavated at a comparatively recent date, and it is 
further alleged that later investigations revealed what 
might have been a fireplace some distance below the sur- 
face, in the southwest part of the mound. Southwest of 
the spot iiieiitioiied were several smaller mounds, and a 
short distance towards the northwest were two others, the 
larger of which was four feet high and twenty-five feet 
wide at the base. 





O-J-/-^ 



E. V. Chase, of Elsie, Clinton Co., Mich., was 
boni in tlie township of Gustavus, Trumbull Co., 
Ohio, Sept. 16, 183.3. His parents were poor, and 
had a hard struggle to support their family. His 
father was a millwright, and would have educated 
the son to the same trade, but for an accident which 
nearly crippled iiim ibr life. This determined the 
father to put his son at school that he might lay the 
foundation for a profession. Mr. Chase taught school 
as soon as he was competent, and thus assisted him- 
self until he had acquired not only an academical 
l)ut also a professional education. He read medicine 
three years with Dr. G. W. Willey, of Spencer, Ohio; 
attended lectures in Michigan University ; and in the 
spring of 1857 settled in the small village of Ovid, 
Clinton Co., on the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad. 
He married, in the fall of 1857, Miss Emily Wilkin- 
son, an estimable young lady, to whom his success 
may, in a measure, be attributed. In the spring of 
1860 he removed to the village of Elsie, where he 
resided until the commencement of the civil war. 
He enlisted as a private in the First Michigan Cav- 



alry, was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, 
and at the close of the war went with the regiment 
across the Plains to Salt Lake City, Utah. In the 
spring of 1866 he was mustered out of the service, 
and returned to Elsie, where he has since resided, in 
the active discharge of his professional duties. He 
has been six years supervisor of the township in 
which his village is located. In the fall of 1876 
he was elected representative to the State Legislature, 
by the Republican party, from the first district, — 
Clinton County. So well did he serve his constitu- 
ents that he was re-elected in 1879. He served upon 
several committees, among them tiiat on iusane 
a.sylums, in which he held the office of chairman. 
His duties necessarily called him away much of the 
time from the representative halls, but when present 
he was arduously engaged in duties which rank him 
among the foremost, always striking at the heart 
of any measure to which he was opposed sharp and 
ctfectual blows, that produce more effect than the bold 
speculations and fantastical theories which, to a cer- 
tain extent, characterize many of the representatives. 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



433 



Upon the eastern portion of the east half of the southwest 
quarter of section 33 are traces of a group of mounds, the 
largest of which was probably twenty-five feet long, twenty 
feet wide, and three feet in height. Rows of other and 
smaller mounds appear to have joined the base of this large 
mound, and south of the latter was a clearly-defined oblong 
mound two and a half feet high, twenty-two feet long be- 
tween east and west, and fourteen feet in width between 
north and south. Southwest of the principal mound about 
twenty feet is another pretty clearly marked one, three feet 
high, twenty-five feet long, and fifteen feet wide. Near at 
hand is a circular mound about twenty feet through, from 
which human bones have been unearthed. Recent excava- 
tions in these mounds have brought to light human skele- 
tons as well as miscellaneous bones, and in one of them 



evidences pointed to the existence, at one time, of altar-fires 
and possibly human sacrifices thereon. 

On the northeast quarter of the southeast quarter of sec- 
tion 33 were a number of small mounds, of which there is 
now no trace. Upon the farm of H. B. Smith, on the 
southeast quarter of section 27, is shown the site of a now 
obliterated large mound. Where it once stood two peach- 
trees now grow. Blr. Smith recollects that the mound was 
more than thirty feet in diameter and four feet high ; that 
several second-growth maples adorned its sides, and that 
heavy timber surrounded it. Evidently these mounds 
served as burial-places, since in each have been found 
human bones, but whether the burial-places of Indians or 
members of a prehistoric race, as some snvants claim, is 
simply matter for conjecture. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 





MRS. WILLIAM TILLOTSON. 



WILLIAM TILLOTSON. 



WILLIAM TILLOTSON. 



Leonard Tillotson was born March 15, 1803, at Berk- 
shire, Mass. The family removed to Medina Co., Ohio, 
in 1814. At twenty-three years of age he married Miss 
Mary Thomas, of New Haven, Conn., rearing a family of 
six children. He died at the age of sixty-two. Mrs. Til- 
lotson, at the advanced age of seventy-five, in good health 
and sound mind, resides with a son, William, the subject 
of this sk-ctch, who was born Nov. 23, 1826. In 1852 he 
came to the town of Duplain, and purcliasing eighty acres 
of wild land on section 11, immediately began improving 
it. Sought and found a companion in Miss Mary E. Wooll, 
55 



whose family came, in 1854, to Duplain from Loraine, 
Ohio. They were married September 26th ; pursued their 
improvements, which have resulted in a finely-improved 
farm, and surrounded them with many comforts of life, 
upon which they can look with pride as the results of their 
industry. Surrounded by a large circle of friends, life 
passes pleasantly. Their union has been blessed with four 
children, — Marion, born Sept. 23, 1860; Myra, April 13, 
1864; Hattie, May 6, 1868; Willie, May 6, 1876. Mr. 
and Mrs. Tillotson have long been consistent members of 
the IMethodist Episcopal Church. 



434 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 




CHARLES R. DOTY. 





GEORGE R. DOTY. 



MRS. GEORGE R. DOTY. 



GEORGE R. DOTY. 



Josiali Doty's birth dates back to Nov. 18, 1792. He 
was twice mariied. Oue child was born to the first union. 
The second wife, Chloe (Rash), born March 24, 1793, bore 
him four cliildren, three living to manhood. George R., 
the subject of this sketch, was born Dec. 30, 1821, at 
Seneca, Ontario Co., N. Y. When he was eight years of 
age the family removed to Greece, Monroe Co., N. Y., 
where the parents continued to reside until the death of 
Mrs. Doty, which occurred Sept. 19, 1876. The home 
was then broken up, Mr. Doty thereafter making his home 
with a son residing in Rochester, where he is yet living at 
the advanced age of eighty-eight. 



In the fall of 1844, George R. came to Livingston Co., 
Mich., and the following year. May 20, 1845, married 
Eunice Seeley, bora Dec. 14, 1822. Her father, Seth C. 
Seeley, was a native of Connecticut, born Feb. 22, 1789, and 
was twice married, first to Anna Bradley, by whom he had 
three children ; and the second time to Betsey Green, a 
native of Vermont, born Feb. 18, 1798 ; to this union were 
born five children. The family resided in Monroe Co., 
N. Y., until 1844, when they removed to Ionia Co., Mich, 
Both parents have since passed away. George and Eunice 
were married at her parental home, Ionia County. The day 
following they took their departure for Livingston County 







: ^-vJ.^-j.^tr^^j^v^^---.::-^-.^^--. ^■. ^,- -.^Aj. - 






Farm Property of GEO. R. DOTV, Elsie, Mich. 




Hotel Proper ry of GEO. R DOTY, £, , 



DUPLAIN TOWNSHIP. 



435 



with a single horse and buggy, it sufficing to carry thein 
and their worldly effects. No permaneirt location was made 
by them, but thoy changed their location as his occupation 
of cooper required. In 1853 he received the appointment of 
light-house keeper at Mama Judee, on Detroit River; this 
proved the laying of a foundation for future success. For 
eight years he continued, his wife assuming the duties of 
keeper, he finding employment at the cooper's trade. In 
1861, Mr. Doty moved to Elsie, Clinton Co., and for six 
years followed his trade. Previous to his coming he had 
purchased a hundred acres on section 26, Duplain town- 
ship. The village of Elsie was becoming a place of some 



importance, and Mr. Doty decided upon opening a hotel, 
and accordingly purchased a suitable location, disposed of 
his farm, and on Christmas, 1867, his house was duly 
opened to the public. Success attended him ; the public 
gave him a liberal patronage, and the genial. host and his 
lady are known far and near. In 1877 he purcha.sed 
seventy-seven acres on section 13, upon which a part of the 
village of Elsie is located. In addition to the hotel he also 
conducts the farm. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Doty have been given three children, 
of whom one only is now living, Charlie R., born Dec. 22, 
1863. 






I>V.M.\N COBB. 



AlltS. I, V.MAN' Clllili. 



LYMAN COBB. 



Joshua W. Cobb was a native of Canaan, Conn. When 
of age found his way west to Rochester, N. Y., and helped 
to erect the first bridge across the Genesee River. It was 
commenced in 1812, but not completed until 1814, the west 
side refusing for some time to build their half. He also 
purchased eighty acres of land now lying within the city 
limits. Becoming disheartened on account of the unhealthy 
location he, though having made a partial payment, aban- 
doned the place, pushing on west to Sheldon, Wyoming 
Co. ; purchased eighty acres, which he afterwards sold, and 
removed to Niagara County ; remained there a short time, 
then returned to Bennington, Wyoming Co., where he re- 
sided for a period of twenty years. He then removed to 
Duplain, Clinton Co , and purchased forty acres on section 11, 
where he resided until his death, which occurred in May, 
1852, his being the first burial in the cemetery at Elsie. 
Mr. Cobb was married quite early in life to Miss Susanna 
Doty, and raised a family of nine children. At present all 
are living, except one, a son, who died at Bowling Green, 
Ky., while in the army. Mrs. Cobb is still living, at the 
advanced age of eighty-eight, making her home among the 
children, where she is ever made welcome. 

Lyman Cobb was the sixth in the fiimily, and born Aug. 
14, 1826, at Bennington, N. 1'^. ; came West with the 



family in 1844, and when of age purcha.sed eighty acres 
on section 13, Duplain township, from an elder brother 
residing in Oakland County, giving in payment two years' 
labor. Payment being made, he returned and began the 
improvements by which he has succeeded in making one of 
the finest farms in that locality. For several years he la- 
bored single-handed and alone, but his better judgment 
finally prevailed, and on April 20, 1853, he led to the hy- 
meneal altar Su.san, daughter of Oliver and Sally Hicks, 
natives of Wayne Co., N. Y. ; they removed to Cuyahoga Co., 
Ohio, where they resided nearly twenty years, and in 1852 
removed to Elsie. Both have since passed away. Oliver 
Hicks served during the war of 1812. The family consisted 
of eleven children, seven living to maturity, Mrs. Cobb being 
the tenth in number. Mr. Lyman Cobb united with the 
church while yet a youth, and Mrs. Cobb soon after their 
marriage. Both have been prominently identified with the 
erection of the church building, and with the growth and 
prosperity of the society. 

To Mr. and 5Irs. Cobb have been born six children, — 
George W., Jan. 18, 1854; Susie M. (now Mrs. Davis), 
born Sept. 16, 1856; Samuel R., July 3, 1859; Henry 
P., Jan. 11, 1863; Dellie L., May 29, 1870; and Judson 
L., born Feb. 24, 1875. 



436 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



COMFORT RANNEY. 

The grandparent of Comfort Ranney was a native of 
Connecticut ; emigrated to Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, and pur- 
chased eighty acres of land at government prices, of which 
the public park in the city of Cleveland is now a part. He 
engaged in ship-building, putting afloat the first boats of con- 
siderable tonnage built at that place. A few years later he 
sold his land at a slight advance upon the price he paid, 
closed out his business, and removed to Summit County, 




COMFORT RANNEY. 

Ohio, where he passed the remainder of his life, his death 
occurring in 1834. Luther B., a son, was born at Hudson, 
Summit Co., Ohio, Nov. 29, 1809. Farming seems to have 
particular fascination for him, — almost inherent,^ — as he has 
continued at that occupation, and now at the advanced age of 
seventy-one manages a large farm, leading in many of the 
arduous physical duties required in that calling. Comfort, 
the subject of this sketch, was born in Boston, Summit 
Co., Ohio, on Feb. 7, 1838. He, in company with Leach, 
Sheldon, and Clark, came to Clinton County and purchased 
a large tract of land, erected a steam-mill, and engaged 
quite extensively in the manufacturing of lumber. Also 
Ranney, Leach, and Berry in 1879 erected a large custom 
flouring-mill at Bath, which they are still operating. Since 
1874 Mr. Ranney has had the management of the lumber and 
mill interests. But on the death of his brother-in-law (Mr. 
Leach) he leased the mills and returned to their farm in 
Clinton County, and intends to devote his time to the im- 
provement of his farm and rearing of fine stock, in which 
he has always taken great pride. Dec. 18, 1868, Mr. 
Ranney united in marriage with Miss Mary M. Hesser, of 
Nevada, Wyandot Co., Ohio. They are the parents of four 
children, — Luther B., Sadie M., Luella, and James. 



WILLIS LEACH. 

Willis Leach was born May 23, 1831, in Summit Co., 
Ohio, where his parents had located in an early day in the 
settlement of that county. When twenty-three years of age 



he married Miss Mary Ranney, with whom he lived six 
years, when death's summons came to her, leaving a family 
of four children, — Willie E., Luther J., Burritt E., and 
Mary J. Again, on July 16, 1861, he married Sophia Ran- 
ney, a sister of his first wife. By his second wife he had 
eight children, — Cora A., Melvin C, Sallie P., Floyd, Leon 
B., Morris K., Lucetta L., Nora W. 

In January, 1865, he moved to Duplain, Clinton Co., 
and, in company with D. F. Sheldon, 0. A. Clark, and C. 
Ranney, purchased two hundred acres of timbered land and 




WILLIS LEACII. 

erected a steam saw-mill, which was successfully operated 
for three years. In 1868, Sheldon, Ranney, and Leach 
purchased several hundred acres of wild lands in the south 
part of Saginaw and Gratiot Counties, to which they re- 
moved their mill. The following year, 1869, Leach and 
Ranney purchased the interest of Sheldon. From the date 
of Leach and Ranney 's purchase to January, 1872, the 
mill property and lumber was three times destroyed by fire, 
and still they prosecuted the work with a will and energy 
worthy of success. Mr. Leach's health being somewhat 
impaired, he determined upon removing to the first purchase 
to recuperate, and for the better advantages of schooling his 
children. He continued in failing health until March 2, 
1880, when death's summons came, regretted by all with 
whom he had been associated. 



CHAPTER LVIL 
EAGLE TOWNSHIP.* 

Location and Natural Features — Settlements and Early Incidents — 
Schools — Churches — List of Township Officers — Eagle Village. 

Eagle is the southwestern township of Clinton County, 
designated in the United States survey as township 5 north, 
of range 4 west. The surface, generally undulating, be- 



* By G. A. McAlpine. 



EAGLE TOWNSHIP. 



437 



comes hilly and terminates in places in abrupt bluffs near 
the Grand River. The banks of the Looking-Glass are 
less precipitous, and the northern part of the township is 
more level. Along the Grand River the timber is niiiinly 
oak and the soil is somewhat sandy in certain sections. 
The timber along the Looking-Glass is basswood, beech, 
and maple, and the soil is heavier. By these streams and 
many rivulets the township is well watered and drained. 
In agriculture this township ranks among the most produc- 
tive in the county. 

It was observed at an early day, by Marshal Meade and 
Mr. Townsend, who owned land between the rivers (which, 
on sections 16, 17, and 21, approach by abrupt curves 
within less than two miles), that, while the distance to 
Portland by the almost direct course of the Looking-Glass 
was less than ten miles, and the distance to the same village 
by the course of the Grand River was reported to be nearly 
forty miles, the fall of the two streams appeared to be, on 
an average, nearly equal. This fact led to the conclusion 
that there was considerable difference in their respective 
levels in Eagle. Mr. Townsend accordingly employed 
John Mullet, a competent surveyor, to run a line between 
the rivers on the sections above referred to, in which 
work he was assisted by Alexander Chapel, Ezekiel Miles, 
and Lewis Miles. This survey demonstrated that there was 
a fall of more than twenty-one feet from the surface of the 
Grand River to that of the Looking-Glass. The ground 
between them was favorable to ditching, and in no place 
was a deep cut necessary except through the narrow rise on 
the shore of the Grand River, and even here it did not 
offer any serious obstacle to the plan of uniting them by 
this moans. Jlr. Townsend expected in this way to secure 
one of the most extensive water-powers in the State. His 
death, however, terminated this splendid enterprise, and 
the immense power up to this time is undeveloped. 

Until March 15, 1841, town 5 north, range 4 west, was 
included in the township of Watertown. On the previous 
year Jared Higbee had circulated a petition which was 
signed by the voters of said town, asking the Legislature 
that it be set off as a separate and distinct township. In 
compliance with this petition the township of Eagle was 
formed, and although the name does not apply to town 5 
north, range 4 west, previous to the date given above, in 
order to prevent confusion it will be necessary in these 
pages to use it in connection with the first settlement of the 
township. 

In 1831 three steamboats — the " Superior," the " Henry 
Clay," and the " Robert Fulton" — plied the waters between 
Buffalo and Detroit. Among the many pas.sengers of the 
last-named vessel on its trip westward in the month of Juno 
of that year, were the families of Anthony Niles and Ste- 
phen B. Groger, from Genesee Co., N. Y. Scattered here 
and there about the boat were litUe groups of men, women, 
and children, surrounded with boxes of goods, bundles of 
bedding, clothes, barrels, cooking-utensils, and everything, 
from an ox-cart to a fire-shovel, that could be of use on the 
frontier. A variety of resources indicated in this instance 
at least unity of purpose; and it is probable that nearly 
all were actuated by the same motives, and had the same 
end in view. 



Some were there who were more wealthy and some pos- 
sibly who were poorer in this world's goods than those men 
whose names we have given, but few could compare at all 
with either of them in physical power. It is said Anthony 
Niles never met his equal with an axe, and few men were 
found able to stand under a load which Stephen B. Groger 
could carry. These men and their families were the first 
settlers of Eagle. Upon reaching Detroit they employed 
two men with teams to bring them and their families to 
Troy, Oakland Co. The next year Anthony Niles, Daniel 
Clark, and Austin Wood followed an Indian trail from 
Pontiac to an Indian village, which occupied the site upon 
which Portland now stands. They were favorably impressed 
with the country along the route, but did not at this time 
select any particular locality as a future home. 

In the month of February, 1834, Anthony Niles and 
Stephen B. Groger with their families set out from Troy 
westward, but, as subsequent events proved, without any 
definite purpose as to where to locate. In the township of 
De Witt, the teams which had been secured to bring their 
families and goods were mired, the horses being " all down 
at the same time." The women, children, and goods were 
carried through the deep mud and water several rods to 
higher ground, the horses after much trouble were finally 
extricated, and by means of ropes the wagons were drawn 
across the marsh, and after an infinite number of trying 
and tedious delays the party reached the cabin of Capt. 
Scott, who had come to De Witt the fall previous. 

Here we must again introduce the name of Daniel Clark, 
and his companions Heman Thomas and John Benson, 
who also required shelter under the roof of the hospitable 
but rough and eccentric captain. As these parties were all 
bound westward, in the direction pursued previously by 
Clark and Niles, down the Looking-Glass River, it was 
decided to build boats and a raft to assist in the expedition. 

The men of the party at once began their construction, 
and after several days' diligent work completed two boats 
and a raft. The boats, commonly known as dugouts, were 
each made from a whitewood log, and were about eighteen 
feet long and two and a half feet wide. They were lashed 
together, the goods were loaded on the raft, which was a 
huge, unmanageable concern, and the trip down stream 
commenced. It was not all smooth sailing, however. After 
proceeding about six miles the raft struck a snag, and all 
efforts to free it proved futile. Clark and his companions 
went ashore in the boats and camped to await the arrival 
of Anthony Niles and Stephen Groger, who, with their 
families and one yoke of oxen, were trying to make a way 
through the wilderness, and who did not make their appear- 
ance until evening. The next morning (the water having 
risen somewhat during the night) the raft was freed, the- 
families carried across the river in the boats, and the jour- 
ney resumed. 

In the afternoon a landing was made on the south shore 
of the river, on the southwest quarter of section 14, town 
5 north, range 4 west. The next morning the goods were 
transferred from the raft to the boats and it was abandoned. 
They then continued their way down the river, and finally 
reached the Indian village (already alluded to) on the pres- 
ent site of Portland. On the way one of the overloaded 



438 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



boats nearly capsized. It righted, however, with no more 
serious loss than that of a coop of fowls and the free appli- 
cation of cold water to some of the passengers. 

When Anthony Niles reached the vicinity where the 
goods were transferred he pitched a large tent, which he 
had brought with him, on section 23. On the next day 
he was delayed to search for one of his cows, which had 
strayed away, and did not continue his journey until the 
afternoon. An entire life is sometimes modified by a little 
incident of no apparent importance in itself, and in this 
instance it is probable that had it not been for his long and 
tedious search the fine forests and streams of Eagle would 
not have been fully appreciated. As it was, Mr. Niles fol- 
lowed his companions to the Indian village, but after living 
two weeks in a wigwam he declared he had found no place 
that suited him so well as the land by the little stream 
where he had camped and lost his cow. The whole party 
at last returned. Its members took minutes of the several 
parcels of land which each wished to enter, and Daniel 
Clark and Heman Thomas set off on foot for the land- 
ofiice at White Pigeon, to enter land for themselves and 
for Anthony Niles, Stephen B. Groger, and John Benson. 
All chose land on section 23. Daniel Clark entered the 
east half of the northeast quarter. Heman Thomas entered 
forty acres for himself and forty for John Benson, on the 
southeast quarter. Stephen B. Groger took the west half 
of the southwest quarter, and Anthony Niles chose the west 
half of the northeast quarter. 

Anthony Niles and Stephen B. Groger must be considered 
the first settlers in the township of Eagle, as the other 
members of the party, after entering their land, did not re- 
tuan to the township till in the summer and fall following. 
Anthony Niles built the first cabin in the township, and 
for this purpose his son Ezekiel, who had accompanied 
him in all his wanderings, chopped down the first tree 
probably that was felled in the township about the 1st day 
of March, 1834:. This cabin stood near where Mr. Niles 
pitched his tent when he first came to Eagle on his way to 
Portland, and the site is now nearly marked by the east 
barn, which he built many years after. He also prepared 
and planted a piece to corn and potatoes, but the crop was 
very light. 

Stephen B. Groger built the second cabin in the town- 
ship, and planted the second piece to corn and potatoes. 
He worked for Capt. Scott, in De Witt, at odd intervals 
for a number of years. It is said that at one time after 
working all day he walked home, carrying one hundred 
pounds of flour, a quarter of a deer, and several other 
articles for the use of his family. 

In October, 1834, Susan M. Groger was born. This 
was the first birth in Clinton County. Stephen B. Groger 
died in 1878. Until recently his wife occupied the old 
home. 

John Benson and Heman Thomas were the next to set- 
tle permanently in Eagle. They immediately built cabins 
on the land entered the spring previous. Mr. Benson sub- 
sequently moved to Iowa, where he died. His son Edwin 
was the second child born in Eagle, and the first male child 
born in Clinton County. He enlisted and died in the late 
war. Heman Thomas and wife still live in the township. 



They probably alone are left, the only couple who came to 
Clinton County in the fall of 1834. Their son, 6. W. 
Thomas, who was a lad at the time of their settlement, also 
lives in Eagle. 

After entering his land, in the spring of 1834, Daniel 
Clark returned to Eagle accompanied by David Clark, his 
brother. They felled the timber on about five acres, and 
then returned to Poutiae, Oakland Co., to which place 
Jonas Clark had brought his family in 1833. In the fall 
of 1834, Daniel Clark and his brother Henry came to 
Eagle and cleared and sowed the field to wheat which had 
been partially prepared the previous spring. Henry Clark 
moved to Ingham County, where he still lives one of its 
oldest pioneers. Jonas Clark brought his family to Eagle 
in the fall of 1835. David Clark, his son, one of the oldest 
and most respected citizens, now occupies the old home- 
stead. 

In the fall of 1834, Anthony Niles built a log house, 
which was twenty-eight by thirty feet. Houses have histories 
as well as men sometimes. In this rude log structure was 
organized the first church society in Eagle ; and a little 
later, when the settlement of the surrounding country was 
an assured fact, and the youth with their sweethearts were 
wont to assemble for a " social dance," its rough floors were 
the smoothest to be found. Beside its great fireplace, 
heaped with logs, William Cryderman wooed and won the 
fair Alvira, daughter of Anthony Niles, and their nuptials, 
the first in the township, were celebrated in it in 1837. 
Travelers, few or many, always found ample cheer and 
shelter beneath its basswood roof. 

The settlement of Eagle was gradual, until the rush of 
immigration in 1836. In 1835, however, several settlers 
came in, who, in addition to the family of Jonas Clark (al- 
ready mentioned), deserve notice. Oliver Rowland and his 
son Henry entered land on section 13. The latter is still 
a resident of the township. John B. Shear settled on sec- 
tion 26, where he still lives. In 1836 the first frame build- 
ing in Eagle was erected. It was a barn, and was built for 
Jesse Monroe by Anthony Niles and his son Ezekiel. 
The lumber used in its construction was hauled from Port- 
land, where a saw-mill had just been completed. Mr. Mon- 
roe had recently entered one hundred and sixty acres on 
section 7. 

About the same time a saw-mill was built by Peter 
Kent, for Philo Beers, on section 14. It was the first in 
Eagle, and did valuable service for several years. The re- 
mains of the dam built across the little stream are yet 
plainly visible. 

Mr. Beers also opened the first blacksmith-shop. It 
stood by the quarter post on the south line of section 14. 
The settlers came with work from all quarters, and often 
from four o'clock in the morning until late at night was he 
kept steadily at the anvil. 

Before coming to Michigan, Mr. Beers had been a man 
of considerable competence, but through an unfortunate 
business connection with the great showman, Barnum, he 
was financially ruined. He sought the woods of Michigan, 
and, like so many others, retrieved his broken fortune. 

Lazarus Doty came to Eagle, and entered a large tract of 
land for his three sons, — Oliver, Philo, and Charles. The 



§ 
hi 
c> 

<?) 

I>1 



Ct3 










EAGLE TOWNSHIP. 



439 



three are residents of the township, and still occupy the 
land entered for them by their father. Oliver is on section 
26, Philo is on 14, and Charles on 34. The family has 
been one of the most substantial and enterprising in the 
township. 

The second saw-mill wm built by Henry Gibbs, Jr., for 
Philo Doty, on section 14. 

Henry Gibbs settled the farm upon which Isaac Brown 
now lives. Morris Allen settled on the west half of the 
northwest quarter of section 23. He has since moved to 
Iowa. His father, Neheniiah Allen, died in January, 1837. 
This was the first death in Eagle. He was buried near the 
north bank of the river, on section 15, on land which was 
entered by Joseph Eddy in the spring of 183G. Mr. 
Eddy and his wife were both subsequently interred here. 
This was the first burial-place in the township. The land 
is now occupied by Christopher C. Tallman. Jacob De 
Witt settled on the east half of the southeast quarter of 
section 15 in 1836, and remained there until his death. 
The place is now occupied by his son-in-law, William 
Sutherland. 

In the same year Valentine Cryderman came from Canada 
and located the east half of the northeast fractional quarter 
of section 13. He subsequently sold his land and returned 
to Canada. His daughter Sarah and Ezekiel Niles were 
married in 1841. At the marriage of his son William and 
Miss Alvira Niles, in the fall of 1837, David A. Simmons, 
who had recently come to the township and settled on sec- 
tion 9, ofiiciated. The land entered by Mr. Simmons is 
now occupied by Hiram Briggs, who came in at the same 
time. 

In 1837, Josiah Hogle entered the west half of the north- 
west quarter of section 13. The same year Isaac Phillips 
settled on the east half of the southwest quarter of section 
10. This place is now occupied by his son, Joseph Phillips, 
whose elder brothers, Orin and Perry, are also old settlers 
of Eagle. 

Jeremiah, Stephen, and Abraham Eddy, sons of Joseph 
Eddy, who settled on section 15, entered land in the town- 
ship in an early day. Jeremiah built a tavern, which still 
bears the name Western Grand River House. He sold it 
to Isaac Pennington, who came in an early day and settled 
on the southeast quarter of section 10. His eldest son, 
Josiah Pennington, at that time a young man, now occupies 
the old liome. His daughter Lucinda married S. M. 
Howard, who is also an early settler. 

Ja.son Macomber entered the west half of the southeast 
quarter of section 4. It was subsequently purchased by 
Stephen Eddy. Abraham Eddy settled the northeast quar- 
ter of .section 22. Luther settled on the west half of the 
northeast quarter of section 1). His son, Jefierson E. Eddy, 
now lives on section 4. Joseph Eddy, Jr., who married 
Mi.ss Almeda Hill, lives on the west half of the northwest 
quarter of section 15. Her father settled on section 26 
and opened a blacksmith-shop. The north half of the 
southwest quarter of section 15, now occupied by Joseph 
Iliuman, was entered by his father in an early day. 

Fletcher Jenison came to Eagle with his son, W. F. 
Jenison, and was appointed the first postmaster in the town- 
ship in 1841. A mail-route was established from Ann 



Arbor to Ionia, and the mail was first carried, on horseback, 
by a man named in Ingersoll. 

The names of Palmer Partelo and H. Lyon should not 
be omitted. The former settled on the southwest quarter 
of section 22. H. Lyon settled on the west half of the 
southwest quarter of section 8, where he still resides. Wil- 
liam R. HoWe occupies land settled by his father. 

The names, also, of some of the early settlers which we 
have omitted will be given in the following list, taken from 
the assessment-roll of 1841. 

Acres. 

George J. Vhiney, section 1 80 

David McClansey, section 1 40 

Orange Eddy, section 2 40 

Jason Macomber, section 4 160 

Peter Carrow, section 6 140 

Jesse Munroe, section 7 160 

Tliram C. Briggs, section S 72 

David A.Simmons, section i) 197 

Richard Lewis, section 9 40 

I.^a.ae Phillips, section 10 74 

Jeremiah Eddy, section 10 78 

Nathaniel D. Macomber, section 10 80 

David F. Burgess, section 11 80 

Jared Higbee, section 11 160 

Henry Rowland, section 13 155 

Olivei^owland, section 13 182 

Philo Beers, section 14 103 

Philo Doty, section 14 126 

Joseph Eddy, sections 14, 15 385 

Jacob Dewitt, section 15 80 

Hiram C. Briggs, section 18 147 

Nathan Stevens, section 21 40 

.lohn G. Harrington, section 22 15 

Abram Eddy, section 22 145 

W. F. Jenison, section 22 240 

Stephen B. Groger, section 22 120 

Heman Thomas, section 23 SO 

John Benson, section 23 40 

Daniel Clark, section 23 80 

Anthony Niles, section 23 120 

Philo Doty, section 23 80 

Ezekiel Niles, section 23 80 

David Clark, section 24 -. 40 

Andrew Shadiluck, section 24 40 

Henry Gilibs, section 25 80 

Henry Gibbs, Jr., section 25 80 

Chester Brown, section 25 160 

Calvin Barber, section 25 SO 

Oliver Doty, sections 25, 26 240 

John B. Siiear, section 26 40 

George AV, Jones, section 31 80 

Joab Dobbins, section 32 40 

Charles Jones, section 32 20 

Oliver Doty, section 36 80 

Miles Mansfield, section 3G Ifilt 

SCHOOLS. 

Up to the summer of 1837 there had been no school 
taught in Eagle. In the spring of that year an informal 
meeting was called at the house of Anthony Niles, and it 
was resolved to build a log school-house and have a school. 
At the appointed time, accordingly, the men assembled, and, 
though few in numbers, strong in purpose, they took hold 
of the logs with hearty good will, and soon a commodious 
cabin stood ready for use on the east side of the quarter- 
line on section 23, nearly oppo.site the site of the brick resi- 
dence of G. W. Thomas. The benches were made of slabs, 
and the teacher's desk was a board resting upon two pins 
driven into the wall. The fireplace, such as was common 
in those days, was made of slicks lined with stones and 
mud. Mrs. Alice Allen, whose husband had died in the 
previous winter, taught the first school. The following are 
the names of some of the scholars : Fannie, Olarinda, and 
Charles Groger, Royal and Marian Benson, Emily, Julia, 
and Angeline Niles, and Phoebe Beers. 

In the winter of 1837-38, W. F. Jenison taught four 



440 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



months. He was the first male teacher in the township. 
The next summer Mrs. Amanda Blaisdale, usually known 
as Aunt Amanda, taught. She was subsequently married 
to Chester Brown. During the summer of 1839 the school- 
house known for many years as the lied School-House was 
built. It took its name from a liberal coat of red paint 
which it received when completed. It was the first frame 
school-house in the township, and said to be the first in 
Clinton County. It stood near the residence of Heman 
Thomas, on section 23. The first school in this building 
was taught by W. F. Jenison. It was composed of chil- 
dren from Watertowu, some from the Canada settlement in 
Eaton County, and some from Delta. 

The next school-house was built on the southwest quarter 
of section 32. Previous to the organization of the town- 
ship of Eagle its territory had been separated into school 
districts, but none were organized except district No. 1 and 
districts Nos. 2 and 5. 

At the first meeting of the school board of Eagle, on the 
1st of April, 1841, these districts were rearranged, as fol- 
lows : District No. 1 comprised sections 22, 23,25, 2G, 27, 
34, 35, 36, and all of 24, except a part of the northeast 
quarter. Fractional districts 2 and 5 included sections 28, 
29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 in Eagle, and the north half of 4, 
5, and 6 in Oneida. No other districts were formed until 
Feb. 4, 1843, at which time the board set off 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
9, 17, and 18 as district No. 3 ; but this act became null 
and void through the failure of its oflicers to qualify and 
serve. This territory was set oif on the 7th day of May, 
1845, and numbered 4. In the mean time (on April 5, 
1844") school district No. 3 was formed of the remaining 
sections in the northeast part of the township. In the re- 
port of this year, for the first time, three schools are repre- 
sented. The school fund disbursed among them was thirty 
dollars and eighty cents, of which district No. 1 received 
fourteen dollars and eighty-four cents, districts Nos. 2 and 
5 received six dollars and sixteen cents, while No. 4 re- 
ceived nine dollars and eighty cents. The number of chil- 
dren enrolled in each district was fifty-three, twenty-two, 
and thirty-five, respectively. 

At the meeting of the school board, for the purpose of ex- 
amining applicants to teach, Aug. 23, 1845, certificates were 
given to Misses Mary Gooch, Clarinda Groger, Emeline 
Higbee, and Lucinda Barut. On 16th of November fol- 
lowing similar permits were issued to Benjamin C. Mac- 
omber and Silas P. Fish, as teachers for one term of winter 
school each. In 1845 four schools were taught in the town- 
ship, and the amount of money distributed among them was 
forty dollars and sixty cents : 

District. Scholars. Amount. 

No. 1 50 $U.U:i 

Nos. 2 and a 2!l 8.65 

No. 3 31 9.26 

No. 4 26 7.76 

School district No. 5 was formed by the school board on 
the 4th day of November, 1848, but in the report of 1849, 
and also of 1850, no returns were made from this district. 

On Sept. 7, 1850, the school board formed districts 6 
and 7. No. 6 did not organize, however. District No. 8 
was first organized on Feb. 27, 1858, and Dec. 24, 1859, 
district No. 9 was set ofi". Fractional district No. 10 was 



formed June 3, 1865. District No. 7 was discontinued 
and included in district No. 1, Dec. 28, 1872. This was 
brought about by the destruction of the school-house in 
that district by fire. 

The aggregate value of school property in the township 
in 1879 was four thousand four hundred and twenty-five 
dollars. The number of scholars enrolled in the township 
was three hundred and forty, and there were sixteen quali- 
fied teachers. 

CHURCHES. 

In the fall of 1835, Rev. Mr. Munett, a Methodist mis- 
sionary, as they were then called, visited the remote settlement 
in Eagle. He followed his circuit, which embraced a great 
extent of country, on foot, carrying a knapsack stored with 
a Bible, a hymn-book, a liberal supply of tracts, and a few 
articles of clothing. With these he went from one settle- 
ment to another, making his rounds about once in five or 
si^ weeks. At the time above stated he came to the log 
house of Anthony Niles, and with his permission announced 
religious exercises for the next Sabbath. These exercises, 
the first of the kind in Eagle, passed off well, and while 
upon that circuit he visited this settlement as regularly as 
po.ssible. 

In the spring of 1837, Rev. Mr. Bennett came to Eagle 
and organized the first church society. It was composed 
of Anthony Niles, John Benson and wife, Heman Thomas, 
and Valentine Cryderman and wife. Mr. Cryderman was 
appointed class-leader. The class prospered for a little 
time, but was at length discontinued. 

In 1840, John Thomas, a representative of the Baptist 
Church, came and held a series of meetings, which resulted 
in the formation of a Baptist Church. When it was or- 
ganized several persons who had previously been members 
of that denomination, reunited with it. The names of 
the persons composing this class were Anthony Niles, John 
Benson and wife, Heman Thomas and wife, John B. Shear 
and wife. Anthony Niles was chosen deacon. About the 
same time the Methodist Church reorganized, with Oliver 
Doty as class-leader. 

The Baptist Church in Eagle was finally disbanded, its 
members uniting with the society in Grand Ledge. 

The Methodist cla.ss has not been discontinued, and was 
really the germ of the one now in existence. The meet- 
ings of this society were held for a number of years in 
the Thomas school, and more recently in the Jenison 
school-house. Its meeting-house was completed in 1876, 
and cost two thousand nine hundred and sixty dollars. It 
was dedicated by Rev. George B. Jocelyn. F. J. Freeman 
is the present pastor. M. R. Hill is class-leader. L. W. 
Hill is superintendent of the Sabbath-school. 

The Free Methodist Church was organized at th6 school- 
house in North Eagle in June, 1876. Tiie church edifice 
of this society was built in 1879, and dedicated by C. W. 
Haines. The present membership is eight. 

LIST OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 
As has been stated, Eagle was set off from Watertown 
March 15, 1841. The act provided that the first town- 
meeting should be at the house of Philo Doty, and it was 
so held in accordance with the provisions of the act. The 



EAGLE TOWNSHIP. 



441 



following-named persons were then to fill the several town- 
ship offices: Supervisor, Jared Higbee ; Clerk, Edward 
W. Higbee ; Treasurer, Henry Rowland ; Assessors, John 
Benson, David A. Simmons, Henry Rowland ; School In- 
spector, Elisha B. Isham ; Collectors, Edward W. Higbee, 
Thomas I. Allen, Nathan Stevens ; Directors of the Poor, 
Henry Rowland, Fletcher Jenison ; Highway Commis- 
sioners, Oliver Doty, Philo Doty, Jared Higbee; Justices 
of the Peace, Oliver Doty, David A. Simmons, Henry 
Rowland ; Constables, Hiram C. Briggs, Nathan Stevens, 
Thomas I. Allen, Frederick M. Groger. 

The list of supervisors, township clerks, treasurers, jus- 
tices of the peace, and school inspectors from 1842 to 1880, 
inclusive, is as follows : 



SUPERVISORS 
1842. Jared Higbee. 
1843-46. William F. Jenison. 
1847-50. David C. Clark. 

1851. Ezckiel Nilcs. 

1852. Ira W. Hill. 
1853-54. Ezekicl Niles. 
1865. James W. McMillan. 
1856-57. Elisha I. Iligbec. 
1858. John C. Scadin. 
1859-60. IJ. H. lieers. 
1861-62. William F. Jenison. 



18G.3-64. Charles M. Dorbyshioe. 
1805-66. William F. Jenison. 
1867-68. Philo Doty. 

1869. Ezckiel Niles. 

1870. David Clark. 
1871-72. Hiram C. lirigg.-. 
1873. George W. McCrumb. 
1874-77. Philo Doty. 

1878. George W. Thomas. 

1879. Philo Doty. 

1880. Henry II. Jenison. 



TOWN 
1842-44. Edward W. Higbee. 
1845-50. Ezekiel Nilcs. 
1851. B. II. Beers. 
1852-54. Elisha I. Higbee. 

1855. Arcbelaus Silsbee. 

1856. Thomas J. Allen. 

1857. G. W. Thomas. 

1858. James W. McMillan. 
1859-60. George W. Thomas. 



CLERKS. 

1861-63. James W. McMillan. 
1864. Henry J. Stark. 
1865-66. James AV. McMillan. 

1867. Sheridan F. Hill. 

1868. Ezekiel Niles. 

1869. Loyal W. Hill. 
187(1-77. Ezekiel Nilcs. 
1878-79. Edward W. Stephenson. 
1880. Eugene Marsh. 



TREASU 
1842. David C. Clark. 
1843-44. Elisha B. Isham. 
1845-47. Cyrus Briggs. 
1848-50. Thomas 1. Allen. 
1851-52. Elisha B. Isham. 
1853-56. Philo Doty. 

1857. Oliver Doty. 

1858. George R. Stark. 
1859-60. Silas P. Fish. 
1861-62. Hirnm C. Briggs. 
1863. John C. Seadin. 



RERS. 

1864. Hiram C. Briggs. 

1865. Silas P. Fish. 

1866. Josiah Monroe. 

1867. David Taylor. 

1868. G. W. McCrumb. 

1869. James J. Kerr. 
1870-71. Joseph Ilinman. 
1872-73. James J. Kerr. 
1874-77. Henry P. Finney. 
1878-79. James F. Baker. 
1880. Joseph Hammon. 





JUSTICES OF 


THE 


PEACE. 


1842. 


Henry Gibbs. 


1857. 


David Taylor. 




Anthony Nilcs. 


1858. 


Neljon M. Stark. 


184.3. 


Jacob I>obinH. 




James W. McMillan 


1844. 


Henry Rowland. 


1859. 


Milton P. Burtch. 


1845. 


Anthony Niles. 


1860. 


Oliver Doty. 


1846. 


Horatio Lyon. 


1861. 


Burtis II. Beers. 


1847. 


Milton P. Burtch. 




David Taylor. 


1848. 


Henry Rowland. 


1862. 


A. .losiah Hogle. 


1849. 


James W. McMillan. 




Horace Brown. 


1850. 


Henry M. Stark. 


1863. 


James W. McMillan 


1851. 


Lewis lS. Niles. 


1864. 


Oliver Doty. 


1852. 


Morton Lyon. 


1865. 


John C. Scadin. 




Benjamin C. Macomtier. 


1866. 


Alan.son J. Hogle. 


1853. 


Jarncs W. McMillan. 




Thomas H. Case. 


1854. 


B. C. Macomber. 


1867. 


Ezekiel Niles. 


1855. 


Oliver Doty. 


1868. 


Oliver Doty. 


1856. 


Horatio Lyon. 


1869. 


James J. Kerr. 


1857. 


Burlis 11. Beers. 




Almond Partelo. 



1870. Thomas H. Case. 

1871. Ezekiel Niles. 

1872. Almond Partelo. 

1873. Almond Partelo. 
Loyal W. Hill. 

1874. Levi Partelo. 
Oliver Doty. 



1875. Ezekiel Nilcs. 

1876. Levi Partelo. 

1877. Thomas H. Case. 

1878. Eugene Marsh. 

1879. George W. Thomas. 

1880. Hiram F. Jones. 



SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



1842. 



1843. 

1844. 

1845. 
1846. 
1847. 
1848. 

1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
1852. 
1853. 
1854. 
1855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 



David Clark. 
Henry Rowland. 
William F. Jenison. 
William F. Jenison. 
Thomas J. Allen. 
William F. Jenison. 
Henry Rowland. 
David Clark. 
Benjamin C. Macomber. 
Silas P. Fish. 
Lewis S. Niles. 
Moore Whitmore. 
B. H. Beers. 
Silas P. Fish. 
William F. Jenison. 
James W. McMillan. 
W. E. Barber. 
William F. Jenison. 
James W. McMillan. 
W. P. Esler. 
Silas P. Fish. 
William F. Jenison. 
Moses Hall. 



1860. William P. Esler. 

1861. Benjamin C. Macomber. 

1862. Perry Shcpard. 

1863. AVilliam F. Jenison. 

1864. Orville Bates. 

1865. Alanson J. Hogle. 

1866. Nathan Stevans. 

1867. Perry Shepard. 

1868. Sheridan F. Hill. 

1869. Perry E. Shepard. 

1870. Loyal W. Hill. 

1871. Horatio Hunter. 

1872. Loyal W. Hill. 
George W. Thomas. 

1873. L. S. Briggs. 

1874. Ezekiel F. Brown. 

1875. George W. Thomas. 

1876. George W. Thomas. 

1877. William S. Tallman. 

1878. Ezekiel F. Brown. 

1879. Jacob Morris. 

1880. A. S. Kerr. 



EAGLE VILLAGE. 

The location and platting of the village of Eagle followed 
the opening of the Ionia and Lansing Railroad. It will 
therefore be proper to preface a sketch of the village by a 
brief history of this thoroughfare in its connection with 
the township. 

While the subject of a railroad through Eagle was being 
agitated a meeting was called by George W. McCrumb at 
Jenison Hall, by request of many prominent citizens desirous 
of expressing their opinion in favor or against the measure. 
At a later meeting a resolution was passed, with but one dis- 
senting vote, oiFering aid to the company, and the township 
officers were subsetjuently authorized to issue bonds against 
the township, bearing ten per cent, interest, for the sum of 
nine thousand five hundred dollars, payable in four equal 
installments, the first of which should become due six 
months alter the completion of the road. The time for the 
first payment on these bonds having expired, at the date 
specified the amount was promptly met. Before the suc- 
ceeding obligations had matured the Supreme Court had 
declared the i-ssuancc of township bonds for. such purposes 
unconstitutional. The bonds had meanwhile been disposed 
of or fallen into the hands of other parties. Action was 
brought against the township, as represented by its super- 
visor, George W. McCrumb, who engaged counsel, and in 
tlio suit which followed was victorious. An appeal was 
taken, however, and ultimately the townshij) was compelled 
to pay principal and interest, amounting in tlie aggregate 
to about twenty thousand dollars. 

The site of the depot liaving been determined, George W. 
McCrumb in 1872 purchased forty acres of land on sec- 
tion 21, of the estate of John H. McCrumb, a part of 
which was formerly owned by Amos Nichols, the remainder 



56 



442 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



being a portion of the Townsend tract. To this Jacob 
Schott added ten acres, the whole of which was phitted as 
the village of Eagle and recorded May 6, 1873. Mr. 
McCrumb may therefore be regarded as the projector of 
the village. He removed from Lorain Co., Ohio, in 1845, 
with his father, William McCrumb, who located upon 
eighty acres on section 17. This land was uncleared on 
their arrival, and a cabin built in the immediate neighbor- 
hood afforded them a home while erecting a log house. The 
father survived his arrival but a year, when George W. 
purchased the estate and remained with the family at the 
homestead until 1859, when he removed to his present 
farm of two hundred and forty acres, to which he later 
added two hundred and sixty acres adjacent to it. Upon 
this land he erected in 1877 his present spacious residence. 
Mr. McCrumb at once built a depot upon his plat, bear- 
ing himself the entire expense of its construction. In the 
same year (1873) Loyal W. Hill removed from the town- 
ship and built a store, in which he placed a general stock 
of goods. This was the beginning of business enterprise 
in the village. He was followed by John Force, who be- 
came the pioneer blacksmith, after which Loyal Hill and 
others erected dwelling-houses and Mr. McCrumb laid the 
foundation for a spacious building, which was later rented 
to Messrs. Cole & Marsh, who opened a general store which 
supplied the wants of the surrounding country. In 1876, 
Messrs. Cole & Fletcher built a store in which was placed 
a stock of hardware, and the church edifice was erected in 
the same year. The first public-house was opened by 
Eugene Marsh in a building originally designed as a dwell- 
ing. A spacious and well-appointed hotel was erected in 
1879, of which Washburn Strickland is proprietor and 
landlord. The present business of the place embraces, in 
addition, a general store, owned by Messrs. Pearl & Starch ; 
a grocery and hardware, kept by Eugene Marsh, who is 
deputy postmaster, the commission being held by George 
W. McCrumb ; two blacksmith-shops, Robert PuUen and 
Josiah Ilogle presiding at the forgo ; a milliner, who is 
Jlrs. Elizabeth Palmer; and a saw-, planing-, and moulding- 
mill, with feed-mill combined, owned by Mr. McCrumb and 
located one mile from the village. The teacher of the 
public school is Miss Diana Pennington. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 

DAVID CLARK. 

The ancestors of Mr. Clark were early emigrants from 
Great Britain to America, and among the primitive settlers 
in the old Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His grand- 
father, John Clark, was actively engaged in the battle of 
Bennington, and participated also in the engagement which 
resulted in the surrender of Burgoyne. John Clark, the 
father of David, was born about the year 1770, at Phelen, 
Mass., and at the age of seven years removed with his 
parents to Bennington, Vt., where he resided when the 
famous battle occurred. He was taken to the battle field 
by his father, and witnessed the encounter. 



Having lost his mother at the age of fourteen, a home 
was open to him at the residence of a relative, Daniel Mc- 
Nutt, where he remained until he attained his majority, 
and at the age of twenty-nine was married to Miss Mary 
Knowlton. Their son D.ivid was born in Castleton, Vt., 
June 13, 1817, and at the age of sixteen accompanied his 
parents to Pontiac, Mich , where they located in 1833. 
In 1835 the family removed to the township of Eagle, on 
land entered by Mr. Clark, which his son assisted in clearing 
and improving. They were in an eminent sense pioneers, 
having discovered no evidences of civilization on their 
arrival. 

On Jan. 1, 1857, Mr. Clark was married to Miss Sarah 
Smith, whose parents — natives of New York State — were 
settlers in Eaton County in 1839. They have had three 
children, — David, Jr., born April 17, 1862; Fred, whose 
birth occurred July 4, 1864, and who died Oct. 20, 1868; 
and Charles Henry, born Sept. 5, 1868. 

Mr. Clark was formerly a strong Democrat, but subse- 
quent developments occasioned' a change in his political 
views and have since caused him to join the ranks of the 
Republican party. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Clark are supporters of the Congre- 
gational Church, the latter being a member and an active 
worker in its interests. 



GEORGE W. McCRUMB. 

William McCrumb, who was descended from Scotch an- 
cestry, was an early settler in Canandaigua, N. Y., and a 
soldier in the war of 1812. He was married Dec. 4, 1815, 
to Miss Mary Stewart, and George W., the seventh of their 
children, was born in Medina Co., Ohio, April 26, 1827, 
to which State his parents had emigrated a few months 
previous. They, however, soon after removed to Lorain 
County, and remained until 1844, when the family re- 
paired to the township of Eagle, where Mr. McCrumb died 
the year following. The mother survived until March, 
1853. George W. at the age of eighteen was left with 
the care of the family almost entirely devolving upon him. 
He was married June 14, 1856, to Miss Calanthe M. Hill, 
whose parents are inmates of her own cheerful home. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. McCrumb were born in 
the following order: Helen M., March 24, 1857; Floid, 
Feb. 1, 1858; Charles, Aug. 3, 1860; Nettie and Mattie 
(twins), Aug. 25, 1863 ; George W., Jr., Sept. 14, 1866 ; 
Jennie, Jan. 18, 1869; Calanthe May, June 11, 1875. 
Of these children have died Charles and Mattie, October, 
1863; Floid, Nov. 13, 1874; Calanthe May, May 11, 
1876 ; Helen, Aug. 28, 1876 ; leaving still three to 
brighten the home circle. Mr. McCrumb is actively en- 
gaged in business pursuits, and is at present largely inter- 
ested in the saw-mill on the Looking-Glass River, of which 
he is proprietor, and which has a capacity of one million 
feet of lumber per year. He has been especially prominent 
in politics, having held many influential offices and been a 
recognized leader in his township. His convictions have 
caused him until recently to affiliate with the Republican 
party. 




PcsiDENCE Of GEORGE GALL .WnnRTtmN CiiNTof Co. Mich. 




Residence of DAV/D CLARK. Eagic. Cuf^roNCo. Mich. 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



443 



Both Mr. and Mrs. McCrumb are ardent supporters of 
the Metliodist Episcopal Church, of which slie is an es- 
teemed member. 



MRS. SALLY HAWLEY BEERS. 

The ancestors of Mrs. Beers were of English and Scotch 
descent, the family having numbered six generations since 
first they left their native shores and landed in Stratford, 
Conn. From thence they removed to Newtown township, 
where a small hamlet was projected and called Land's End, 




SALLY II. BEEKS. 

from their former residence in England, and was subse- 
quently christened Hawley, after its founders. Her faiher, 
Jabez Hawley, was born in Newtown in 1707, and married 
to Perthena Booth, to whom were born seven children, of 
whom Mrs. Sally H. Beers was the eldest. She was mar- 
ried Oct. G, 1816, when eighteen years of age, to Philo 
Beers, whose ancestors were among the early settlers of the 
same township. His father, Ebenezer Beers, was a native 
of Newtown, Fairfield Co., Conn., and was early married to 
Miss Anna flard. Their son Philo, the fifth in a large 
family of children, was born in Newtown, Dec. 20, 1793, 
and remained at the place of his nativity until November, 
1831, wiien, with his family, he repaired to Oakland 
County. Here they sojourned until 1836, when, the 
county of Clinton proving more attractive, they repaired to 
the township of Eagle, where a considerable purchase of 
land was made, and where Mrs. Beers, at the advanced age 
of eighty-two years, still resides. The services of her hus- 
band in the war of 1812 entitle her to a pension, which is 
annually paid by the government. 

Mr. and Mrs. Beers were blessed with the following chil- 
dren : Esther, born Oct. 13, 1818; Mary E., whose birth 
occurred May 23, 1821 ; Burtis H., born Nov. 22, 1823 ; 
Philo N., whose birth occurred Sept. 11, 1826, and his 
death Jan. 26, 1851 ; Sarah F. and Samuel (twins), born 
Jan. 11, 1828, the death of the latter having taken place 
Nov. 17, 1832; Phebe A., who was born Sept. 5, 1830, 



and died in the fall of 1859 ; Currence, born November, 
1833, and whose death occurred in November, 1833; and 
Anna A., born July 2, 1838. 

Mr. Beers was the pioneer blacksmith in the township 
of Eagle, and also the builder of the first saw-mill within 
its borders. He was a man of untiring industry, and his 
early efforts did much towards advancing the interests of 
the new settlement. Combined with these qualities was a 
stern integrity and principle, which made him a power for 
good in the community in which he lived. 

Burtis H., the third child of Mr. iind Mrs. Beers, was 
a young man of unusual promise. He was well educated, 
and bad intended adopting the profession of law, but was 
diverted by circumstances from the accomplishment of this 
object. He was married to Miss Sarah E. Esler, and w:is 
filling the responsible position of register of deeds, which 
required his residence at St. Johns, when death suddenly 
ended his brilliant career on the 8th of January, 1877. 



CHAPTER LVIIL 
ESSEX TOWNSHIP.* 

Boundaries, Surface, Soil, and Streams — Original Surveys and Land- 
Entries — First and other Early Settlements — Civil History, First 
Township-Meeting, and List of Officers — Educational — Village of 
Maple llapids — lleligious History. 

The township of Essex is situated on the northern bor- 
der of Clinton County, west of the centre. Fulton, in 
Gratiot County, forms its northern boundary, while the 
townships of Greenbush, Bengal, and Lebanon, respectively, 
in Clinton County, join upon its eastern, southern, and 
western borders. 

Its surface is of the character common to the Lower 
Peninsula, undulating sufiBciently to permit of good sur- 
face drainage and diversified only by occasional bluffs and 
plains. Originally it was termed a " hard-wood township," 
and, except " Benedict's Plains" and another opening at 
" Sowle's Corners," it was generally heavily timbered with 
the various deciduous varieties indigenous to this climate. 

The soil, too, is of that nature which h'as been so fre- 
quently described when speaking of Michigan lands, — an 
admixture of sand, clay, and gravelly loam, and in the 
lower portions alluvial deposits. It is consequently well 
adapted to the culture of grass, corn, vegetables, fruit, 
wheat, and other cereals, and in their production, coupled 
with stock-raising, the agricultural classes are chiefly en- 
gaged. 

Maple River and Hayworth Creek are the principal water- 
courses. The former in its flow to the southwest crosses 
the northwest corner of the township. Rapids occur in its 
course near the village of Maple llapids, and here its waters 
have been utilized for mill purposes. Above the rapids, 
and from thence, .stretching up the river a distance of ten 
miles, to Bridgevillc, in Gratiot County, it widens to the 
extent of from one-eighth to one-half mile. Here it is 

* By John S. Scbenck. 



444 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



similar to a long lake or bayou in appearance, and during 
the past two or three years has been navigated between the 
two points mentioned by the " May Queen," a small side- 
wheel steamer, which was built at Maple Rapids by Messrs. 
Whitacre and Webster. 

During the present summer (1880) Professor Davis, of 
the University of Michigan, with a corps of engineers, has 
been engaged in a survey of the Maple River above and be- 
low the village of Maple Rapids, for the purpose of deter- 
mining whether it is practicable to lower the water in the 
river so as to drain "and render valuable a very large area 
above Maple Rapids of lands which are now submerged and 
worthless. The survey was made at the suggestion and 
through the influence of the Hon. S. S. Walker, of St. 
Johns. Of its results Professor Davis says : 

" The surveying party from Ann Arbor, who have been 
sounding Maple River in the vicinity of Maple Rapids, with 
the view of ascertaining the feasibility of deepening the 
channel, and thereby draining the swamps which border 
that stream from Maple Rapids to Bridgeville, Gratiot 
County, overflowing some five thousand acres of land, re- 
port that the lands can be relieved of the overflow by re- 
moval of the dam at Maple Rapids and the bottom of the 
river at the rapids, or a shallow place, lowered some six and 
one-half feet. This will immediately lower the stream for 
a number of miles, as the bed of the river above and below 
this shallow place, which is only about one mile and a half 
in length, extending about equally each way from the 
bridge at the rapids, and also has numerous depressions, is 
much lower, and only in few instances is the river so shallow 
that its bed would reach this sis and one-half feet level. 
This would not only relieve the overflowed land, but also 
afford a much better drainage for all the surrounding 
country, and take away the source of much sickness. 

" The bed of the river is composed largely of sand and 
gravel, with a mixture of small bowlders, and the shallow 
place shows made land or choke filling, being composed 
mostly of soft muck, through which a stake can be thrust 
to the gravel or natural bed of the river. 

"The surveys made in 1831 indicate a good growth of 
timber, such as oak, white-ash, and other kinds of trees 
which do not grow in overflowed land. Part of these trees 
have been cut off in the winter-time for wood, but that now 
standing is dead. This proves conclusively that at one 
time the land where they are was not continually under 
water. The swamp under consideration extends from 
Maple Rapids about twelve miles up the river into Gratiot 
County." 

Hayworth Creek enters the township of Essex by cross- 
ing the east line of section 25 ; thence it meanders gen- 
erally northwesterly through the southern part until it 
crosses the west line of section 18 and enters Lebanon 
township. Reappearing again upon the same section, it 
pursues a northeasterly course until its surplus waters are 
emptied into the Maple River just below the village of 
Maple Rapids. The Hayworth, with its tributaries, drains 
the greater portion of Essex township. 

With its pretty and thriving village of Maple Rapids, its 
many beautiful farm-houses, surrounded by well-cultivated 



fields, and also in point of population and the amount of 
agricultural products annually produced, Essex may be 
classed as one of the most prosperous and important among 
the townships of Clinton County. 

ORIGINAL SURVEYS AND LAND-ENTRIES. 

Pursuant to contracts with and instructions received 
from William Lytle, Surveyor-General of the United 
States, Deputy United States Surveyors Robert Clerk, Jr., 
and Joel Wright surveyed the present township of Essex 
in the year 1831. The former ran the boundary lines in 
February and March, designating the same township 
No. 8 north, of range No. 3 west. Mr. Wright subdi- 
vided the township in May. In his field-notes mention is 
made of a " beautiful mill-seat" on the creek in the north- 
west corner of seetion 29 ; and again, in running the line 
between sections 19 and 20, he spoke of " a bluff fifty feet 
in height, at the base of which were several sulphur 
springs." At the close of his work he said, " There is a 
considerable part of the foregoing township that is valuable 
land, yet I think it is somewhat inferior to those situated 
on Stony Creek." 

George Campau became the first individual owner of land 
in the township, and probably in the county, by the pur- 
chase of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of 
section 8, Nov. 30, 1832. Following, however, are the 
names of those who purchiised from the general government 
lands situated in this township : 

SECTION 1. 

Joseph R. Williams, Detroit, July 27, 1836, south half. 

John Montreiul, Ionia Co., Mich., Aug. 1, 1S3S, south half of north- 
west quarter. 

SECTION 2. 

Joseph R. Williams, Detroit, July 27, 1836, south half. 

John Barrett, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Dec. 12, 1836, south half of north- 
west quarter. 

SECTION 3. 

Hollis Pratt, July 27, 1836, southeast quarter. 

Isaac A. Brooks, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., July 27, 1S36, west half of 
southwest quarter. 

Isaac A. Brooks, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., Sept. 23, 1836, cast half of 
southwest quarter. 

Wa-be-cake Mak-i-lo-quot, Clintun Co., Mich., Feb. 1, 1841, north 
part of northwest quarter. 

SECTION i. 
Hollis Pratt, July 27, 1836, southwest quarter. 
Joseph R. Williams, Detroit, July 27, 1836, southeast quarter. 

SECTION 5. 

John P. Wucherer, Aug. 8, 1835, east half of southwest quarter. 

William McCausland, Ionia Co., Mich., Jan. 6, 1S36, southwest 
quarter of southwest quarter. 

S. Newton Dexter, Oneida Co., N. T., April 29, 1836, north half of 
northwest quarter. 

SECTION 6. 

Warren P. Mills, Orand Rapids, Mich., Hay 10, 1836, southeast 
quarter of southeast quarter. 

Charles N. Bristol, Monroe Co., N. Y., Dec. 13, 1836, northwest frac- 
tional quarter. 

SECTION 7. 

Edward J. Glenn, Aug. 8, 1S35, west half of northeast quarter. 

Louis Campau, Grand Rapids, Feb. 12, 1S36, west half of southeast 
quarter and cast half of southwest quarter. 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



445 



SECTION 8. 

George Catupau, Nov. 30, 1S32, northwest quarter of northwest quarter. 
Louis Campau, July II, 1835, east half of southwest quarter and 

southwest quarter of northwest quarter. 
William U. Thompson, Ann Arbor, Mich., Jan. 6, 1836, west half of 

northeast quarter. 

SECTION 9. 

Iliram Benedict, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Nov. .■), 1835, west half. 

Calvin Cooley, March 23, 1836, northeast qtiarter. 

James S. Wadsworth, Geneseo, N. Y., April 25, 1836, southeast quarter. 

SECTION 10. 

Charles H. Carroll, April 25, 1836, southwest quarter. 

Joseph R. Williams, July 27, 1836, north half and southeast quarter. 

SECTION 11. 

Joseph R. Williams, Detroit, July 27, 183C, north half and southwest 

quarter. 
Joseph C. Lyon, Nov. 20, 1849, southeast quarter. 

SECTION 12. 

Joseph R. Williams, Detroit, July 27, 1836, north half and southeast 
quarter. 

SECTION 13. 

Henry Auten, May 3, 1819, northeast quarter. 
Charles R. Webb, June 19, 1849, southwest quarter. 
George Watkins, Kno.\ Co., Ohio, June 2(1, 1850, cast half of north- 
west quarter and southwest quarter of northwest quarter. 

SECTION 14. 

John F. Lansing, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, west half of 

northwest quarter. 
John Kanouse, Jr., Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, cast half of 

southeast quarter. 

SECTION 15. 

Eurolas P. Hastings, Detroit, Nov. 5, 1836, southeast quarter and east 

half of northeast quarter. 
William Page, Ann Arbor, Mich., May 12, 1830, west half. 
John F. Lansing, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, northeast 

quarter and west half of southeast quarter. 
Silas C. Herring {safe man). New York City, Jan. 17, 1837, east half 

of southeast quarter. 

SECTION 16. 
School lands. 

SECTION 17. 

Charles Butler, April 25, 1836, northeast quarter and cast half of 

northwest quarter. 
Henry M. Moore, Genesee Co., N. Y., Sept. 23, 1836, southeast quarter. 
Lewis Corning, Troy, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1837, southwest quarter. 

SECTION 18. 

Oliver Johnson, April 18, 1836, north half and southwest quarter and 

west half of southeast quarter. 
Charles Butler, April 25, 1336, east half of southeast quarter. 

SECTION 19. 

Oliver Johnson, April 18, 1836, east half of northeast quarter. 

Sylvester Stevens, Washtenaw Co., Mich., July 12, 1838, north half 
of southeast quarter. 

Daniel Kellogg, Washtenaw Co., Mich., July 12, 1838, south half of 
southeast quarter. 

Justus and Gardner Halo, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Aug. 18, 1838, north- 
west quarter, west half of northeast quarter, and southwest 
quarter, 

SECTION 20. 

Abram S. Wadsworth, Ionia Co., Mich., April 18, 1835, west half of 

southwest quarter. 
Henry M. Moore, Genesee Co., N. Y., Sept. 2-3, 1835, northeast quarter. 
Thompson J. Daniels, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., Jan. 16, 1837, west half 

of northwest quarter. 



SECTION 21. 

Preston Mitchell, Calhoun Co., Mich., Sept. 24, 1836, northwest 

quarter, 
James Sowlo, Jr., Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 1, 1836, east half. 

SECTION 22. 

William Page, May 12, 1836, east half, and east half of northwest 

quarter, and cast half of southwest quarter. 
James Sowlo, Jr., Nov. I, 1836, west half of northwest quarter and 

west half of southwest quarter. 

SECTION 23. 

James Sowie, .Ir., Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 1, 1836, south half. 
Silas C. Herring, city of New York, Jan. 16, 1837, north half. 

SECTION 24. . 

Sarah H. Porter, Lancaster Co., Pa., Nov. 5, 1836, southeast quarter. 
Nehemiah D. Stebbins, Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 8, 1836, southwest 

quarter. 
Sidney S. Aleoit, Marshall, Mieh., Nov. 8, 1836, northeast quarter. 

SECTION 25. 

William McCausland, Ionia Co., Mich., May 15, 1834, west half of 
southeast quarter and east half of southwest quarter. 

William Pago, May 12, 1836, north half and west half of southwest 
quarter. 

Horace Butler, May 26, 1836, cast half of southeast quarter. 

SECTION 26. 

Philip Fayne, July 18, 18.36, southwest quarter. 
Horace Butler, May 26, 1836, southeast quarter. 

John Kanouse, Jr., Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, northwest 
quarter and west hSlf of northeast quarter. 

SECTION 27. 

Sidonius Teall, July 18, 1836, northwest quarter and west half of 
southeast quarter. 

John B. Nestell, Clinton Co., Mich., June 27, 1837, west half of south- 
west quarter. 

James K. Morris, Clinton Co., Mich., Oct. 26, 1839, east half of south- 
west quarter. 

Paine i, Teall, July 18, 1836, east half of southeast quarter. 

SECTION 28. 

Charles J. Walker, Kent Co., Mich., Sept. 30, 1836, northeast quarter. 
Elizabeth Kanouse, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, southeast 

quarter and west half of northwest quarter. 
Noble Sperry, Seneca Co., N. Y., southwest quarter. 

SECTION 29. 

Joseph R. Williams, July 27, 1836, west half of northwest quarter. 

George W. Dickinson, Ionia Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837, cost half of 
north\vest quarter and northwest quarter of northeast quarter. 

George Stillson, Calhoun Co., Mich., April 3, 1837, southwest quarter 
of northeast quarter. 

Philo Sperry, Seneca Co., N. Y., April 3, 1837, southeast quarter. 

Carmi Rainsford, Monroe Co., N. Y., April ,3, 1837, east half of north- 
east quarter, 

SECTION 30. 

Joseph R. Williams, July 27, 1836, northeast quarter. 
Benjamin Welch, Clinton Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837, southwest quarter. 
George AV. Perry, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Aug. 18, 1838, northwest 
quarter. 

SECTION 31. 

Charles J. Walker, Kent Co., Mich., Sept. 30, 1836, west fractional 
half. 

Lucius C. Martin, West Milton, Vt., Deo. 9, 1850, cast half of north- 
east quarter. 

SECTION 32. 

Campbell & Bradley, Schenectady, N. Y., Oct. 1, 1836, east half. 
Silas R. Jones, Clinton Co., Mich., March 11, 1850, northwest quarter 
of southwest quarter. 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



447 



by John Nestell, his brother-in-law, built his first dwelling,* 
a log one, on the site of his present residence. 

Although Mr. Sowle's house was the first to succeed that 
of George Campau,.it was not occupied by him until 
June, 1838, many of his household goods having been 
moved therein the winter previously. In July, 1838, his 
little daughter, Mary E., nearly two years old, while tied in a 
chair, fell forward into a " smudge," kindled for the purpose 
of driving away gnats and mosquitoes, and was so badly 
burned that she died. His son, Joseph B., who lived to 
be eighteen years of ago, was born on the 22d of the same 
month. Thus the first birth and death occurring in the 
northern half of Clinton County took place in his family. 
He also claims that the first marriage in the county took 
place at his house in the spring of 1837, while he resided 
at Wacousta, the contracting parties being Loren Miner 
and Miss Margaret Nestell, both of whom were then work- 
ing for Mr. Sowle, and the ceremony was performed by 
William A. Hewitt, Esq., of Dewitt, who was afterwards a 
prominent citizen of Essex. 

Mr. Sowle built the first framed barn in the township in 
1839, which is still standing. He also erected for others 
the first mills at Hubbardston and at Maple Rapids, the 
latter for Messrs. Hewitt & Shepard. In the fall of 1 839 
he procured at Ionia some very small apple-trees. Of these, 
his neighbors, Daniel Kcllo_'g and Sylvester Stephens, re- 
ceived some. All were set out the same day, and thus 
were started the first orchards. Mr. Sowle, or " Sohn," as 
he was termed by them, was a great favorite with the la- 
dians who lived in his vicinity. He relates that in 1838, 
also in 1839 and 1840, he plowed many little patches for 
the Indian women to cultivate their corn and vegetables. 
Each had their own little plat, and they usually paid him 
with maple-sugar. As the proceeds of one day's work he 
once received four hundred and eighty pounds. 

Ho was a justice of the peace when he came here, and 
served as such for several years thereafter. Illustrative of 
his experience while serving in that capacity, also of the 
friendly feeling then existing between the whites and In- 
dians, we relate the following: On the 4th of July, 1839, 
he visited Campau's trading-post. There were present, be- 
sides Mr. Campau and himself, five buxom Indian women. 
Campau was in a joking mood, and speaking in the lan- 
guage of the Chippewas, told the women that " Sohn" was 
a justice of the peace; that among the whites it was cus- 
tomary for such officials to " treat" all women who kissed 
them on the 4th of July ; therefore, if they kissed " Sohn," 
they were sure of a drink. Although not understanding 
their language, Mr. Sowle was well aware from their ges- 
tures and glances exchanged that it related to him. On 
the alert, therefore, when the squaws arose and moved care- 
lessly towards him, he, ton, stood erect. A moment later 
they clo.sed in upon him on all sides. The short, sharp 
struggle which ensued resulted in the forest feminiucs being 

» Thia house wiw burned in IS50. A small friimo dwelling fiil- 
lowod, which w.is occupied until IStiO. It then gave place to a more 
pretentious one costing five thousand dollars, the former being mured 
a short distance away. In March, 1861, both the old and new houses 
burned, and the present or fourth dwelling on the same site was soon 
after erected. 



thrown to the floor, lying one across another. Not satisfied, 
however, they made a second attempt to gain the coveted 
kiss and, what was of more importance to them just then, 
the drink, but were again served as before. Convulsed 
with laughter, Mr. Campau called off the women, saying to 
them that they were beaten, but if they would bring in a 
"rat skin" (meaning a muskrat skin) the next day, he 
would treat. Assenting, the squaws drank their whisky 
with evident relish, and thereafter Sohn's reputation as a 
wrestler was fully established among the Indians. 

Hiram Benedict and Timothy 11. I'ettit, brothers-in-law, 
accompanied by their families. Nelson Benedict, an unmar- 
ried brother of Hiram, and another young man named 
John Brown, came from Saratoga Co., N. Y., and .settled 
upon the openings known since as " Benedict's Plains," in 
the autumn of 1837, thus becoming the next settlers after 
Mr. Campau. Their families found shelter under the hos- 
pitable roof of Mr. Campau, until their own first dwellings 
were ready for occupancy. Hiram Benedict purchased of 
the government the west half of section 9 Nov. 5, 1835, 
and soon afterwards became possessed of the two east 
eighty-acre lots of section 8. The spring following his 
settlement (1838) he was elected supervisor of the newly- 
organized township of Wandaugon, and afterwards, without 
changing his residence, served as the first supervisor of the 
respective townships of Lebanon, Bengal, and Essex. He 
was an able man, a good citizen, and highly respected. 
His aged father — Hiram, Sr. — and mother also removed to 
this township, where were passed the remainder of their 
days. Hiram Benedict, Sr., had served in the war of 
1812-14. Timothy H. Pettit and Nelson Benedict were 
also prominent early citizens. Mr. Pettit was elected the 
first clerk of Wandaugon, also a justice of the peace ; was 
active in the organization of Bengal and Essex townships ; 
and ably served both in various official capacities. (See 
lists of officers of this, Bengal, and Lebanon townships.) 
It is thought that he built the first framed house in Essex. 

Lyman Webster, known by the Indians of his day as 
" Ma-quah,"' because of his heavy dark beard, and Chaun- 
cey M. Stebbins, brothers-in-law, came here from Ionia 
County in the fall of 1837. They owned lands situated 
upon sections 35 and 36, and were the first settlers iu the 
southeast (juarter of the township. Both were gentlemen 
of ability, and most creditably served their townsmen in 
various public stations. 

Daniel Kellogg and Sylvester Stevens, his son-in-law, 
from Washtenaw County, purchased the southeast quarter 
of section 19 in July, 1838, and during the following 
winter or early spring of 1839 settled upon their newly- 
acquired estate. They, too, became well-known and prom- 
inent citizens. Mr. Kellogg was an early township clerk, 
justice of the peace, and treasurer, while Mr. Stevens built 
the first saw-mill,f which stood on Ilayworth Creek, in the 
southwest quarter of section 20. 

Lucene Eldridge, Joshua Frink, and Joshua Coomer set- 
tled upon sections 34 and 35, early in the spring of 1840. 
All were good substantial farmers, aud most worthy citizens. 
Mr. Coomer still resides where he settled forty years ago. 



f This mill was afterwards owneil by Thomas Irwin and William 
A. Hewitt. 



448 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Those living in township 8 north, of range 3 west, who 
wore assessed as resident tax-payers of Bengal in June, 
1840, were as follows : 

George Campau, west balf of northwest quarter of section 8. 

Sylvester Stevens, north half of southeast quarter of section 19. 

Daniel Kellogg, south half of southeast quarter of section 19. 

Hiram Benedict, east half of northeast quarter and cast half of 
southeast quarter of section 8. 

Hiram Benedict, northwest quarter and west half of southwest 
quarter of section 9. 

Timolhy H. Pettit, cast half of southwest quarter and east half of 
cast half of southeast quarter of section 9. 

James Sowle, Jr., northeast quarter of section 21. 

James Sowle, Jr., west half of northwest quarter of section 22. 

James Sowle, Jr., southwest quarter of section 23. 

Chauncey M. Stebbins, east half of northeast quarter of section 36. 

Chauncey M. Stebbins, east half of west half of southeast quarter 
of section 35. 

Lyman AVeb.ster, ea.«t half of southwest quarter and west half of 
west half of southeast quarter of section 35. 

Lucene Eldridge, southwest quarter of section 35. 

Joshua Frink, southeast quarter and east half of southwest quarter 
of section 34. 

Joshua Coomer, west half of southwest quarter of section 31. 

A mistake seems to exist in the description of lands 
credited to Webster and Eldridge, but the foregoing is a 
copy of the roll of that date. 

The residents of the present township who itvailed them- 
selves of the elective franchise in November, 1840, the days 
of " Tippecanoe and Tyler too," were Messrs. Timothy H. 
Pettit, Hiram Benedict, James Sowle, Jr., Alonzo Vaughn, 
Sylvester Stevens, Joshua Frink, Miner Frink, Nelson 
Benedict, Daniel Kellogg, Julius Bishop, Joshua Coomer, 
Chauncey M. Stebbins, Lyman Webster, Lucene Eldridge, 
Orlow W. Holmes, and Marcus Rowley, who, except 
Messrs. Cortland Hill, Charles Grant, and Uriah Drake, 
were the only residents of Bengal who voted. 

Solomon Moss, a prominent pioneer of Essex, came here 
in 1841, from the town of Ira, Cayuga Co., N. Y., and set- 
tled upon section 33. He was born in Vermont in 1790. 
During the war of 1812-14 he was, while residing in 
Canada, drafted into the British service, but at some pecu- 
niary sacrifice te evaded doing duty for His Britannic Maj- 
esty by returning to Vermont. His wife, formerly Miss 
Fanny Jones, of Shoreham, Vt., and six children, viz., 
Hiram L., William J., Edgar D., Vesta E., Laura K., and 
Myron S., came with him to this township. Mrs. Moss 
died in 185G. Mr. Moss survived to the age of eighty- 
one years. Their children all reside in Clinton County, 
except Mrs. M. Baker, of St. Louis, Gratiot Co. 

Among other prominent early .settlers were John Johnson, 
who succeeded Mr. Campau and, until the settlement of 
William A. Hewitt at Maple Rapids, did a thriving mer- 
cantile business with the Indians and early white settlers ; 
Chauncey S. Wolcott, who is still one of Essex's most re- 
spected citizens; Henry M. Starks, Levi D. Jenison, Samuel 
M. Scott, Daniel G. Smith, Obadiah Lyon, Walter Hubbell, 
Rufus Dinsmore, and others whose faces and peculiarities 
will be remembered when their names are found in accom- 
panying list. 

In 1844 those residents of the township assessed for 
taxes were mentioned as owning property on the following 
sections : 



Ephraim Kolfe 

John Johnson 

Levi D. Jenison 

Plirani Benedict, Jr 

Nelson Benedict 

Timothy H. Pettit 

Henry M. .Starks 

Eleazer Toby 

George Starlts 

John W. Armstrong 

.Sylvester Stevens 

Daniel Kellogg 

James Sowle, Jr 21, 

David Seott 

Kufus Dinsmore 25, 

Lyman AVebster 



Sec. Sec. 

7 George W. Gardner 25 

8 Christian G. Nestell 27 

8 Daniel G.Smith 29 

8,9 Nelson Delong 311 

9 Solomon Moss 3;i 

9 Joshua Coomer 34 

9 Joshua Frink U 

8 Lucene Eldridge 35 

9 Chauncev S. Wolcott 36 

19 Walter Hubbell 36 

19 Lewis Norton Personal 

19 Joseph Kellogg " 

,22 Oliver Aldrich " 

23 Parley Gardner ** 

,36 Joseph Nestell " 

25 



The population and number of dwellings were more than 
doubled during the succeeding ,six years, and in 1850 there 
were seventy-seven families and a total population of four 
hundred and ten inhabitants. The resident tax-payers at 
that time were named as follows : 

Sec. Sec. 

John Young 24 

Heirs of R. Dinsmore 25, 36 

Morgan Monroe 25 

Theodore Webster 25 

Lyman Webster 25 

C. Hammond 26 

Truman B. Heath 26 

Edwin W. Warren 23 

Obadiah Lyon 26 

James Owen 27 

Christian G. Nestell 27 

Frederick Delano 19 

James Sowle, Jr 21,22 

Humphrey Hammond 28 

Daniel G. Smith 29 

Riley Jones 32 

David Bush 26, 33 

Joshua Coomer 34 

Hiram L. Moss 33 

AVilliam J. Moss 33 

Mrs. Frink 34, 26 

Lucene Eldridge 35 

Levi D. Jennison 35 

Chauncey S. Wolcott 36 

Stephen McPherson 10 

Joseph T. Hewitt Personal 

Guy N. AVilco.\ " 

David F. McPherson.... " 

George R. Nestell " 

Isaiah Sherwood '* 

James Skillman " 

0. Dunkle " 

Charles Turner " 

Eben B. Stiles " 

Isaac Ocobock ** 



Simon T. Hill 




. 3 


Ilirani Kichmond 




. 3 


Thomas Stickney 




. 6 


Epbnuin Rulfe 




. 7 


Alfred Stone 




7 


William Perry 




. 7 


John Johnson 




. S 


Ransom S. Cook 




. 8 






8 






8,9 


Timothy H. Pettit 




. 9 






. 9 


Peter Schanck 




. 9 






1 


Joseph 0. Lyon 


9 


11 


Charles Carter 




10 




... 17 


18 


Ransom Beach 




19 


D. W. C. Beach 




19 


David Blank 




19 






19 






19 


Cornelius Onderkirk 




19 


John W. Armstrong.... 


... 19 


30 


Nelson Delong 




30 


Palmer D. Bancroft 




30 


Guy N.Wilcox 




31 


Adam Ocobock 




29 


Jackson Ocobock 




29 


Frederick Tuttlc 




20 


Thomas Irwin 




20 


Thomas Parr 


17, 20 


21 






•>">. 


David Scott 




n 


Mrs. Scott 


... 23, 


24 



At the expiration of another decade many improvements 
had taken place. Framed dwellings and broad cultivated 
fields had succeeded the log cabins and .small "clearings;" 
the enterprising little village of Maple Rapids had sprung 
into existence, and Essex in 18G0 contained two hundred 
and fourteen dwelling-houses and one thousand and thirteen 
inhabitants, thus taking third place among Clinton County 
townships. The tax-paying residents* of twenty years ago 
were: 



Sec. 

Aaron W. Phillips 1 

Lewis Bryant 1 

William Brown 1 

.Samuel H. Griffith 2 

Andrew J. Taylor 2 

John Anderson 2 

William S. Mathews 3 

Marcus Annis 4, 14 

M. J. Whitacre 5 

Reuben Smith Personal 



Sec. 

Martin V. Brown Village Lots 

John N. Whitacre... '* 

James K. Petteys " 

Augustus Randolph. " 

Frederick Tuttle " 

Ransom Beach " 

James Carpenter.. 6 

Arnold Payne 6 

Abigail Fullon 6 

Daniel Webster 6 



* In this and other lists of names errors may be found in spelling, 
but they cannot be avoided when not written correctly or legibly on 
original rolls. 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



449 



Sec. 

J. R. Mosher 6 

Bennett Cook 7 

Uazen Jaquish 7 

Chauncey Jaquish Personal 

Azro Jaquish " 

IraS. Balier 7 

Betsey M. Stone 7 

William Mather 7 

Hewitt and Mather.. .Village Lots 
William A. Hewitt... " 

Isaac Hewitt " 

Hannah Hewitt •' 

D. J. Rogers " 

George Herrenileen.. ** 

Henry C. Lyon ** 

B. F. HerrenJeen.... " 

Owen Holland " 

Franklin Hudson " 

Michael Lestrange..*. " 

Horace S. Taylor ** 

John Johnson 3, 7, 8 

Chandler Freeman. ..Village Lots 

C. W. Brown " 

H. P. Lansing " 

Joseph W. Hewitt... " 

Lafayette Brown *' 

Hiram Richmond.... " 

William P. Bolds " 

ElishaMudge " 

Nancy Webster " 

Daniel Pratt " 

Edgar D. Moss 8, 18 

Solomon Moss 8, 18 

William J. Moss 5. S, 18 

Eli Madison Village Lots 

William Annis " 

George Hewitt " 

Lydia A. Lane ** 

Zachary Hewitt " 

Paul Hewitt " 

Anderson Stout S 

Ransom J. Coo1i 8 

William Benedict S, 9, IS 

Nelson Benedict 9 

Joseph C. Lyon 9 

Henry Dimon 9 

James Skinner Personal 

Peter Schanck 9 

Rowland S. Van Scov 9, 10 

R. Danby ." 10 

R. T. Sumner 10 

Guy N. Wilco.v 10 

Jacob Britton 10 

George A. Britton 10 

Alfred Russell 12 

William M. Stevens 12 

Nathan S. Ellis \:i 

Edgar C. Van Vlcet l.i, U 

Martin I. llulbert U 

Mary Root 14, Ij 

Henry Hinckley 15 

John Groat l.'i 

James Youdan 14, 15 

Thomas Parr 15 

Daniel Piniard 16 

John Baker 16 

Charles Carter 10, l(i 

William J. Havens 16 

Cornelius Vjtn Sickle 16 

Maria Perrin 4, 5, 10, 16 

Newman Terry 16 

0. F. Bristol 16 

Isaac T. Bentlcy 17 

George Blank 17 

Joseph Ellicott 17 

George Baharsh.. 18 andVil. Lot 

Harvey White 18 

John P. Smith 18 

Jacob Ridenour, Jr 19 

Stephen Parr 19 

John W. Armstrong 19, .'iO 

John Ridenour 19 

Josiah Cobb 19 

David Ridenour 19 

Warren Peet 19 

Ransom Beach 19 

Peter and David Blank 17 

Alonzo Potter Personal 

Thomas Irwin 20 



Sec. 

John Beach 20 

Lyman Van Sickle 20 

Warren Smith 20 

Lewis Bentley 20 

Christopher M. Bannister 20 

William Parr 20 

T. P. Hoyt 20 

Charles Bentley 21 

A. Stevens 21 

Stephen McPherson 21 

John Piniard 21 

Mary McPherson 21 

James Sowle, Jr... 15, 21, 22, 28 

Martin Fisher 22 

Arnold L. Lake 22 

Horace M. Skinner 22 

Nathan L. Carr 22 

John D. Whitm.an 23 

Francis A. Coats 23 

Nathan R. Lowe 23 

Abram Annis 24 

Andrew Annis 24 

John Young 24 

William Young 24 

George B. Andrus Personal 

Luther Wheat 24 

Albert E. Fox : 24 

Charles Fox 24 

Henry Lyon 24 

R. W". Boynton 25 

Carmi Hammond 25,26 

B. Taylor .' 25 

Watson Rolfe 25 

George Rolfe Personal 

James H. Roberts 26 

Simon T. Hause 26 

Obadiah Lyon 26 

A. Pietz 26 

John Cantwell 16 

J. F. Frink 26 

Dennis Webster 27 

E. D. Webster 27 

Joseph Parr 27 

John H. Parr 27 

James Owen 27 

Sauford Crowner 27 

James D. Crowner 27 

John F.arnsworth 27 

Horace A. Sowle 27 

Moses Nestell 27 

Hiram Nestell 27 

George R. Nestell 27 

Albert Angell 27 

Humphrey Hammond 28, 33 

N. S. Hammond Personal 

H. C. Elkins 

Richard Brilton 28 

Nelson Garner 28 

S. Arnold 29 

Thomas Luck 29 

Jackson Ocoboek 29 

Isaac M. Ocoboek 29 

Adam Ocoboek 29 

Hamilton Ocoboek 29 

Loren Peet 29 

Nelson Delong 18, 30 

Loren Miner 30 

Benjamin F. Ocoboek 30 

Palmer D. Bancroft 30 

Simon T.Hill 9, 31 

Riley Jones 32 

M. Chase 32 

Hiram L. Moss 33, 34 

David Bush 26,33, .34 

William Ward 34 

Joshua Coonier 34 

Chester Dean 34 

J. C. Jowett 26, 34 

John Ward 34 

Luccnc Eldridge ■. 35 

Jtodney Eldrid^e 35 

John Bottum 35 

Levi D. Jenison 26, 35 

Chauncey S. Wolcott.. 25, 34, 36 

Jerome Clark 36 

Barney Bond 36 

S. Bottum 36 

H. Houck 36 



Prominent among the citizens of to-day of those whose 
names are mentioned in the foregoing Hst are Rowland S. 
Van Scoy, the owner of about fifteen hundred acres in Essex, 
57 



and one of the wealthiest men in the county ; Isaac Hewitt, 
a merchant and capitalist, who owns nearly six hundred 
acres ; Horace M. Skinner, a thorough-going farmer, who 
has done much to improve live stock ; and llichard B. Ca- 
russ, who, although a more recent settler, is deserving great 
credit for his efforts in behalf of an improved stock of 
cattle, sheep, and hogs, and true farm culture. 

CIVIL HISTOKY, FIRST TOWNSHIP-MEETING, 
AND LIST OF OFFICERS. - 

Essex, wliieh comprises territory designated in the orig- 
inal survey-township No. 8 north, of range No. 3 west, 
formed part of Wandaugon (afterwards Lebanon) township 
from March 6, 1838, to March 19, 1840, when it became 
part of Bengal. It continued thus until 1843, when by an 
act of the State Legislature, as follows, approved March 9th 
of the same year, it began a separate existence. 

'• All that part of the county of Clinton designated in 
the United States survey as township No. 8 north, of range 
No. 3 west, be and the same is hereby set off and organized 
into a separate township by the name of Essex, and the 
first township-meeting therein shall be held at the house of 
James Sowle, Jr., in said township." 

Pursuant to the foregoing act, twenty-eight electors as- 
sembled at the house of James Sowle, Jr., April 21, 1843, 
to hold their first township election, and as a result the fol- 
lowing township officers were declared elected : Hiram 
Benedict,* Supervisor ; Daniel Kellogg, Clerk ; Lyman 
Webster, Treasurer ; Henry M. Starks, Solomon Moss, 
Chauncey S. Wolcott, Highway Commissioners ; Solomon 
Moss, Daniel Kellogg, Chauncey M. Stebbins, Justices of 
the Peace; Daniel Kellogg, Chauncey M. Stebbins, Asses- 
sors ; Chauncey S. Wolcott, Chauncey M. Stebbins, School 
Inspectors ; Benjamin P. Doty," Chauncey M. Stebbins, 
Directors of the Poor ; John W. Armstrong, Chauncey S. 
Wolcott, Constables. Samuel M. Scott, Solomon Moss, 
James Sowle, Jr., Hiram Benedict, and Timothy H. Pettit 
served as inspectors of this election. 

Two days later a special township-meeting was held, 
when the following-named citizens were chosen path masters: 
Henry M. Starks, district No. 1 ; James Sowle, Jr., district 
No. 2; John W. Armstrong, district No. 3; William L. 
Delbridge, district No. 4 ; Solomon Mess, district No. 5 ; 
and it was resolved that James Sowle, Jr., serve as pound- 
master ; that the township buy books for records ; that two 
hundred and fifty dollars.be raised for highway purposes; 
that two dollars be paid for wolf-scalps ; that one hundred 
and fifty dollars be raised for contingent expenses, and that 
the next township election be held at the house of William 
L. Delbridge. 

In 1845 the people voted to pay as town bounties two 
dollars for each wolf-scalp, one dollar for each bear-scalp, 
and two cents for each blackbird killed in the townsliip. 

During a few years preceding 1S56 or 1857 the present 
townships of Newark and Fulton, in Gratiot County, were 
attached to Essex. 

* Hiram Benedict had served as the first supervisor of Wandaugon 
in 1838, also of Lebanon in 1839. He waB elected the first supervisor 
of Bengal in 1840, also to the same office in 1841, and on the 3d of 
April, 1843. 



450 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



The following tables embrace the names of those who 
have been annually elected supervisors, clerks, treasurers, 
justices of the peace, higliway commissioners, school in- 
spectors, drain commissioners, and school superintendents 
for the years from 1844 to 1880, inclusive; but where 
vacancies have been filled by appointments and special elec- 
tions, such changes are not shown. Possibly errors will be 
found ; if so, the fault must rest upon successive township 
clerks, who at the conclusion of each township-meeting 
failed to summarize and declare who were elected : 

SUPERVISORS. 



1S44-45. Walter Hubbell. 

1846. Hiram Benedict. 

1847. Samuel M. Scott. 

1848. Hinim Benedict. 

1849. Samuel M. Scott. 

1850. Daniel G. Smith. 
1851-52. Hiram Benedict. 

1553. William A. Hewitt. 

1854. Thomas Parr. 

1855. Timothy H. Pettit. 

1856. Joseph T. Hewitt. 

CLE 

1844. Lyman Webster. 

1845. Levi D. Jenison. 
1846-47. Daniel G. Smith. 

1848. Obadiah Lyon. 

1849. Daniel G. Smith. 
1850-5.'i. David F. McPherson. 

1554. Robert W. McCartney. 

1855. John S. Bristol. 

1856. Martin V. Brown. 

1857. William J. Moss. 

1858. Charles W. Brown. 



1857. John Young. 

1858. Hiram Benedict. 
1859-65. Rowland S. Van Scoy. 
1866. Hiram L. Moss. 
1867-69. James Youdan. 

1870. Justus Root. 

1871. James I'oudan. 

1872. Richard B. Caruss. 
1873-74. James Youdan. 
1875-80. Orin F. Peck. 



RKS. 
1859-62. William J. Moss. 
1S63. Myron S. Moss. 
1864. Martin V. Brown. 
1865-66. Myron S. Moss. 

1867. Henry D. Sanders. 

1868. Daniel Lyon. 
1869-74. Orin F. Peck. 
1875-78. Murdo McDonald. 

1879. William F. Petteys. 

1880. Sanford W. Smith. 



TREASURERS. 



1844-46. Daniel Kellogg. 

1847. H. M. Starks. 

1848. James Sowle, Jr. 
1849-51. Humphrey Hammond. 
1852. Timothy H. Pettit. 
1853-54. Joseph T. Hewitt. 
1855. William A. Hewitt. 
1856-62. George Daharsh. 
186.3-64. Robert T. Sumner. 





JUSTICES 


OF THE 


1844. 


Henry M. Starks. 


1859. 




Waller Hubbell. 


1860. 


1845 


Solomon Moss. 


1861. 


1846. 


Daniel Kellogg. 


1862. 




Christian G. Nestell. 


1863. 


1847. 


Chaunccy S. Woloott. 




1848. 


No record. 


1864. 


1849. 


Ransom Beach. 


1865. 




William Sherwood. 


1S66. 


1850. 


Stephen McPherson. 


1S67. 


1851. 


James Sowle, Jr. 
Obadiah Lyon. 


1868. 


1852. 


AVilliam A. Hewitt. 


1860. 


1853. 


Charles Townsend. 




1854. 


Ransom Beach. 


1870. 


1855. 


John Y'oung. 


1871. 




David F. McPherson. 


1872. 


1856. 


William A. Hewitt. 






Jerome Clark. 


1873. 


1857. 


Chauncey S. Wolcott. 


1874. 


1858. 


Daniel Webster. 
Ruel W. Boynton. 


1875. 


1859. 


Thomas Parr. 


1876. 



1865. Thomas Parr. 

1866. Rowland S. Van Scoy. 

1867. Simeon Hewitt. 

1868. Edwin D. Webster. 
1809. Alfred Shaw. 
1870. James Y^oudan. 
1871-77. Simeon Hewitt. 
1878-79. John Chick. 
1880. Simeon Hewitt. 



PEACE. 
David Blank. 
Edwin D. AVebster. 
William A. Hewitt. 
Ruel W. Boynton. 
Nathan .1. Ellis. 
Isaac Hewitt. 
Edwin D. Webster. 
James Sowle, Jr. 
R. H. Sanborn. 
Jacob Britton. 
John R. Bottom. 
Ransom J. Cook. 
Robert B. Burt. 
AVhipple Martin. 
Solomon P. Oreasingcr. 
John N. Whitacre. 
Nelson Delong. 
Franklin Hudson. 
Robert B. Burt. 
James D. Covert. 
Walter Floate. 
James D. Covert. 
Martin Hubbell. 



1876. Albert T. Cross. , 

1877. Gabriel Anderson. 
Franklin Hudson. 
Robert B. Burt. 



HIGHWAY 

1844. Solomon Moss. 
Chauncey S. Wolcott. 
Nelson Benedict. 

1845. Itutus Dcnsmore. 
Hiram Benedict. 
Daniel G. Smith. 

1846. Rufus Densmore. 

1847. Lyman Webster. 
Sherman Baldwin. 
Rufus Densmore. 

1848. Hiram Benedict. 

1849. Aaron S. Baker. 

1850. John Y'oung. 

1851. Thomas Parr. 

1852. Arunah Hubbell. 

1853. James Y'oudan. 

1854. David Blank. 

1855. Edwin D. Webster. 

1856. James Youdan. 

1857. Joseph T. Hewitt. 

1858. Daniel T. Hoyt. 
Alfred Cowles. 

1859. James \''oudan. 
Humphrey Hammond. 

SCHOOL 

1844. Timothy II. Pettit. 

1845. Walter Hubbell. 

1846. Humphrey Hammond. 
Timothy H. Pettit. 

1847. Humphrey Hammond. 

1848. Timothy II. Pettit. 

1849. Samuel M. Scott. 

1850. D. W.C. Beach. 

1851. Humphrey Hammond. 

1852. D. W. C. Beach. 

1853. William J. Moss. 

1854. D. W. C. Beach. 

1855. AVilliam J. Moss. 

1856. Eleazer N. Darrow. 

1857. Humphrey Hammond. 

1858. AVilliam Mather. 

1859. Elisha .Mudge. 

1860. Chandler Freeman. 

1861. Elisha Mudge. 

1862. Humphrey Hammond. 



1878. Joseph Parr. 

1879. AVinfield Stitt. 
1S8U. Robert Anderson. 

Albert T.Cross. 

CO.MMISSIONERS. 

1859. James .Sowle, Jr. 

1860. Robert T. Sumner. 

1861. James Sowle, Jr. 

1862. James Y'oudan. 

1863. Henry B. Dimon. 

1864. Samuel Reed. 
William Parr. 

1865. James Y'oudan. 

1866. Simeon Hewitt. 

1867. James Anderson. 

1868. Stephen M. Parr. 

1869. Theodore P. Hoyt. 

1870. James Anderson. 

1871. Milton L. Hildreth. 

1872. AA'illiam B. Smith. 

1873. James .Anderson. 
1S74. AVilliam S. Hane. 

David II. Payne. 

Nathan Ellis, Jr. 
1875. James Youdan. 
1876-78. Jacob Hoover. 

1879. AValter Floate. 

1880. James K. Davison. 



INSPECTORS. 

1862. Myron A. Dunning. 
1S63. Charles P. Lyon. 

Myron A. Dunning. 
1864. James 0. Bates. 
1S65. Ruel AV. Boynton. 

Nathan Ellis, Jr. 

1866. Hervey Lyon. 

1867. Myron S. Moss. 

1868. Daniel B. Chase. 

1869. James S. Bristol. 

1870. Daniel B. Chase. 

1871. James S. Bristol. 

1872. AVilliam Heck. 

1873. James S. Bristol. 

1874. Murdo McDonald. 

1875. Robert B. Burt. 

1876. Muuson Chase. 

1877. tieorge Ewers. 
1878-79. Munson Chase. 
1880. AVilliam J. Moss. 



DRAIN COMMISSIONERS. 

1871. AA'illiam J. Moss. 1876. Lewis Bentley. 

1872. Daniel Lyon. 1877. No record. 

1873. Robert B. Burt. 1878. John L. Lyon. 

1874. No record. 1879. No record. 

1875. James C. Jewett. 1880. Francis W. Redfern. 

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS. 

1875. Charles M. Perry. 1879. Oliver G. AA'cbster. 



1876. Eli.-iha Mudge. 
1877-78. AV. H. Owen. 



1880. Mrs. Libbie Anderson. 



EDUCATIONAL. 

In the winter of 1840-41, while Essex formed part of 
Bengal, the first school was established in township 8 north, 
of range 3 west. Its sessions were held in the upper part 
of James Sowle's log hou.se, and Miss Emily Moss, daughter 
of Solomon Moss, presided as teacher. Her pupils, seven 
in number, were the children of James Sowle and Parley 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



451 



Gardner. According to the school law then prevailing, 
nine scholars or children of school age were necessary to 
form a district and enable it to draw money from the public- 
school fund. As the two families could muster but seven 
children, Bengal authorities refused to organize a district, 
consequently Miss Moss' school was a private one. 

On the 2d of January, 1845, School Inspectors Lyman 
Webster, Timothy H. Pettit, and Chauncey S. Wolcott 
formed school district No. 2, and ordered that it should 
include sections 21, 22, 15, 10, and 3, the east half of sec- 
tions 4, 9, 16, and the southwest quarter of 16. The first 
meeting to be held at the house of James Sowle, Jr., Wed- 
nesday, Jan. 15, 1845, at one p.m. 

District No. 1 was formed in December, 1846, and 
Rufus Densmore and others of this district were duly 
notified that its boundaries be as follows : " Commencing 
at the southeast corner of section thirty-six, thence west 
to the quarter post on the south line of section thirty-four, 
thence north through the centre of sections thirty-four and 
twenty-seven to the centre of section twenty-two, thence 
east through the centre of sections twenty-three and twenty- 
four to the east line of the township, thence south to the 
place of beginning ; and the first school-meeting therein 
shall be held at the house of Chauncey S. Wolcott, Tues- 
day, December 15, 1846, at six p.m." 

So says the record. But why district No. 2 was formed 
prior to No. 1 we cannot determine. Probably the latter 
description was a change of the boundary-lines of original 
district No. 1, for of the primary-school fund (_twenty-three 
dollars and fifty-five cents) drawn in 1845, fourteen dollars 
and eighty-seven and a half cents was apportioned to dis- 
trict No. 1, and eight dollars and sixty-seven and a half 
cents to district No. 2. But eighteen dollars and eighty- 
eight cents was received from the primary-.school fund in 
1846. In April, 1847, it was determined to build a school- 
house for district No. 1 on the northwest coiner of section 
36, land owned by Chauncey S. Wolcott. 

District No. 3, comprising sections 13, 14, 23, 24, south 
half of 11 and 12, and portions of 26 and 27, was formed 
in September, 1848. 

District No. 4 was organized in May, 1849. The first 
meeting was held at the house of Pliram Benedict, and the 
district comprised sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, and tlie west 
half of sections 4, 9, and 16. This was the first district 
organized which included the territory now occupied by 
the village of Maple Rapids. The amount of primary- 
school funds received the same year was sixteen dollars and 
seventeen cents, which was apportioned to districts 1 and 2. 
In 1850 twenty-six dollars and fifty-two cents was received 
from the same fund, which was apportioned to the two dis- 
trict.s as before. 

Of the seven districts counted as organized in 1851, but 
four were entitled to public-school funds, viz., 1, 2, 3, and 
5. Since the latter date many changes have taken place 
in the numbers* and boundaries of school districts, and 
it is impracticable to follow their history further. 



• In 1855 there were eleven school districts, but districts in the 
present townships of Newark and Fulton, Qratiot County, were then 
included. 



EARLY TEACHERS. 

Miss Martha Grooch or Gooch received a teacher's cer- 
tificate May 26, 1849, and 'is the first mentioned in the 
school inspectors' books as having received one. Other 
early teachers are mentioned by years, as follows : 
1850. — Harriet Bliss, Sarah Jane Lyon, Helen E. Stevens, 

Mary Richmond, and Lovina Stone. 
1851.— Miss T. M. Doty, William Mather, David F. Mc- 

Pherson, D. W. C. Beach. 
1852. — Emeline Moss, Francis A. Chappell, Mrs. Arm- 
strong. 
1854. — Emeline Mo.ss, Catherine Ocobock, Mary P. Rich- 
mond, Mary L. Kipp, Maria Hawkins, Sliss T. 
M. Doty, William J. Moss, Martha Pier.son, 
Hannibal Gaskcll, Mrs. Gunsolly. 
1855.— Mary L. Webster, Miss H. L. Cole, Mary L. 
Seaver, Mary Hill, Mary A. Moore, America 
Hoyt, and Eleazer A. Darrow. 
1856.— Sarah L. Cole, Julia A. Skinner, Mary J. Vail, 
Pamelia Bliss, Mr. E. I. Abbott, William J. 
Moss, N. K. Hane. 
1857. — Alice Moore, Mary J. Partridge, Adelia M. Smith, 
Martha Avery, Mary Hill, T. R. Bush, Elisha 
Mudge, P]leazer N. Darrow, Elizabeth Doane. 
1858. — Mary Coryell, George W. King, Mary A. Moore, 
Miss Baker, Lucy E. Freeman, 0. S. Ingham, 
James N. Wallace, Miss H. A. Taft. 
1859. — Charlotte Nethaway or Hathaway, Laura Har- 
rington, Charlotte H. Miller, Julia Sessions, 
Martha Avery, Anderson Stout, 0. B. Gunnison, 
IMyron S. Moss, Oliver G. Webster, Charles T. 
Lyon, Lois Mudge, Eunice M. Eddy, Elon Rey- 
nolds, Ely Reynolds, Charles E. Hollister. 
1860. — Naomi J. Everett, Mary Hill, Angeline Rush, 
Amelia Brown, Oliver G. Webster, Mary M. 
Coryell, America Hewitt, William Scott, Alan- 
sun Mathews, Jane Strever, Myron A. Dunning, 
William M. Colby, William Hill. 
1801.— Myron S. Mo.ss, D. B. Creasinger, M. R. Eaton, 
Elvira S. Cole, Naomi J. Everett, Rebecca T. 
Young, Albert H. Burch, II. W. Stiles, J. M. 
Harrison, Elisha MeCall. 
1862.— Mary L. Gillett, Miss L. Bentlcy, Minerva A 
Bachelor, Naomi S. Everett, Sarah E. Smith, 
Sophronia L. Burch, Jane Strever, 3Iary B. 
Harmon, F. M. Chase. 
1863. — America Hewitt, P]lizabeth Benjamin, Gertrude 
Benjamin, Jane Strever, Sarah Smith, Catharine 
R. (^hase, Mary E. Chase, Peter Benjamin, 
Mary Stafford, Naomi J. Everett, Myron A. 
Dunning, Myron S. Moss, L. C. Shelley, Sarah 
E. Smith, C. C. Collins, James Jewett. 
1864. — Jane Strever, C. R. Chase, Xiaura Eldred, Miss L. 
Bentley, Eva E. Wilson, Lucy J. Peet, Eliza- 
beth Taylor, Helen L. Hewitt, Mary Coryell, 
Peter Benjamin, Messrs. L. C. Shelley, Joslin 
0. G. Webster, and O. M. Wood. 
1865. — Mary iMoore, Jennie Strever, Nellie L. Hewitt, 
Helen Carrier, Elizabeth A. Benjamin, Amanda 
Wilcox, Mary Coryell, Myron A. Dunning, 



452 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Esther Swayze, Elva J. Wells, Delana Hoyt, 
Caroline Rouse, Oliver G. Webster, Munson 
Chase, L. C. Shelley, Elmer D. North, Alice L. 
Woodruff, Alice N. Taft, Naomi J. Everett, 
Miss E. M. Williams. 

IBCiG.^Caroline Rouse, Amanda E. Wilcox, Helen F. 
Snyder, Elva Wells, Emma L. Beebe, Livonia 
S. Holmes, Elvira M. Sturgess, Mrs. Lorado 
Dowd, Lois Van Vleet, Emily Skinner, Naomi 
J. Everett, Amelia Rogers, Helen Lyon, Har- 
riet H. Holmes, Emma L. Beebe, Elisha 
Mudge, Edwin E. Stone, Mr. 0. A. Price, 
Margaret E. Reece, Nancy Chase, Almy Bent- 
ley, and Amelia Rogers. 

1867. — Mi.ss A. Ferguson, Rhoda J. Mosher, Rebecca 
Cha.se, Nancy Chase, Mary Smith, Lucinda 
Hanse, Annie Wakeley, Emma Rogers, and 
Marie Thornton. 

APPORTIONMENT OF PRIMARY-SCHOOL FUNDS. 

18G0.— To District No. 1, $26.68 ; District No. 2, $27.60 ; 

District No. 3, $29.90 ; District No. 4, $ilAO ■ 

District No. 5, $9.66 ; District No. 6, $21.62; 

District No. 7, $8.28. 
1870.— To District No. 1, $25.4-1; District No. 2, $15.84; 

District No. 3, $38.88 ; District No. 4, $69.12 ; 

District No. 5, $19.68 ; District No. 6, $8.64; 

District No. 7, $20.1 6; District No. 8, $17.28; 

District No. 9, $13.92 ; and Fractional District 

No. 8, $25.44. 
The following statistics are taken from the school in- 
spectors' annual report for the year ending Sept. 1, 1879 : 

Number of districts (whole, 8; fractional, 1)... 9 

Number of children of school age residing in 

the township 590 

Number of children attending schools during 

the year 534 

Number of children, non-residents, attending 

schools during the year 41 

Number of school-houses (brick, 1 ; frame, 8).. 9 

Number of sittings 640 

Value of school property .$7850.00 

Number of men teachers employed 5 

Number of women teachers employed 15 

Amount paid men teachers .$751.00 

Amount paid women teachers $1267.00 

Total resources for the year $3040.89 

VILLAGE OF MAPLE RAPIDS. 

The village of Maple Rapids, an unincorporated town of 
about six hundred inhabitants, is situated in the northwest 
corner of Essex township, on the south side of Maple 
River, and occupies portions of sections 5 and 8. 

It contains three church edifices (Christian, Congrega- 
tional, and Methodist Episcopal), one graded school, two 
hotels, four stores of general merchandise, two drug-stores, 
three millinery-stores, two grocery-stores, two furniture- 
stores, one music-store, one jewelry-store, one steam grist- 
mill, one water-power grist-mill, one saw-mill, two plan- 
ing-mills, one foundry and machine-shop, a bank, a news- 
paper printing office (^Muple Rapids Dispatch), besides 
numerous small mechanical shops, in which nearly all the 
trades are represented. Among the professional men are 
Drs. Edwin Doty, Charles E. Knapp, 11. H. Sanborn, 
and Samuel Wellings ; S. S. Swigart, surgeon-dentist ; 



Revs. S. Snyder, S. Kitzmiller, and C. Barstow, clergy- 
men ; A. T. Cross, attorney-at-law, and Isaac Hewitt, real 
estate. The village is nine miles distant from Fowler, 
the nearest station on the line of the Detroit and Milwaukee 
Railroad, and fourteen miles from St. Johns, the county- 
seat. Daily stages run to both places, and the village is 
also connected with Fowler by a telephone-line. 

A LEAF OF EARLY VILLAGE HISTORY. 

Although the trading-post established by George Cam- 
pau in 1835, and afterwards carried on by John Johnson, 
was located within what would now be the corporate limits 
of the village, and though its natural advantages and routes 
of travel converging hei'e had made the Rapids familiar to 
most early settlers in this and surrounding townships, it 
seems that it was not until the year 1852 that any steps 
were taken towards the founding of a village. 

In February, 1852, William A. Hewitt, one of the first 
settlers of De Witt township, came in and occupied about 
two hundred and forty acres, purchased previously of Sol- 
omon Moss and others. He immediately began the con- 
struction of a dam and saw-mill* on the Maple, which 
were completed in 1853. During the latter year he platted 
a village, established a store near his mill, and was elected 
supervisor of Essex. Soon after he built a hotel, and be- 
came postmaster, succeeding in that office Edward Perrin. 
His sons were able assistants in the work of building up 
the village and advancing its interests. Upon the'death of 
his father, in February, 1863, Isaac Hewitt succeeded to 
the management of the estate, and by his energy and bus- 
iness tact has accumulated a handsome competency. To 
him, also, Maple Rapids can attribute much of the pros- 
perity it enjoys to-day. In September, 1864, he built a 
steam saw-mill just above the old mill, and for years lum- 
bered extensively. The building was torn down in 1878, 
however, and the present mill of William L. Hane occu- 
pies its site. Joseph W. Hewitt, the eldest of William A. 
Hewitt's fiimily, came here in 1853. He was the first 
cabinet-maker and carpenter, and carried on the business 
for several years. He is now associated with his brother 
and William F. Pettys in merchandising, under the firm- 
name of I. & J. W. Hewitt & Co. 

Among other early professional and business men were 
Dr. Daniel Pratt, Dr. Brown, Ruel W. Boy n ton, attorney ;■{" 
William Shepard, who was connected with W. A. Hewitt 
in business matters ; Robert McCartney, who established 
the first foundry about 1854 ; Martin V. Brown, Beach & 
Parr, J. B. Rumsey, James K. Petteys, Augustus Randolph, 
merchants ; Chandler Freeman, foundryman, who did an 
extensive business in agricultural implements, and also 
represented this district in the State Legislature ; he re- 
moved to Colorado in 1864 ; Samuel Reed, who established 
the Perry House and built Reed's Hall ; and others, whose 
names have also been mentioned. 

* About 1858 this building was enlarged, and with one run of stone, 
the industry of floiiring grain was added; finally the saw gearing 
was taken out and the capacity of the grist-mill increased to two run 
of stone by Isaac Hewitt. As such it continued to do work until the 
spring of 1878, when it was damaged by high water to such an e.\- 
tent that it has since stood idle. 

f William A. Hewitt was also an attoTney-at-law. 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



453 



The first school-house was built about 1855, and remained 
in use until the present one was erected in 18G9-70. llev. 
Elisha kludge, a minister of the Christian Church, was one 
of the early teachers, and in other ways a prominent and 
most worthy citizen. 

In 1867 it was discovered that the original plat of the 
village had not been placed on record. This fact necessi- 
tated a new survey and replat, which was completed July 
22d of that year. Among those then named as proprietors 
were Isaac Hewitt, Lafayette Brown, John A. Whitacre, 
William D. Young, George W. Aiken, Cyrus B. Craig, 
Stephen A. Hathaway, Zachariah N. Hewitt, Joseph W. 
Hewitt, Calvin P. Chase, Rodolphus Jones, James H. Jones, 
Orrin F. Peek, Edwin D. Calkins, Samuel Reed, Sanford 
W. Smith, Thomas Cook, Franklin Hudson, Barnard Creas- 
inger, Simon T. Hill, Rodolphus H. Sanborn, George Her- 
rendeen, Edgar D. Moss, Lewis B. Wilcox, J. B. Yates, 
Horace M. Skinner, Sarah Lucas, John A. White, Elisha 
Mudge, Louisa Brown, Esther M. Luce, Levi Benjamin, 
Louisa V. Hane, Hiram Richmond, Nancy Webster, 
George Richmond, Alfred W. Shaw, James K. Petteys, 
David Hollister, Letitia Underbill, Joseph E. Annable, 
Alexander Quick, Edward Cooper, Reuben Smitli, Simeon 
Hewitt, John Johnson, Martin Ferry, Myron S. Moss, and 
William F. Petteys. 

During later years commercial and manufacturing inter- 
ests have rapidly increased, and the more important of 
them will be briefly alluded to. In 1875 a flurry was 
created over the prospect of having a railway, which, pass- 
ing along on the north side of Maple River, was to connect 
Saginaw and Grand Rapids. The citizens subscribed lib- 
erally, and probably about six thousand dollars was paid 
in, but after about ten miles had been graded from the 
proposed depot to the northeast of the village the matter 
dropped. 

MILLS AND MANUFACTURING. 

The Essex Flouring-MUls were built by Mr. B. P. 
Hutchinson in 1875, and completely appointed cost twelve 
thousand dollars. The building is three and one-half stories 
in height, handsome, and commodious. Power is derived 
from steam, a marine boiler of one hundred horse-power 
being in use, which propels four run of stones. The mill 
began operating Aug. 5, 1875, and does both merchant and 
custom work. Born in New Hampshire, Mr. Hutchinson 
came to Michigan in 1837, and with his father's fafiiily 
settled in Howell, Livingston Co., Mich. He has also re- 
sided in Wayne County, this State, and for four years in 
the State of Missouri. He served in the Fourth Michigan 
Cavalry until after the battle of Murfreesboro', and con- 
tracted a disease, from which he is still a sufferer. 

liu/us II. Hewitt's present furniture manufactory was 
established by him in the year 1880. He has been in the 
same business, however, ten years, having succeeded his 
brother, Joseph W. Hewitt, who commenced here in 1858. 
Steam-power is used. From six to ten men are employed, 
and the principal articles manufactured are tables and bed- 
steads. 

Tlie Maple Rapids Foundry, controlled by Messrs. 
Jones, Perrigo & Co., employs seven men. Steam-power 



is used, and their work consists of general repairing, or 
work as ordered by their patrons. Since Mr. McCartney 
established his small foundry in 1854, many have been in- 
terested in iron-work here. In the present foundry Chand- 
ler Freeman, Wilcox, Randolph, Hathaway, M. J. Whit- 
acre, C. E. Winans, J. E. Jones, S. D. Perrigo, William 
H. Wheat, and Lewis Terry have all had an interest at dif- 
ferent periods. The present foundry building was erected 
by Charles E. Winans in 1872. 

BANKING. 

The banking-house of Solomon P. Creasinger was estab- 
lished by himself Jan. 6, 1875. He does a general bank- 
ing business, and employs a capital of from twenty thousand 
to forty five thousand dollars, according to the demands. 
His bank building was erected in 1874 at a cost of six 
thousand one hundred and thirty dollars. It is of brick, 
handsomely finished throughout, and the most commodious 
for such purposes in the county. Over six thousand pounds 
of iron was used in the construction of a burglar and fire- 
proof vault, which incloses one of Terwilliger's steel safes, 
with Yale time-locks attached. Mr. Creasinger has been 
identified with the interests of Maple Rapids since 1865. 
He is also one of the heaviest dealers in buggies in the 
State. 

NEWSPAPERS. 

The Maple Rapids Messenger, the first newspaper enter- 
prise started in the village, was first issued by the Dickey 
Bros, in April, 1874. It was an independent six-column 
folio, and with the motto " The people's friend, but no 
man's servant," was continued until January, 1878, when 
its publication ceased. 

2 Ae 3Ia2)le Rapids Dispatch, a seven-column folio, was 
established by the Messrs. Stair Bros. (Orin and E. D.). 
The first number was issued Oct. 26, 1878, and, like its 
predecessor, is independent. It is published Saturdays, and 
has a circulation of over five hundred copies. 

MAPLE RAPIDS CORNET BAND. 

The Cornet Band of Maple Rapids was organized in 
June, 1878. After but six weeks' practice its members 
played at the public installation of officers of the Odd- 
Fellows' Lodge. Their first and present leader, Rufus II. 
Hewitt, manipulates a first E-flat cornet. Other present 
members are Frank Stitts. second E-flat cornet ; Sanford 
W. Smith, first B-flat cornet ; A. J. Chick, second B flat 
cornet ; Morgan Perrigo, E-flai alto ; Leander D. Perrigo, 
first B-flat tenor ; A.sa B. Jones, second B-flat tenor ; 
George Whitney, baritone; William A. Nixon, E-flat 
tuba ; F. B. Richards, bass-drum ; Charles Ferguson, 
tenor-drum ; G. A. Willett, drum-major. The band is 
handsomely uniformed, and its members have expended 
about five hundred dollars for instruments. 

SECRET BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATIONS. 
MAPLE K.VI'IDS LODGE, No. 145, F. AND A. M., 
began work Oct. 15, 1863,- under a dispensation granted 
by the Grand Master of the State of Michigan, of date 
Oct. 1, 1863. The ofiBcera first installed were Martin V. 
Brown, W. M. ; George Herrendeen, S. W. ; Isaac Hewitt, 



454 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



J. W. ; R. W. Boynton, Sec. ; William Hane, Treas. ; 
Chandler Freeman, S. D. ; L. R. Wilcox, J. D. ; A. J. 
Eldred, Tiler. Edgar D. Moss was the first candidate for 
membership, and was initiated into the mysteries of the 
order Oct. 26, 1863. 

Subsequent Masters have been Martin V. Brown, 1864 ; 
Isaac Hewitt, 1865 ; Edgar D. Moss, 1866; George Her- 
rendeen, 1867 ; Isaac Hewitt, 1868 ; Elisha Mudge, 1869 
to 1877, inclusive; Murdo McDonald, 1878; Clayton C. 
Taylor, 1879. 

The present officers are Isaac Hewitt, W. M. ; Clayton 
C. Taylor, S. W. ; Solomon Doty, J. W. ; Myron S. Moss, 
Treas. ; Adelbert J. Moss, Sec. ; Scott S. Swigart, S. D. ; 
George H. Newton, J. D. ; Chauncey S. Hubbell, Tiler ; 
L. H. Peace and William L. Hane, Stewards. Regular 
communications are held in Odd-Fellows' Hall, village 
of Maple Rapids, Friday evenings, on or before the full 
moon of each month. Number of present members, ninety. 

MAPLE RAPIDS LODGE, No. 224, L 0. 0. F. 

This lodge was instituted March 26, 1874. The first 
officers installed were Samuel Reed, N. G. ; R. H. San- 
born, V. G. ; James A. Casada, Sec. ; Samuel Sheperd, P. 
Sec. ; L. L. Smith, Treas. 

Subsequent presiding officers are named in the order of 
their succession, as follows : Lyman Crowley, 1874 ; James 
A. Casada, Robert Anderson, 1875 ; R. H. Sanborn, Cyrus 
A. Lyon, 1876 ; Rufus H. Hewitt, Joseph F. Owens, 
1877 ; Lincoln L. Smith, John N. Whitacre, 1878 ; Albert 
T. Cross, John H. Marsh, 1879 ; and Asa B. Jones, 1880. 
Other present officers are Charles E. Price, V. G. ; T. A. 
Willett, Sec. ; L. L. Smith, Per. Sec. ; James H. Jones, 
Treas. 

The first meetings were held in the Masonic Hall, R. 
Smith's store. The lodge now owns about eight hundred dol- 
lars' worth of property, and meetings are held every Saturday 
evening in Odd-Fellows' Hall, Brown's Block. Present 
membership eighty. Among those who have been particu- 
larly zealous in working for the success of this lodge may 
be named James A. Casada, Robert Anderson, Thomas A. 
Willett, J. F. Owens, James H. Jones, P. S. Percy, and 
William H. Hamilton. 

ESSEX LODGE, No. 1, A. 0. U. W. 
As its number implies, this was the first lodge of the 
order organized in the State. It was instituted Feb. 28, 
1876, with ten charter members, and now numbers eighty 
members. Those who have served as Master Workmen 
have been Orion F. Peck, William A. Nixon, 1876 ; Chaun- 
cey A. Hubbel, Lincoln L. Smith, 1877 ; Albert T. Cross, 
A. B. Carter, 1878 ; Carlos A. Webster, J. E. Jones, 1879 ; 
George H. Sowle and Clayton C. Taylor, 1880. Regular 
meetings are held at Grange Hall Monday evenings. 

CARSON CITY ENCAMPMENT, No. 40, I. 0. 0. F., 
was organized at Canson City, Montcalm Co., Jan. 18, 1878, 
there being present George H. Shearer, G. P. ; Norman 
Bailey, G. H. P. ; Charles H.- Palmer, G. S. W. ; Henry 
P. Adams, Acting G. S. ; J. H. Ingalls, Acting G. S. W.; 
and L. Z. Munger, Acting G. I. S. of the State encamp- 
ment; G. B. Esler, J. L. Zuver, Anderson Chestnut, E. R. 



Phinney, Albert Tuthill, Lewis Reynolds, Alvin Hodges, 
W. A. Sweet, Jr., and Patrick Martin composed the char- 
ter members. The officers first installed were Patrick 
Martin, C. P. ; W. A. Sweet, Jr., H. P. ; J. L. Zuver, S. 
W. ; Albert Tuthill, J. W. ; George B. Esler, Scribe ; 
Alvin Hodges, Treasurer. Subsequent presiding officers 
have been William A. Sweet, 1878 ; Albert Tuthill, 0. R. 
Goodnow, 1879; Lewis Reynolds, H. L. Porter, 1880. 
Other present officers are W. E. Hamilton, H. P. ; J. A. 
Casada, S. W. ; E. R. Terry, Scribe; Alvin Hodges, 
Treas. ; C. E. Price, J. W. The encampment was removed 
from Carson City to Maple Rapids in May, 1880. It has 
thirty-eight members, and regular meetings are held on the 
first and third Thursdays of each month, in Odd-Fellows' 
Hall, village of Maple Rapids. 

ESSEX GRANGE, No. 439, P. OF H., 
began work under a dispensation granted by the National 
Grange, of date July 2, 1874 ; was chartered July 21st of 
the same year, and incorporated according to the laws of 
the State of Michigan, May 24, 1877. Thomas Garner, 
S. N. Allen, Oliver Cunningham, William Pinckney, John 
L. Lyon, Andrew J. Ennis, Joseph F. Owen, M. Hubbert, 
Rowland S. Van Scoy, Luther Wheat, James Anderson, 
John Anderson, and James H. Stonebrook being named as 
corporators. Further information concerning this lodge 
was requested from official members, but they failed to 
comply. 

RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 

THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF MAPLE 
RAPIDS. 

The Methodists formed the first religious organization 
in the township in 1846, by organizing a class which was 
attached to the Duplain Circuit. But in the absence of 
any authentic data little can be told concerning it. The 
Maple Rapids Circuit was formed in 1858, and among the 
members at that time, according to the class-book, were 
Simon T. Hill, leader ; Fidelia Hill, Mary Hill, Paul Dewitt, 
Mary M. Dewitt, C. T. Nestell, Rachel Schanck, Martin V. 
Brown, Fanny Brown, P]lecta Pratt, Emily C. Brown, Eliza 
Terry, Stephen Dodge, Rhoda Dodge, Hannah Dodge, Sarah 
C. Caplin, Lyman Wickham, Catharine Wickham, Franklin 
Hudson, Solomon Moss, William J. Moss, Hiram Nestell, 
E. D. Moss, Lydia M. Moss, George A. Britton, James 
Anderson, Helen Mather, John Parish, Eliza Parish, Mary 
Grant, Betsey Ferguson, J. N. Wallace, Elizabeth Ander- 
son, Andrew A. Hooker, Mark Annis, Holden Bannister, 
Kate Benedict, Eliza Strever, Hannah Hewitt, Eunice Ran- 
dolph, Maria Perrin, Sarah McGraw, Alfred Cowles, Ma- 
tilda Cowles, Martha Ca.sper, Melissa Bannister, Newell 
Bannister, William Brown, A. B. Snyder, C. B. Snyder, 
R. J. Cook, Ann Herrendeen, and Mary J. Dodge. 

Among those who have served as preachers in charge of 
this circuit are mentioned the names of Revs. F. Glass, 
George W. Hoag, William Benson, William M. Copeland, 
N. L. Otis, McKnight, House, Noah, Fassett, Thomas Clark, 
Stafford, B. W. Blanchard, J. R. Caldwell, E. Wilkinson, 
A. L. Crittenden, S. C. Woodard, F. J. Freeman, and S. 
Kitzmiller, the present pastor. The circuit includes a 
total membership of one hundred and seventy-two. Their 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



455 



church edifice, which will seat two hundred and fifty people, 
was built in 1868, and cost $2400. 



THE MAPLE RAPIDS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 

was organized April 26, 1868, at a meeting held in Union 
Hall. Rev. H. A. Reed, agent of the Home Mission So- 
ciety, was present, and served as moderator. Rev. E. T. 
Branch, scribe. 

Of the original members were James S. Bristol, Mrs. 
Julia Bristol, John Lambie, Rev. E. T. Branch, Mrs. L. L. 
Branch, James K. Petteys, Mrs. Sylvia M. Potteys, 
William F. Petteys, John Blackler, Mrs. J. Blackler, E. 
Mattoon, Mrs. E. Mattoon, Mrs. A. Webster, Mrs. Mary 
Mudge, Miss Mattie P. Branch, JMrs. Martha Daniels, Mrs. 
Almeda Moss, Mrs. S. Sanders, Mrs. Nancy Smith, and 
Mrs. M. Hollister. 

A house of worship, built in the summer and autumn of 
1869, was dedicated Jan. 16, 1870. It cost about $3000, 
and will seat nearly three hundred persons. The society 
now numbers ninety-six members. Those who have pre- 
sided as pastors have been Revs. Edwin T. Branch, Wil- 
liam Piatt, and Charles Barstow, the present incumbent. 



THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH* OF MAPLE RAPIDS, 
as now organized, was formed in 1874, under the ministra- 
tions of Rev. Elisha Mudge, who remained here as pastor 
until May, 1878, when the present pastor. Rev. S. Snyder, 
took his place. 

At a meeting held in Union Hall, Dec. 29, 1874, Row- 
land S. Van Scoy, Isaac Hewitt, Samuel Reed, Simeon 
Hewitt, and William L. Herman were elected trustees. 
The society was soon after incorporated according to the 
laws of the State, and some forty members signed the 
articles as corporators. 

Union Hall was purchased in 1876, which, remodeled into 
a handsome church edifice, was dedicated Sept. 24, 1876, 
the dedicatory' sermon being preached by Rev. Warren 
Hathaway, of New York State. The building co.st two 
thousand five hundred dollars, which includes the purchase 
of hall and grounds, fixtures, furnishing, bell, etc., and will 
seat three hundred and sixty people. 

Two other religious societies, known as the First Con- 
gregational Church of Essex and the First Baptist Church 
of Essex, have been organized in the township, but as 
both have ceased to exist, no further mention is deemed 
necessary. 



BIOGEAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 




WILLIAM 

William A. Hewitt was born in Steuben Co., N. Y., on 
the 26th day of November, 1811. Prominent among the 
early settlers of Michigan we find the name of William A. 
Hewitt, who came to this State in 1835, accompanied by 
his wife, a daughter of Zachariah Hyatt, who was one of 
the first clothiers in the city of New York. She was born 
in Orange Co., N. Y., March 15, 1813, and married Mr. 
Hewitt in 1830. They stopped in Oakland County, where 




MRS HANNAH 0. HEWITT. 



A. HEWITT. 

they remained until February, 1836; then came to Clinton 
County, settling in the town of De Witt, being the third 
family in the county. Mr. Hewitt and his worthy wife 
endured many of the privations and hardships common to 
early settlers. Their first home was a log cabin, built upon 

^ From data obtained from Isaac Hewitt, Esq., and county records. 
The church ch?rk wa^ respectfully requested to furnish further infor- 
matiun, but failed to respond. 



456 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



forty acres purchased from the government. During fifteen 
years' residence in De Witt, all of which time he was jus- 
tice of the peace, while engaged in different kinds of busi- 
ness, he cleared and improved three farms, and in the sum- 
mer of 1851 he cleared and put in seventy acres to wheat. 
He was known as a land-agent, looking up and locating 
land for settlers and speculators, doing a general real-estate 
business. Was engaged in mercantile and hotel business in 
De Witt ; was the first justice elected, and married the 
first couple in the county, viz., L. Minor to his present wife, 
who to-day are living in Essex, at a ripe old age, having 
enjoyed the fruit of over twoscore years of unbroken mari- 
tal life. On the 20th of February, 1852, Mr. Hewitt re- 
moved to Essex township, locating on section 5, on the 
banks of Maple River. Purchasing two hundred and forty 
acres of land, upon which site part of the village of Maple 
Rapids is now located (and it may well be accorded to him 
as having been really the founder of said village), his efforts 
were untiring ; he erected a saw-mill, hotel, and store, fol- 
lowing a grist-mill, and engaged in a general mercantile 
business, and having read law in earlier years with Joab 
Baker in De Witt, was admitted to the bar, ever continuing 
in the practice of his profession to his death in Essex. He 
was elected justice of the peace the first year of his resi- 
dence, and subsequently supervisor and treasurer, holding 
the office of justice from his first election to the time of his 
death. The issue of this marriage with Hannah C. Hyatt 
is five children, viz. : Joseph W., who is now engaged in 
mercantile business at Maple Rapids ; Zachariah N., now 
residing near St. Louis, Mich. ; Fanny M., the first white 
child born in the county, now wife of M. V. Brown, who 
is engaged in mercantile business at St. Johns ; Isaac 
and Rufus H., both residing at Maple Rapids, the latter 
now engaged in the manufacture of doors, sash, and blinds, 
and furniture, etc. William A. Hewitt's death occurred 
on the 12th day of February, 1863, at Maple Rapids, Mich. 
In 1865 his widow married Simeon Hewitt, a brother of 
her first husband, both still living at Maple Rapids. 

Isaac Hewitt, the fourth child and third son, was born 
Jan. 20, 1839, in De Witt; removed to Essex with his 
parents in 1852, where he has since resided. He married 
Miss Helen C. Lansing, of Maple Rapids, April 3, 1859. 
Upon the death of his father he was appointed executor of 
his fiither's will, and settled his estate in 1803 ; was elected 
justice of the peace to fill his father's vacancy, subsequently 
holding the office of township treasurer. In 1860, when 
twenty-one years of age, he conducted a flouring-mill, and 
in the fall of 1800 engaged in the mercantile business, con- 
tinuing in the same to the present time. In 1864 he 
erected a steam saw-mill at Maple Rapids, and was engaged 
in the lumber business until 1874. Following the father's 
footsteps, he lias ever inclined to the legal profession, and for 
many years past has done a large conveyancing business and 
dealt largely in real estate. His possessions cover over five 
hundred acres of land in Esses, and he enjoys the full con- 
fidence of the community in which he lives. 



SOLOMON P. CREASINGER. 

This gentleman, the fifth of the ten children of Barnard 
and Ann AVilhelm Creasinger, was born in the township of 
Perrysburg, Ashland Co., Ohio, March 10, 1844. 

His great-grandfather, Michael Creasinger, emigrated 
from Germany to Bucks Co., Pa., prior to the war of the 
Revolution, and during the long struggle which resulted 
in the independence of the United States served seven 
years in the Continental army. He participated in many 




SOLOMON p. CREASINGER. 

engagements and received several wounds. His wife also 
accompanied him in all his campaigns, and did much to 
alleviate the sufferings of the sick and wounded soldiery. 
After the close of the war Michael Creasinger settled in 
Augusta, Northumberland Co., Pa. His son Henry, father 
and grandfather of Barnard and Solomon P. Creasinger, 
respectively, was born in the latter place. He served with 
credit in a Penn.sylvania regiment during the war of 1812 
-14. Of Henry's family, Barnard was born during the 
last war with Great Britain. He (Barnard) remained in 
Northumberland until the year 1837, when he removed to 
the State of Ohio, and from thence to Essex, Clinton Co., 
Mich., in 1857. In recent years he has been engaged in 
commercial pursuits in the village of Maple Rapids, where 
he still resides. 

Until arriving at years of discretion Solomon assisted his 
father in fjrm duties, when, wishing to obtain better edu- 
cational advantages than the district schools of his neigh- 
borhood afforded, the year 1803 found him pursuing his 
studies in the city of Lansing. Although but little more 
than nineteen years of age he promptly responded to the 
call of his country for volunteers, and on the 1st day of 
August, 1863, enlisted in Company M, First Regiment 
Michigan Engineers and Mechanics. After the expiration 
of his term of enlistment he returned to Clinton County 
and taught school nine terms. With his father he then 



ESSEX TOWNSHIP. 



457 



engaged in the drug business in the village of Maple 
Rapids. Two years later he removed to Ithaca, Gratiot 
Co., where he aloue successfully carried on merchandising 
and lumbering. Selling out his interests there he again 
returned to Maple Rapids, and in 1874 erected his bank 
building. The following year he established his present 
banking-house, supplying a want long needed. Besides 
attending to his duties as a banker, he is probably the 
largest dealer in buggies in the State of Michigan, employ- 
ing some forty men. 

On the 25th of November, 1875, he married Miss Clara 
A., only child of Roswell Jones, Esq. To them two chil- 
dren have been born, viz., Lena, Feb. 28, 1878, who died 
March 30, 1878, and Grace L., Jan. 27, 1879. 

In his political sentiments Mr. Creasinger is a Repub- 
lican, and although not a member of any religious denomi- 
nation, he is active and liberal in the support of all churches, 
having served ten years as Sabbath-school superintendent. 

When it is stated that Mr. Solomon P. Creasinger is the 
most prosperous man of his years in the county of Clinton, 
that his capital has been accumulated by his own unaided 
exertions, and that he enjoys the esteem and confidence of 
all who have the honor of his acquaintance, no more need 
or can be said. 



0. F. PECK. 



The gentleman whose name heads this sketch occupies a 
prominent position among the self-made, reliable, and re- 
spected citizens of Clinton County. Born in Wayne 
Co., Mich., June 2, 18.S5, he is thoroughly Michigan in all 
his antecedents, — self-reliant, energetic, enterprising, and 
charitable to those in need and deserving. His parents 
were Yankees. By them his character was moulded and 
habits formed. At the age of twenty-two he removed to 
Calhoun Co., Mich. After three years' stay there he went 
to New York State and learned the trade of a tinner, fol- 
lowing this occupation until 1864, when he returned to the 
place of his birth and worked at his trade about two years. 
In the fall of 1866 he engaged in the hardware business 
in Maple Rapids, and at this time carries on a large farm 
besides this hardware business. He has been largely inter- 
ested in the improvement and advancement of this village, 
having erected two of the finest residen?;es here. He has 
occupied several offices of trust : was township clerk five 
years, supervisor six years ; also Grand Reviewer for two 
years of the A. O. U. W. of Michigan, and during this time 
has paid out twenty-eight thousand dollars ($28,000) to its 
widows and orphans. He i.s also one of the directors of the 
Home Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Ionia, Clinton, 
and jMontcalm Counties. 

Mr. Peck was united in marriage. May 8, 1864, with a 
daughter of David Hodges, Esq. For the past six years 
he has been a member of the Congregational Church. 
Politically, he affiliates with the Republicans. 



NATHAN R. LOWE. 

The parents of Nathan R. Lowe were Cornelius and Phebe 
Roberts Lowe, who were both natives of New York State. 
He was the eldest of five children, and was born in Elmira, 
N. Y., Dec. 26, 1801. His parents, who were farmers, 
resided ac Big Flats, near the former city, and their son 
remained at home, engaging^ in the labors incident to 
farm life, until his marriage at the age of twenty-three to 
Miss Rachel Goblc, whose parents were residents of the 




NATHAN R. LOWE. 

same locality. Four children were born to them, a son and 
three daughters. The birth of Phebe, the eldest, occurred 
in 1824, that of Sarali Ann in 1826 ; Joseph was born in 
1827, and Mary in 1832. Of these children all but the 
eldest are still living. Mrs. Lowe died Jan. 24, 1852, in 
Duplain, and in December, 1853, Mr. Lowe was again mar- 
ried to Mrs. Sarah Scott, who was the mother of two chil- 
dren, — Robert C. Lowe, born Dec. 14, 1854, and Charles, 
Oct. 8, 1856. Mrs. Sarah Lowe died Sept. 8, 1863, and 
Jan. 28, 1864, IMr. Lowe was united to Mrs. Rachel F. 
Walker, who had two sons, — Ernest, born Feb. 14, 1865, 
and William S., whose birth occurred July 15, 1867. 

In 1835, Mr. Lowe left his native State for the attractive 
soil of Michigan, and located in the township of Duplain, 
Clinton Co., where he purchased one hundred and sixty 
acres of land, and additional land elsewhere. This was en- 
tirely uncleared, the country was devoid of roads, and a 
pilgrimage with oxen to Detroit was necessary to obtain 
supplies for family use. This estate was later disposed of, 
and another, paitially improved, in the township of Essex 
purchased, upon which the family now reside. 

The death of Mr. Lowe occurred Aug. 8, 1874. He 
represented his township as supervisor, though averse to the 
burden of official honors, and rarely ambitious for such dis- 
tinctions. He was modest in his tastes and cared little for 
public life, his attention having been principally devoted to 
the labors incidental to farm-life. Both he and his wife 
were active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 



58 



458 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



CHAPTER LIX. 
GREENBUSH TOWNSHIP.* 

Settlements and Settlers — Township Organization — Civil List of 
Greenbush — Voters in 1844 .and 1850 — Old State Road — Schools — 
Town Roads — The Village of Eureka — Churches — Manufactures — 
Secret Orders. 

Geeenbush is the eighth township north in range 2 
west. On the north it has Gratiot County, on the south 
the township of Bingham, on the east Duplain, and on 
the west Essex. It contains a village called Eureka, and 
has two post-oflSces. Besides the interest of agriculture, 
which is, of course, paramount, Greenbush has at least 
three quite important manufacturing enterprises, and is 
altogetlier a town of thrift and wealth. Although no rail- 
way traverses its territory, it has a popular highway known 
as the State road, over which, it is said, the village of St. 
Johns receives more travel than over any other two roads 
centering at that point. In the southern portion of tlie 
town there is a broad stretcii of swamp which covers tliou- 
sands of acres, and which, despite energetic efforts towards 
its reclamation, is likely to remain waste land for some 
time to come. 

SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS. 

Simultaneously with the earliest settlement of Duplain 
township by members of the Rochester Colony, Greenbush 
received its first settler in the person of John Ferdon, him- 
self a member of the Colony and a comer to the settlement 
with Oliver Bebee and Samuel Barker, in July, 1836. A 
detailed reference to the Colony settlement in the history of 
Duplain deals in extenso with the incidents of Ferdon's 
journey to Michigan with his fellow-pioneers and the inci- 
dents of his earlier pioneer experience. In this connection, 
however, it is appropriate to repeat the story of his locating 
his cabin upon the northeast corner of section 36 in Green- 
bush, just over the Duplain line, his landed possessions 
lying in both towns. And there, as the first white man resi- 
dent in that town, he abided a few years before passing 
for a permanent location into Duplain, where he lived until 
his death, at the age of eighty-six, upon the place now oc- 
cupied by his .son Charles. Mr. Ferdon was famous in his 
day as a hunter of bears, and with Samuel Rowell, likewise 
a uiighty Nimrod, worked from time to time sad havoc 
among the wild beasts of the forest. In the summer of 
1847, Mr. Ferdon slaughtered no less than nine bears, as- 
sisted only by a club and an old dog, and during that sum- 
mer was the conquering hero of a stubbornly-contested bear- 
fight, which was at the time something of a sensation. 
When he came to Michigan Mr. Ferdon brought a stock 
of goods he had taken in Rochester on a debt, and having 
in his employ a good many hands engaged in clearing lands, 
of which he owned upwards of five hundred acres, he dealt 
out supplies to his men from his Greenbush shanty, although 
he made no further efibrt at store-keeping after his stock 
was disposed of. 

The next comer into Greenbush was Samuel Rowell, who 
in the spring of 1837 moved westward with Stephen Pearl. 

* By David Schwartz. 



Pearl settled in Ovid, and Rowell, after remaining a short 
time with Allen Lounsbury in Ovid, bought thirty acres on 
section 36 of John Ferdon, and moved to the place with- 
out delay. There he lived until his death in 1876, where 
his son Stephen lives and carries on the foundry started by 
his father in 1850. 

In the fall of 1838, David Richmond and Thomas Fisk, 
of Stafford, N. Y., visited Michigan for the purpose of lo- 
cating lands for themselves and others living in the same 
town. About all the desirable spots available they found 
in the hands of speculators, and determined to secure lands 
from first hands, they eventually discovered what they 
wanted in the town now called Greenbush, upon sections 22, 
23, and 27. The tract was hedged in on three sides with 
swamps, and for that reason doubtless had been neglected 
by speculators, but it suited Fisk and Richmond, and so, 
having secured it, they went back to Stafford to report pro- 
gress. Their report proving satisfactory, it was decided 
that Thomas Fisk with others should start at once for the 
place of proposed settlement, to prepare habitations for the 
families of all concerned. Accordingly, Fisk set out in 
April, 1839, accompanied by G. W. Reed, Henry Fisk, 
Ora B. Stiles, and James Stiles, Jr. They traveled by ox- 
team by way of Canada, and arriving upon the ground set 
at once diligently to the task of getting up cabins. Work, 
however, as fast as they could, they found the job a slow 
one, and before they had got up one cabin along came the 
flimilies of David Sevy, W. N. Daggett, James Stiles, and 
Thomas Fisk. They had come together via the lake to 
Detroit, and thence by teams over the Grand River road to 
Leach's, near Laingsburg. At that point they struck north- 
ward over the path earlier marked by the Colon}' pioneers, 
and landed at John Ferdon's about the middle of May, 
1839, after a four days' trip from Detroit. The night be- 
fore their arrival was spent at Henry Leach's, in Sciota. 
Leach kept a house of entertainment, and upon a tree in 
front of his shanty had nailed a board bearing in rude let- 
ters the legend, " Call and C." 

A few days subsequent to the arrival of the families, two 
settlers named David and Alvah Richmond, with their fami- 
lies, came upon the ground, and completed the little colony 
for whose members Fisk and Richmond had made the land 
locations in 1888. 

All hands had, it is true, reached Ferdon's, only a couple 
of miles or so from their prospective homes, but the better 
part of that two miles or more lay through a veritable 
" Dismal Swamp," and it will be hereafter seen that to over- 
come the obstacle presented by that swamp gave them well- 
nigh as much trouble as did the journey from Detroit to 
Ferdon's. It was possible to cross it afoot, but as for trav- 
ersing it with teams it was simply out of the question, and 
the hardy band therefore faced with heroic determination 
the conviction that they would have to carry afoot over a 
mile and a half of swamp everything they intended to take 
to their homes. From Ferdon's westward for the distance 
of a mile they cut out a road, and passed over it with their 
loaded wagons well enough, but at the end of the mile the 
swamp began, and there they therefore unloaded their 
goods and carried them, as best they could, about a mile and 
a half from the southeast corner of section 26 to the north- 



GREENBUSH TOWNSHIP. 



459 



west corner of the same section, where they found dry 
land. 

That swamp journey was a memorable and a difficult 
one. Kven under the most favorable circumstances it 
would have been no easy task, but when undertaken with 
heavy loads of furniture, stoves, and what not to impede 
the movements of the toilers, who were compelled to wade 
through mire and cross narrow log footways to avoid total 
immersion, the troubles that marked the passage may be 
slightly uuderstood. The goods thus transferred included 
general supplies and household goods, of which latter four 
cook-stoves formed no small element. For carrying his 
cook-stove over David Sevy paid the carriers one day's 
labor, and the same price for transporting a bureau, which 
he still preserves as a portion of his household furniture at 
his home in Greenbush. 

As already mentioned, the families arrived before Thomas 
Fisk and his companions had fairly completed one cabin, 
but into it a majority of the new-comers moved after a few 
days' stay at Ferdon's, and although the ijuarters were 
close, the best was made of the matter, albeit that best was 
very bad. Ferdon kept as many as he could, but those who 
crowded into Fisk's cabin filled it to the door. The cabin 
measured ten by twelve, and with two beds in it left just 
room enough for a single file of lodgers, and when at night 
the household slept the beds and lodgers upon the floor 
took up every available inch of space. There was not room 
in the house for a table, and so they ate in the open air at 
a table made of a plank laid across two upright crotched 
sticks. The kitchen was the open air, and the kitchen-fire 
a log heap against a stump. After that fashion they man- 
aged to struggle along until each family got up a cabin and 
passing time introduced some of the comforts and con- 
veniences of civilization. 

Of course cabins were built as fast as hands could work, _ 
and between cabin-building, chopping, transferring their 
goods across the swamp, and putting in crops the pioneers 
were during their first summer put to their busiest eiforts. 
They could not stop to do any clearing, for they were too 
anxious to sow what would produce food, and thus their 
clearing during that summer was just what sufficed to give 
places for their cabins. Settled at last in their own homes 
by midsummer, the families were distributed in close prox- 
imity, — Alvah Richmond, James Stiles, and W. N. Dag- 
gett on section 22, David Sevy and Thomas Fisk on sec- 
tion 23, and David Richmond on section 27. Meanwhile 
they were still getting their goods over the swamp, and be- 
fore they finished that job the season liad advanced to the 
latter part of August. It is worthy of remark that David 
Sevy carried a barrel of pork over the swamp single-handed. 
He accomplished the feat by transporting the pork in pails, 
and then the empty barrel. The Richmonds owned the 
only two pairs of horses boasted by the little band, and 
Thomas Fisk the only team of oxen. The horse-teams 
were engaged in hauling the goods of the settlers I'mm |)('- 
troit to the edge of the swamp until August, and then 
driven into the settlement by way of Essex as the only 
available route, and thus to get around a swamp which 
measured but one mile and a half across they had to make 
a trip of twenty- two miles. 



Important among their first efforts after getting settled 
was the work of making roads, and especially a road across 
the swamp towards the Colony. This swamp road, however, 
they made but a foot-path, and in that shape at least they 
found it a decent thoroughfare, and over which they man- 
aged to bring without much trouble such things as they 
needed from time to time. In the winter season, when the 
earth was frozen, they crossed the swamp with teams, much 
to their convenience. The first highway they cut out after 
their arrival was one running westward from the southeast- 
ern corner of section 22 to what is now Coleman's, a dis- 
tance of two miles. 

Luckily they found upon their arrival that John Ferdon 
was abundantly supplied with potatoes, and upon them they 
feasted in the absence of something better. Their first 
milling was done at Ionia, and for their first grist they 
bought wheat of Benedict, of Essex. David Sevy made 
the first trip to mill, accompanied by an Indian whom he 
hired to manage the canoe. The trip was made via the 
Maple River, starting at Maple Rapids, and occupied three 
days. Alvah Richmond went to the mill at Eaton Rapids, 
in the fall of 1839 by ox-team. When Sevy made his 
second mill trip by river, John Ferdon agreed to accompany 
him and manage the canoe. Sevy was doubtful of Fer- 
don's ability to do it, but the latter derided the doubt, and 
declared that as he had all his life been used to the man- 
agement of skin's, it would be queer indeed if he couldn't 
handle a canoe. As it turned out he found that there was 
a vast difference between handling a canoe and managing a 
skiff, and before half the journey was accomplished con- 
fessed that he knew but little about the canoe business. 
Although they did not capsize they came several times within 
an ace of doing so, and had altogether a hazardous and 
wearisome experience. While on the return voyage, worn 
out and ready to give up in despair, they hailed an Indian 
and tried to hire him to paddle them homeward, but the 
savage absolutely declined to help them unless they would 
pay him in whisky, and, as of whisky they had not a drop, 
they were compelled to press on as best they could. They 
finished the journey in the course of events, but in such an 
exhausted condition that they were laid up for two or three 
days afterwards. On another occasion Sevy engaged John 
and Horace Avery to go down the river to mill for him 
with eighteen bushels of wheat. The Averys reached 
Ionia all right, and started back with the flour, but en route 
their craft capsized, and the cargo descended to the bottom 
of the river. The flour was recovered, but only a very little 
of it was found to bo available for use. 

The first birth in the settlement occurred May 29, 1840, 
when Willard, son of W. N. Daggett, was born. He is now 
living in Missouri. The first wedding was that of Truman 
Watson and Esther, daughter to Sylvester Carter. Squire 
John Ferdon performed the ceremony at his hou.se, which 
was then the home of the bride as well as of her father. 
The second wedding occurred in 1841, at the house of David 
Sevy, who, its justice of the peace, married Erastus Tinkel- 
paugh and Orpba Fisk. The first death was that of Miranda, 
the one-year old daughter of David Sevy. She died Oct. 
10, 1839. The first adult person to die was Alfred Dane, 



460 



HISTOKY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



who was buried on Thomas Fisk's place. There was, how- 
ever, no public burial-place until after the death of Celestia 
F. Sevy, Feb. 26, 1847. At that time a cemetery was laid 
out upon David Sevy's place, in section 23, and in the in- 
closure Sevy's daughter was the first to be buried. A school 
was taught in the summer of 1840, and Thomas Fisk being 
an ordained minister of the Christian faith, public worship 
was introduced as soon as the settlements were made. David 
Sevy was by trade a cabinet-maker, and having brought a 
turning-lathe with him, lost no time in setting up a small 
shop, in which he carried on for many years thereafter the 
manufacture of cliairs, tables, etc., which as fast as made 
he carried to De Witt and other places and exchanged for 
wheat and various supplies. There was no blacksmith in 
the community for years after its creation, and when a 
blacksmith's services became necessary a journey to De 
Witt was imperative to secure them. A post-office was 
established at David Richmond's in 1843, before which 
date mail was got at Owosso or Laingsburg. Postage in 
those days was twenty-five cents per letter, and as it was 
almost impo.ssible to sell produce for anything but trade 
short of Detroit, the sum of twenty-five cents in hard cash 
was of some consequence and not always at hand. Mr. 
David Sevy got word one day that a letter awaited him at 
the Laingsburg post-office, and collecting the required 
twenty-five cents — not without an effort — he went over. 
When he got there he found that instead of one there were 
three letters, but, alas ! he had only the simple twenty-five 
cents to pay for one. Letters were valuable prizes, how- 
ever, if they did co.-;t twenty-five cents each, and, determined 
to have the entire batch, Sevy scoured the community at 
Laingsburg for the loan of fifty cents, and luckily obtaining 
it he got his letters and bore them homeward in triumph. 

The construction of roads was pushed forward with zeal- 
ous industry, and as other settlers came highways were 
opened rapidly, and travel rendered a comfortable con- 
venience instead of a dread. Road-bees were the favorite 
methods by which roads were made, and as at these bees 
about all the inhabitants gathered for work upon a stated 
day of each week, the business in hand was pushed on with 
celerity. The first grist carried over to the Colony mill 
from the settlement was a bushel of wheat which Henry 
Fisk packed on his back and lugged afoot across the 
swamp. Lyman Richmond is supposed to have built the 
first framed house, Thomas Fisk to have raised the first 
crop of wheat, and the first orchards to have been set out 
by David Sevy and John I. Tinkelpaugh, the latter of whom 
got his trees at an Indian nursery at Chesaning and carried 
them home on his back. 

Thomas Fisk has already been alluded to as a minister, 
and for some years preached regularly here and there, pre- 
sumably to good purpose. By and by, however, reports 
began to spread that Fisk was fixlling into worldly immoral- 
ities, and the tide of popular prejudice and suspicion soon 
set in so strongly against him that he was openly charged 
with the grossest wickedness. Public indignation broke 
out presently in a violent form, and those in whom it was 
felt the strongest banded for the common cause and sot out 
to harass and persecute Fisk by divers and sundry midnight 



raids upon his premises, — burning his haystacks, threaten- 
ing him with death, destroying his stock and other property, 
and resorting, in short, to such efforts as they could think 
of to show the disfavor under which ho rested. His per- 
secutors were known as the Swamp Guard, and at times as 
the Swamp Angels, and so persistently did they pursue 
Fisk with vindictive persecution that he was eventually com- 
pelled to leave the town and seek a residence elsewhere. 

Before dismi-ssing the history of the settlement of the 
six families mentioned, it will be of interest to note that of 
the heads of those six families three still live, — David 
Richmond, in Kent County ; W. N. Daggett and David 
Sperry, in Greenbush. 

The ensuing autumn saw additions to the immediate set- 
tlement, in Nathan Spooner, Truman Watson, and Moses 
Phillips. At the same time John and Horace Avery, 
Herod and Runa Morton, and Marvin Greenwood located 
in the southwestern corner of the town, while Edwin Hol- 
brook made a settlement near Samuel Rowell's, on section 
36. John I. Tinkelpaugh settled in the fall of 1840 near 
the site of the village of Eureka, and in 1841 Joseph Rus- 
sell, one of the early settlers in Bingham, came to Green- 
bush and settled at what is known as McMaster's Corners. 
When Russell located there his was the only house between 
the Sevy settlement and Benedict's Plains in Essex. His 
son William joined him in 1842, and his son James in 
1843. 

Joseph Russell fell a victim in the year 1852 to a sad 
calamity, in which he was slain by his son Nathaniel. 
The boy had been out on a hunting expedition, and having 
had bad luck thought upon his return to amuse himself by 
firing at a mark placed upon a shingle shanty. Unknown 
to Nathaniel, his father was at work in the shanty, and 
being within range of the first shot fired, which passed 
through a crack in the building, received it in his brain 
and expired almost instantly. 



The following list embraces the names of the resident 
tax-payers of Greenbush in the years 1840 and 1841 : 

1840. 

Acres. 

John Fenlon, sections 25, 8, 31, 36 370 

S. Howtll, section 36 30 

a. W. Reed, section 27 SO 

D. Richmond, section 27 160 

T. risk, section 23 80 

H. S. Fisli, section 23 40 

David Sevy, section 23 40 

James .Stiles, sections 21, 22 160 

A. Richmond, section 22 200 

T. Watson, section 23 80 

W. N. Daggett, section 22 40 

J. Stanley, Jr., section 33 160 

J.Stanley, section 32 80 

S. Stanley, section ^^2 80 

D. Allison, sections 31, 32 160 

J. Avery, section 33 40 

M. Greenwood, section 31 140 

II. Morton, section 31 40 

H. Avery, section 31 SO 

M. Phillips, section 20 80 

1S4I. 

David .Sevy, section 23 40 

Joseph Russell, section 5 100 

T. Watson, section 23 80 

E. Tinkelpaugh, section 10 80 

W. N. Daggett, section 22 40 

A. Richmond, section 22 200 



GKEENBUSH TOWNSHIP. 



461 



Acres. 

M. Phillips, section 21 240 

J. I. Tinkelpaugh, section 11 40 

H. S. Fisk, .section 23 120 

T. Fisk, section 23 120 

J. Ferdon, sections .SI. 30, 25, 8 370 

J. M. Rowell, section 36 30 

J. D. Riciimond, section 27 160 

G. W. Reed, section 27 80 

M. (greenwood, section 31 132 

Runa Morton, section 31 40 

Herod Morton, section 31 40 

Horace Avery, sections 31, 32 80 

N. W. Aldrich, section 30 40 

John Avery, section 33 40 

In February, 1849, George Wagner, John Wagner, 
Henry Wagner, James Sargent, Nathan Kirby, Gilbert 
Owen, William Owen, Aaron Smith, and Ca.spar Wagner, 
of Knox Co., Ohio, and H. A. Smith, of Morrow Co., 
Ohio, set out for Michigan to locate land on Mexican war 
land-warrants, of which all save George Wagner had be- 
come possessed by purchase, Wagner alone having served in 
the Mexican war. The party numbered ten, and all but 
three (who had horses) made the journey of three hun- 
dred miles each way afoot. All except Aaron Smith 
bought lands in Greenbush and made settlements thereon, 
Smith making his location in Essex. H. A. Smith says 
the hardest day's work he ever accomplished was the day's 
work required for him to walk to Ionia for the purpose of 
entering his land. He says he walked all day through the 
roughest, wildest kind of a country, saw no human being, 
saw no track, and crossed but one trail during the entire 
journey. 

Henry A. Smith's remarkable adventure with a bear in 
October, 185(5 (remembered as the smoky fall), is within 
the general knowledge of the local populace as a historical 
incident of much importance, and will therefore bear repe- 
tition here. 

Smith ventured one day upon a bear-hunt, accompanied 
by a small black dog, and had reached a cedar swamp three 
miles distant when Bruin came to view, but straightway 
took to his heels and made good his escape. Pushing on, 
the hunter came up directly with a second boar, at whom 
shooting he wounded, and saw make rapidly off, pursued by 
the dog. Smith hurried to the rescue, but lo ! almost in- 
stantly there crossed his path a third bear, and at him he 
discharged his weapon, with the effect of hastening his 
pace. Smith chased him, and three times fired at him as he 
ran. At that juncture, however, the programme changed. 
Up to that time Smith had been hunting the bear ; then 
the bear began to hunt Smith. Smith had often thought 
he would he happy if he could take part in a bear-figlit, but 
when he saw Bruin turn upon him and, with gnashing 
teeth as well as angry roar, threaten him with destruction, 
he felt as if he would give a good deal to get out of the 
mess he had got into. It was, however, too late to re- 
treat, and so he faced the issue boldly. Quickly putting 
the dog hors da combat, the bear faced Smith, who, club- 
bing his gun, dealt a swinging blow, which, although it 
felled the beast, shattered the weapon. In a trice the bear 
was on his feet renewing the attack, and .so furiously did 
lie press the onslaught that Smith, torn and bleeding, was 
about to give himself up for lost, when by a lucky chance 
be tore himself from Bruin's gra.sp and made off, with the 



bear in hot chase. Grasping a heavy stick, Smith turned 
and dealt his enemy a powerful blow. Down went the 
brute, and thicker and faster rained the blows of Smith's 
cudgel, until the enemy lay dead before him, and then up 
went a shout of thankful joy from the hero of the well-won 
victory. 

Smith's settlement was made in November, 1849, with 
his family, whom he lodged temporarily with Jamas R. 
Carter, who had been living on section 10 since November, 
1848. When Smith built his house on section 9 there 
was no hou.se, he says, between him and Mackinaw. East 
of him, on section 10, was John I. Tinkelpaugh, of whom 
it is said that when he was a workman in Owosso for B. O. 
Williams, in 1839, he persisted in denying himself and 
family the comforts of life so that he might save money 
enough to buy forty acres of land. He saved the neces- 
sary amount of money, bought forty acres in Greenbush, 
and was probably made happy. When Smith came to his 
place he traveled via De Witt and Gardner's Corners, and 
thence by trail along the river to within three miles of his 
land. 

William Thomas entered in 18.50 a piece of land upon 
section 17, then a wild tract, and the same year made a 
settlement. His son, Philip Thomas, and George Adleman 
were living on the same section, to which they had come 
in 1849 and made a small clearing. The road now known 
as the State road was then laid out as a town road, but 
scarcely any work had been done upon it. Oscar George 
was a close neighbor on the north, and on the south was 
James Stiles. 

On the north town line Nathan Ru.ssell, son of Joseph 
Russell, made probably the first location. He put up a 
shanty on section 5, but effected no clearing of any con- 
sequence. He .sold the place in 1852 to Benjamin Doty, 
who moved right in with his family. He had to cut a 
road to the shanty put up by Russell, and when the 
women-folks got a look at the building, its dreary, deso- 
late appearance, lacking floor, door, and window, they 
were so oppressed and disheartened at the miserable pros- 
pect before them that they sat down upon a log and cried 
bitterly. Philosophy, however, soon came to their aid, 
and they faced the .situation with a renewed hope that 
gave them courage and patience. They bore it all heroic- 
ally after that until better times greeted and cheered them ; 
" but many's the time," says Mrs. Doty in speaking of 
their experiences, " that we were awfully, pitifully home- 
sick for the comforts of civilization we had left in exchange 
for the wild woods of Michigan." 

The RusscUs, a mile south, were the Dotys' nearest 
neighbors. Their milling-point was at the Colony or Fish 
Creek, and whenever Mr. Doty set out for a journey with 
his team an axe to cut out his road was an absolutely indis- 
pensable necessity. The same day that saw (hem make 
their home on section 5 saw also the arrival upon section 6 
of J. W. Bryant. Farther eastward Henry Auten had 
settled on section 4 in 1850. Chauncey Dexter settled 
upon a place taken up in 1849 by Andrew E. Bryant on a 
Mexican war land-warrant. AddiSon Hulse came during 
the fall of 1850, and in that neighborhood later on William 



462 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Scott, William Besley, and Nathan Matthews pitched their 
tents, as did Thomas JeflFreys, Nelson Stronsj, James Pat- 
terson, ;ind Miron Ellis. Among other early settlers in 
the town may likewise be mentioned Isaac Eagles, J. E. 
Power, David Blank, Peter Fleagle, Emmet Kirby, William 
Burke, David Nye, James Odell, and Benjamin Hawkins. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 

Town 8 north, in range 2 west, was a portion of Bing- 
ham town.ship until Feb. 16, 1842, when an act of the 
Legislature detached it and named it Grceubush. The 
name was suggested by Mrs. David Sevy on the occasion 
of a meeting of citizens at her husband's house for the 
purpose of christening the new township. Mrs. Sevy had 
a fancy that the name would perpetuate the recollection of 
the sight of many handsome-looking green bushes which 
greatly refreshed her senses upon her first entrance into 
the town. She remembered also a place known as Green- 
bush in New York State, where with her father's family 
she spent one uight while journeying in the earlier days 
from New England to Western New York. So, in accord- 
ance with her suggestion, those present at the meeting took 
at once favorably to the name of Greenbu.sh, and sent it in 
along with the petition for organization. March 16, 1847, 
towns 9 and 10 north, in range 2 west, in Gratiot County, 
were attached to Greenbush for township purposes, and re- 
mained so attached until the organization of Gratiot County 
in 1855. 

The first town-meeting in Greenbush was held April 5, 
1842, at the school-house in district No. 1. Marvin Green- 
wood was chosen moderator and John Ferdon, David Sevy, 
W. N. Daggett, and David Richmond inspectors of elec- 
tion. 

The poll-list on that occasion was as follows : Thomas 
Russell, Henry Fisk, Joseph Russell, Samuel Rowell, Na- 
than Spooner, William Russell, Hosca Fletcher, John Fer- 
don, W. N. Daggett, David Richmond, James Stiles, Mar- 
vin Greenwood, 0. B. Stiles, Herod Morton, Runa Morton, 
Alvah Richmond, Thomas Fisk, John Avery, Horace 
Avery, David Sevy, — twenty in all. Twenty-one dollars 
was voted for the support of schools ; two hundred dollars 
for contingent expenses. David Richmond was cho.sen 
poundmaster. A pound six feet square, of logs fourteen feet 
long, was ordered to be built, and the contract therefor 
given to Willard N. Daggett for five dollars and seventy- 
five cents, the bargain being that the pound should be fin- 
ished by June 1, 1842. The election for town officials 
then went forward with the following result : Supervisor, 
David Sevy ; Treasurer, Horace Avery ; Clerk, Alvah 
Richmond ; Highway Commissioners, Runa Morton, David 
Richmond, and William Russell ; School Inspectors, Henry 
S. Fisk, Runa Morton, and O. B. Stiles ; Justices of the 
Peace, Marvin Greenwood, John Ferdon, Herod Morton, 
and William Russell ; Directors of the Poor, W. N. Dag- 
gett and Herod Morton ; Constables, H. S. Fisk and John 
Avery. 

CIVIL LIST OF TUE TOWNSHIP. 

Appended is a list of the persons annually chosen fiom 
1843 to 1880 to be supervisors, clerks, treasurers, and jus- 
tices of the peace: 



SUPERVISORS. 



1843. H. Avery. 

1844. D. Sevy. 
1S4.5-50. S. Penrl. 

1851. H. Avery. 

1852. J. C. ¥ox. 

1853. H. A very. 

1854. L. Wilcox. 

1855. H. (i. Thompson. 

1856. W. N. Daggett. 
1857.* H. Avery. 
1858-59. L. Wilco.\. 



1843-45. L. M. Richmond. 
1846-51. J. Sevy. 

1852. M. A. Chappel]. 

1853. J. Coffman. 
1854-56. M. A. Chnppell. 



1860-61. M. Ellis. 
1862. J. E. Power. 
1863-64. M. Ellis. 
1865. L. Wilcox. 
1866-67. M. Ellis. 
1868.t J. E. Power. 
1869-70. M. Ellis. 
1871-74. J. E. Power. 
1875-78. J. A. Matthews. 
1879-80. A. Hulse. 



CLERKS. 



1857-59. J. L. Curtis. 
I860. W. N. D.iggett. 
1861-62. R. E. Davies. 
1863-B5. M. A. Chnppcll. 
1866-80. R. E. Davies. 



TREASURERS. 



1843. R. Morton. 
1844-45. H. Avery. 
1846-51. AV. N. Daggett. 

1852. P. Jeffreys. 

1853. L. Wilcox. 
1854-55. P. .Jeffreys. 

1856. M. Ellis. 

1857. L. Wilcox. 

1858. W. N. Daggett. 



1859. C. Grey. 
1860-62. J. R. Carter. 
1863-67. N. T. Stiles. 
1868. L. W. Ingersoll. 
1869-70. D. L. E.aglcs. 
1871-74. J. J. Bowers. 
1875-78: A. Hulse. 

1879. C. H. Bogardus. 

1880. D. L. Eagles. 



JUSTICES OF TUE PEACE. 



1843. 


0. B. Stiles. 


1862. 


I. Eagles. 


1844. 


.T. Ferdon. 


1803. 


0. Whitlock. 


1845. 


M. Greenwood. 


1864. 


Y. L. Miller. 


1846. 


W. Russell. 


1865. 


W. H. Burman 


1847. 


0. Whitlock. 


1866. 


I. Eagles. 


1848. 


E. Ilolbrook. 


1867. 


G. AV. Reed. 


1849. 


A. Chappell. 


1868. 


Ij. G. Loomis. 


1850. 


I. Eagles. 


1869. 


L. Wilcox. 


1851. 


0. Whitlock. 


1870. 


I. Eagles. 


1852. 


H. Autcn. 


1871. 


G. AV. Reed. 


1853. 


M. Greenwood. 


1872. 


L. G. Loomis. 


1854. 


I. Eagles. 


1873. 


S. Bebee. 


1855. 


0. Whitlock. 


1874. 


J. J. Keiser. 


1856. 


J. G. Thompson. 


1875. 


T. AVhitc. 


1857. 


E. Ilolbrook. 


1876. 


L. G. Loomis. 


1858. 


I. Eagles. 


1877. 


S. Bebee. 


1859. 


0. Whitlock. 


1878. 


J. J. Keiser. 


1860. 


G. W. Townsend. 


1879. 


0. AVhitlock. 


1861. 


L. Wilcox. 


1880. 


L. G. Loomis. 



LIST OF VOTERS IN THE TOWNSHIP IN 1844 
AND 1850. 

1844. — Nathan Spooner, John Ferdon, James M. Stiles, 
L. M. Richmond, William Ingalls, O. B. Stiles, David 
Richmond, E. B. Stiles, John Avery, S. M. Rowell, Joseph 
Russell, Thomas Beach, Edwin Ilolbrook, Orange Whit- 
lock, Amos Avery, William Russell, William Bentley, 
Jonathan Aldrich, James Stiles, W. N. Daggett, N. W. 
Aldrich, David Sevy, Marvin Greenwood, Herod Morton, 
Horace Avery, John I. Tinkelpaugh, John Manchester, 
Truman Watson, Alvah Richmond. 

1850 — Nathan Spooner, John Sevy, Luman Wilcox, 
Edwin Holhrook, A. E. Bryant, Joseph Russell, R. L. 
Carroll, Stephen Pearl, Lewis Richards, 0. Whitlock, R. 
B. Crowner, James Sargent, James Russell, Amos Avery, 

* One hundred anil sixty-nine votes, 
f Two hundred and filty nine votes. 



GREENBUSH TOWNSHIP. 



463 



Philip Thomas, Marvin Greenwood, William L. Massey, 
John Manchester, James H. Kennicott, H. S. Fisk, JehicI 
Dunning, 0. P. George, Parsons Jeffreys, Henry Smith, 
A. E. Olin, James M. Stiles, Erastus Tinkelpaugh, James 
R. Carter, Walter Hulbert, Zelotes Avery, Samuel M. 
Rowell, B. W. Hobert, William Besley, Addison Hulse, 
W. N. Daggett, John I. Tinkelpaugh, William Johnson, 
William Russell, Isaac Eagles, William Badgerow, 0. B. 
Sevy, Horace Avery, D. B. Cranson, I. B. Froece, L. W. 
Stiles, Nathaniel Russell, I. A. Hooker, 0. M. Pearl, 
George W. Richmond, D. F. Badgerow, Benjamin Stiles, 
A. H. Richmond, 0. B. Stiles, Harmon Richmond, David 
Sevy, F. 0. Richmond, Alvah Richmond, David Rich- 
mond, John C. Fox. 

THE STATE ROAD. 

The old State road, laid out between Lansing and St. Louis, 
was a famous highway in its day, not only for the great vol- 
ume of travel flowing over its surface, but for the roadside 
inns which dotted it at frequent intervals and refreshed as 
well. as sustained the weary wayfarers of the tin)e. The road 
is still much traveled, and boasts still numerous roadside 
inns, of which there are three in Greenbush township. The 
pioneer tavern on the road in Greenbush was one put up by 
William Wyman, or Yankee Bill, as he was called, on sec- 
tion 8 just east of the burying-ground. Yankee Bill's 
tavern was a poor sort of an affair, and although it suited 
well enough in the absence of other places of entertain- 
ment, it was relegated to obscurity as soon as better taverns 
appeared upon the road. Presently Drake's and Coleman's 
taverns presented excellent claims upon the traveling public, 
and flirther north, about 18G0, Chauncey Morton moved 
into a house built by Stephen MePherson, at what is now 
McMaster's Corners, and converted it into a tavern. A 
post-office was established at Coleman's Corners about 1858, 
and named Keystone, presumably by some admirer of 
Pennsylvania or of Buchanan, who was then in the Presi- 
dential office. Horace Ciister was appointed postmaster, 
but the business of the office proving insignificant, it was 
soon discontinued. Shortly afterwards the office was re- 
newed and located at Chauncey Morton's old tavern-stand, 
then being kept by George W. Miller and called the Union 
Home. The latter name wiis likewise the one bestowed 
upon the post-office, and that name it yet bears. The office 
was abolished in 1864 and restored in 1871, with James 
C. Barrus as postmaster, who moving away in 1870 was 
succeeded by William Cams, and the latter in 1878 by the 
present incumbent, S. L. McMaster. A daily mail is re- 
ceived over the route between St. Johns and St. Louis. 

SCHOOLS. 

The pioneer Bcliool house in Greenbush was an aban- 
doned shanty that had previously served David Sevy as 
a residence. It stood upon the southwestern corner of 
section 23, and in it the first school was taught by Lucinda, 
daughter to David Richmond. Miss Richmond taught also 
the second school, and continued to teach in the town and 
vicinity several years. 

The board of school inspectors met for organization in 
the schoolrhouse of district No. 1 on the 13th of April, 



1842, and chose Runa Morton chairman. District No. 1 
was apportioned to contain the north half of section 20, the 
whole of sections 23, 14, 11, 2, 3, 10, 15, the east half of 
section 22, and the east half of the southeast quarter of the 
southwest quarter of section 22. No. 2 was ordained to 
contain the south half of section 20, the whole of sections 
27, 28, 29, 20, and 21, the west half of the southwest 
quarter of section 22, the west half of the southeast quarter 
of the southwest quarter, and the northeast quarter of the 
southwest quarter and northwest quarter of 22. No. 3 
(fractional) composed of portions of Ovid and Duplain, 
and the south half of section 25, the east half of section 
35, and the whole of .section 30 in Greenbush, was formed 
April 9, 1847, as was district No. 4, composed of sections 
2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 1 1. No. 5 was organized May 6, 1850, 
and contained sections 30, 31, 32, and 33, with the south 
halves of 28 and 29. No. 6 was organized Oct. 25, 1852, 
and included sections 10, 17, 18, 19, and 20, the west half 
of .section 21, and the north half of section 29. The same 
day No. 7 was formed with sections 3, 4, 9, and 10. No. 
8 was formed April 15, 1856. 

A report dated 1847, touching the township library, sets 
forth that Feb. 1, 1840, L. M. Richmond bought books to 
the amount of fifty dollars and twenty-eight cents ; that 
September, 1846, Zelotes Avery bought books in the sum 
of forty-one dollars and twelve cents; that June, 1847, the 
school inspector bought a book-case for twelve dollars ; and 
that in July, 1847, John Sevy bought books for twenty- 
one dollars and sixty cents. Oct. 18, 1843, an annual re- 
port testified that there were twenty-two school children in 
district No. 1, that .school had been taught three months by 
Nancy Richmond, that she had been paid two dollars per 
week for her services, and that nine children had attended 
private school. The annual report dated Oct. 15, 1844, 
gave out that in district No. 1 were twenty-four school 
children, that in fractional 1 there were twenty-seven, that 
the attendance in both districts was forty-four, and that 
seven children attended private school. 

The list of teachers appointed between 1843 and 1860 
follows here : 

Jan. 20, 1843.— Nancy Richmond. 

July 1, 1843.— Orpha Tinkflpaugh. 

Nov. 4, 1843.— L. M. Richmond. 

May 8, 1844. — Amelia F. Richmond, Celestia F. Sevy. 

May 3, 1845.— Sophia Stark. 

Nov. 25, 1845.— John Avery, Jr. 

May 2, 1846. — Caroline M. Richmond, Mary E: Sevy. 

Nov. 22, 1847.— Byron Hollister. 

April 28, 1849.— Mary E. Sevy, Harriet Eagle. 

April 26, 1851.— Elvira A. Sevy. 

May 10, 1851.— Albina S. Chapman. 

May 17, 1851.— Catherine E. Beebe. 

Oct. 17, 1851.— Nancy M. Gun.sally, Mary P. Richmond. 

April 10, 1852. — Frances A. Chappell. 

Nov. 27, 1852.— Mary M. Hill, Ann S. Avery. 

April 9, 1853. — Albina S. and Maria S. Chapman. 

May 28, 1853.— Matilda Besley. 

Nov. 5, 1853.— Mary A. Collier. 

Dec. 1, 1854. — Henrietta L. Richmond, Mary E. Thonjp- 
son, D. A- Clark, an(3 Orriii Bicrcg. 



464 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



April 14, 1855. — Melinda M. Richmond, Mary C. Rich- 
mond, Catherine E. Bebee. 

June 2, 1855.— Adelia Smith. 

Nov. 3, 1855. — Arozina P. W. Chapman. 

April 12, 1856— Mary Cole. 

April 24, 1856.- Rebecca V. Young. 

May 6, 1856.— Mary L. Lane. 

June 7, 1856. — Mary Jane Corwia. 

Nov. 12, 1856.— Sanford H. Baker. 

Dec. 2, 1856.— Henry M. Harrison. 

Dec. 10, 1856.— Lorenzo D. Cole. 

April 11, 1857.— Nancy E. Budd, Ellen Bachelder, Lu- 
cinda M. Manchester. 

May 13, 1857. — Harriet A. Mattoon. 

Nov. 28, 1857.— William W. Wyman. 

Nov. 7, 1857.— Myron Ellis, Mr. Hamlin. 

Jan. 23, 1858. — Nancy Richmond. 

Dec. 14, 1857. — Harriet Crow. 

April 10, 1858.— Miss R. N. Young. 

April 24, 1858.— Lucy A. Baldwin. 

May 15, 1858.— Charlotte Smith, Augusta Chappell, 
Fannie Chappell. 

May 28, 1858.— Emma Pearl. 

Nov. 6, 1858.— J. L. Hamiel, J. C. Jcwett, Anthony 
Swarthout, Myron A. Dunning, Hattie A. Stiles. 

March 19, 1859.— Mary Ann Bryant. 

April 9, 1859. — Sarah Nickerson, Harriot Jewett. 

June 13, 1859. — Lois Mudge. 

The annual report for 1879 gave the subjoined details : 

Number of districts (whole, 7; fractional 1) 8 

Nurober of scholars of school age 446 

Teachers' wages $1074.80 

The school directors for 1879 were C. L. Putt, C. H. 
Bogardus, W. J. Havens, D. K. Greenwood, J. W. Besley, 
H. H. Van Sickle, W. N. Daggett, and J. J. Bishop. 

TOWN EOADS. 

Highways were to the early settlers among the most im- 
portant of requirements, and among their earliest eiforts 
after getting located they made the chopping-out of roads 
a prominent business. Road-bees, at which all hands as- 
sembled, usually on Saturdays, pushed matters briskly 
forward in that direction, while the working upon high- 
ways for the non-resident tax was almost the sole means 
by which settlers could obtain ready cash. In April, 1842, 
the town was divided into six road districts, and for the 
year 1842 the report was to the efiFect that one hundred 
and ninety-two and a half days' labor were assessed, that 
ninety-nine and a half days were worked, and that Joseph 
Russell and John Avery were paid twenty-eight dollars for 
repairing highways. 

In 1844 the assessment of highway labor in days was 
as follows : 

District No. 1 514 

2 16 

" 3 39* 

" 4 2:u 

: fii 

THE VILLAGE OK EUREKA. 
During the year 1855, J. A. Barrington, the proprietor 
of a mill in Knox Co., Ohio, was compelled in course of a 



business triinsaction to take one hundred and sixty acres 
of wild land on section 15 in the township of Greenbush, 
and while wondering what he would do about it he met 
John Power, then just returned home from a land-looking 
tour through Michigan. When Power learned that Bar- 
rington had bought some timber-land in Greenbush, he 
advised him to take his mill-right out there as an invest- 
ment that would pay him well. Barrington acted upon 
the advice so far as to leave at once upon a tour of inspec- 
tion, and in looking through the neighborhood of his land 
for a mill-site came upon a spot in section 2, upon Mill 
Creek, which suited him, and putting down a stake declared 
that he would bring his mill out and put it up there. His 
guide over the territory was Isaac Eagles, then living on 
section 1 1 , and afterwards one of a company of three who 
platted Greenbush village in 1857. 

Barrington bought what land he needed, engaged Par- 
sons Jeifreys to build a log house, George Brewbaker to 
put in the under-frame for the mill, and went back to Ohio. 
When he got there and told what he had done, Clark Wil- 
liams (one of his mill-hands) and a Dr. Rigdon Patter 
bought each an interest with him as partners, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1856, Barrington and Potter made a trip to Green- 
bush. They found matters progressing favorably, and upon 
their return to Ohio made such preparations for a perma- 
nent transfer of the mill that in May following they were 
en route. Williams and Jacob Zullman, a mill-hand, had 
their families with them, and moved into the doorless and 
windowloss log house built by Jeffreys, then the only 
house upon the site now occupied by the village, which 
was then simply a forest. All hands set in to complete 
the mill, and got on so well that on the 1st day of July, 
1856, the mill-wheel was started. 

The saw-mill being accordingly in active operation, Bar- 
rington returned to Ohio in October. In January, 1857, 
he came back to Greenbush with a small run of stones, and 
directly a grist-mill added its music to the buzz of the saw. 
Meanwhile the starting of the mill had suggested the idea 
of a village, and as the place began to draw considerable 
business, the village idea took shape. Barrington, Potter, 
and Williams laid out a few lots in the vicinity of the mill, 
and presently along came James H. Morrison with half a 
wagon-load of goods, and opened a store on the lot now oc- 
cupied by 0. R. Baker's hardware-store. The building 
was used also by Morrison as a residence, and was the first 
framed house the village boasted. It was afterwards en- 
larged by David Sturgis, and serves, as related, as Mr. Ba- 
ker's store. About this time Parsons Jeffreys, Isaac Eagles, 
G. P. Moore, and M. E. Burroughs, owners of laud there- 
about, laid out the plat of the present village, and recorded 
it Dec. 17, 1857, as follows: "That part of the southeast 
quarter of the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter 
of section 2 commencing at the (|uarter post on the south 
side of said section ; thence north on the quarter line of said 
section thirty-one rods ; thence west forty-four rods so as to 
include a portion of the stream marked Mill Creek, on the 
plat of said village ; thence south twenty-two rods ; thence 
east three rods eighteen links ; thence south to the section 
line ; thence east to the place of beginning. Also that part 
of section 11 commencing at the quarter post on the north 



GREEN BUSH TOWNSHIP. 



465 



side of said section, iuniiin>r west twenty-one rods and one 
link ; thence soutii thiity-eij;lit rods and ten links ; thence east 
twenty-one rods one link to the quarter line ; thence north to 
the place of beginning. Also that part of section 1 1 coin- 
niencinsr at the quarter post aforesaid, thence south on the 
quarter line thirty-eight rods ten links ; thence east forty-four 
rods ; thence north thirty-eight rods ten links to the section- 
line ; thence west on the section-line to the place of begin- 
ning." The village was named Groenbush by the pro- 
prietors, although before the platting the place had been 
variously known by the names of VVilliamsport, Barrington, 
and Swizzletown. Indeed, the latter designation clung to 
the place even after Greenbush became the formally-adopted 
appellation. It was a name applied in derision, because of 
a conceived notion that the villagers were in the main given 
ovorniuch to a taste for strong drink. Despite the coun- 
teracting influence of those who blushed to hear the name, 
Swizzletown was spread far and near, and by that mark 
alone was the village known to many. 

When the village was platted Avery Chappcll, who had 
been keeping a small store and the Greenbush post-oiSce, 
about a mile to the westward, removed the store and post- 
office to the town. This post-office was established as 
Greenbush as far back as 1843 at. David Ilichmond's house, 
and his son Lyman appointed postmaster. Mail was re- 
ceived from Owosso by way of the Colony. Lyman Rich- 
mond was the postmaster until 1846, when David Sevy re- 
ceived the office, and after holding it a year relinquished it 
to Alvah Richmond. The latter was in possession from 
1851 to about 1856, when Avery Chappcll came in. E. 
R. Hayden succeeded Chappell in 1861, and to Hayden 
succeeded Edward Stark. During Stark's time the name 
of the office as well as that of the village was changed to 
Eureka. There being a post-office in Alcona County called 
Greenbush there was some confusion in the mails, and thus 
a change was demanded. Edward Stark being called upon 
to suggest a name declared at once in favor of Pjurcka, on 
the ground that he thought he had found in the village a 
most excellent opening for business, together with the 
promise of greater things to come. The time seemed also 
appropriate to make a change in the village name, since 
Swizzletown kept right on disputing the honors with 
Greenbush. Stephen Pearl, determined to do what ho 
could to impress the general public with the truth that 
the village was not Swizzletown, placed a great sign over 
against his store adorned with the letters E-u-r-e-k-a. 

Continuing the post-office history, W. N. Daggett suc- 
ceeded Stark in 1868, and in 1875 gave way to William 
Bowles, vrho, in 1878, was followed by Daniel Turner, the 
present incumbent. 

Jlorrison, the first storekeeper, soon sold out to David 
Sturgis, and he to M. E. Burroughs. George Stark, who 
had been selling a few goods from his house, bought out 
Burroughs, and soon after that joined Stephen Pearl in 
trade. When Pearl and Stark decided to remove they lefl 
their stock of goods with Robert Clark, a blacksmith, who 
had, with George P. Moore, set up the pioneer smithy in 
the village. Moore was a partner in the mill as well as in 
thp blacksmith's shop, and was one of the village proprie- 
tors. Clark continued his shop business while he sold 
5i) 



goods, and doing so well at the latter he relinquished the 
shop, and, devoting himself to trade, soon became a promi- 
nent merchant. 

Martin Merritt built the tavern now called the Northern 
Hotel soon after the mill started, and in due season there 
came a Dr. Cargill, who boarded at W. N. Daggett's and 
practiced medicine about six months. He probably found 
the practice profitless, for he retired from the field in favor 
of Dr. H. A. Stokes, who stopped a year or so, and then 
Dr. A. H. Weston supplied the vacancy. Weston entered 
the military service in 1863 and returned no more. In 
1864, Dr. E. R. Hayden opened an office, and tarried for 
the extended space of fourteen years. Eureka's physicians 
now number three, — Dr. Samuel Post, Dr. Hamlet Hart, 
and Dr. E. S. Walker. 

The mill built by Barrington, Potter & Williams stood 
until 1861, when a fire destroyed it. In 1863, Mr. Bar- 
rington built a new saw-mill and a grist-mill in 1865. 
Those mills are the ones still carried on by Barrington. 

CHURCHES. 
THE GREENBU.SII CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 
the oldest religious organization at Eureka, was formed May 
14, 1856, at the Sherwood school-house, then a log struc- 
ture. The organizing members were Walter Pierson and 
wife, Albert Pierson and wife, Samuel Westbrook, and 
Esther Thompson, all of whom had been members of Chris- 
tian churches in Ohio. Elder Elijah Beard, who effiacted 
the organization, was employed to preach once a month, 
and in 1857, Elder Elisha Mudge, of Maple Rapids, wast 
called to succeed him. In the spring of 1858, I. CofFman 
joined the church, and with Walter Pierson served as 
deacon. During Elder Mudge's term of service the school- 
house at what is now the village of Eureka was completed, 
and directly upon that event, in the fall of 1859, he preached 
there the first sermon delivered in the village. The subject was 
" The relation of science to religion," and so well pleased were 
the inhabitants with the introduction of religious services 
that Elder Mudge was engaged to preach at the village at 
stated intervals, his labors for the Christian Church at the 
Sherwood school-house continuing as before. In the win- 
ter of 185!) and '60 a series of revival-meetings set in, 
and thirty-five persons were as a result received into church 
membership. At this time the place of worship was per- 
manently transferred to Greenbush village, and in the fall 
of 1860 a membership of fifty-si? was reported to the 
Grand Valley Christian Conference. 

Elder Mudge resigned in 1861, and Elder Beard was 
recalled. In 1865 he retired, and until 1868, Elder Mudge 
preached from time to time. Elder E. Crosby followed, 
and in 1869 a Church Society was organized for the purpose 
of building a church, wliich was, however, so slow in con- 
struction that it was not dedicated until 1871, the dedica- 
tion sermon being preached by Rev. D. E. Millard, of 
Jackson. Meanwhile, Revs. L. N. Barber and S. Brad- 
shaw occupied the charge, and Barber returning in 1871, 
remained until 1873. Afler that the pulpit was occupied 
successively by Revs. George Myers, 0. P. Alderman, 
Frank O. Dickey, and Elijah Beard. Beard was succeeded 
by the Rev. Solomon Suyder, the present pastor, who 



46G 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



preaches twice each month. The church membership is 
now thirty. The deacons are Walter Pierson and Ben- 
jamin Wadsworth. 

UNITED BRETHREN CHURCH. 

Previous to 1866, Rev. Mr. Shelley visited Eureka occa- 
sionally to hold United Brethren services in the village 
school-house, and in that year organized a class with about 
twelve members. The school-house was used as a place of 
worship until 1870, when the present church edifice was 
completed and dedicated the fall of that year. Rev. Ben- 
jamin Mowers preaching the dedication sermon. Then the 
membership was twenty ; now it is twenty-eight. Among 
the ministers in charge early in the history of the church 
were Revs. Miller, Briedenstein, and Kinney. The present 
pastor is Rev. J. J. Sly, in charge of the Ovid Circuit. 
The class-leader is Lester Wright, and the Sunday-school 
superintendent S. J. Mullet. The school is supported by 
the attendance in union of representatives of various relig- 
ious deuomioatioDS, and has upon its roll about one hundred 
and fifty names. 

EUREKA METHODIST EPISCOPAL CLASS. 

In April, 1880, Rev. C. A. Jacokes, of Duplain, organ- 
ized a class at Eureka with about twelve members. Mr. 
Jacokes preaches to the class in the United Brethren class 
once in two weeks. 

GREBNBUSH METHODIST EPISCOPAL CLASS. 

This, one of the earliest religious organizations in the 
township, was formed about 1855, in what was then known 
as the Wildcat school-house. In 1S60 it contained about 
fifteen members, and in 1865 moved over to the Sherwood 
school-house, where services were held until 1877, when the 
Grange Hall was occupied. There the class still worships 
once each fortnight. Rev. Mr. Hamilton being the pastor, 
and Peter Fleagle the class-leader. The membership is 
about thirty. A union Sunday-school meets in the same 
place, and is prosperously patronized. 

MANUPACTUEES. 

The most extensive manufacturing interest in Greenbush 
is the fanning-mill factory of W. T. and R. E. Davies on 
section 15, founded by them in 1855. The Davies broth- 
ers had worked at the fanning-mill business in New York 
State, and in 1855, with the savings of a few hundred 
dollars, were prospecting in Michigan for a location 
where they might set up in that business on their own 
account. That location they concluded to fix somewhere 
near the route of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad, 
about half way between Coruuua and Ionia, at each of 
which places there was a fanning-mill factory. Visiting St. 
Johns, they found it a place " of logs, fire-heaps, and mud, 
without a passable road anywhere," and although John 
Swegles offered to donate them land as an inducement to 
them to locate their factory there, they would not stop, but 
pushed on with intent to visit Craven's mills, in Duplain. 
En route they stopped overnight at Alvah Richmond's, in 
Greenbush, and that night attending .school-meeting, met 



David Sevy, who carried on near his residence a little shop 
where he made chairs and spinning-wheels. Sevy soon 
learned the bent of the brothers' inclination, and suggested 
that they might do worse than make their location right 
there, adding that he would agree to do what " turning" 
they might need. They considered the suggestion favora- 
bly, and the next day decided to start their factory there, 
rented Sevy's shop, and arranged to board with him at two 
dollars per week. They began business Oct. 5, 1855, and 
that year, unaided, made one hundred fanning-mills entirely 
by hand, and sold them as fast as they could make them. 
The next year Henry Toms, a former fellow-workman in' 
New Y'^ork State, came along, and having a little ready 
money, of whieh the brothers then stood in need, he 
bought a third interest in the business. During that year 
the firm turned out one hundred fanuing-mills and one 
hundred milk-safes. In 1857, R. E. Davies went out on a 
pedestrian collecting tour, and after an absence of a week 
got back with ju.st one hundred dollars. This was the year 
of the financial panic, and Michigan banks went down right 
and left. Of the one hundred dollars every dollar but a 
twenty-dollar Ohio bank-bill was Michigan money, and al- 
though it was presumably good when Davies took it, it was 
worthless when he got home. Such a condition of things 
discouraged Toms, who sold out to the brothers.. They 
kept right on with rugged faith and persistence, and by 
1859 had reached a prosperous era. They then removed 
their works to their present location, and have each succes- 
sive year expanded and strengthened their business to its 
present considerable proportions. 1 hey employ sixteen 
men, and manufacture yearly five hundred fanning-mills 
and two hundred milk-safes, all of which they sell directly 
through their own agents in various portions of the State. 

The Greenbush Foundry. — This manufactory antedates 
any of Greer.bush's manufacturing enterprises. It has been 
in active operation since 1850, when Samuel Rowell and 
Stephen Pearl undertook upon section 36 to make plows and 
andirons. Pearl disposed of his interest to Zelotes Avery, 
who was in turn bought out by Samuel Rowell, his partner. 
Mr. Rowell carried on the business until 1873, when he 
retired from active pursuits and the foundry passed to the 
possession of his son Stephen, who is still its proprietor. 
He employs five people, and manufactures plows, cultiva- 
tors, drags, etc., besides doing a large business in the way 
of general repairs. The annual product of his foundry 
aggregates one hundred and twenty plows, one hundred 
and thirty-five cultivators, twenty drags, and upwards of 
six thousand plow-points. 

Greenbush Pump- Works. — H. L. Post settled in Green- 
bush in 1857, upon section 4, where a Mr. Tubbs had 
cleared about five acres. He used to make pumps for his 
neighbors, but devoted to the production of each no more 
skill tlian was necessary to simply bore out a common log 
and trim it down. In 1864, however, his son Leonard 
conceived the idea of starting a pump-factory of some pre- 
tensions, and in that year, accordingly, he put up on section 
4 a small afi"air, which he carried on until 1866. An in- 
crease in his business then warranted an extension of facili- 
ties, and in the year last named he built the works on sec- 
tion 8 which he still controls. He manufactures yearly about 



Im^ 

«(*>:: 
















GREENBUSH TOWNSHIP. 



467 



three hundred pumps, two hundred milk-safes, and a mis- 
cellaneous list of agricultural implements, etc. 

SECKET ORDERS. 
GREENBUSH LODGE, No. 209, I. 0. 0. F. 
This lodge was organized at Eureka June 3, 1873, and 
chartered Feb. 20, 1874. The charter members were Wil- 
liam Spade, John J. Bowers, S. M. Post, William Cobble- 
stone, L. Randolph, L. N. Barber, and W. H. IMorrison. 
The first list of oflBcers included William Spade, N. G. ; S. 
M. Post, V. G. ; J. J. Bowers, U. S. ; W. H. Morrison, 
Treas. From the date of organiEation to the present those 
who have filled the chair of Noble Grand have been William 
Spade, S. IM. Post, J. J. Bowers, Benjamin Austin, Jackson 
Page, James Lindley, C. L. Putt, I. D. Richmond, and 
David Henry. The present mcmber.ship is forty. The of- 
ficers are David Henry, N. G. ; Chauncey Sevy, V. G. ; 
J. R. Jeffreys, R. S. ; William Funk, P. S. ; J. J. Bowers, 
Treas. 

OREENBUSII LODGE, No. 318, F. AND A. M. 
This lodge was organized at Eureka June 23, 1873. 
The first officers were J. R. Carter, W. M. ; J. E. Power, 
S. W. ; Robert Clark, J. W. ; Eli Ti.ikelpuugh, S. D. ; H. 
A. Smith, Sec. ; Wm. J. Havens, J. D. ; Henry Demott, 
Treas. ; Thompson Kirby, Tiler. J. E. Power and J. R. 
Carter have occupied between them the office of Worship- 
ful Master since the organization of the lodge. The mem- 
bers number now forty. The officers for 1880 are J. R. 
Carter, W. M. ; J. L. Eagles, S. W. ; H. H. Smith, J. W. ; 
H. V. Pray, Sec. ; Robert Clark, Treas. ; I. N. Eagles, S. D. ; 
Charles Hunt, J. D. ; Uriah Higbee, Tiler. 

KEYSTONE GRANGE, No. 226, P. OF II. 
This flourishing grange, which has an active membership 
of one hundred and fifty, owns a finely-appointed grange 
hall and store on section 16. Regular sessions are held each 
Saturday. The officers for 1880 are John Keiser, M. ; 
C. L. Putt, 0. ; Altman, L. ; Peter Fleagle, Chap- 
lain ; Roswell Dexter, Sec. ; John Matthews, Treas. ; D. 
Perkins, Steward. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



CAPT. DAVID S. FRENCH.* 

Capt. David S. French, of St. Johns, Mich., was born in 
Lawrenceburg, Ind., April 4, 1844. Lewis and Maria 
(Sargent) French, his j)areuts, were early settlers in the 
Ohio Valley. His father, a lawyer for thirty years in Cin- 
cinnati, maried a daughter of one of the leading families of 
that city. 

Mr. French was educated in the schools of Cincinnati. 
The year that he should have graduated, Mr. Lincoln issued 
a call for seventy-five thou.sand men. Thirty-six hours 
afterwards the Cincinnati Zouave Guard, to which Mr. 

* From " Eminent Men of Micbigan." 



French belonged, entered the service. They were incor- 
porated in the Second Ohio Infantry, and went to Baltimore 
and Washington. Mr. French was engaged in the first 
Bull Run fight, and was mustered out of service Aug. 6, 
1861. In August, 1862, although but eighteen years of 
age, under protest of friends and relatives, he again sacri- 
ficed the comforts of home for his country, and enlisted as 
private in the Eleventh Ohio Infantry, under Gen. J. War- 
ren Keifer. He served in West Virginia during 1862 
and the spring of 1863, participating in the battles of 
Strasburg, Capon Springs, Moorfield, Roraney, and Win- 
chester, remaining in Winchester, Va., until driven out 
by Leo's army in their advance into Pennsylvania in June, 
1863. After this the army to which he was attached 
hastened forward to reinforce the Army of the Potomac. 

On the 6th of July, 1863, immediately after the battle 
of Gettysburg, Mr. French was transferred with his regi- 
ment to the Army of the Potomac, and took part in nu- 
merous engagements during the remainder of that year and 
the spring of 1864. He was in the campaign with Gen. 
Grant from the Rapidan through the Wilderness, and its 
numerous engagements to Richmond. In July, 1864, he 
was promoted to the second lieutenancy, and during that 
inonth the Sixth Corps, under Gen. Wright, to which his 
regiment belonged, was ordered to the defense of Washing- 
ton against Gen. Early. After the battles of Kernstown, 
Monocacy, Md., and Frederick, the corps was ordered to 
join Gen. Sheridan's army at Harper's Ferry, Va. Dur- 
ing the campaign in the Shenandoah Valley, Mr. French 
took part in the battles of Opequan, Winchester, Fisher's 
Hill, Cedar Creek, and after the last battle was commis- 
sioned first lieutenant. On the close of Sheridan's cam- 
paign he was transferred with his regiment back to the 
Army of the Potomac. In 1865 he joined in the final 
assault on the outer line of works of the last stronghold 
of the Confederacy, Petersburg, and took part in tlie attack 
which carried the place, April 2d, and culminated in the 
surrender of Lee. He was brevetted captain for merito- 
rious conduct in this campaign. He was mustered out of 
service July 1, 1865, and engaged in general mercantile 
business at Brookston, Ind., four years. In 1870 he en- 
gaged with the St. Johns Manufacturing Company at 
Piqua, Ohio. The following year, at the request of the 
president of the company, he removed to St. Johns, Clin- 
ton Co., Mich., to act as secretary and general manager of 
the business of the company. In 1877 he was elected 
president of the village, and re-elected in 1878-79. He is 
a member of the Consistory in the Masonic fraternity, 
and has taken all the degrees in the Blue Lodge Chapter 
and Commandery. He is an Episcopalian. He cast his 
first vote for Grant, and is an active Republican. He 
married. May 26, 1866, Cornelia B. Mitchell, daughter of 
Joseph M. Mitchell, a pioneer settler in Miami Co., Ohio. 
Energy, perseverance, and strict integrity have marked his 
course in life. In December, 187'J, he traded his village 
property for an elegant farm of two hundred and twenty 
acres, four miles north of the village ; it has been known as 
Coleman's Hotel. Since its change of hands it has under- 
gone some very marked improvements, and under its new 
name (The Park House) it is a desirable summer resort 



468 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



and has had the praise of all the surrounding citizens and 
his larj'e circle of friends. 



DAVID LEVY. 



This gentleman was one of a family of six children, and 
the only one now surviving ; was born in New Hampshire, 
June 19, 1804, his parents, Joseph and Mary (Blake) Levy, 
being also natives of the same State. 

When David was six years old his parents removed to 
Vermont, and at thirteen removed with him to Genesee 




DAVID LEVY. 

Co., N. Y., where they both died, his father in 1848, his 
mother surviving three years later. 

David remained at home until he reached the age of 
twenty, assisting his parents. Feb. 24, 1824, he was married 
to Miss Rhoda Baker, a resident of the same county but a 
native of Vermont. Here in Genesee County they re- 
mained for some fifteen years, David following his trade as 
cabinet-maker. In the spring of 1839 they removed to 
Michigan, coming by wagon to Buffalo, lake to Detroit, 
thence by wagon to this township, locating first on section 
23. They were one of the first families to settle in that 
part of the township, and Mr. Levy and BIr. Daggett being 
the only ones left of the first pioneers of this section. Mr. 
Levy's first purchase was of forty acres, to which he soon 
added forty, clearing and improving them. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Levy were born seven children, of whom 
only four are living, these grown to maturity, married and 
settled, living near their father. The mother, after endur- 
ing all the hardships and privations of pioneer life, and 
burying three of her children, succumbed to her trials and 
in 1870 passed from earth, regretted and mourned by many 
friends besides her husband and children. 

Mr. Levy for three years subsequently lived with his 
daughter, Mrs. Covertson, when he was again mariied, his 



second wife having been a Mrs. Stiles. She only lived four 
years. Since her death he has resided with his eldest son. 
He is in politics Republican, and has held a number of 
township offices, among which are supervisor (two years), 
township clerk, justice of the peace, and highway commis- 
sioner He is a member of the Seventh-Day Adventist 
denomination, as was his last wife, and although seventy- 
six years of age assisted in planting corn this spring. Is 
hale and hearty, retaining his full mental faculties, a true 
pioneer of pioneer days. 



WILLIAM T. AND ROBERT E. DAVIES. 

William T. and Robert E. Davies were born in England, 
the first named in Kent County, Aug. 30, 1829, the 
second in Sussex Count)', Oct. 5, 1830, and are the sons 
of Robert and Mary Ann (Thomas) Davies. Their father 
traces his ancestry to Wales ; served as sergeant in the Eng- 
glish army twenty-six and one-half years ; he was with Wel- 
lington in the battle of Waterloo, after which he was dis- 
charged from the service and pensioned for life, receiving 
in addition in consideration for past services an appoint- 
ment from the government as station -keeper at the ancient 
town of Winchelsea, where he died in August, 1859, at the 
advanced age of seventy. 

Robert, Jr., came to America in 1849, and was followed by 
William two years later. They located at Lyons, N. Y 
where they learned their trade, that of fanning mill making, 
of John Gilbert, serving an apprenticeship of three years. 
They then came West, locating the first year in Grand 
Rapids, working at the same trade. In 1855 they moved 
to Greenbush and established their present business, first 
renting a shop of David Levy, manufacturing the first one 
hundred mills by hand. The second year they added the 
manufacturing of milk-safes, taking as a partner an old 
schoolmate, Henry Toms ; he only remained one year. In 
1859 they bought their present home, which then had but 
little improvement, but by their energy and zeal they have 
erected their buildings, increased their business until at the 
present time they employ fourteen men in building mills 
and 'safes. They also combine farming with their manu- 
facturing, owning throe hundred and thirty-six acres in their 
home-farm, besides one hundred and twenty acres in Gra- 
tiot County. When they started their capital was health, a 
strong arm, and willing heart, and not over five dollars in 
cash when landed in America. 

William was married in November, 185G, to Miss Janette 
Levy, daughter of Daniel Levi, Esq. To them have been 
born two boys and four girls. Robert was married in 
Grand Rapids, June, 186t), to Miss Alice Thomas, who was 
a native of Lyons, N. Y., born Aug. 8, 1833. They are 
the parents of two boys and two girls. 

After the death of their fatiier their mother came to 
Michigan, where she lived with her sons until her death, 
which occurred in 1874, at the ripe old age of seventy- 
seven. 

In politics both are Republicans, and have filled several 
of the various township offices. Robert was for eighteen 



LEBANON TOWNSHIP. 



469 



years township clerk, and William several years highway 
couiuiissioiier. 

Robert and wife are both members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. William is liberal in his views, and his 
wife is a member of the Adventist denomination. 

W. T. Davies' residence is on the same side of the street 
as the factory. 



CHAPTER LX. 
LEBANON TOWNSHIP.* 

General Description of the Townsiiip — Original Surveys — Land-En- 
tries — First and Other Early Settlements — Salt-AVorlis Village and 
Wildcat Banking — Residents in the Township in 1S40 — The In- 
dian Chief Makitoquet — Educational and Ileligious — Civil History 
of the Township. 

This township, which was designated in the field-notes 
of the United States survey as township No. 8 north, of 
range No. 4 west, lies in the extreme northwest corner 
of Clinton County. North Shade, in Gratiot County, forms 
its northern boundary ; North Plains, in Ionia County, its 
western ; while Essex and Dallas townships, respectively, in 
Clinton County, are situated upon its eastern and southern 
borders. 

The surface, diversified by plains, occasional blufl's, and 
rolling uplands, is drained by the Maple River and its 
numeiuus small tributary creeks and rivulets. The former 
stream in its flow towards Grand River crosses the town- 
ship diagonally from the northeast to near the southwest 
corner. It has a sluggish current, offering no advantageous 
mill-sitos. 15ack from it in either direction for the distance 
of about one mile occurs a surface more than usually 
broken and covered with loose bowlders. The original 
timber was principally of the deciduous varieties common 
to the PrniuRular State, and in conse(|uence the soil is well 
adapted to grazing and the production of corn, fruit, vege- 
tables, and the various cereals. 

Lebanon boasts neither a railroad, village, church, or 
post-oifice. Mail facilities are afforded at tlie village of 
Maple Rapids, in E.ssex township, also at Hubbardston 
and Mathcrton villages, which lie mainly in the township 
of North Plains, Ionia Co., yet encroach upon the limits 
of this. 

The fair-grounds of the Central Fair Association, com- 
posed of members residing in the counties of Clinton, 
Gratiot, Ionia, and Montcalm, are located on section 18, 
just east of the village of Hubbardston. The grounds, 
about thirty acres in extent, are very pleasantly situated, 
and the annual meetings are largely attended. 

Agricultural pursuits occupy the chief attention of the 
people. Many buildings evince taste and wealth, while the 
farm-lands seem to be under a high state of cultivation. 

ORIGINAL SURVEYS. 

In February and March, 1831, Robert Clark, Jr., ran 
out the boundary lines of the territory then first designated 

* By John S. Schcnck. 



township No. 8 north, of range No. 4 west. The work of 
subdividing the same was performed by Orange Risdon 
from July 26 to Aug. 10, 1831. He also meandered 
Maple River in October of the same year. Both Messrs. 
Clark and Risdon were entitled Deputy United States Sur- 
veyors, and did their work under contract and instructions 
received from William Lytle, Surveyor-General of the 
United States. They reported the lands as generally good, 
rolling, and heavily timbered. 

LAND-ENTRIES. 
The following list includes the names of those who pur- 
chased of the general government lands situated in this 
township. 

SECTION I. 

William Iloskins, May 7, 1836. 

Charles N. Bristol, Monroe Co., N. Y., Doc. 13, 1S36. 
David P. Weeks, Clinton Co., Mich., May, 1850. 
Warren A. Sherwood, Lockport, N. Y., Deceniber, 1852. 
Joshua W. Waterman, Detroit, Mich., August, 1853. 

SECTION 2. 

Alvin Billings, Richland, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1837. 
Luther Briggs, Wayne Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 
Warren A. Sherwood, Lockport, N. Y., Dec. 22, 1852. 
Joshua W. Waterman, Detroit, Mich., Aug. 18, 1853. 

SECTION 3. 

Bradley True, Wayne Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 
Alauson Aldrich, Wayne Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 
Alvin Billings, Richland, Ohio, Feb. 15, 1837. 
John Ennis, Jackson Co., Mich., July, 1853. 
Joshua W. Waterman, Detroit, Mich., August, 1853. 
Chaunccy D. AVebster, Clinton Co., Mich., April, 1854. 

SECTION 4. 

(le.irgo W. Dickinson, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 8, 1830. 
Sylvanus Hopkins, Sept. 4, 1851. 
Oeorgc W. Rathburn, Jackson Co., Mich., July, 1853. 
John Ennis, .laokson Co., Mich., July, 1853. 
Joshua W. Waterman, Detroit, Mich., August, 1S53. 

SECTION 5. 

Amos Daniels, Slcuben Co., N. Y., Sept. 2'J, 1836. 
Sanford Vandusen, Ionia Co., Mich., September, 1851. 
Thomas Jennings, Uochoster, N. Y., September, 1S5I. 
Thomas French, llocheatcr, N. Y,, October, 1851. 
Aliram Terwilliger, Clinton Co., Mich., August, 1853. 
Albert Daniels, Lenawee Co., Mich., December, 1853. 

SECTION 6. 
George W. Dickinson, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 8, 1836. 
Edward I'ettcys, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Dec. 12, 1836. 
Milo r.cnham, Ontario Co., N. Y., Jan. 30, 1837. 
John B. Contino, Monroe Co., N. Y., Sept. 12, 1S51. 

SECTION 7. 
Andrew T. McReynolds, Wayne Co., Mich., September, 1836. 
Amos Boughtun, Ontario Co., N. Y., February, 1837. 
John Minioh, Clinton Co., Mich., August, 1851. 
Lyman Daniels, Ionia Co., Mich., October, 1852. 

SECTION 8. 
Chester Ingalls, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Feb. 1.3, 1837. 
AVilliam W. Ainsley, Clinton Co., Mich., January, 1849. 
Reuben Ferris, Clinton Co., Mich., February, 1851. 
George E. Gifford, July, 1851. 
Thomas Satterlec, Welshfield, Ohio, August, ISjl. 
Royal Bradish, Ionia Co., Mich., November, 1851. 
William W. Edminster, Ionia Co., Mich., March, ISJI. 



470 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SECTION 9. 
Jarvis Hoag, Chittenden Co., Vt., Nov. 8, 1836. 
Andrew T. McRcynolds, Wayne Co., Mich., November, 1.836. 
Sylvanus Hoi)kin.s, September, 1851. 
John Stoddard, October, 1851. 
Robert W. Davis, September, 1852. 

SECTION 10. 
Kicbard P. Hart and George M. Mills, Urand Rapids, Mich., Feb. 2, 

1836. 
Robert S. Parks and Lawson S. Warner, Ionia Co., Mich., Se])teuiber, 

1836. 
John Booth, Oakland Co., Mich., Jan. 13, 1837. 
R. S. Parks and L. S. Warner, Ionia Co., Mich., January, 1837. 
Charles A. Trowbridge, Detroit, Mich., January, 1837. 

SECTION II. 
Hart A Mills, Grand Rapids, Mich., February, 1836. 
Michael Smejid, Genesee Co., N. Y., January, 1837. 
Horace Hallock, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
Leiand Green, Oakland Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
Norman P. Green, Clinton Co., Mich., June, 1853. 
Henry A. Jennison, Clinton Co., Mich., October, 1854. 

SECTION 12. 
Hart i, Mills, Grand Rapids, Mich., Feb. 2, I,S3fi. 
Eliza Moore, Ionia Co., Mich., January, 1837. 
Eaptiste Mak-i-to-quet, Clinton Co., Mich., Jan. 31, IS37. 
Pe-aw-mo, Tan-wa-so-me, and Ka-wy-aw-so-nic, Clinton Co., Mich., 

Jan. 31, 1837. 
Hiram Nestell, Clinton Co., Mich., September, 1851. 
Nathaniel R. Catlin, Clinton Co., Mich., October, 1852. 

SECTION 13. 
Oliver Johnson, April 25, 1836. 

Marshall Smoad, Genesee Co., N. T., January, 1837. 
Thomas 0. Hill, Wayne Co., Mich., May 5, 1837. 
Isaac Reynolds, Ionia Co., Mich., June, 1852. 

SECTION 14. 
Pnrce Barber, May 21, 1836. 
Elias Daniels, May 24, 1836. 

Andrew T. McKeynolds, Wayne Co., Mich., Nov. 8, 1836. 
Baptisle Makitocjuet and Etienne Lcmorandiere, Clinton Co., Mich., 

Jan. 10, 1837. 
Win-ta-go-wish, Clinton Co., Mich., Jan. 11, 1837. 
Francis Bailley, Ionia Co., Mich., Jan. 31, 1837. 
Frederick Giro, May, 1852. 

Philemore Reynolds, Clinton Co., Mich., November, 1852. 
Henry and Franklin Vrcdenburg, Clinton Co., Mich., March, 1854. 

SECTION 15. 
Lawson S. Warner, Ionia Co., Mich., July 22, 1836. 
Henry V. Libliart, Ionia Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
Edward Y. Morton and John B. Guiteau, Ionia, Mich., February, 

1837. 
Clemens Gibbs, Clinton Co., Mich., November, 1854. 

SECTION 16. ■ 
School lands. 

SECTION 17. 
Parce Barber, May 21, 1836. 

Abner Spencer, Jackson Co., Mich., Sept. 26, 1836. 
R. S. Parks and L. S. Warner, Ionia Co., Mich., Feb. 13, 1837. 
John and John B. Brownell, Oakland Co., Mich., Feb. 16, 1837. 
Thomas Blackmer and P. S. Stoddard, Livingston Co., N. Y., April, 
1837. 

SECTION 18. 
David Irish, Ionia Co., Mich, (west half), Sept. 26, 1836. 
James W. Tabor, Ionia Co., Mich, (east half), Sept. 26, 1836. 

SECTION 19. 
Parce Barber, May 21, 1836. 
Alexander H. Edwards, July 12, 1836. 



William A. Burgess, Ionia Co., Mich., September, 1836. 
Robert McClelland, Monroe Co., Mich., September, 1836. 
Levi A. Mills, city of New York, December, 1836. 

SECTION 20. 
Daniel Barker, Dec. 26, 1836. 

Robert S. Parks and Elias Daniels, April 29, 1836. 
Horace Butler, May 17, 1836. 
William Mann, Ionia Co., Mich., Sept. 23, 1836. 
Levi A. Mills, city of New York, Dec. 17, 1836. 
Phineas Van Ness, Clinton Co., Mich., October, 1854. 

SECTION 21. 
William Mann, Ionia Co., Mich., Sept. 23, 1836. 
Ledra Phillips, Clinton Co., Mich., April 27, 1836. 
William L. Drake, November, 1852. 
Hiram Segar, Lenawee Co., Mich., July, 1853. 

SECTION 22. 

Iliram Benedict, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Sept. 27, 1836. 
Henry J. Pearsall, Oakland Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
Ledra' Phillips, Clinton Co., Mich., April, 1837. 
William Faragber, Clinton Co., Mich., April, 1837. 
Charles Sessions, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 14, 1837. 
Nathaniel Sessions, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 14, 1837. 
Charles Sessions, Clinton Co., Mich., October, 1852. 

SECTION 23. 

Horace Butler, May 17, 1836. 

Elias Daniels, May 24, 1836. 

Allen A. Robinson, Monroe Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836. 

Charles Osgood, Monroe Co., Mich., Deo. 12, 1836. 

Michael Pearsall, Oakland Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 

SECTION 24. 
Horace Butler, entire section. May 17, 1836 

SECTION 25. 

Benjamin Pierson, Wayne Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 
William J. Wells, Wayne Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 
Isaac W. Averell, Wayne Co., Mich., April 8, 1837. 
Benjamin F. Lamed, Wayne Co., Mich., April 12, 1837. 
Caroline Sprague, Oakland Co., Mich., Feb. 15, 1838. 
Harriet Sprague, Ionia Co., Mich., April 8, 1839. 

SECTION 26. 

Charles Osgood, Monroe Co., Mich., Dec. 12, 1836. 
Horace Hallock, Wayne Co., Mich., April 12, 1837. 
Seth B. Pearsall, Oakland Co., Mich., Oct. 17, 1837. 
Louis S. Lovcll, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 14, 1853. 

SECTION 27. 

Harlow Benedict, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Sept. 27, 1836. 
Perry Billings, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Sept. 27, 1836. 
Horace Hallock, Wayne Co., Mieh., Feb. 15, 1837. 
Robert S. Parker, Ionia Co., Mich., April 8, 1837. 

SECTION 28. 

Horace Butler, May 17, 1836. 

Perry Billings, Saratoga Co., N. Y., Sept. 27, 1836. 

SECTION 29. 

Horace Butler, May 17, 1836. 

William Mann, Ionia Co., Mich., Sept. 29, 1836 

SECTION 30. 

Daniel Barker, May 2, 1834. 

James B. Murray, Aug. 8, 1835. 

Daniel Slawson, Jr., Sept. 9, 1835. 

Sebastian Beckwith, Ionia Co., Mich., Dec. 24, 1835. 

William Mann, Ionia Co., Mich., September, 1836. 



LEBANON TOWNSHIP. 



471 



SECTION 31. 

Daniel Barker, May 2, 1834. 

Dauicl Slawtfon, Jr., Sept. 9, 1335. 

Sebustian Beckwith, Ionia Co., Mich., Doc. 21, 1835. 

Lucius Warner, Geneva, N. Y., Doc. 12, 1836. 

SECTION 32. 

William Mann, Ionia Co., Mich., Sept. 23, 1836. 

Sherman (joodwin and (jJeorgo Henderson, Wayne Co., Mich., Sept. 
24, 1836. 

SECTION 33. 
John Norvell, Wayne Co., Mich, (whole section), Feb. 15, 1837. 

SECTION 34. 
Ilomer Loomis, Ontario Co., N. Y., Jan. 27, 1837. 
Henry H. Loomis, Geneva, N. Y., M.iy 21, 1853. 
Anson C. Loomis, Ontario Co., N. Y., Oct. 18, 1853. 

SECTION 35. 
Joseph Penniman, Wayne Co.. Mich., Feb. 15, 1837. 
Jesse Jolly, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Sept. 12, 1853. 
Anson C. Loomis, Geneva, N. Y., Sept. 14, 1853. 
John N. Fowler, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1853. 

SECTION 36. 
Alanson Aldrich, Wayno Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
Samuel Boughton, Oakland Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
Edwin H. Jones, Wayne Co., Mich., February, 1837. 
George W. Perry, Wayne Co., Mich., April 12, 1837. 
Anson C. Loomis, Geneva, N. Y., Se[)t. 14, 1853. 
John N. Fowler, Jefferson Co., N. Y., Nov. 5, 1853. 

FIKST AND OTHER EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

Upon sections 30 and 31 began the fii-st settlements and 
improvements in the present township of Lebanon. Daniel 
Barker, a native of one of the New England States, was 
an early settler in Washtenaw County. On the 2d of 
May, 1831, he became the fir.st individual owner of land 
in township 8 north, of range No. 4 west, by the purchase 
of the west half of the southeast quarter and the west 
half of the northeast quarter of section 30 ; also the north- 
west quarter of the northeast quarter of section 31. His 
location was a desirable and well-chosen one, being situated 
near the northeastern limit of the beautiful tract known at 
an early day as the East Plains, — lands wiiicli iu a state of 
nature produced only wild grass, willows, and scattered 
oaks, and readily yielded to cultivation. 

Some time during the summer or fall of 1834, accom- 
panied by his wife and two or three small children, Mr. 
Barker took up his abode on the west half of the south- 
east quarter of section 30, building his cabin about sixty 
rods in rear of Hon. John Vance's present residence. He 
was a young man about thirty years of age, and in the 
coui-se of two or three years had placed under cultivation 
about twenty -five acres of land. On the 2(;th of December, 
1830, he increased his landed estate by the purcha.se of the 
west half of the southwest quarter of section 20. An 
event of unusual occurrence (even in tliickly-,settlcd com- 
munities) took place in his family June 1, 1837, and in 
time his neighbors were made aware of the fact tiiat lie 
was the proud father of twin daughters. 

But Mr. Barker was destined not to remain long con- 
spicuous as a pioneer and first settlor of the now populous 
township of Lebanon. Returning from Ionia on the 6th 
of November, 1837, whither he had been to obtain flour 



and other supplies for his family, he met his death by 
drowning in attempting to cross Maple River. Thus in 
Mr. Barker's family occurred the first births and death in 
the township. His widow and children removed from this 
vicinity the year following his decease. 

The town of Starkey, Yates Co., N. Y., furnished the 
next settlers, in the persons of the brothers John, William, 
and Andrew Vance, who arrived here May 10, 1837. The 
former had resided in Livingston Co., N. Y., three years 
prior to his coming to Michigan, and was accompanied by 
his wife, Cornelia A., and two children, Emmet and Ursula. 
His brothers were unmarried. Having purchased from 
Daniel Slawson, Jr., the southwest quarter of the northeast 
quarter of section 31, John Vance erected his dwelling 
thereon, and as a Michigan former began a career which 
has been remarkably successful. Beginning with forty 
acres, the purchase of which took all his available cash, his 
estate has been increased until he now owns eight hundred 
and ninety-four acres, besides having given his sons three 
hundred acres. He was present at the organization of 
Wandaugon township, and, as will be seen by reference to 
the lists of township officers, has been prominently identi- 
fied with the civil history of Lebanon. He has served as 
supervisor eleven terms, besides in various other capacities. 
His brothers, also, have proved themselves most worthy 
citizens. 

John A. Millard, a brother-in-law of John Vance, also 
came from Starkey, Yates Co., N. Y., and settled where he 
now resides in July, 1837. His name occupies a conspicu- 
ous place in the annals of Lebanon, and he has ever been 
accounted one of its most prominent and trustworthy in- 
habitants. 

In December, 1835, Sebastian Beckwith, of Ionia County, 
purchased quite extensively of lands situated on both .sides 
of the county-line, including in this township the greater 
portion of the west half of section 31 and the fraction 
of section 30 lying north of Maple River. He was a 
bachelor, and for a short time resided in Lyons township, 
Ionia County. He died about the spring of 1838, when 
his brothers, Dr. Norton H. and Miner Y. Beckwith, came 
in and occupied that portion of his estate lying in Leb- 
anon. The Beckwiths were from Geneva, N. Y., and first 
located in Washtenaw County. They were active, energetic 
men, and at an early day took the lead in farming and 
making improvements. Norton H. Beckwith built a framed 
barn and a plank house on the northwest fractional quar- 
ter of section 31 in 1840, which, except those built by the 
salt eoD)pany, are believed to have been the first framed 
buildings erected in the township. Miner Y. Beckwith 
was an early justice of the peace. 

Alonzo D. Brewster, prominent as one of the first resi- 
dents of the township, and who served as its supervisor 
in 1840 and '41, was also here in 1838, perhaps earlier. 

As yet .settlements all tended towards the southwest 
corner of the township, or that locality known as the East 
Plains. In December, 1838, Charles Sessions began the 
first improvements in the central part. He was born in 
Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y., and with his father's 
family (he being the eldest of seventeen children) emi- 
grated to North Plains, Ionia Co., in the spring of 1837. 



472 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



In November of the same year he purchased one hun- 
dred and twenty acres situated upon section 22, where, 
as before stated, he bej^an " cleariiif;" one year hiter. 

His location was in the midst of a wilderness ten miles 
wide from east to west, and his nearest neij;hbors were 
one-half that distance away, viz., to the .southeast on the 
East Plains, and to the northeast on Benedict's Plains. 
He built a small cabin, which stood near the site of his 
present dwelling, and with his axe and twenty dollars in 
money began hewing out a farm. Ten acres wore cleared 
the first winter. With plenty of Indians and wild ani- 
mals around him, he lived alone until 1840, when he 
married his first wife. Miss Miriam McCooley, of Ionia 
County. Ionia, twenty miles distant, was his nearest post- 
oflBce. Those settlers who preceded him here, according to 
his recollections, have already been mentioned. His first 
team grew up under his care from calves. Mr. Sessions 
has always been one of the most prominent men in his 
township. He has served in nearly every position in the 
gift of his townsmen, is now the owner of eleven hundred 
and seventy-one acres, and still resides where he settled 
forty-two years ago. John Vanee, James W. Tabor, John 
A. Millard, and himself all set out apple-trees soon after 
their settlement. Mr. Millard brought some cherry-trees 
from New York State when he came here in July, 1837. 

James W. Tabor was another prominent early settler of 
Lebanon. On the 26th of September, 183(3, he bought of 
the government the east half of fractional section 18. He 
settled upon tlie same in 1838 or 1839, and prior to June, 
1840, owned the entire section. He served several terms 
as supervisor, also as township clerk and justice of the 
peace. 

Among other early settlers who came in at about the 
same time as those last mentioned were Harvey Waterman, 
Russell Smith, Martin Yetter, oge of the first parties mar- 
ried here, and A. Warner. 

Lebanon in 1838 was the scene o.f a series of wild spec- 
ulations, so rife in the State of Michigan at that time, and 
perhaps no historical paper relating to the township would 
be considered at all complete which did not allude even 
briefly to them. The pioneers yet living relate the oft- 
repeated story of excessive prices of wild or uncultivated 
lands, and of lots in prospective villages and cities which 
now have nothing but the recorded plat in the office of the 
register of deeds to indicate their location. This specula- 
tion no doubt was largely owing to the great amount of 
paper money then afloat in the Stale. The men engaged 
in these enterprises were full of energy and activity, pos- 
sessed of first-class business attainments, and, perhaps it was 
claimed for them, of sterling worth, who, although living 
in a region but yet sparsely settled, were anxious to become 
wealthy at once. In the attempt to compass their objects, 
however, the most unscrupulous means were not unfre- 
quontly employed, and when occasion offered they did not 
hesitate to dupe men of their own State, although it was 
generally claimed that their victims were more particularly 
sought for on the east side of Lake Erie. 

It seems that during the years 183G and '37, Robert S. 
Parks, Lawson S. Warner, and others of Ionia County 
purchased lands situated upon sections 10, 15, 17, and 20. 



Soon after settlements had began to thrive in this and ad- 
joining townships it was rumored that salt springs of value 
existed on that part of section 15 lying north of Maple 
River. Whether salt springs or brackish water existed 
there then or now it is not our province to determine, for 
some old residents have a.ssertcd that " Parks sunk a barrel 
of salt in a hole on the bottoms of Maple River for purposes 
of speculation," while others of this county, also of Shia- 
wassee, assert that to their personal knowledge the Indians 
boiled salt in the present township of Lebanon, hence the 
origin of its original name Wandaugon, meaning "salt 
springs." However, during the legislative session of 1838 
an act was pa-'sed (approved April 3d of that year), of which 
the following is an extract, duly incorporating the Clinton 
Salt- Works Company : 

" Robert S. Parks, Lawson S. Warner, Thomas B. An- 
drews, Charles Hubbell, Calvin C. Parks, and such otiier 
persons as shall hereafter associate with them and their suc- 
cessors, shall be and they are hereby created a- body corpo- 
rate and politic by the name of the ' Clinton Salt-Works 
Company.' The said corporation is hereby required to im- 
prove the real estate belonging to said company, situate 
at Clinton Salt-Works, in the county of Clinton and State 
of Michigan, known as all that part of the village of Clinton 
Salt- Works described as the 'reserve' on the map of said 
village, duly executed and recorded, the which is situated 
on section No. 15, in township No. 8 north, of range No. 
4 west, in the Grand River land district, and is held and 
owned by the said Robert S. Parks and others for the pur- 
pose of manufacturing salt, by erecting the necessary build- 
ings and vats, by boring the earth and sinking proper tubes 
and pumps to procure a suflBcient quantity of water ; and 
also shall have power to construct or purchase such and all 
other apparatus and machinery necessary for the carrying 
on of said salt manufacturing establishment to such an ex- 
tent as shall be deemed necessary to advance the interest of 
said company and to transact the business of the same." 

The foregoing act was to remain in force twenty years. 
The company erected several frame buildings in 1838, and 
doubtless brilliant prospectuses accompanied the engraved 
copies of their village plat which circulated in the Eastern 
country. The finding of salt-brine, at least in paying 
quantities, proved an utter failure. But before its collap.se 
the ruling spirits of the company found time, and the op- 
portunity under the general banking law of 1837, to estab- 
lish the " Clinton County Salt-Works Bank." The general 
provisions of this law were fairly drawn, except that in the 
two important features that concern most the public — se- 
curity to the bill-holders and a huna fide capital to secure 
the depositors — they were inadequate. The capital must 
not be less than fifty thousand dollars, or more than one 
hundred thousand dollars. The issue could be two and one- 
half times the capital paid in. The interest should not 
exceed seven per cent, on discounts, and the banks were 
required to make semi-annual dividends, assuming always 
the banks' ability to do this. The security for the payment 
of the banks' obligations were to be bonds and mortgages 
on real estate, to be held by the bank commissioner, and 
the specie in the vaults of the corporation. Few banks 
had this specie, though the law required thirty per cent, of 



LEBANOxV TOWNSHIP. 



473 



the capital to be paid in " in legal money of the United 
States." These specie deposits furnished little reliable se- 
curity. The fact was, the bank commissioner, whose duty 
it was to examine these banks once in three mouths, was 
often deceived, as one bank would inform another when the 
commissioner was coming, and the banks would borrow 
money to exhibit to the commissioner and return it when 
he went away. In this manner the same specie would often 
serve for the use of several banks. 

We are credibly informed that a pailful of silver coin, 
owned by Moses Dean, of Maple township, Ionia Co., 
furnished the " legal money of the United States" on 
which was based and established, " according to law," the 
Clinton County Salt- Works Bank, and the only evidence 
its managers ever could have produced in their assumption 
of having specie in the vaults of the corporation arose from 
the fact that the coin was brought to the dwelling of John 
Vance* by Mr. Dean. It was there counted in the pres- 
ence of the said bank officials, after which, without any 
transfer having been made, Mr. Dean returned with it to 
his home. This was the system of banking inaugurated 
in the early days of MichTgan, the overthrow of which pro- 
duced such a financial shock in the State that many years 
elapsed before a recovery from its effects was experienced. 

Messrs. Parks, Warner & Co. went forward and issued 
their elaborately engraved notes of the Clinton County Salt- 
Works Bank, but their circulating power proved to be of 
but short duration, however, and this bank, with other like 
institutions, suspended payment on the decision of the 
Supreme Court relieving the stockholders from any lia- 
bility touching the redemption of the bills of the bank. 
Thus ended the manufacture of salt and wildcat banking 
on the wilderness bottom-lands of Maple River. 

EESIDENTS IN THE TOWNSHIP IN 1840. 

The resident tax-payers of Lebanon in 1840, and the 
lands upon which taxes were assessed, were as follows : 

Acres. 

Morton H. Tieckwith, sections 30, .Tl 206 

John Vance, sections 30, 31 253 

James W. Tubor, entire section 18 58.') 

Daniel liarker's heirs, sections 20, 30, 31 280 

Charles Ses.sions. section 22 120 

John A. Millard, section .'U IfiO 

Russell Smith, section II 115 

Harvey Waterman Personal 

Alunzo D. Brewster and Miller Personal 

Those named in addition, in 1841, were: 

Acres. 

Miner Y. Beck with, section 31 51 

Martin Yctter, section 31 80 

A. Warner, sections 20, 30, 31 280 

In 1844 there were as additional residents : 

Palmer D. Bancroft, sections 10, 22. 
Elijah Ford, section 32. 
Isaac Sherman, section 32. 
Avery Delong, section 29. 
DiinicI Fiiield, Jr , section 6. 
Walter llalstead, section 32. 
Ezekiel Ualstead, section 32. 
Ledra Phillips, sections 21, 22. 
Charles Millard, section 22. 

The total tax levied on real and personal estate (includ- 

t Mr. Vance was not interested in these speculations. 
60 



ing present township of Dallas) was one hundred and 
eighty-eight dollars and sixty cents. 

The holding of a large portion of the township as non- 
resident lauds by speculators proved to be here, as else- 
where in the State, a great detriment to its material wealth 
and increase of population, and as late as 1850 there were 
but thirty menf mentioned as resident tax-payers, viz. : 

Acres. 

John Vance, sections 30, 31 352 

John A. Millard, section 31 IfiO 

Jan.cs W. Tabor, section IS 585 

Lucius H. Pcet, section 36 110 

William Vanderhoof, section 17 80 

Dennis Mcrwin, sections 26,36 130 

Ledra Phillips, section 22 Kill 

Ru.ssell Phillips, section 21 40 

William Daniels, section 5 150 

Lyman Daniels, section 5 40 

Reuben Ferris, section 5 411 

Ezekiel Halstead, section 32 30 

Avery Dehmg, section 29 169 

Miner Y. Beckwitb, section 31 53 

Klijah Ford, section 32 80 

Charles Sessions, section 22 160 

HezeUiah Austin, section 22 40 

Isaac Fifield, section 6 80 

Thomas Bellows, section 32 10 

William Wamsley, section S 40 

Nelson P. Johnson, section 1 69 

William Mather, section 1 64 

John Stiirgcss, section 32 160 

Paris Corey, sections 30, 31 232 

Chester Wood, section 32 70 

Cornelius Valeau, sections 30, 31 100 

Albert (i. Russell Personal 

William McAllister, section 32 40 

R. M. Cone, section 10 '. 80 

David Fifield, section 6 80 

During the succeeding decade a marked increase in popu- 
lation took place, and the residents assessed for taxes in 
1860 were as follows: 



Sec. 

J. C. Caldwell 1 

Albert G. Russell 1 

M. N. Wade 1,2 

Paul Do Witt 1 

L. S. Scott 2 

C. II. Townsend 2 

M. L. We!itherwa.\ 2 

0. Briggs 2 

L. S. Aldrich 3 

Joseph Haynes... 3 

W. L. Haynes 3 

Russell Commons 4 

Jonathan Torwilliger 5 

C. II. Newcomb 5 

A.Terwilliger 5 

Lyman Daniels 5,8 

William Daniels 5 

Reuben Ferris 5,8 

David FilicId 6 

Henry S. Barker 6 

Volney Newland 6 

Santbrd Vaudusen 6 

Pliny Moore 7 

Harrison Colby 7 

Henry Colby 7 

Chester Warner 8 

Joseph F. Lathrop 8 

Henry Manga 8 

R. D. Tabor 8 

Charles Rosecrans 8 

John G. Roberts 8 

Mason W. Stoddard 9 

H. L.Stoddard 9 

E. C. Churchill 9 

Willifi)! Reypolds 9 

0. ij^ Sherwood 10, 15 

A. Miles 10 

Oliver Cunningham 10 

J. W. Crawford 10 



H. K. Haynes 11 

David P. Weeks 11 

T. J. Terwilliger 11 

Robert Frank 11 

William Vredouburg II 

J. T. Hewitt 12 

Jacob Hancher Personal 

J. P. easier 12 

H. Jaques 12 

Robert Winlicid 12 

Brorlerick Winlield 12 

II. A. Jcnnison 12 

J. F.Owen 12 

Henry White 13 

Isaac Reynolds 13 

John Pinkney 13 

Michael Frear 14 

Herman Sprague 14 

Henry (leer 14 

Peter Winalts 15 

C. liibbs 15 

J. Wright 15 

Marcus Smith 15 

Charles Sessions..l5, 16, 20, 22, 23 

L. L. Wamsley 16* 

C. C. Stoddard 16 

P. H. Babcock 16 

John Leary 16 

A. N. Fuller 17 

G. A. Geluf 17 

RufusB 17 

Oscar Rogers 17 

L. Dexter 17 

Justus Perry 17 

Henry Dexter Personal 

Esther Tabor 18 

J. A. Tabor 18 

E. M. Tabor 18 

M. N. Tabor 13 



f Possibly mistakes in the spelling of names will be found in this 
and the succeeding long list. If so, tlie fault must be attributed to 
those who made out the assessment-rolls. 



474 



IllSTOllY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Sec. 

W. L. Tabor 18 

Ilenuan Green I'.l 

0. Burt I'J 

Henry Silner 10 

Williiini Albro 19 

AV. H. Kud.l 19 

W. H.Stone I'J, 21 

Harvey (Jnitton 19 

Samuel Brooks 19,29 

A. Mather? 19 

(ieorgc 1). Barker 20 

Calvin Merwin 20 

Eilgar Loomi? 20 

Emmet Viince 20 

Benjamin Caldwell 21 

Alfred Benjamin 21 

B.T. Reeves 21, 20 

Nathan Benjamin 21 

Calvin Benjamin 21 

l.cdra Phillips 22 

Richard Evans 22 

J. W.Russell 22 

Ezra J. Glass 23 

E. Perry 23 

C.J. Afarner 23 

N. J.Williams 2b 

Charles Piggott 25 

Joseph Clark 35 



Sec. 

L. H. Pcet 25,26 

David C. (iould 26 

Kl eiiczer West 27 

II. K. Cotant 27 

A. W. Williams 27, 28 

Nalhan Evans 28 

N. P. John.«on 28 

Uriah Fritts 28 

W. S. Latliuier 28 

Chester Winans 29 

Then. Belong 29 

Avery Delong 29 

Thomas McBride 29 

Leonard Clark 29 

Philip IVlills 30 

John Vance 30, 31 

John A.Millard 31 

Phineas Millard 31 

Paris Corey 31 

Chester AVood 32 

Chauncey B. A'ance 32 

J. F.Bignal's heirs 32 

Betsey Fiticld 32 

M.Bird 34 

Calvin Coon 35 

Stephen Hammond 35 

Joel AVagar 36 



Much could be written concerning the doincs of the In- 
dian cliief Makito()uet* and his hirge band of followers, 
ainonc; whom were Wintagowish, their speaker, Aiken the 
half-breed witli his two wives, Leuiorandiore, and others. 
Several of these purchased of the general government, 
in 1837, lands situated on sections 12 and 14. They had 
a village on the latter section, also one upon 19. As many 
sugar-maples grew in this township, early settlers relate 
that during the sugar-making season the woods were full of 
Indians. Supplies of whisky were obtained at Campau's 
trading-post, and in consequence shouting, singing, drinking, 
and fighting were indulged in all through the night. Other- 
wise they were generally well behaved, and were of much 
service in a.ssisting to rid the country of noxious wild ani- 
mals. But as mucli space is directed to the aborigines in 
the general chapters of this work, further remarks here arc 
deemed unnecessary. 

EDUCATIONAL AND RELIGIOUS. 

According to the recollections of Mr. John Vance, the 
first school taught in tlie township was held in the build- 
ing built and formerly occupied by Daniel Barker. Soon 
after the removal of Mrs. Barker and family the house was 
fitted for school purposes, and a school opened. Miss Ma- 
tilda Sessions, sister of Charles Sessions, presided as teacher, 
and taught two or three succc-isive terms in it. 

On the 14th of May, 1841, Alonzo D. Brewster and 
John A. Millard, scliool inspectors of Lebanon, and W. Z. 
Blanchard and Luke H. Parsons, school inspectors of Lyons, 
ordered the formation of the first school district — of which 
official data has been obtained — that embraced any por- 
tion of this township. The district was denominated Frac- 
tional School District No. 3, of the townships of Lyons 
and Lebanon. Its boundaries were described as follows : 

" Beginning at the southeast corner of section 32 in 
township 8 north, of range 4 west, thence north on sec- 
tion-line to Maple River ; thence down said river to the sec- 
tion-line between townships 8 and 7 north, of range 5 west; 
thence east to the place of beginning." John A. Millard 

* " Makey," as he was termed by the whites, was part French. His 
son also married a Frenchwoman. 



was required to notify each person liable to pay a school 
district tax in said district of the proceedings of the joint 
board of inspectors, and the first school meeting was ordered 
to be held at the house of Moses Dean, in the township of 
Lyons, on Saturday, May 22, 1841, at six o'clock p.m. 

In 1844 the first building designed for schools was 
erected in this township. It was situated upon the northeast 
corner of .section 31, and in it De Witt C. Chapin delivered 
the first political speech (Whig;) the .same year. This dis- 
trict was then denominated No. 1, that in the Tabor 
neighborhood No. 2, and the Sessions district No. 3. In 
the latter district it is believed that Miss Caroline Stevens 
taught the first school about thirty-five years ago. 

During years intervening since 1845 many changes have 
occurred in the numbers and boundaries of school districts, 
and doubtless educational matters have been as well attended 
to here as in agricultural regions generally. The following 
statistics, gathered from the school inspectors' annual report 
for the year ending Sept. 1, 1879, shows the present condi- 
tion of school interests : 

Number of districts (whole. 7; fractional, 2).... 9 
" childnn of school age in the town- 
ship 3J0 

" children attending schools during 

the year 302 

" children non-residents attending 

schools during the year 31 

" school-houses (brick, I ; frame, 8)... 9 

" siltings 1116 

Value of school property $6650 

Number of teachers employed (male, 10; female, 

13) 23 

Paid teachers (male. §912; female, $534) $1446 

Total resources for the year i $2404.23 

RELIGIOUS. 

The IMethodists were the pioneers in religious matters 
here. In subsequent years other denominations have fol- 
lowed, yet none of them seem to have flourished to the 
extent of making necessary the building of church edifices, 
and services thus far have been held in the district school- 
houses. Those who believe in the doctrines of the United 
Brethren Church now predominate. 

In November, 1858, Nelson P. Johnson, Stephen Ham- 
mond, William Sessions, Herman Sprague, and John Stur- 
gess were elected trustees, and empowered to hold in trust 
all the church property of the Matherton Mission, the 
church of the " United Brethren in Christ." 

CIVIL HISTORY. 

By an act of the State Legislature, approved March 6, 
1838, " All that part of Clinton County designated by 
the United States surveys as townships Nos. 7 and 8 
north, of range Nos. 3 and 4 west, be and the same 
is hereby set off and organized into a separate township 
by the name of Wandaugon,"}" and the first township- 



I The people generally were not pleased with the Indian name of 
Wandaugon, meaning in Ihc Chippewa dialect "salt-springs," and 
soon after an attempt was made to have it changed. This resulted 
in the passage of an act, approved April 2, 1S3S, which provided 
that ** That portion of townships 7 and 8 north, of ranges Nos. 3 and 
4 west, according t(J the United States survey, be and the same is 
hereby set off and organized by the name of Lebanon, and the first 
township-meeting shall be held at the house of .Tames Sowle, Jr." 
The State law-makers intended doubtless to enact (hat "That portion 



LEBANON TOWNSHIP. 



475 



meeting therein shall be held at the house of George Cam- 
pau, in said township." 

According to tlie foregoing act, the inhabitants of the 
territory described assembled at the trading-post of George 
Campau early in April, 1838, and elected township officers. 
Complete records of this meeting and of other township 
proceedings during the year 18.38 have not been preserved. 
We learn, however, from various sources that Ilirara Bene- 
dict was elected Supervisor; Timothy H. Pettit, Township 
Clerk; Nelson Benedict, Collector; Cortland Hill, High- 
way Commissioner, Assessor, and School Inspector ; and 
Chauncey M. Stebbins, Highway Commissioner. The other 
officers are unknown. At that time Clinton County was 
attached to Shiawa.ssee for judicial purjioses, and the town- 
ships then organized in the former were De Witt, Water- 
town, and Wandaugon. That the township officials of 
Wandaugon were lax in the performance of their duties 
in more ways than one the following paragraph will 
show. 

When the county canvassers met at the clerk's office in 
Shiawassee County, Nov. 13, 1838, to count the votes 
polled at the last general election, there were present 
proper representatives from the townships of Antrim, Ben- 
nington, Burns, Owo.sso, Shiawassee, and WoodhuU, in 
Shiawassee County, and from De Witt and Watertown, 
in Clinton. Wandaugon was not represented, whereupon, 
the record says, " The clerk dispatched a special messenger 
to procure a Statement of the votes polled in said town, 
and the Board adjourned to the hour of two o'clock next 
day. And it appearing that the returns had not then come 
in for said town of Wandaugon, tiie Board voted to hold 
open meeting until twelve o'clock of the next day, in ca.se 
said returns should not come in previous to that time." It 
seems that " twelve o'clock of the next day" arrived, but 
no returns from Wandaugon, and the board then resolved 
to proceed without them. Whatever became of the "spe- 
cial messenger" written history fails to inform us. 

On Monday, the 1st day of April, 18:i9, the second 
township-meeting was held at the house of George Campau. 
Thirty-two votes were polled, and the officers elected were 
Hiram Benedict, Supervisor; Timothy H. Pettit, Township 
Clerk; Alonzo D. Brewster, Treai^urer; Cortland Hill, 
Hiram Benedict, Chauncey M. Stebbins, Assessors; Nel- 
son Benedict, Collector; James Sowle, Jr., Cortland Hill, 
Alonzo Vaughn, School Inspectors ; George Campau, ]jy- 
man Webster, Directors of the Poor ; James Sowle, Jr., 
Cortland Hill, John A. Millard, Highway Commissioners; 
Cortland Hill, Timothy H. Pettit, John A. Millard, Chaun- 
cey M. Stebbins, Justices of the Peace; Nelson Benedict, 
Charles Sessions, Uriah Drake, Ilobert Holmes, Consta- 
bles. 

of the county of Clinton embraced in townships 7 and 8 north," etc. 
It seems that the omi.ssion was fatal to the act; tiiat it became in- 
operative, and the change of name was (lostpont-d until, by an act 
of the Legislature, approved March 22, 1S.3U, the name of Wandau- 
gon was dropped and that of I^ebanon substituted. In working so 
determinedly for the change it is possible that the citizens of Wan- 
daugon were actuated more by a spirit of disgust at the failure of 
l*arks & Co., their salt company, and the operations of their Clinton 
County Salt-Works (wildcat) Bank, than dislike for a name so eu- 
phonious. 



The overseers of highways, elected by voice, were Hiram 
Benedict, for district No. 1 ; Lyman Webster, for district 
No. 2 ; John A. IMillard, fur district No. 3 ; Andrew 
Vance, for district No. 4 ; William Jlerrill, for district No. 
5; (Portland Hill, for district No. 6; and Uriah Drake, 
for district No. 7. Hiram Benedict, Timothy H. Pettit, 
James Sowle, Jr., Cortland Hill, and Dauphin W. Osgood 
served as inspectors of this election. 

It was further resolved that a bounty of four dollars 
should be paid for each wolf killed in the township; that 
one hundred dollars be raised for contingent expenses, and 
twenty-tive dollars for the support of tlie poor ; that all 
hogs over forty pounds in weight be free commoners; that 
no pound be built the present year, and that the next town- 
ship-meeting be held at the hou.se of John A. Millard. 

At a special township-meeting, held at the house of 
George Campau, April 29, 1839, Alonzo Vaughn, the 
candidate for the office of justice of the peace to fill vacancy, 
received eleven votes, the whole number polled. 

During the year ending April 1, 1840, Alonzo D. 
Brewster, for killing two wolves; Stephen Willits, for kill- 
ing one wolf; Alonzo Vaughn, for killing four wolves; 
Ash-ka-be, for killing one wolf; No-wob-a-no, for killing 
one wolf; and Lolon-da, for killing one wolf, were allowed 
the township bounty of four dollars for each scalp. 

Following is a copy of the certificate usually granted him 
who slew the wolf: 

" We, Alonzo Vaughn, a justice of the peace for the 
township of Lebanon, in the county of Clinton, and John 
A. Millard, a commissioner of highways of said township, 
having been associated together for the purpose of examin- 
ing Ash-ka-be touching his claim for bounty on a certain 
wolf's head, by him presented to us, we do therefore certify 
that the said Ash-kabe is in our judgment entitled to the 
township bounty on said wolf's head, and, further, we did 
burn the said wolf's scalp and ears, according to law. 

" Alonzo Vaughn, J. P. 

"John A. Millard, Coni. of Uighwat/s. 

•' Lkbanon, May 31, 1S39." 

Bengal, including the present township of Essex, was set 
off from Lebanon by an act approved March 19, 1840, and 
Dallas by an act approved March 19, 1845. 

The voters of Lebanon at the fall election of 1840 were 
Smith Parks, Alexander Frazicr, Jolm Vance, Vincent 
Parks, George F. Dutton, Amacy Dorn, Willis Parks, 
Alonzo D. Brewster, William Merrill, John A. Millard, 
Charles Sessions, Benjamin Welch, Nelson Delong, Nathan 
Bigelow, Daniel T. Locke, Harvey Waterman, Silas Win- 
ters, Martin /etter, Joseph Rowley, and Thomas Tripp. 

Those who availed themselves of the election franchise 
one year later were George F. Dutton, Richard Willing, 
Smith Parks, Tompkins Parks, Orrin Parks, Ira Pinckney, 
William Hayes, Nathan Bigelow, William Parks, Alonzo 
D. Brewster, Constant Shaw, David Parks, Samuel Parks, 
Andrew 11. Vance, John Vance, John A. Millard, Martin 
Zetter, Minor Z. Beckwith, Charles Sessions, Norton H. 
Beckwith, Harvey Waterman, William Vance, and Charles 
Millard. 

For a few years prior to 1855 the present townships of 



476 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



North Shade and New Haven, in Gratiot County, were at- 
tached to tliis for judicial purposes. 

TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 

The following tables embrace the names of the principal 
town.ship officers elected annually from 1840 to 1880, in- 
clusive. Vacancies, appointments, and resignations are not 
shown : 

SUPEKVISORS. 



1840-41. Alonzo D. Brewster. 1860. 

1842. John Vance. 1861- 

1843. William J. Bancroft. 186.^. 

1844. James W. Tabor. 1864. 
1845-47. John Vance. 1865. 
1848-50. James W. Tabor. 1866- 

1851. John Vance. 1870- 

1852. Albert G. Russell. 1875- 
1853-57. John Vance. 1878. 

1858. Benjamin Caldwell. 1879- 

1859. Henry Lane. 



John Vance. 

62. Charles Sessions. 

Nelson P. Johnson. 

Charles Sessions. 

Roderick D. Tabor. 
69. Charles Sessions. 
74. Loren G. Burch. 
77. Jacob E. Ludwick. 

Loren G. Burch. 
80. Emerson Vance. 



1840. 
1841. 
1842- 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
1852. 
1863. 
1854- 
1859- 



Norton H. Beckwith. 

John Vance. 

47. John A. Millard. 

Thomas Bellows. 

John A. Millard. 

No record. 

James W. Tabor. 

John A. Millard. 

James W. Tabor. 
■58. Nelson P. Johnson 
60. Pliny Moure. 



CLERKS. 

1861. Warren H. Stone. 
1862-68. Pliny Moore. 
1869-70. Henry G. Cooley. 

1871. Frank Abbott. 

1872. Henry G. Cooley. 
1873-74. Frank Abbott. 
1875-76. Pliny Moore. 

1877. Emerson ^'ance. 

1878. Jay Sessions. 
1879-80. Martin L. Peck. 



TREASURERS. 



1840- 
1842. 
1843- 
1847. 
1848. 
1849. 
1850. 
1851. 
1852- 
1854- 
1859- 



1840. 



1841. 



1842. 

1843. 

1814. 
1845. 
1846. 
1847. 

1848. 



1849. 



41. AloDzo D. Brewster. 1863. 

George F. Button. 1864. 

46. Isiiac Sherman. 1865. 

Lucius II. Pect. 1860- 

Dennis Merwin. 1869. 

John Vance. 1870- 

No record. 1877. 

Charles Sessions. 1878. 

■53. George E. Walker. 1879. 

■58. Charles Sessions. 1880. 

■62. Moses N. Wade. 



David R. Cory. 

Joseph F. Owen. 

Charles Sessions. 
68. Benjamin S. Patrick. 

Nathan H. Evans. 
76. David P. Weeks. 

D. H. Kirkpatrick. 

David P. Weeks. 

Benjamin S. Patrick. 

Loren Q. Burch. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



Norton H, Beckwith. 
Benjamin Welsh. 
Charles Sessions. 
Harvey Waterman. 
George F. Button. 
Vincent Parks. 
Charles Sessions. 
William Merrill. 
George F. Button. 
Davis Parks. 
James W. Tabor. 
Miner Y. Beckwith. 
Constant Shaw. 
Charles Sessions. 
James W. Tabor. 
No record. 
James W. Tabor. 
Miner Y. Beckwith. 
William Wamsley. 
Miner Y. Beckwith. 
Avery Belong. 
Charles Sessions. 
James W. Tabor. 
Dennis Merwin. 



1850. 
1851. 
1852. 
1853. 

1854. 
1855. 
1856. 
1857. 
1858. 
1859. 

1860. 

1861. 
1862. 
1863. 



1864. 
1865. 



1866. 



No record. 
Albert R. Russell. 
Charles Sessions. 
George E. Gifford. 
Charles Sessions. 
Hiram Burgess. 
James W. Tabor. 
Ezra J. Glass. 
Moses N. Wade. 
Henry Lane. 
Henry S. Barker. 
Calvin Benjamin. 
Ezra P. Glass. 
George D. Barker. 
Warren H. Stone. 
George B. Barker. 
John G. Roberts. 
L. B. Burch. 
Joseph F. Owen. 
J. P. Albro. 
Warren H. Stone. 
Pliny Moore. 
A. T. Cross. 
Lucius H. Pect. 



1867. 


Harrison Colby. 


1874. 


L. D. Burch. 


1868. 


Joseph F. Owen. 


1875. 


Samuel A. Brooks. 


1869. 


William C. Frank. 




Daniel McGraw. 


1870. 


Harrison Colby. 


1876. 


Joseph F. Owen. 




Henry W. Brown. 




Milo Grove. 


1871. 


Lucius H. Peet. 


1877. 


Charles Sessions. 




Guilford A. Smith. 


1878. 


Guilford A. Smith. 




Nelson P. Johnson. 


1879. 


Samuel A. Brooks. 


1872. 


Joseph F. Owen. 


1880. 


A. S. Harris. 




L. D. Burch. 




Charles J. Graham. 


1873. 


Guilford A. Smith. 







HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 



1840. 


John Vance, Norton H. 
Beckwith, Daniel Kel- 


1857 




logg- 


1858 


1841. 


John A. Millard, Benjamin 


1859 




Welsh, \^incent Parks. 


1860 


1842. 


George F. Dutton, Charles 


1861 




Sessions, Davis Parks. 


1862 


1843. 


Andrew R. Vance, Palmer 


1863 




B. Bancroft, John Vance. 


1865 


1844. 


William Bartow, Walter 


1866 




Halstead, Ledra Piiillips. 


1867 


1845. 


Walter Halstead, Anson B. 


1868 




Hathaway. 


1869 


1846. 


No record. 


1870 


1847. 


Ledra Phillips, Ezekiel 


1871 




Halstead. 


1872 


1848. 


Ledra Phillips. 




1849. 


Lucius H. Peet. 


1873 


1850. 


No record. 




1851. 


Paris Cory. 


1874. 


1852. 


Richard Evans. 


1875- 


1853. 


Albert G. Russell. 


1877 


1854. 


John A. Millard. 


1878 


1855- 


56. Albert G. Russell. 


1879- 



John A. Millard, Joel 
Wager. 

Robert Frank. 

Lyman Daniels. 

John A. Millard. 

Herman Sprague. 

Lewis L. Wamslej. 
-64. Nathan H. Evans. 

John B. Stone. 

Joseph F. Owen. 

Niithan H. Evans. 

Nelson P. Johnson. 

James McVeigh. 

George H. Newton. 

Nelson P. Johnson. 

Lucius H. Peet, A. S. Har- 
ris. 

William C. Frank, Joseph 
F. Owen. 

Nelson P. Johnson. 
■76. George M. Jones. 

L. D. Burch. 

Emerson Vance. 
80. Sidney Goss. 



SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



1840- 


41. William Merrill, Alonzo 


1861. 


George D. Barker, Jona 




D. Brewster, John A. 




than F. Albro. 




Millard. 


1862. 


Wilson Colby. 


1842. 


Andrew R. Vance, Thomas 


1863. 


Albert H. Burch. 




Tripp, William Bartow. 


1864. 


David R. Cory. 


1843. 


Constant Shaw, Isaac 


1865. 


Benjamin S. Patrick, Al 




Sherman. 




bert H. Burch. 


1844. 


Thomas Bellows. 


1866. 


Henry G. Cooley. 


1845. 


William H. Pratt. 


1867. 


Benjamin S. Patrick. 


1846- 


48. No record. 


1868. 


Frank Abbott. 


1849. 


William McAllister. 


1869. 


Pliny Moore. 


1850. 


No record. 


1870. 


Frank Abbott. 


1851. 


Lucius H. Peet. 


1871. 


Henry G. Cooley. 


1852. 


Benjamin Caldwell. 


1872. 


Frank Abbott. 


1853. 


Henry Lane. 


1873. 


Pliny Moore. 


1854. 


Lucius H. Peet. 


1874. 


Emerson Vance. 


1855. 


J. C. Howard. 


1875. 


Charles J. Graham. 


1856. 


Lucius H. Peet. 


1876. 


Samuel J. Horr. 


1857. 


Pliny Moore. 


1877. 


Jay Sessions. 


1858. 


Henry Lane. 


1878. 


Samuel J. Horr. 


1859. 


Jonathan F. Albro. 


1879. 


Pliny Moore. 


1860. 


Benjamin Caldwell. 


1880. 


Ray Sessions. 



DRAIN COMMISSIONERS. 



1872-74. Charles Sessions. 

1875. Loren G. Burch. 

1876. R. D. Tabor. 



1877-79. No record. 
1880. Frank Abbott. 



SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS. 



1875-76. William H. Owen. 
1877. No record. 



1878-79. Charles J. Graham. 
1880. James Troop. 



LEBANON TOWNSHIP. 



477 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 





MRS. CHARLES SESSIONS. 



CHARLES SESSIONS. 



CHARLES SESSIONS. 



Tliis gentleman, well known to the citizens of Clinton 
and Ionia Counties for the past forty-three years, was born 
in the town of Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Dec. 20, 
1817, beinf; the eldest in a family of seventeen children, 
of whom fourteen survived to an adult age. 

The Sessionses are descended from a sturdy Welshman, 
who was an early settler in New England. Nathaniel Ses- 
sions, the father of Charles, was born in the State of Con- 
necticut, Aug. 20, 1789. He served in the American 
army during the war of 1812, and in the year 1814 re- 
moved to Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y. Here on the 
4th day of November, 1816, he married Mi.ss Chloe 
Thompson, a lady wiio was born in Oneida Co., N. Y., 
Sept. 2G, 1798. In 1822 he again removed to Harmony, 
Ciiautauqua Co., N. Y., becoming one of the first settlers 
in that region. He remained a resident of Chautauqua 
County until the spring of 1887, when, judging wisely 
that the new State of Miciiigan offered superior advantages 
to one blessed with so large a family, a third removal was 
made, and a final settlement effected in the present town- 
ship of North Plains, Ionia Co. He was an indulgent 
father, a strict temperance man, and an earnest Christian. 
Early in life he had joined the Baptists, but before settling 
in Michigan had adopted the tenets of the Methodist 
Episcopal faith, and in the latter church served as steward, 
class-leader, .and Sunday-school superintendent for many 
years. He was also prominent in civil life, and most 
creditably served his townsmen as supervisor, justice of the 
peace, and iu other capacities, and whether as a Whig, 
Abolitionist, or llepublican, stood firm as the rocks of his 
native State, believing in principles rather than expediency. 
Full of years, sincerely mourned by ten surviving children, 
he died, March 15, 1880. The worthy partner of his joys 



and sorrows, who during the later years of her life was 
affectionately termed Mother Sessions, died Nov. 14, 1879. 
She was an active, earnest Christian, an exemplary wife 
and mother, and rejoiced to sec the principles inculcated by 
her practiced by her children. 

Charles Sessions grew up a farmer. His educational 
advantages were limited to such as could be obtained by 
attending the district schools in winter. After assisting 
his father in the many difficulties and hardships attendant 
upon the removal from New York State to Michigan, he 
remained under the paternal roof until the fall of 1838, 
meanwhile assisting to clear forty acres of land. He then 
built a small cabin near his present residence in Lebanon, 
upon one hundred and twenty acres of land purchased the 
year previously of the general government. His location 
was in the midst of a dense wilderness, his nearest neigh- 
bors being John Vance and James Sowle. Here in his 
lonely cabin, the possessor of his lands, strong arms, a 
stout heart, an axe, and twenty dollars in cash, Charles 
Sessions began his work. Surrounded by Indians, who 
were then more numerous than the present white inhabi- 
tants, the forest teeming with bears and wolves, ho lived 
alone until Aug. 27, 1840, when he married Miss Miriam 
Cooley, of Portland, Ionia Co., who was born in New York 
State in 1822. As time passed and the township gradu- 
ally increased in population, although not an office-seeker, 
he very naturally became prominent among his townsmen, 
and successively held the offices of collector, justice of the 
peace, assessor, treasurer, supervisor, and drain commis- 
sioner. His original purchase, by industry and good man- 
agement, has been added to until he is now the proud 
owner of eleven hundred and seventy-one broad acres. 

By his first marriage were born two children, viz., 



478 



HISTORY OP OLINTOxN COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Cynthia (wife of Frank Abbott), July 8, 1842, and 
Nathan C, Feb. 1, 1844, who, while serving in the Union 
army, died at Chattanooga, Tenn., during the war of the 
Rebellion. His first wife, Mrs. Miriam Sessions, died Feb. 
1,1841. 

On the 14th of April, 1846, he was again married to 
Mrs. Mary Ryan, a widow lady, the mother of two chil- 
dren, named Elmore D., who died at New Orleans, La., 
while a member of Michigan's volunteer force during the 
war, and Alice, now Mrs. N. H. Evans, of Montcalm 
County. The children born of the second marriage were 
Amelia (now Mrs. Horace Winans), Feb. 4, 1847 ; Emily 
(wife of H. N. Blakcslee), May 2(5, 1849; May, March 
12, 1852; Jay, Aug. 5, 1854; Ray, April 2, 1859; and 
Belle, Nov. 23, 18G3. After but one week's illness, his 
second wife, who was born in 1819, at Paris, Oneida Co., 
N. Y., died at her home, April 21, 1880. 

Mr. Sessions has been most liberal and indulgent in the 
care and education of his children. His sons are gradu- 
ates of the State Agricultural College, while his daughters, 
having had superior advantages, are equally as accom- 
plished. A AVhig, while that party existed, he is now a 
Republican. Conservative in his religious opinions, as 
well as in other matters of everyday life, Charles Sessions, 
as a pioneer and present citizen of licbauon township, is 
esteemed by all who know him. 



CHAPTER LXI. 
OVID TOWNSHIP.* 

Natural Features — Indian Mounds — .Settlement of the Township — 
The Darli Day of 1856 — Ke.sident Ta.x-payers in 1840 — Township 
Organization .and Civil List — Highway Records — Sehools — Ovid 
Village — Post-Office — Physicians — Churches — -Village Incorpora- 
tion and List of Officers — Manufacturing Industries — The Press of 
Ovid — Ovid Union School — Secret Orders — Ovid Fire Department 
— Village of Shcpardsville. 

The six miles square of territory designated in the United 
States survey as town 7 north, in range 1 west, and known 
as Ovid township, is one of the four towns lying on the 
eastern border of Clinton County. It has Duplain on the 
north, Victor on the south, the Shiawa.ssee County line on 
the east, and Bingham township on the west. 

Ovid is not only agriculturally prosperous, but contains 
moreover two villages, at one of which, Ovid, there are im- 
portant manufacturing interests. The surface of the country, 
like that of neighboring towns, is generally level, the soil is 
productive, and the members of the farming community 
are, as a rule, a prosperous people. 

The supervisors' report for 1879 gives the number of 
acres of wheat harvested during that year as 2964, the 
number of bushels yielded as 65,764. May 1, 1880, there 
were on the ground 3231 acres of wheat. Eleven hundred 
acres of corn harvested in 1879 yielded 50,986 bushels. 
Twenty-five hundred and fifty-seven sheep were sheared, 

* By David Schwartz. 



and gave a yield of 10,194 pounds of wool. The sheep in 
the town May 1, 1880, numbered 2865. 

INDIAJf MOUNDS. 

Traces of Indian mounds are alleged to have been dis- 
covered in Ovid, and from a paper prepared by Dr. M. L. 
Leach, of Duplain, in 1877, it would appear that at one 
time a chain of mounds extended northwest and south- 
east, and lay in the northern portion of Ovid and south- 
ern part of Duplain, — chiefly in the latter town. Sev- 
eral small mounds are supposed to have had an existence 
on the Benjamin Hicks place, just west of Ovid village. 
About forty rods west of the centre of section 11 is 
a mound measuring two and a half feet iu height and 
seventeen feet in diameter. Report has it that excavations 
therein have revealed the presence of human bones. Pro- 
ceeding towards the northwest a distance of two miles one 
comes to the site, upon section 4, of a mound which is 
described by those who have seen it as having been two 
feet high and sixteen feet broad. It is upon the fitrm of 
C. H. Gleason, who claimed to have dug a human skull 
out of it, and to have seen, moreuvcr, iu the mound other 
skulls and human bones. On the top of the mound grew 
an oak-tree containing one hundred and forty-three rings 
of growth. Where the relic occupied a place may yet be 
designated, but the relic itself and all it contained have 
long since been leveled and scattered by the plowshare. 

SETTLEMENT OP THE TOWNSHIP. 

Contrary to the general impression, the pioneer settle- 
ment in Ovid was effected by Samuel Barker, in July, 
1836, simultaneously with the settlement in Duplain of 
Oliver Bebee, with whom and John Ferdon came Barker, 
as a member of the Rochester Colony and one of the 
three above named, who led the van in the Colony settle- 
ment. In the drawing of Colony lots Barker had drawn a 
lot in section 6 of Ovid, and upon the north town-line in 
that section be built a log cabin with a bark roof and 
bark floor. In that cabin Barker lived, however, only 
until the following December, when he moved over into 
Duplain and made his home upon one of the Colony lots in 
that town. As the record of his early experiences belongs 
to the Colony history, it will be found there. 

Barker had no more than moved out of his Ovid cabin 
than along came Allen Lounsbury, who, with William H. 
Faraghar, had taken up land in July, 1836, upon sections 
4 and 6 in Ovid. Lounsbury was then — December, 1836 
— just in with his family, whom he had tran.sported from 
Oakland County by ox-team by way of Henry Leach's, in 
Sciota, and so over the Colony road to within a mile of his 
destination. Finding Barker's cabin vacant, he took pos- 
session of it, and then, with the assistance of Enoch Willi.s, 
his brother-in-law, set about building a house for himself on 
section 4, where he and his wife have ever since resided, 
• — Ovid's oldest living settlers. 

Illustrative of the dilficulty encountered in obtaining 
bread, Mr. Lounsbury tells the story of his setting out in 
the spring of 1837 for a walk over to Laingsburg for a 
supply of flour. When ho reached Dr. Laing's he found 
the .supply of flour there reduced to the infinitesimal 



OVID TOWNSHIP. 



479 



quantity of nothing. Determined to keep up the .search 
until sucee.ssi'ul, Lounsbury continued liis travels as far as 
De Witt, where he got what he wanted, and then trudged 
homeward with his load. He had started from home with 
the intention of getting back the same day, but his absence 
was extended to three days. His wife, worried by liis con- 
tinued and unaccountable non-appearance, and growing 
hourly more frightened at her lonely condition, was about 
to put off through the woods for the Colony when her hus. 
band appeared on the scene safe and sound, with the precious 
flour secure in his grasp. 

Barker was Ovid's first settler, and Lounsbury the second. 
The third comer to the town and the first to the southern 
portion thereof was John Cross, who in 183G located a 
tract of land on section 36, and who in September, 1837, 
came witli his fiimily to make a settlement. He brought a 
supply of provisions sufficient to last, he thought, until the 
following spring, but his calculations proved at fault, for 
the larder gave out before the winter did, and then set in 
"hard times," although until then they li:id fared decently 
enough. Many were the hungry days they passed, and 
many the determined efforts they made to get a bit of meat 
or flour from far-off neighbors. During the winter Law- 
rence Cortright came along, axe on shoulder, bound for the 
Colony, and Cross persuaded him to stop and work for him 
a year, for which service he was to have eighty acres of 
land. Shortly afterwards Cortright sallied out to borrow 
some flour for the family, and, although he succeeded in 
getting it, he had a desperate job of finding his way home. 
He was absent so long that he was given up for lost, and 
was about to be searched for when he turned up all right. 
The Cross family thereupon fell to congratulating them- 
selves that they had once more the prospect of bread, 
but directly along came Robert G. McKee and a party 
of twelve surveyors, all very hungry. As badly off as 
tl>ey were, the Cross family placed their hospitality before 
selfish considerations, and set out before the party what 
they had. The consequence was that the surveyors ate up 
all there was in the house, and Mr. Cross and his house- 
hold were once more reduced to their u.sual condition of 
destitution. 

When Cross brought his family to his place, they found, 
it is true, a cabin which Cross and his brother Thomas had 
previously prepared, but it was a rough specimen of a 
cabin, minus a floor and minus door as well as windows. 
Being without the convenience of a bedstead, they all 
slept the first few nights in the wagon-bos, and being like- 
wise without a stove, they prepared their meals as best 
they could at a log-heap fire. 

Cross, a shoemaker by trade and lame at that, found 
himself by the spring of 1838 pretty thoroughly discour- 
aged with the hard experience he had endured, and the 
pro.spect of more hard work and hard times yet to assail 
hm. He resolved, therefore, to remove his family to the 
East, and to remain with them in that country until the 
vicinity of his Michigan possessions should become more 
thoroughly subdued by the advance of civilization. Ac- 
cordingly he packed away his goods in his cabin, nailed 
the latter close shut, and turned his face and the faces of 
his people towards the rising sun. He came not again to 



Ovid until 1844, and then he found that the cabin he 
thought to reoccupy, and the household goods ho thought 
to use again, had been confiscated by marauding hands, 
and all he found amounted to scarcely sufiicient, he re- 
marked, ■' to swear by." 

About the time Cross lefl the town — that is to say, the 
summer of 1838 — William Vansicklc made a small clear- 
ing and put up a cabin on the south half of section 31. 
He did not, however, continue his efforts in the matter of 
clearing his land, and after a while those knowing him to 
be there, and knowing that no land improvement was being 
effected, began to speculate upon the character and busi- 
ness of the people located there, for thei'e were known to 
be at least five persons in the household. Henry Leach, 
of Sciota, who was frequently engaged in the business of 
looking up lands for others, had encountered the Van- 
sickle cabin in his travels, and, like others, thought there 
was something queer about the place. Unlike others, he 
made secret investigations, and soon satisfied liims'.'lf that 
Vansicklc was the master of a counterfeiter's den. Acting 
upon his conclusions. Leach gave due information at De- 
troit, and a posse being sent out for the capture, Vansiekle 
and his party were surprised and taken in the very busi- 
ness of manufacturing counterfeit Mexican dollars. Be- 
sides Vansiekle there was a woman and three men, named 
Ward, Skiff, and Gridley. The woman kept house for the 
party, the three last-named men performed the mechani- 
cal work of manufiicturing the coin, while Vansiekle, the 
leading spirit, charged himself with the business of dis- 
posing of the fruits of their bogus dollar-factory. His 
method of convoying his dollars to Detroit was by means 
of a black valise, which he always carried on foot, and with 
which he became a tolerably familiar figure to dwellers 
along the line of the State road and Grand Biver road, 
although until his capture by the law he was regarded as 
an industrious and innocent peddler. The Vansickles 
place and the neighborhood have to this day continued to 
bear the name of the Bogus settlement. John McCollom 
and James Nelson settled upon the place in 1839, and close 
by them, at about the .same time, settled also Mark and 
Benjamin Brown. 

Jabez Denison came to the town in the fall of 1839, his 
brother-in-law, Enos Kenyon, having preceded him in the 
spring. Denison became noted as a successful slayer of 
bears, and killed, it is said, during his residence in Ovid 
nineteen of the beasts, no less than four falling victims to 
his prowess on one day, the 19th day of February, 1845, 
to wit. So say the town records. Previous to Denison's 
coming Stephen Pearl had made a settlement in 1837 upon 
the site of Shepardsville, and in 1839 William Swarthout 
moved to section 3G from Victor township. To that section 
came also, in 1840, Lawrence Cortright, heretofore men- 
tioned as having sojourned temporarily in 1837 with John 
Cross. He had been for a couple of years at the Kochcster 
Colony, and after abiding seven years in Ovid proceeded 
eastward, whence he returned in the spring of 1853, fol- 
lowed in the fall of the same year by Daniel Dills. 

Among the settlers of 1839 and 1840 were Frederick 



480 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Cranson (upon the place occupied by John Gilbert in 1857), 
Joseph Parnienter, Moses Smith, and John Voorhies. In 
Cross' time Ann Arbor was the objective-point when a 
journey to mill became necessary, and in Voorhies' time 
Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti were his market as well as milling 
towns. Mrs. Voorhies remembers her rides thither upon 
loads of wheat and behind an ox-team. "The roads were 
that bad and tortuous," remarks she, " that we had at times 
to go three miles around a swamp to make a half a mile in 
a straight course, and by the time we got to Ann Arbor we 
felt sure we had traveled a hundred and fifty miles." 
Voorhies bought his place (on section 25) in 1839 of 
David Cranson, who had entered upon its occupation in 
1838 and chopped about two acres. Into his log shanty 
Voorhies conveyed his family, and so desolate and wretched 
a liabitation did it appear that Mr. Voorhies offered the re- 
mark that as a horse-stable it would be a miserable affair. 
It possessed a bark roof, and as a consequence the interior 
of the house was generally afloat whenever the rains of 
heaven descended upon the earth. When Mr. Voorhies 
settled upon section 25, in 1840, the country north of him 
was a wilderness. 'J'hcre was not a settler in that direction 
between him and Frederick Cranson, on wliat is now the 
Gilbert place. Later to section 2-t came Solomon Buck 
and 0. Carpenter, and close by John Kent, Manzey Sowles, 
Dodge, and others. 

Passing northward towards the Shepardsville region, re- 
mark may be made that John Jessup settled in 1840 upon 
the place now owned by John Miller, Enoch Willis to 
section 9 (Willis had come in with Lounsbury in 1836), 
and William and H. JL Shepard, who settled at what is 
now Shepardsville, but which was then a trackless wild. 

North of the present town of Ovid Orville Williams, a 
comer to Michigan in 1836, bought some land on section 1 
in 1843, and in 1847 began chopping upon it, boarding 
meanwhile with John McCarty, in Middlebury. He 
chopped and cleared ten acres, and then, winter coming on, 
he took a job at Sickles' mill, in El.sie, and during that 
l)eriod lived with George McClintook, who had eighty acres 
on section 1 in Ovid. Previous to Williams' appearance, 
in 1843, one Bigelow had in 1840 made a clearing in that 
vicinity, and lived there until his death in 1843. In 1850, 
Williams, having been away three years, permanently re- 
occupied his place on section 1, and there still abides. In 
1850 there was also on section 1 one Elijah Fitch, but in 
that locality settlements progressed slowly until the comple- 
tion of the railway at Ovid gave to the surrounding country 
a bold push forward. 'Squire Guile settled upon section 2 
in 1856 and cut the first stick on that section. Following 
upon Guile's settlement, Heman Smith came to section 2, 
John Winfield to section 3, and Oliver Hammond and Wil- 
liam Hall to .section 2. 

The Joseph Parmenter place on the town-line was occu- 
pied after Parmenter by James McGuire, and in 1852 by 
John Jamison, who found one hundred acres underbrushed 
and girdled and twenty acres cleared. 

In 1855, Edward Potter and J. W. Welter occupied 
places on section 22, which was then a wild tract. Welter 
was t.ie first one in his neighborhood, and had to cut a 
road to the spot on which he proposed to make a commence- 



ment. West were Christian Baker, H. C. Shiffer, Charles 
Wilson, Jonathan, John, and Jacob Baer; north were Eli 
Anderson and James Davis; south, Enoch De Camp and 
II. S. Ellis; and east, Harvey Dodge. David H. Sowles 
had a saw-mill on section 14, but the country generally 
round about was a dense forest. N. R. Allen made his 
homo in 1854 on section 32, where Layton Swarthout had 
girdled twenty acres. AVilliam Ellis was on a place in sec- 
tion 33, which in 1855 he sold to 1. W. Taft. Later set- 
tlers in Ovid included Jacob Dunkle, D. A. Sutfin, George 
Cox, W. A. Barnes, George Ramsey, C. Boyd, Josiah Mur- 
dock, George W. Simpson, W. Cronk, Frederick Perkins, 
Perry St. Clair, A. St. Clair, and Jackson Voorhies. 

THE DARK DAY OF 1856. 

The great forest-fires of October, 1856, worked consider- 
able damage to the timber and fences in the Welter neigh- 
borhood, and for ten days filled the atmosphere with smoke 
and the people with apprehensions and fears. The 16th of 
October is remembered as the " dark day." It was so dark 
that objects at a distance of two rods could not be distin- 
guished, and lights were necessary indoors. Fish in the 
streams were killed, and some people, sure that the end of 
the world was at hand, made haste to bury their valuables 
and to make their peace with Heaven. 

t 

KESIDENT TAX-PAYERS OF OVID IN 1840. 

Acres. 

Allen Lounsbury, section 4 160 

Enoch Willis, section 5 80 

William Faraghar, section 6 240 

John Jessop, section 9 160 

Stephen Pearl, sections 9 and 10 60 

Frederick Cranson, section 15 40 

Judc Carter Personal 

D. li. Cranson, section 25 160 

William Van Sickle, section 31 160 

John McCulliim, section 31 80 

Jiiines Nelson, section 31 80 

Eiios Kenyon, suction 35 80 

Jjibcz Denison. section 35 120 

Lawrence t'ortrigbt, section 36 80 

Willi, mi Swarthout, section 36 320 

James Gunsuliy,- ** Lot 43," section 5 80 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

Town 7 north, iu range 1 west, was, under act of Legis- 
lature approved March 19, 1840, organized as the township 
of Ovid, the name having been bestowed by William 
Swarthout, who caiue to Michigan from the town of Ovid, 
in the State of New York. The first town-meeting was 
held at Stephen Pearl's house, April 22, 1840, on which 
occasion fifteen votes were cast. But one ticket of candi- 
dates was placed in the field, since there were not people 
enough in the town to make up two tickets had there in- 
deed been a disposition for it, and there was of course no 
particular difficulty in declaring for the successful ones. A 
full list of the officials chosen follows : Supervisor, Fred- 
erick Cranson ; Clerk, Stephen Pearl ; Treasurer, John 
Jessop ; Justices of the Peace, William Van Sickle (four 
years), Stephen Pearl (three years), John Jessop (two 
years), Jabez Dennison (one year) ; Collector, David B. 
Cranson ; Assessors, John Jessop, Jabez Dennison, John 
McColluni ; Highway Commissioners, William Swarthout, 

* Colony Purchase. 



OVID TOWNSHIP. 



481 



John Jessop, John McCuUom ; Suhool Inspectors, Stephen 
Pearl, Jabez Dennison, William Van Sickle; Constables, 
Enoch Willis, Enos Kinyon, Christopher Van Deventer; 
Overseers of the Poor, William Swarthout, Allen Louns- 
berry ; Highway Overseer in District No. 4, John Jessop; 
in No. 5, William Swarthout. 

One hundred and fifty dollars was voted for expenses of 
the township during the ensuing year, and it was further 
resolved that the next town-meeting should be held at Ste- 
phen Pearl's house. A by-law was moreover adopted to the 
eflfect that " any person leaving syrup in the woods to the 
damage of his neighbor's cattle should be liable for all 
damage." The inspectors of the election just recorded 
were Stephen Pearl, Frederick Cranson, William Swarth- 
out, John Jessop, and David B. Cranson. 

From 18-11 to 1880 those persons elected annually to be 
supervisor, clerk, treasurer, and justice of the peace were 
as follows : 

SUPERVISORS. 

1862-65. W. C. Bennett. 
1866-68. J. A. Potter. 
1860-71. I. W. Tiift. 

1872. D. C. Harrington. 

1873. J. A. Potter. 
1874-77. D. C. Harrington. 

1878. J. C. E. Gumear. 

1879. D. C. Harrington. 

1880. S. H. Valentino. 



CLERKS. 

1860-61. W. C. Bennett. 

1862. J. A. Potter. 

1863. J. M. Fitch. 

1864. George Sliepard. 
1805. Thomas Hall. 
1S66. H. A. Potter. 
1867. A. Swarthout. 
1S68. S. D. Ilaight. 
1869-70. D. C. Harrington. 
1871-72. F. S. Davis. 
1S73. C. M. Uagadorn. 
1874-75. F. S. Davis. 
1876-77. S. C. King. 

1878. C. U. Misner. 

1879. E. Do Camp. 

1880. E. C. White. 

TREASURKES. 

1857. E. Potter. 

1858. No record. 
1859-60. E. Potter. 
1861-67. P. A. WinfielJ. 
1868-73. J. L. Button. 
1874-78. r. A. Winfield. 

1879. L. U. Allen. 

1880. P. A. AVinBold. 



1841. 


F. Cranson. 


1842-43. I. V. Swarthout. 


1844. 


S. Pearl. 


1845. 


I. V. Swarthout. 


1846- 


51. L. Swarthout. 


1852- 


55. E. Fitch. 


1856. 


J. Jamieson. 


1857. 


J. B. Park. 


1858. 


No record. 


1859- 


61. I. W. Taft. 


1841- 


42. J. S. Denison. 


1843. 


S. Pearl. 


1844. 


I. V. Swarthout. 


1845. 


L, Swarthout. 


1840- 


47. J. W. Cross. 


1848. 


I. Lounsberry. 


1849. 


Joseph Wilson. 


1850. 


I. Lounsberry. 


1851. 


James McGuiro. 


1852. 


J. McGuire. 


1853. 


J. C. Mclntyre. 


1854. 


R. G. Finch. 


1855. 


A. 0. Chapman. 


1856- 


-57. William Shepard 


1858. 


No record. 


1859. 


E. D. Claris. 



1841. F. Cranson. 
1842-45. J. Parmenter. 
1846. J. Cross. 
1847-48. F. Cranson. 
1849-51. L. Swarthout. 
1852-53. J. Wilson. 
1854. L. Richards. 
1855-56. W. S. Ellis. 



JUSTICES 

181 1. J. S. Denieon. 
1842. J. Jessop. 
1813. J. Parmenter. 

1844. George Parrish. 

1845. William Putnam. 

1846. J. W.Cross. 

1847. M. Smith. 

1848. J. Cross. 

1849. J.S. Denison. 
18.i0-5I. J. W. Cross. 
1852. H. I). Wil.-on. 

01 



OF THE PEACE. 

1853. J. Jamieson. 

1854. J. S. Duni:>on. 
18.«. N. 11. Allen. 

1856. I). Birmingham. 

1857. E. Fitch. 

1858. No record. 

1859. W. Shepard. 

1860. C. Baker. 

1861. J. S. Bennett. 

1862. N. Fitch. 

1863. William Shepard. 



1864. J. Hairo. 

1865. J. S. Bennett. 

1866. E. N. Fitch. 

1867. William Shepard. 

1868. D. II. Misner. 

1869. S. D. Haight. 

1870. J. Miller. 

1871. J. A. Valentine. 

1872. C. M. llngadon. 



1873. D. C. Harrington. 

1874. J. Miller. 

1875. J. L. Hadlcy. 

1876. C. M. Uagadorn. 

1877. b. C. Harrington. 

1878. William Shepard. 

1879. J. Murdock. 

1880. C. M. Uagadorn. 



JUKORS OF 1842, 1843, 1844, 184-5, AND 1850. 

1842. — Grand Jurors: B. P. Aldridge, Henry Brown, 
James Nelson, A. Lounsberry ; Petit Jurors : William 
Putnam, Enos Kinyon, I. V. Swarthout, J. Denison, J. 
Parmenter. 

1843. — Grand Jurors: Stephen Pearl, John Jessop; 
Petit Jurors: Peter Brown, W. S. Swarthout, J. Voor- 
hies. 

1844. — Grand Jurors : I. V. Swarthout, J. Parmenter ; 
Petit Jurors : F. Cranson, Enoch Willis. 

1845. — Grand Jurors: J. W. Cross, Enos Kinyon; 
Petit Jurors : William Putnam, T. Van Fleet. 

1850. — Grand Jurors: Benjamin Fuller, Enoch Willis, 
J. W. Cross, H. Smith ; Petit Jurors : J. S. Denison, 
Joseph Wilson, F. Cranson, 0. 0. Pray. 

THE TKEASUREll'S REPORT OF 1845. 

March 24, 1845, the town board settled with Joseph 
Parmenter, town treasurer, and found sixteen dollars and 
twenty cents in school library funds and six dollars and 
sixty-nine cents in funds for township purposes. The 
treasurer had collected forty-one dollars and thirty-seven 
cents in town-orders, one hundred and ten dollars and 
eighty-five cents in highway orders, sixty dollars and 
seventy-two cents in town-orders " to balance last year's 
account that was charged said treasurer," and fourteen 
dollars and sixty-seven cents on balance on " last year's 
school funds." The treasurer had collected thirty dollars 
and one cent in school funds, sixteen dollars and twenty 
cents in cash, eleven dollars and eighty cents " in note 
given to David Jones for finishing school-house in district 
No. 4," and two dollars and one cent " in receipt from 
school teacher." 

HIGHWAY RECORDS. 

Aug. 4, 1843, Stephen Pearl and William Swarthout, 
highway commissioners, laid out a highway commencing at 
a stake eighteen chains and seventy-nine links south of the 
southeast corner of section 9 ; thence south on the section- 
line to the northwest corner of section 34. A second road 
laid that day began at the southeast corner of section 34, 
and passed thence north on the section-line to the north- 
erst corner of said section ; thence west on the section-line 
to the northwest corner of said section ; thence south on 
the section-line to the southeast corner of section 31. A 
third road began at the quarter-stake on the east side of 
scctioQ 15, and ran thence east forty-five chains, thirty-five 
links ; thence south on the section-line one hundred and 
fifteen chains, fifty links; thence south .seventy degrees 
east, twenty-five chains to a stake standing in the centre 
of the highway. A fourth road commenced at tlic north- 



482 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



west corner of section 9 ; thence west on the section-line 
to the southwest corner of section G. 

March ^50, 1844, the town was divided into road dis- 
tricts, embracing sections as follows : 

No. 1. — Sections 1, 2, and 12. 

No. 2.— Sections 3, 4, 9, and 10. 

No. 3. — Sections 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16. 

No. 4.— Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, and 18. 

No. 5.— Sections 19, 20, 29, 30, 31, and 32. 

No. C— Sections 21, 22, 27, 28, 33, 34, and 35. 

No. 7.— Sections 23, 24, 25, 26, and 36. 

The annual report for 1843 gave the following: days 
assessed, four hundred and fifty-nine; days returned to the 
clerk, two hundred and seventy-three. 

The commissioners said in their report : " The state of 
the roads and bridges in the town is bad in the extreme, 
but if the jobs should be let to the amount of the back 
taxes, we have no doubt but that it would be sufficient to 
improve the roads. Of the rejected road-tax of 1838 it 
appears that eighty seven dollars and sixty-seven cents have 
been collected." 

March 22, 1842, the town was set off into four road 
districts. No. 1 contained twelve sections in the northeast 
corner of the town ; No. 2 the remaining six sections in 
the northern half of the town ; No. 3 the southwest (juarter 
of the town ; and No. 4 the southeast quarter. 

Nov. 21, 1843, a road was laid beginning at the north- 
east corner of section 1, in town 6, and running thence on 
the section line to the northwest corner of section 1. 
March 12, 1845, a road was laid commencing at the north- 
western corner of section 6, running thence south eighty- 
three degrees west nineteen chains and eighty-nine links to 
the highway leading past the hou.se of John Cross. A 
road, Feb. 19, 1845, beginning at a stake standing in the 
Colony road, running south forty-five degrees east to a 
stake standing in the section-line and eight chains due east 
of the quarter-post on the south side of section 25, in 
town 7 ; thence south twenty-eight degrees fifteen chains. 
A road beginning at a stake eight chains due east of the 
quarter-post on the south side of section 25 in town 7, 
running thence west on the section-line forty-eight chains 
to the southwest corner of section 25. 

The commissioners' annual report, dated April 7, 1845, 
contained the following : 

Whole number of djijs assessed 233 

" *' " returned Ibbi 

" •' '• worked 77? 

District chopping out four rods wide 7U rods. 

** crosswaying 135 " 

Number of rods of crosswaying by jobs let 256 

Amount of highway orders issued by commis- 
sioners $223 

At the time of making the report, " the state of the roads 
was extremely bad." 

Other early roads were laid as follows : May 23, 1845, 
one beginning at the northwest corner of section 4, thence 
west on the town-line twenty-two and a half chains to a 
stake standing in the centre of the highway. Sept. 5, 
1846, the towns of Ovid and Sciota laid out a road from 
the southeast corner of Ovid north, on the principal merid- 
ian, thirty-two rods, and divided the road into two equal 
parts, apportioning one part to each town. Nov. 7, 1846, 



a road beginning at the town-line of sections 30 and 31, 
thence one mile east. The towns of Ovid and Bingham 
laid out a road commencing at the corners of the towns and 
running one mile north on sections 31 and 36. Dec. 4, 1847, 
a road beginning at the quarter-stake on the south side of sec- 
tion 32 ; thence north on the quarter-line to the quarter-stake 
of said section ; thence north on the quarter-line twenty- 
seven and a half chains to a stake standing on the quarter- 
line running north and south through .section 17 ; thence 
north on the quarter-line to the south line of G. R. Louns- 
berry's land ; thence east on the south line of said land 
four chains seventy one links; thence north and west six 
chains fifty links to a stake standing in the centre of the 
highway. Sept. 26, 1849, a road beginning at a stake 
standing on the section-line between sections 5 and 8, two 
chains eighteen links from the section corners west ; thence 
north to the quarter-line on section 5. The same day a 
road beginning thirteen chains thirty-seven links north of 
where the former road ended on the quarter-line running 
north to the town-line road. April 17 and 18, 1849, a 
road beginiung in the centre of the road on the south side 
of Maple River, on a line with the centre of the bridge 
across said river and near the northeast corner of section 

9, thence north to the north line of said section 9. A road 
commencing on the section-line between sections 28 and 
29 on the south side of said sections, and running north 
two miles. 

SCHOOLS. 

Ovid's pioneer school-house was built in 1839, upon Wil- 
liam Swarthout's farm in section 36. It was constructed of 
basswood logs, and within its walls Hannah Slocomb taught 
the first school. The second teacher was probably Nellie 
Laing. In that school-house the town enjoyed its pioneer 
preaching at the hands of Revs. Levi Warner .and Mr. 
Blowers. Jesse Treat, a settler in Victor, preached Wes- 
leyan Methodist sermons in that school-house occasionally, 
and was eventually buried within its shadows. 

Aug. 19, 1840, the school inspectors formed district No. 
1, and apportioned to it sections 3, 4, 9, 10, 15, 21, 22, 27, 
28. May 20, 1843, a school district was organized to em- 
brace portions of Duplain and Greenbush and Colony 
lots Nos. 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, and 50 in Ovid. A district 
was likewise formed of sections 31 and 32 in Ovid and 
portions of Bingham, Olive, and Ossowa. 

The annual report of fractional district No. 2, dated Oct. 

10, 1841, gave the number of children in the district as 
twenty-four, and the number of children between the ages 
of five and seventeen as thirteen. The annual report of 
fractional district No. 4, in Ovid and Ossowa, gave nine as 
the number of children over five and under seventeen, and 
three children under five and over seventeen, three months' 
school being kept. The school records touching early 
schools were imperfectly kept, and but little can be gleaned 
from them. The only report concerning teachers prior to 
ISGO is one dated 1851, reciting the engagement of An- 
geline Ladue to teach in district No. 5 ; Mary Smith, in 
fractional district No. 2 ; and Hannah Wilcox, in district 
No. 1. 



OVID TOWNSHIP. 



483 



The annual school report for 1878 presented the sub- 
joined details : 

Number of districts (wholo. 7 ; fractional, 4)... 11 

Number of echolars of seliool age HHVA 

Average attendance iltto 

Value of school property $lfi,y92 

Teacher's wages $3,4 1 ;i 

The school directors for 1879 were A. R. Dayen, D. Mo- 
Collum, H. L. Munson, M. Nichols, Hugh Swarthout, D. 
A. Sutfin, William Hunter, William F. Hall, Joseph Har- 
ris, S. J. Sutliff, and George 0. Marvin. 

OVID VILLAGE. 

The village of Ovid, a station on the Detroit, Grand 
Haven and Milwaukee Railway, ten miles eastward from 
St. Johns, the county-seat, is a bright and enterprising town 
of about fifteeu hundred inhabitants, and a point of con- 
siderable manufacturing importance. There are several fine 
brick business blocks in the central portion of the place, and 
for many miles about this is the centre of a rural trade of 
profitable proportions. The village streets are handsomely 
shaded, and are, moreover, additionally beautified with many 
attractive-looking homes, which are in some cases costly 
and elegant. 

The inhabitants are abreast of the times, and engage 
with much enterprising spirit in the business of promoting 
the interests of the village and expanding its value as a 
trading and manufacturing town. 

While the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway was in course 
of construction J. C. E. Guraaer, of New York, and a 
land-owner in Michigan, sought to have a railway-station 
fixed upon the line in the township of Ovid, upon land 
which he owned on section 11, and delegated W. H. Faxon, 
of Duplain tuwiiship, to consult the railway directors in 
the premises. Mr. Faxon accordingly visited H. P. Bald- 
win, a leading member of the board of directors in 1856, 
and offered to 'donate to the company two thousand dollars 
and five acres of land upon section 11, contingent upon the 
selection of that site for a station. Mr. Baldwin appeared 
to regard the proposition with favor, and promised to con- 
sider it. Meanwhile B. 0. Williams had put up a saw-mill 
in Middlebury, on the railway line, one mile and a cjuar- 
ter east of where Ovid station now is, and confidently 
expecting to have a railway depot assigned to that place 
he platted a town there and began to sell village lots. 
H. G. Higham, chief engineer of the road, and Amos 
Gould appeared anxious to join Williams in the enterprise, 
but for some reason negotiations were not satisfactory, and, 
to compromi.se existing difl'erences, Williams, Gould, and 
Higham agreed to purchase land now occupied by the vil- 
lage of Ovid, and there, through Highani's efforts, Ovid 
Station was located. Baldwin had evidently forgotten his 
promise to Faxon to " consider" the lattcr's proposition, for 
he declined to make any sign, and the first intimation to 
Faxon that the company had taken action as to Ovid was 
the announced success of the Williams, Gould, and Iligham 
scheme. 

B. 0. Williams' plat of the village of Ovid was received 
for record May 27, 1858, and embraced the southeast fjuar- 
ter and cast half of the cast half of the southwest (juartcr 



of section 12. Additions were made by E. N. Fitch, April 
15, 1867 ; by J. Q. A. Patterson and P. C. Bassett, July 3, 
1867; by Hamilton Stone, Dec. 7, 1867; and by W. II. 
Faxon, May 30, 1872, the latter addition embracing thirty 
acres in the south end of the west half of the northeast 
quarter of section 12. 

With the prospect of a village at that point, came, of 
course, an opening for a trader, and the first to embrace 
the opportunity hapiioned to be B. I. Udell, who in the 
winter of 1856 opened a small store, with "a handful of 
goods," upon the lot now occupied by the Retan House. 
As the field widened a wider enterprise than Udell's estab- 
lishment was called for, and so, in May, 1857, W. C. Ben- 
nett came along, built a commodious frame store, stocked it 
liberally, and added, moreover, to his business of store- 
keeping that of buying staves, wood, etc., for shipment 
East, and in a little time pushed his operations to import- 
ant proportions. Previous to Bennett's coming Richard 
Baylis had put up a saw-mill, and contributed in no small 
degree to the general prosperous progress. 

Udell, the pioneer store-keeper, took a hurried and some- 
what dramatic departure from the place in the fall of 
1857, but the village kept on growing nevertheless, and 
early in 1858 received fresh impetus from the appearance 
of John Burkhart and Samuel Gilson among others, the 
former of whom began the manufacture of chairs and cabi- 
net-ware, and the latter the business of cooperage. The 
outlook had grown at this juncture quite bright, and great 
things were fondly expected of the new town. 

After Udell's departure Bennett monopolized the store- 
trade only a short time, for in the winter of 1857 A. B. 
Wood entered the field. In May, 1858, W. H. Faxon and 
0. M. Pearl, store- keepers at Duplain, rented Wood's store, 
formerly a dwelling-house standing upon ground now occu- 
pied by the Potter Block, stocked it with goods, and engaged 
John A. Potter, then from the East on a visit, to take charge 
of the business, Faxon and Pearl themselves remaining in 
Ovid. In March, 1860, Mr. Faxon removed permanently to 
Ovid to take charge of his interests at that point, and directly 
after his coming built upon the site of the present Phoenix 
Block what was then considered the best store in Clinton 
County. Before that time the commercial interests of the 
village had been additionally furthered by the erection of a 
grist-mill by Park & Kellogg, the opening of a hardware- 
store by E. D. Gregory, a drug-store by John Fitch i^who 
soon sold out to Charles Farmer), and a clothing-store by 
F. L. T. Ilasse. There was, besides, considerable business 
in the way of the manufacture of cooperage, and from that 
time forward the commercial progress of Ovid was rapid. 
Mr. Ilasse, who commenced business in Ovid as a clothing 
merchant in August, 185!), has continued to follow the 
business in the village without interruption to the present 
time, and is the only one of the then merchants of Ovid 
now in trade. 

A village tavern was built in 1857 by J. S. Bennett, and 
kept by him some time. It was called the Park House, 
because it occupied Ihnd owned by Josiah B. Park, and con- 
tinues to serve its original purpose to-day as the Clinton 
House. 



484 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



The first brick store in Ovid was built by Anthony 
Swarthout in 18G9, and leased to C. Beebe & Sons for a 
drug-store, and the second by Henry Montague. The 
Phcenix Block was built in 1873 by Charles Farmer, An- 
thony Swarthout, W. C. Bennett, and S. C. King, and 
later the Marvin, Potter, and De Camp Blocks were added 
to the town's architectural features. 

POST-OFFICE. 

A post-office was established at Ovid in 1857, and J. B. 
Park appointed postmaster. The office was kept at first 
in the Park House, but soon transferred to W. C. Ben- 
nett's store. W. H. Faxon was appointed in 18G0, and in 
1865 resigned in favor of Capt. A. B. Wood, who was suc- 
ceeded in 1866 by L. T. Southworth, and the latter in 
turn by L. C. Mead in 1868, since which time Mr. Mead 
has been the incumbent. 

The business of the office during the three months ending 
March 31, 1880, will be found detailed in the following: 

Received for sales of stamps, stamped envelopes, etc $580.00 

" " box rents .'. 55.00 

Amount of money-orders issued 2463. 5li 

" " paid 1373.10 

OVID'S PHYSICIANS. 

Twenty physicians have pursued the practice of their 
profession at Ovid between 1858 and 1880, and of the 
twenty there are still seven in the village. The pioneer 
doctor was E. V. Chase, who opened his office in 1857 
and remained until 1860. His field of practice is now at 
Elsie, in Duplain township. Dr. S. C. King, who came 
next to Dr. Chase, in 1859, has practiced in Ovid con- 
tinuously ever since. 

Herewith is presented a list of the names of those who 
have practiced medicine in the village, the schools to which 
they belonged, the date of location where it could be ascer- 
tained, and duration of stay : 



Name, Arrival. 

E. V. Chase 18.58 

S. C. King 1859» 

Charles Armstrong 1860 

E.S. Leonard 1860 

Dr. Baughniiin 1863 

J. B. McLean 1864 

Charles Knapp 1864 

Dr. Tirrell 1870* 

Dr. Wells 

C. W. Pengra 1875* 

J. F. Abbott 1875* 

0. li. Campbell.... 1S78» 

M. R.Yuill* 

Dr. Harris 

Dr. liurch 

Dr. McNeal 

J. D. Tirrell 1878S 

Dr. Gregory 

Dr. Beals ( 

Dr. (Mrs.) Sprngue 

OVID'S LAWYERS. 



Stay. 
5 years. 



3 years. 
7 " 
2 " 
2 " 
2 " 



I years. 



1 year. 

2 yeara. 
1 year. 

6 mos. 



School. 
A 
A 
A 
E 
A 
A 
A 
E 
A 
A 
A 
A 
A 
H 
H 
H 
E 
H 
II 
H 



The liistory of the legal profession in Ovid may be 
quickly told. Richard Baylis, who in the fall of 1856 
built the first saw-mill at Ovid, began to practice law in 
1858, about which time E. N. Fitch divided the legal 
business with him, although the business they had to divide 
must have been exceedingly small. ' B. II. Scovill and 
John Van Blarken came next in succession, and in 1870 

* Resident physicians in Ovid, Juno 1, 18S0. 



W. W. Dennis began a village practice which he still con- 
tinues. S. W. Baker, William H. Castle, and A. D. Gris- 
wold were later accessions. Mr. Griswold, who was at one 
time United States District Attorney at Grand Rapids, is 
Mr. Dennis' law-partner, and, with William H. Castle, this 
firm represents the legal profession in Ovid. 

CHURCHES. 
OVID METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

The Ovid Methodist Episcopal class was organized by 
Rev. J. Fowler, in charge of the Duplain Circuit, in the 
village school-house in 1860. The organizing members 
numbered but four, — II. C. Shifier and wife, W. H. Faxon 
and wife, — W. H. Faxon being class-leader. Services were 
held once a fortnight in the school-house until 1862, and 
after that until the spring of 1868 once a week. At the 
period last mentioned a church edifice was erected and 
dedicated by Dr. Joslyn, of Albion College. At that time 
the class was strong in membership, and the society in 
pro^erous circumstances. In 1870 there was a revival 
season, and material additions were made to the list of 
members. 

Succeeding Mr. Fowler, the pastors have been Revs. H. 
C. Peck, B. S. Pratt, T. Clark, J. Gulick, William Mc- 
Knight, U. Ma,son, A. McEwan, J. N. Dayton, J. T. Id- 
dings, W. Doust, A. J. Russell, James Hamilton, S. P. 
Warner, G. W. Sherman, the latter being now on the 
work. A parsonage was rented in 1875, and purchased in 
September, 1879. That, as well as the church property, 
the society now holds clear of debt. The church member- 
ship stands at present at one hundred and ninety-two. The 
class-leaders are H. A. Potter and E. T. Crosswell. The 
trustees are II. A. Potter, E. Netheway, Anthony Swart- 
hout, W. H. Faxon, and A. Schcnck. The Sunday-school 
has an average attendance of one hundred and twenty, and 
has for nine years been in charge of Anthony Swarthout, 
who has now a corps of twenty teachers. The school li- 
brary numbers three hiyidrcd volumes. 

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF OVID. 

Feb. 11, 1860, a meeting was held in the Ovid school- 
house for the purpose of organizing a Baptist Church. 
Elder P. C. Bassett was chosen moderator, and E. Potter 
clerk, whereupon letters were presented by the following 
persons : P. C. Bassett, Jane E. Bassett, Edward and Sophia 
Potter, Anthony H. and Elsena Longcor, Margaret Long- 
cor, Jacob W. and Emily Welter, John and Sophia Glea- 
son, Rebecca Van Voorheis, John L. and Aurelia Larue, 
Daniel E. and Mary Ernsbarger, Maria Ferry, and Mary 
Winfiold. The articles of faith of the Michigan State Con- 
ference were adopted, and February 22d the church was 
recognized by a church council, in which Revs. J. Booth, 
of Fentonville, J. McLeod, of Laingsburg, George W. 
Lewis, Deacon French, and Brother Rose, of Owosso and 
Bennington, took part. Rev. P. C. Bassett was chosen 
pastor, Lewis Travis deacon, and E. Potter clerk, and 
membership efFected with the Shiawassee Association. 

Shortly after organization the church membership began 
to increase, and Dec. 14, 1865, the society's new house of 
worship was dedicated. 



OVID TOWNSHIP. 



485 



Elder Bassett continued his pastorate until March, 1866, 
and after him Revs. J. H. Morrison, A. W. Baker, H. A. 
Rose, M. Mulcahy, E. Mills, and H. Pettit occupied the 
charge. Mr. Pettit resigned in January, 1878, after a 
service of nearly five years, and was succeeded by Rev. 
A. Waxman, the present pastor. 

Since 1860 the church has received four hundred and 
eight members, and retains now one hundred and twenty- 
five. A. S. Rose, Nathan Herrick, and H. N. Mapes are 
the deacons, and H. N. Mapes superintendent of the Sun- 
day-school, which has an average attendance of one hundred 
and fourteen scholars and a corps of nine teachers. 

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

At a meeting held at the oflBce of the Ovid Register, 
Jan. 30, 1871, there were present Dr. C. V. Beebe, David 
Davis, William G. Fulkerson, R. G. Young, L. C. Mead, 
Frank Davis, D. H. Moore, F. L. T. Hasse, John Bennett, 
John Potter, J. G. Mabbitt, H. M. Enos, M. H. GoEF, D. 
A. Howe, J. S. Kribbs, George C. Beebe, Harry Marvin, 
John Q. Patterson, T. M. Scoville, and J. W. Fitzgerald. 
At that meeting those present subscribed to the following 
agreement : 

" We, the undersigned citizens of Ovid, herewith form 
ourselves into a temporary organization for the purpose of 
conducting Congregational services in this village semi- 
weekly for the next three months, and that we will indi- 
vidually assist in paying all expenses that may occur ; meet- 
ings to be held in Metropolitan Hall until better accommo- 
dations can be procured." 

Rev. William Mulder, of Laingsburg, was engaged to 
preach " for expenses and what the society saw fit to give 
him." Feb. 13, 1871, a company of twenty-two persons 
formed " a body for the purpose of organizing themselves 
into a Congregational Church ;" and in the Baptist church, 
March 3, 1871, a permanent organization was effected, on 
which occasion nine persons were received into church fel- 
lowship. They were C. V. Beebe, Maria D. Beebe, R. G. 
Young, Jennie Young, Annie Davis, Mrs. C. A. Bennett, 
Susan Beebe, Mary Ray, and H. M. Enos. March 26, 
1871, C. V. Beebe and H. M. Enos were chosen deacons; 
R. G. Young clerk and treasurer ; and March 28, J. C. 
Darragh, George Fox, J. G. Mabbitt, and R. G. Young 
trustees. 

Measures were at once commenced for the erection of a 
house of worship, and in 1872 it was dedicated. Rev. J. B. 
Dawson being called to the pastorate. Consequent upon 
the building of the church the society became financially 
embarrassed, and the property being sold under a mortgage 
the active history of the organization ceased for a time. 
Sturdy efforts resulted, however, in the restoration of the 
property and the resumption of worship, and latterly the 
progress of the church has been gratifying. Rev. D. L. 
p]aton is the pastor, and preaches every Sunday. The 
deacons arc Thomas Noal, G. L. Lignian, and I. W. Drake ; 
and the trustees, C. W. Marvin, L. C. Mead, Horace Brad- 
ley, E. C. White, and George Sowers. There are about 
seventy members in the church and one hundred scholars 
in the Sunday-school, of which George Sowers is the super- 
intendent. 



OVID MI.SSION (PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH). 
The first Protestant Episcopal services held in Ovid were 
conducted by Rev. Henry Banwell, of St. Johns, Feb. 1, 
1866, and from that time occasional services were held in 
Ovid by the rectors of churches at St. Johns and Owosso 
until 1875, when Ovid was established as a mission, and 
Rev. S. S. Chapin taking charge thereof, has remained in 
charge ever since. Early services were held in the Con- 
gregational and Baptist churches, later at the residence of 
the rector, and now in the society's church edifice, which 
was completed in July, 1880. The communicants number 
twenty-five, and the church is in a flourishing condition. 

THE OVID YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION 

was organized March 25, 1879, with fifteen members, W. 
Ross being chosen president. Meetings are held twice 
each week in Marvin Block, for prayer on Wednesday 
night and Bible .study on Sunday afternoon. The member- 
ship is now twenty-five, and the oflScers as follows : Frank 
Allen, President ; Sarah Reed, Vice-President ; Charles 
Waldron, Secretary ; P. B. Smith, Assistant Secretary ; D. 
Doremus, Treasurer. 

VILLAGE INCORPORATION ATSTD LIST OF 
OFFICERS. 

A legislative act, approved March 21, 1869, provided 
that " All that tract of country situated in the township of 
Ovid, in the county of Clinton, and distinguished as the 
southeast quarter of section 12, the east half of the south- 
west quarter of section 12, the south three-eighths of the 
northeast quarter of section 12, the south three-eighths of 
the east half of the northwest quarter of section 12, the 
northeast quarter of section 13, the east half of the north- 
west quarter of section 13, in town 7 north, of range 1 
west, is hereby constituted the village of Ovid." 

The first election was ordered to be held in the village 
school house on the second Monday in April, 1869, and 
was held accordingly April 12. De Witt C. Harrington 
and Henry C. ]?arber were chosen judges of election, and 
L. T. Southworth clerk. After that the meeting adjourned 
to Metropolitan Hall, where the election was held, the 
whole number of votes cast being two hundred and twenty- 
seven. The result of that first election is here appended. 

PRESIDENT. 

Harrv Marvin* H*^ 

Abuc'r U. Wood, Jr '"'J 

RECORDER. 

B. H. Scoville US 

D. C. Harringtons 113 

TREASURER. 

James C. Darragh*. l'^ 

F. L. T. Hasse l"? 

ASSESSOR. 

F. L. Davis* "!' 

II. A. Potter !''•' 

TRUSTEES. 

Hamilton Stone* '21 

Brazil Marvin* I''' 

A. U. Dunham* US 

.George Fox* l'" 

• Elected. 



486 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Samuel B. Leddick* 115 

■William Rose* 115 

William J. Gibbs 110 

Abram Schenck 101 

Jobn Q. Patterson 105 

Anthony Swarthout 109 

F. A. Voorhles 110 

Alsynus E. Gray 105 

At the first meeting of the council, Perry Phelps was 
appointed Marshal, Kingsley Beckwith Street Commis- 
sioner, Henry CudJeback and F. A. Vooihies Fire- Ward- 
ens, Perry Phelps Poundmaster, and A. B. Wood Village 
Surveyor. 

Herewith is presented a list of persons chosen to the 
chief village offices from 1870 to 1880. 
1870. — President, F. A. Voorhies ; Recorder, D. C. Har- 
rington ; Treasurer, Charles N. Cowan ; Assessor, 
F. S. Davis; Trustees, Harry Marvin, L. F. 
Southworth, William Rose. 
1S71. — President, J. H. Robson ; Recorder, B. H. Sco- 
ville ; Treasurer, D. C. Harrington ; Assessor, 
F. S. Davis ; Trustees, George D. Sowers, 0. H. 
Corbett, and James A. Cooper, for two years ; 
Harry Marvin, William Harris, and Hamilton 
Stone, for one year. 
1872.— President, J. H. Robson; Recorder, B. H. Sco- 
ville ; Treasurer, Brazil Marvin ; Assessor, F. S. 
Davis ; Trustees, S. B. Leddick, William Rose, 
J. Q. Patterson, and George Fox. 
1873. — President, Harry Marvin ; Recorder, Charles M. 
Hagadorn ; Treasurer, Brazil Marvin ; Assessor, 
F. S. Davis ; Trustees, J. C. B. Gumaer, Hamilton 
Stone, D. C. Harrington. 
1874. — President, S. B. Leddick ; Recorder, Charles M. 
Hagadorn ; Treasurer, Brazil Marvin ; Assessor, 
F. S. Davis; Trustees, Thomas H. Meehan, 
Harry Marvin, George C. Beebe. 
1875. — President, S. B. Leddick ; Recorder, H. L. Mc- 
Carty ; Treasurer, Brazil Marvin ; Assessor, 
Henry M. Enos ; Trustees, F. S. Davis, Thomas 

B. Southworth, J. N. Brokaw. 

1876.— President, T. M. Scoville ; Recorder, C. M. Haga- 
dorn ; Treasurer, E. C. White ; Assessor, D. C. 
Harrington ; Trustees, George W. Stickney, 
Joseph Barden, Chauncey Mulock. 

1877. — President, J. F. Harris; Recorder, Charles M. 
Hagadorn ; Treasurer, E. C. White ; Assessor, 
H. A. Potter ; Trustees, J. N. Brokaw, George 
W. Wortmau, James A. Cooper. 

1878. — President, D. H. Misner; Recorder, Samuel Van 
Blarcom ; Treasurer, Edgar C. White ; Assessor, 
J. C. E. Gumaer ; Trustees, Charles Bement, 
Hugh Morgan, F. L. T. Hasse. 

1879. — President, John Sowers; Recorder, F. W. Lam- 
phere ; Treasurer, E. C. White ; A.ssessor, D. 

C. Harrington ; Trustees, F. H. Scofield, Lewis 
C. Mead, Simon W. Rose. 

1880. — President, Ezekiel De Camp; Recorder, C. M. 
Hagadorn; Treasurer, E. C. White; Trustees, 
H. A. Potter, George • M. Edwards, Charles 
Cowan. 

* Elected. 



MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES. 

Ovid village contains among her manufacturing industries 
two important enterprises, the Ovid Carriage- Works and 
Robertson & Co.'s cooperage, in both of which the aggre- 
gate force of men employed is upwards of one hundred. 

Ovid Carriage- Worhs. — The senior member of the Ovid 
Carriage- Works, located at Ovid, Clinton Co., Mich., Mr. 
F. A. Scofield, in connection with Mr. E. A. Reed, first 
began the manufacture of buggies on a limited scale during 
the year 1877. Later, Mr. Reed's interest was purchased and 
Mr. W. J. Danforth became a partner, remaining less than a 
year, when he was succeeded by Mr. James A. Cooper, a 
prosperous hardware merchant of Ovid. This partnership 
has proved a very active and lucrative one. During the 
brief period of nine months the business has been increased 
to three times its former proportions in every department, 
buildings having been erected, and machinery of the most 
approved character been introduced for the more expedi- 
tious and perfect execution of their orders. Many cutters 
are manufactured, though buggies are made a specialty, 
and the superior quality of the latter is universally 
conceded. Sixty men are employed in the various depart- 
ments, including planing, moulding, resawing, matching, 
etc., each piece being submitted to personal inspection be- 
fore approval. The present year the business will reach 
$140,000 in amount, and is regarded as the most complete 
and extensive in the State in this particular branch of in- 
dustry. 

R. A. Robertson & Co., of New York, proprietors of the 
cooperage, set their business in motion at Ovid in the sum- 
mer of 186G, and appointed John Culver to manage the 
enterprise. But six men were employed at first, but the 
enlargement of the business took early hold, and continued 
steadily until from forty to fifty men represented the work- 
ing force, and about three acres of land were required to 
contain the buildings, and give yard room to the con- 
cern. These latter statements apply to the present condi- 
tion of the establishment, in which the daily product is from 
two to three hundred hogsheads, barrels, etc., which are 
shipped to Eastern and foreign markets. The firm is repre- 
sented at Ovid by Thomas H. Meaghan, who began as a 
workman for them in 18GG, and who has been their manager 
since 1873. 

Ovid Floiiring-Mills. — The site of Ovid's first grist-mill, 
built in 1859, by Park & Kellogg, is now occupied by a 
commodious three-story structure fitted with four run of 
stones, and engaged largely in the manufacture of flour for 
shipment to Eastern markets. Schenck & Sowers, the pres- 
ent proprietors, have been in control of the property since 
March, 1878. 

Dunham & Kimball started a foundry in 1865, and this 
business is still pursued upon the same premises by Haight 
& Guio, who took possession in March, 1878. They em- 
ploy eight people, and manufacture general machine-castings. 

THE PRESS OF OVID. 
Ovid has two newspapers, — The Ovid Register and 
Tlie Clinton and Shiawassee Union. The Register is the 



b 

I 

Co 



CD 

O 
O 
o 



D 




OVID TOWNSHIP. 



487 



elder of the two. It was established July 1, 1866, by J. 
W. Wickwire, from whom it soon passed to the possession 
of " Happy" Jack Leonard, who disposed of it to H. Ega- 
broad. Successively, A. B. Wood, J. W. Fitzgerald, and 
Rich & llutherford became the proprietors. Rich soon 
withdrew, and, after carrying it on alone for a brief time, 
Rutherford took in B. M. Pierson as a partner. Rutherford 
retired soon after, and Pierson struggling to keep up the 
concern alone, gave up the task after a six months' experi- 
ence, when the property fell to Reeves & Carrier, Aug. 8, 
1873. To that time the paper had maintained a precarious 
and uncertain existence, but the new publishers introduced 
a vigorous life into it, and, as a result, conducted it with 
much success for upwards of six years. At the end of that 
time Carrier & Carrier, the present publishers, succeeded 
Reeves & Carrier. From the start in 1866 llie Register 
has been an avowedly independent journal in politics. It 
is issued every Friday, contains thirty-two columns of 
printed matter, and has a claimed circulation of seven hun- 
dred. 

The Clinton and Shiawassee Union, a quarto sheet of 
Republican politics, was founded by J. W. Fitzgerald and 
J. W. Walsh. The first issue was dated June 28, 1879. 
Fitzgerald became the sole publisher April 3, 1880, and 
still conducts it. 

BANKING. 

Ovid's first bank was the private corporation founded in 
1868 by J. C. Darragh & Co., including J. C. Darragh, 
formerly of Monroe, Mich., and S. S. Walker and Charles 
Kipp, of St. Johns. This firm was succeeded in 1873 by- 
Sowers & White, who still maintain the private character of 
the bank, but carry on a general banking business. 

OVID UNION SCHOOL. 

Justly the Union School of Ovid village is an object of 
local pride, and it may be added, moreover, that the school 
building is architecturally a conspicuous and engaging 
feature of local landscape. Although the subject of erect- 
ing the present handsome edifice was agitated in 1867, and 
§12,000 voted therefor in September of that year, the 
house was not completed until 1870. The building is 
of brick, three stories in height, and occupies a command- 
ing elevation at the head of Gratiot Street. 

The following is an extract from the annual report of Pro- 
fessor W. S. Webster, the principal, presented March 26, 
1880: 



Whole number of days taught : 

High school 

Graininar depiirtincnt 

Second intermuditttc 

Fir?t interinuiliute 

Second primary 

First primary 

Total 

Whole number enrolled, by departments; 

High school 

Grammar department 

Second intermediate 

First intermediate 

Second primary 

First primary 

Total 



60 
CO 
60 
60 
60 
60 

360 



42 
38 
52 
62 
74 
54 

322 



Highest number belonging at any time, by departments: 

High school 40 

tJvauimar department 38 

Second intermediate 52 

First intermediate , 60 

Second primary 71 

First primary 49 

Highest number belonging at any on© 

time, in entire school 310 

Number of days* attendance, by departments : 

Jligh .school 2,184 

Grammar department 1,922 

Second intermediate 2,7.38.5 

First intermediate 3,094 

Second primary 3,444 

First primary 2,322 

Total 15,704.5 

■f 
Average attendance, by departments; 

High school 36.4 

Grammar department 32 

Second intermediate 45.6 

First intermediiite 51.5 

Second primary 57.4 

First primary 38.7 

Average in entire school 261.6 

Days lost by absence, by departments ; 

High school 138 

Grammar department 239 

Second intermediate 296.5 

First intermediate 392 

Second primary 641 

First primary 409 

Total number of days lost by absence 2115.5 

The time lost by absence is 14.47 per cent, of entire attendance. 

Non-resident pupils ; 

High school 19 

Grammar department 2 

Total ■. 21 

SECRET ORDERS. 
OVID LODGE, No. 127, F. AND A. M., 

was organized Feb. 27, 1860, in the Park House. A. B. 
Wood, Jr., was W. M. ; J. B. Park, S. W. ; William E. 
Sickles, J. W. ; J. M. Fitch, Secretary ; C. D. Rose, Treas- 
urer ; J. A. Potter, S. D. ; A. F. Van Voorhies, J. D. ; 
A. D. Smith, Tiler. Since the organization the Masters 
have been A. B. Wood, Jr., J. A. Potter, W. II. Faxon, 
L. T. Southworth, S. C. King, Charles Case, Abram Schcnck, 
E. C. White, and M. R. Koyce. The officers now are M. 
R. Royce, W. M. ; Ansel Barnes, S. W. ; P. A. Winficld, 
J. W. ; E. Malloncc, Secretary ; John Sowers, Treasurer ; 
Charles Cowan, S. D. ; Riley Watkins, J. D. ; John Link, 
Tiler. The lodge has an active membership of seventy- 
eight, and occupies handsomely-appointed quarters iu Potter 
Block. 

OVID LODGE, No. 97, I. 0. 0. F., 

wa.s organized March 14, 1866, and chartered Jan. 14, 
1867. The charter members were John Gillam, Ciiarlcs 
Gillam, H. C. Maine, F. S. Cushman; F. L. T. Hassee, M. 
Nichols. The prc.«ent ofljcers are B. M. Merrill, N. G. ; 
Charles Pengra, V. G. ; J. A. Potter, Secretary; M. Gil- 
bert, P. S. ; P. H. Shannon, Treasurer. The lodge mem- 
bership is seventy-five, and of these forty are active par- 
ticipants in lodge afiiiirs. Meetings are held in Marvin 
Block, where there is a commodious and handsomely- 
furnished lodge-room. 



488 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



OVID LODGE, No. 29, A. 0. U. W., 

was organized Dec. 22, 1877, with twelve members. The 
first official list was C. W. Pensra, P. M. W. ; L. C. Mead, 
M. W. ; J. H. Terriil, G. F. ; F. W. Lamphere, 11. ; E. C. 
White, F. ; S. C. King, Receiver. The lodge has a mem- 
bership of sixty-five, and meets in Masonic Hall. The 
ofiicers serving in 1880 are L. C. Mead, P. M. W. ; E. C. 
White, M. W. ; A. Athorton, G. F. ; S. W. Rose, 0. ; F. 
W. Lamphere, Recorder ; E. Armstrong, F. ; N. J. Clark, 
Receiver ; G. W. Wortman, Guide ; Amos Covert, I. W. ; 
W. A. Ross, 0. W. 

OVID LODGE, No. 103, GOOD TEMPLARS, 

was organized July, 1879, in the Baptist church, with 
seventeen members. That number has now advanced to 
seventy. The officers for 1880 are R. G. Watkius, W. C. 
T. ; Mrs. F. G. Hills, W. V. T. ; Miss Cora Gray, Treas- 
urer; E. Reed, Recording Secretary; David Flanagan, 
Financial Secretary ; William Berry, Marshal ; Ed. Beebe, 
0. G. ; Carrie Smith, I. G. 

COURT WORKINGMAN'S PRIDE, A. 0. P., 
was chartered March 31, 1879. The charter members 
were Edward S. Smith, Wm. S. McGeary, T. F. Smith, 
Daniel Thomas, David Flanagan, J. B. Valiet, W. A. Ross, 
W. S. Tidswell, B. M. Besley. The membership is now 
thirty. The officers are Daniel Thomas, C. R. ; B. M. 
Besley, S. C. R. ; J. B. Valiet, See. ; W. A. Ross, A. S. ; 
D. Flanagan, Treas ; W. S. McGeary, S. W. ; W. S. Tids- 
well, J. W. ; Morris Holmes, S. B. ; D. Fish, J. B. ; E. 
S. Smith, P. C. R. 

OVID LODGE, No. 15, ROYAL TEMPLARS OF TEM- 
PERANCE, 

was organized Nov. 14, 1879, with fourteen members, and 
includes now twenty-four. The officers for 1880 are A. 
Atherton.S. C; Charles House, V. C. ; P. Wilbur, P. C. ; 
H. M. Pack, Sec; R. Watkins, F. Sec; D. A. Haight, 
Treas.; N. W. Jenkins, Herald; Mrs. D. A. Haight, 
Deputy Herald ; Mrs. P. Hills, Chaplain ; J. A. Hubbell, 
Guard. 

OVID FIRE DEPAKTMENT. 

Ovid has liad its share of fires, but they have proved 
visitations of value, since in the stead of the unsightly 
wooden structures destroyed have risen imposing business 
blocks of brick. The " bucket brigade" did fire duty for 
the town until 1875, when a hook-and-ladder company was 
added to the fire-fighting force. The company was chris- 
tened Washington, No. 1, and started with twenty-two 
members. S. W. Rose was chosen foreman, William 
Stevenson first assistant, and Henry McCarty second as- 
sistant. E. P. Corbisher, who was elected chief engineer 
of the department, remained in that office until 1880, when 
he was succeeded by William Stevenson. S. W. Ro.se, the 
present foreman of the company, has served continuously 
as such since 1875, except during 1877, when William 
Stevenson was the incumbent. A serviceable hook-and- 
ladder truck was built in the village in 1875, and that ap- 
paratus is still in use. Washington, No. 1, has about forty 



members, and is considered as a spirited and valuable or- 
ganization. 

A TRIPLE TRAGEDY. 

Aug. 26, 1870, Ovid was called upon to mourn over -a 
terrible calamity, in which the lives of three valuable citi- 
zens were suddenly sacrificed. The three men — named 

Sanford House, J. C. Brewster, and Higgins — were 

on the day in question standing in front of HarrLson & 
Harrington's steam saw-mill when, without warning, the 
boiler of the mill exploded with terrific force, and the fly- 
ing fragments, passing in the path occupied by the three 
unfortunates, killed them instantly. 

SHEPARDSVILLE. 

Shepardsville, a station on the Detroit and Milwaukee 
Railroad three miles west of Ovid village, was laid out in 
1856 by William Shepard, who in that year started a store 
at that point. The village made feeble headway at first, 
but about 1867 pushed ahead vigorously. In that year 
Mr.-Shepard put up a grist-mill with two run of stones, and 
a saw-mill, which he directly converted into a stave-factory. 
The grist-mill had, however, been but two days in operation 
when the boiler exploded, killing Dorn, the millwright, and 
seriously wounding six other men. This example of ill 
luck inflicted when the town was just emerging into some- 
thing like prosperity was but the forerunner to several dis- 
asters which followed hard upon and ultimately relegated 
Shepardsville to a state of masterly inactivity. In 1871 
the stave-mill was burned, a business block of three stores 
and several shops succumbed to fire during 1872 and 1873, 
while upon other occasions other conflagrations put back 
the work of enterprise as rapidly as it betrayed its pres- 
ence. 

At its best, Shepardsville contained five stores, a hotel 
(built by H. Longcor in 1864), and milling industries 
which served altogether to make the place a busy one. 
That the untoward circumstances of its early history fol- 
lowed it persistently in later years finds illustration in the 
relation that a cheese-factory started in 1878 by a Mr. 
Craddock stood but two years before it was burned. 

A post-office was established at the town in 1867 and 
named Ovid Centre, but in a brief time a change of name 
was made to Shepardsville, consequent upon a similarity 
of the first name to Ovid, the next office eastward. Wil- 
liam Shepard was the first postmaster, J. L. Button the 
second, S. L. Brass the third, and L. 0. Ludlum, now in 
the office, the fourth. Dr. L. 0. Ludlum, the postmaster, 
located in the village in 1868 and entered upon medical 
practice. He is the only resident physician Shepardsville 
has had. 

SHEPARDSVILLE METUODIST EPISCOPAL CLASS, 
wor.shiping in the building put up by William Shepard as a 
store in 1856, was organized in 1869 by Rev. A. Wood, of the 
Duplain Circuit, with a membership of thirty. William 
Shepard, who was then chosen class-leader, has continued 
until this time to fill that place. The class is now on the 
Duplain Circuit, has forty-five members, and has preaching 
once a fortnight, Rev. C. A. Jacokes being the pastor. The 
trustees are William Shepard, P. A. Winfield, and J. L. 




N 

Q 



OVID TOWNSHIP. 



489 



Button. William Shepard is superintendent of the Sun- 
day-school, which has an average attendance of fifty and 
employs eight teachers. 

BAPTIST CHURCH OF SHEPARDSVILLE. 

April 15, 1876, a meeting was held at Shepardsville for 
the purpose of organizing a Baptist Church. Among those 
present were P. C. Bassett, John D. Gleason, Jacob W. 
Welter, P. A. Winfield, Thomas Sturges, I. E. Ilobart, 
Edward P. Castner, D. F. Aldrich, John Miller, H. H. 
Faragar, AVilliam Castner, Isaiah Castner, and Edward 
Potter. The persons named subscribed to the following : 
" We who do hereby .subscribe our names, anxious to do 
something in an organized form to promote the Christian 
religion, and to maintain the permanent worship of God 
and the institutions of the Gospel in this vicinity, do or- 
ganize ourselves into a society known as The Baptist Church 
and Society of Shepardsville." Samuel B. Spink, Edward 
Potter, John Miller, I. E. Hobart, and Thomas Sturges 
were chosen trustees and Edward Potter clerk. 

The Methodist Episcopal church edifice was used for 
public worship until tlie fall of 1879, when the society's 
new church was occupied. Elder P. C. Bassett, the first 
pastor, was succeeded by llov. E. V. Ney, and after the 
latter came Rev. A. Waxman, who is now in charge, 
preaching once each week at Ovid and Shepardsville. 
There is in connection with the church a Sabbath-school, 
which enjoys much prosperity. • 

SOUTH OVID UNITED BRETHREN CLASS. 

About 1858, Eggleston and Lee, missionaries in .the 
United Brethren Church, visited the region known as 
South Ovid and organized the South Ovid United Breth- 
ren class in the Wilson school-house. There services were 
afterwards held until 18G9, when a change of location was 
made to the Baker school-house, which was used until the 
completion of the United Brethren church in 1879, upon 
December 7th of which year it was dedicated. The class, 
having now a flouri.-^hiiig member.ship of upwards of one 
hundred, is on the Ovid Circuit, in charge of Rev. M. H. 
Sly, and including points in Ovid, Victor, Duplain, and 
Greenbush. Preaching is supplied at South Ovid once 
each fortniglit. The class-leader is George Cox, the class- 
steward John M. Kosht, and the trustees Christian Baker, 
George Cox, I. N. Yarger, J. M. Kosht, and L. II. Allen. 
Cyrus Sherman is the superintendent of the Sunday-school, 
which has an average attendance of fifty scholars and eight 
teachers. 

SOUTH OVID FREE METHODIST CLASS. 

This class was formed June, 1871, by Rev. John Elli.son 
(in charge of the St. Johns Circuit) in a grove upon Scba 
Squires' farm. The organizing members numbered nine, 
of whom Jeremiah Cox was class-leader. Since that time 
regular .services have been held in South Ovid. School- 
houses and residences of class-members were used until 
1879, when a house of worship was built, and in July of 
that year dedicated. There is preaching once in two weeks 
by Rev. G. H. Joslyn, in charge of St. Johns Circuit, and 
prayer-meeting on alternate Sundays. Seba Squires is the 
62 



leader of the class, which has a membership now of twenty. 
Seba Squires is likewise superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school, which enjoys a flourishing existence. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



EZEKIEL DE CAMP. 

On the occasion of Gen. Lafayette's presence in the 
United States as the champion of freedom, he was ac- 
companied by the paternal grandfather of Mr. De Camp 
(Ezekiel), who also shared with him the dangers of battle 
in the cause of the Republic. He served under Gen. 
Knox, and participated in both the battles of Monmouth 
and Long Island. His maternal grandfather, Stephen 
Austin, was present, and assisted in disposing of the mem- 
orable cargo of tea in Boston harbor, and died in Orleans 
Co., N. Y. The father, Enoch De Camp, was born in 
Somerset Co., N. J., in 1784, and at the age of thirty 
years engaged actively in the war of 1812 under Gen. 
Winfield Scott, and participated in the battle of Lundy's 
Lane, as well as other important engagements. His death 
occurred at Ovid at the advanced age of eighty-four years. 
His wife, Mrs. Eliza De Camp, who survived him less than 
two years, died at the age of seventy-nine. 

Ezekiel De Camp, the brief sketch of whose life is here 
given, was a native of Tyrone, Steuben Co., N. Y., having 
been the tenth and youngest child of his parents, who four 
years subsequent to his birth removed to Reading, in the 
same county. He was at an early age thrown upon his 
own resources, and until twenty-two years of age followed 
farming pursuits, varied by such advantages as the primi- 
tive schools of the day aflforded. He then repaired to 
Michigan and purchased a farm in Victor, and the follow- 
ing year an unimproved farm in Ovid. The township then 
displayed very few evidences of the settler's presence. 
There were no roads on his arrival, and the market for 
wheat was reached only after a tedious ride of one hundred 
miles to Detroit. On the 8th of February, 1857, Mr. 
De Camp was married to Miss Polly E., daughter of John 
L. and Lois Cross, who were among the early pioneers to 
Ovid. They have had three children, — C. C, A. P., and 
Autha. 

Mr. De Camp has held many important village and 
township ofiices, among them those of township clerk, 
highway commissioner, president of the village, and mem- 
ber of the board of education, in which last position he 
has served the public for eight years. In politics he is an 
ardent Republican. He is the senior member of the exten- 
sive firm of De Camp & Stickncy. He was also the 
founder of the firm of Potter, Beattie & Co., and has been 
during his business career one of the most reliable and 
popular of the mercantile representatives of the village. 
He has made many improvements in the township and 
village. 



490 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 




B. M. SUEPAllD. 





MBS. ELIZABETH SHEPARD. 



MRS. MATILDA SHEPARD, (DEC'd.). 



B. M. SHEPARD. 



Samuel and Eunice Duke Shopard were the parents of 
two children, William and B. M., the latter of whom was 
born in Saratoga County, Nov. 2-1, 1816. When six years 
old the family removed to Yates Co., N. Y., and at the 
early age of nine years he met with an irreparable loss in 
the death of his mother. He pursued his studies until 
twenty years of age, and at the age of twenty-two was mar- 
ried' to Miss Matilda Stilwell, of Erie Co., Pa. Eight 
children were born to them. Mr. Shepard removed to 
Ohio and remained ten years, after which he repaired to 
Pennsylvania. In 1861, at the solicitation of his brother, 
he came to Ovid Centre and began the improvement of a 



farm of sixty acres, for which he had previously effected 
an exchange. He later engaged in the purchase and ship- 
ment of live stock, his neighbors trusting him for the first 
investment made in the enterprise. He was also a large 
speculator in grain, and as the result of his various ven- 
tures became the owner of three hundred and twenty acres 
of land, which he later dispo.sed of and retired from active 
business pursuits. In politics Mr. Shepard is a Democrat, 
though liberal in his opinions. Having been afflicted in 
1874 by the loss of his wife, he in 1878 was married to 
Mrs. Elizabeth Gates, daughter of William and Rachel 
Green, who is of English extraction, and came to ClintoD 



OLIVE TOWNSHIP, 



491 



County in lS4fi. Mr. Shepard is still a resident of Shep- 
ardvillc, and his children all reside in Michigan. During 
this time Mr. Shepard has resided ou his farm, which he 
has successfully managed. 



DR. SOLON C. KING. 

The father of the subject of this brief biography, Mager 
King, was born in Sodus, Wayne Co., N. Y., in 1804, and 
later married Miss Caroline Graves, of Willoughby, Ohio. 
They were the parents of seven children, Solon having 




SOLON C. KING. 

been the third in order of birth. Austinburg, Ohio, was 
tlie place of his nativity, and the date June 12, 1830. He 
was a pupil at the school of the district of his residence 
until twelve years of age, when he entered the Grand 
River Institute in Austinburg, and remained four years, 
after which he repaired to the home of his grandfather in 
Vernon, Shiawa.ssee Co., for a brief period, and there 
assisted his father in farm labor. Later he became clerk 
for John Owens & Co., of Detroit, where he remained 
four years, when the study of medicine occupied his atten- 
tion. He first repaired to Vernon, and later finished his 
course at the Medical Department of the University of 
Michigan, where he graduated after a career involving three 
years. In 18G0 he established himself in the practice of 
his profession at Ovid, which was then but a mere hamlet. 
In 1871 he formed a copartnership with Samuel S. Moore 
in the business of drugs and medicines, and two years later 
purchased the interest of his partner, having since con- 
ducted the business alone. He had enjoyed prior to his 
business venture an extended practice, which was aban- 
doned for the less arduous labors of the store. In 1861 
Dr. King was married to Mrs. L. J. Lougcor, who had two 
children by a previous marriage. Addie is now Mrs. 
Charles Cowan, and Frances is Mrs. F. W. Lamphire. Dr. 



King is an ardent Democrat in his political convictions, and 
was during the year 1877 the successful candidate for the 
office of county clerk. 



CHAPTER LXIL 
OLIVE TOWNSHIP.* 

General Description — Early Settlements and Settlers — Resident Ta,\- 
payers in Olive in 1841 — Voters in the Township in 1S44 — Town- 
ship Organization — Civil List of Olive — Highways — Schools — 
Religious Uistory — Olive Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. 

The six miles square of territory known as Olive town- 
ship is designated in the governmental survey as town C 
north, range 2 west. Its boundaries are Bingham on the 
north, De Witt on the south, Victor on the east, and Riley 
on the west. The surface of the town is generally level, 
and although marked in numerous places with tracts of 
swamp-land, presents a remarkable improvement in that 
respect over the condition of things prevalent twenty or 
more years ago, when swamps were much larger and much 
more plentiful than now. 

The producing capacity of the soil is something beyond 
the common, and in respect to the growth of wheat Olive 
ranks high. The town contains no manufacturing in- 
dustry, has but one church building, no village, nor yet a 
post-office. There is, however, a large amount of wealth 
in the community, and affairs are generally in a prosperous 
condition. 

EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND SETTLERS. 

During the month of October, 1836, Peter Merrihew 
and his sons, Adam and John W., were looking through 
Michigan for land-locations, and coming to De Witt met one 
Mr. Webb, who piloted them into the town now called 
Olive. So well pleased were they with the country there 
that they selected eleven eighty-acre lots upon sections 5, 
6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. They returned then to Livingston 
County, and awaited the coming of their families from 
Ulster Co., N. Y. In November came their families, and the 
family of Ephraim Merrihew, who was also a son to Peter. 
The first to push on to Olive was Ephraim, who, with his 
wife and children, entered the town in January, 1837, and 
made a commencement upon section 5. On the same day 
came also to the town Orange Ferguson and his family, and 
occupied a place on section 18, near Muskrat Lake. Eph- 
raim Merrihew's father came with him and gave a.ssistance 
in putting up a cabin, Ephraim's family abiding meanwhile 
at De Witt. Continuing the record of the Merrihew settle- 
ment, which was an importatit and numerous one, mention 
is next of the coming of John W. Merrihew and his family 
in June, 1837, to section 5. Where he built his first cabin 
Mr. Merrihew has lived ever since, the oldest living settler 
to-day iu Olive. In July, 1837, the elder Merrihew, who 
had been living in Wayne County, made also a settlement in 
Olive, in company with bis sod Adam. Adam made his stand 

* By David Schwartz. 



492 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



upon section 7, while his father began his clearing on sec- 
tion 5. In 1838 yet another son, Benjamin, came on with 
a family and joined the pioneer band on section 7, where 
he set up the pioneer blacksmith-shop in the town. Nehe- 
niiah, the fifth son, unmarried when he came to the town 
with his father, married in due season and settled on sec- 
tion 8. 

It will be seen from the foregoing that the Merrihew 
families were sufficiently numerous to give the town a good 
start, for they numbered at least sis voters, nearly as many 
as some of Clinton County's towns started their township 
organizations with. Of those here mentioned the elder 
Merrihew died on his Olive farm in 1860 at the age of 
eighty-four. John W. and Benjamin are still living in the 
town. Ephraim lives in Wayne County, Nehemiah in 
Bingham township, and Adam in Maple Rapids. 

Peter Merrihew was a man of some means for that 
day. He not only brought a few thousand dollars west 
with him, but he made a lucky speculation on some Wayne 
County land, which he bought for a pair of horses and sold 
soon after for two thousand dollars, so that when he en- 
gaged in his western pioneering he was well provided 
against the privations and hardships that besot the average 
pioneer. He is believed to have brought to the town the 
first horse-team seen therein, and to have built the first 
framed barn. Benjamin Merrihew, who set out to accom- 
modate the settlers with a smithy, did so to good purpose, 
as far as they were concerned, but there were not people 
enough in the community to encourage his enterprise satis- 
factorily, and so after a brief experience he abandoned it. 
He did considerable business in the way of hauling in sup- 
plies from Detroit and other places, and used to go to mill 
to Northville for all hands frequently. In 1838 he was 
called upon to go to Northville to buy twelve barrels of 
flour, but the roads were so bad he declared it to be absurd 
to think of making the trip with an ox-team. He volun- 
teered, however, to foot it to Northville, and hire some one 
else to bring the flour back. So foot it he did, a distance 
of upwards of eighty miles, bought twelve barrels of flour 
at twelve dollars a barrel, and bargained to pay two dollars 
a barrel additional for their transportation to De Witt, 
whence he hauled them to Olive with his own team. 

Referring to the matter of roads, the town of Olive was 
quite badly off in that respect when the Meirihews made 
their settlement. When Benjamin was moving in he was 
mired when within a few miles of his destination, and after 
several inefiectual attempts to extricate his team, he and 
his wife went forward afoot to the settlement for assistance. 
At that, with all the assistance he could get, Merrihew was 
a good while getting his oxen out of their predicament. 
At this time the road on which the Merrihews located had 
been worked some as a State road, but beyond some under- 
brushing no efiective labor had been expended. When 
John came in he found the traveling terribly tedious, and 
between passing around marshes and miring in apparently 
safe spots the miles were long and the work hard. John 
started for the Colony mill one day, and had not gone far 
when he found himself fast in the mire. Seeing a man 
hard by thrashing wheat with a pair of oxen, — the feet of 
oxen were in those days the thrashers and the earth the 



thrashing-floor, — he got the assistance of his team, to no 
good purpose, however, since he emerged from his troublous 
position only when a third pair of cattle came upon the 
scene and were pressed into service. Reports go as ftir even 
as to say that teams used in some cases to be mired a whole 
day, and that, unable to extricate themselves or to be ex- 
tricated, they were left there to perish. 

Orange Ferguson, of whom mention has been made, 
built Olive's pioneer saw-mill, — and indeed the only mill 
of any kind the town has ever had, — near Muskrat Lake, 
about 1843. It was composed of hewn logs, and for its 
irons Ben Blerrihew made a journey to Detroit. 

On the south line of the town Alexander Calder made a 
settlement early in the year 1837 upon section 31. He 
came to the town in the fall of 1835, and bought his land 
of Capt. Scott. In May, 1836, he brought his family to 
De Witt, and worked a year for Capt. Scott. In May, 
1837, he occupied his Olive place. He was the first to 
settle in that portion of the town. The next year he was 
joined by Harvey Alexander, who made also a settlement 
on the town-line. From that neighborhood the settlers in 
Olive in the early days attended church and enjoyed school 
privileges in either De Witt or Riley. North of the south 
town-line Atwell Simmons, a resident in Riley, made an 
improvement in Olive upon section 30, and in the winter 
of 1837 and 1838 put in there three and a half acres of 
wheat, from which he gathered the next summer one hun- 
dred and twenty-six bushels, or an average of thirty-six 
bushels per acre. Wheat-thrashers at that time were oxen, 
and although they were slow in the performance of the 
duty, and the method itself not of the most satisfactory 
kind, it had to answer, and did answer very decently until 
something better came to hand. 

Peter Ennest, son-in-law to Peter Merrihew, who had 
come with the latter to Olive in the fall of 1836, then se- 
lected some land on section 10, and in 1838 came with his 
brother-in-law, James Ennest, to make a permanent location, 
James settling upon section 5. In 1839, Daniel Ferguson 
— -brother to Orange Ferguson — located on section 17. 
During his residence in Olive he served one term as county 
treasurer. 

In 1839, Nathan Smith came from New York and located 
upon a place on the De Witt and Colony road, one and a half 
miles south of Orange Ferguson's. This thoroughfare, 
known now as the Lansing and St. Johns road, was then 
simply an underbrushed highway. On that road in Olive 
there was then no settler between Smith and George Kin- 
ney, on the south townl-ine. Half a mile north of Smith 
was Henry Leuts, just north of him his brother Hopkins 
Leuts, and just north of the last was the father, Peter. 
Next north was Daniel Ferguson, then Orange Ferguson, 
and so northward to Ransom Reed, Benjamin Merrihew, 
and Ephraim Merrihew. 

The De Witt road became after awhile a much-traveled 
thoroughfare, and about 1853 was opened as a mail- and 
stage-route between Lansing and St. Johns via De Witt. 
The volume of travel called, of course, for taverns, and the 
first to respond was Myron Wolcott, who kept in a shanty 
what he was pleased to call " The Half-Way House," in 



OLIVE TOWNSHIP. 



493 



recognition of the fact that it was midway between De Witt 
and St. Johns. Later Wolcott's shanty was supplanted by 
a more pretentious edifice, which still does duty as a way- 
side inn on section 17. About the time Wolcott opened 
his tavern Orange Ferguson followed suit with a second 
hostelry at Muskrat Lake. Two miles south of Wolcott's 
a Frenchman named J. P. Russell set up a tavern-stand, 
and hard by John Huits had what he was pleased to call a 
brewery. Russell called his place " The Traveler's Home," 
and the presumption is fair that the travelers who sojourned 
beneath Russell's hospitable roof were fortunate in being 
within such easy reach of soothing beer wherewith to mois- 
ten their clay. Of the taverns mentioned none are left to 
cheer and refresh the weary wayfarer save the one occupy- 
ing the site of Wolcott's old stand. As before remarked, 
a mail- and stage-route was established upon the road, and 
daily a four-horse coach bowled merrily over its smooth 
surface, while general travel of considerable consequence 
animated and enlivened to no small degree the stretch of 
country that bordered the highway. When a post-office 
was established John Norris was appointed postmaster. 
When the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad was pushed as 
far westward as St. Johns, the mail-route over the De Witt 
road was abolished, and the post-office in Olive discontinued. 
Some time afterwards it was revived and the office given to 
Nancy Rouns. Her successor was Alonzo Huntoon, the 
tavern-keeper, who retained the place until 1875, when the 
government decided again to cut Olive from the list of post- 
offices, and since that day the town has had no mail con- 
veniences within its borders. 

In((uirics touching the first birth and first death iii 
Olive have failed, although diligently pursued, in pro- 
ducing satisfactory conclusions. The first marriage in the 
town may, however, be noted as having been that of Hor- 
ace S. Green to Mary Ann, daughter to Peter Merrihew. 
The ceremony was performed by Rev. Lewis Coburn, a 
Methodist Episcopal preacher, in the year 1839, at the 
house of the bride's father. The occasion was naturally a 
notable one, and the signal for the gathering of a goodly 
company and the prevalence of a season of merry enjoy- 
ment. 

Early log cabins were built with what were called single 
roofs. The first cabin that boasted a double roof was the 
one built by Peter Merrihew. Guy Wilcox built the first 
framed house, which Peter Merrihew bought and moved to 
his own place. Wilcox had also an ashery, and between 
pioneering and making potash kept him.self busily em- 
ployed. 

Bear-hunts were common pastimes, and bear-hunters of 
more than ordinary skill won much local fame. A noted 
bear-hunting party was composed of Adam, Ephraim, and 
John Merrihew and Linus Gillett. They hunted a bear 
which had the night before raided and carried off a settler's 
hog. The hunt was determined and protracted, but it 
terminated in Bruin's capture and a general rejoicing all 
around. Capturing bears by means of dead-falls was, how- 
ever, the favorite and most successful method, and at this 
Horace Green was exceedingly adept and lucky. John W. 
Merrihew tells of taking part iu a bear-hunt iu which the 



bear was shot dead in a tree, and there remained stuck fast 
until the tree was felled to dislodge him. He was a large 
animal, and yielded five pailfuls of fat. 

The early history of Olive was somewhat painfully im- 
pressed with the lawless exploits of one Fletcher, and his 
subsequent expulsion from the town. He pretended to he 
a blacksmith, but devoted himself chiefly to laying unlaw- 
ful hands upon the property of liis neighbors, and working 
grievances in manifold ways. Tiring of his ordinary 
methods of deviltry he took to poisoning the cattle of his 
fellow-citizens, and at this latest and sharpest demonstration 
of sin the community rose en masse and vowed that he 
must be made to feel the sharp sting of public vengeance. 
Previous punishments had been inflicted upon him and 
warnings of greater wrath to come had reached him, but 
at this time general opinion inclined to the belief that pa- 
tience had ceased to be a virtue, and desperate measures 
were accordingly resolved on. An indignation meeting was 
held, and after a brief and hurried discussion of the situa- 
tion it was proposed to lynch the sinful Fletcher, and 
further proposed to draw lots to see who should have the 
distinguished honor of leading the expedition and striking 
the first blow. One of the members of the party was indi- 
vidually so anxious to be chief in Fletcher's taking off' that 
he suggested the postponement of drawing cuts, since he 
himself would take the job of killing the wicked Fletcher, 
and would further guarantee that the killing should be done 
promptly and effectually. Unfortunately for liis ambition, 
word was soon brought that Fletcher iiad been captured by 
officers of the law and conveyed to the county jail. There- 
upon the company resolved not to lose all chance for satis- 
fying their vengeance, disguised themselves as a party of 
Indians, and moving rapidly upon Fletcher's house, utterly 
destroyed it. His fimily fled for their lives and sought 
shelter in De Witt, but they were in such bad odor that no 
one would take them in, and .so they pressed on, nobody 
knows whither. There was some talk of moving upon the 
jail, dragging Fletcher forth, and lynching him anyway, but 
discussion proved the plan impolitic and it was abandoned. 
Its abandonment was probably afterwards regretted when, 
having been in jail but a short time, Fletcher made good 
his escape therefrom and fled to other scenes. Nothing 
more was heard of him after that for some years, when it 
was told that in the Far West he had been run over and 
killed by a railway- train. .^ 

Among the pioneers of Olive came David G. Wilsey, in 
1839, to section 26, where he lived until 1844, and then 
removed to a jilace on section 35 he had bought of David 
Scott, who had improved forty acres of the tract. Wiien 
Wilsey located upon section 26 his nearest neighbor was 
more than a mile distant, and in 1844 his neighbor 
on the town-line was Charles Lent, who lived west of 
him. Wil.sey used to go to Owosso to mill, and although 
it was a trip of fifty miles, he was not so badly off in tiiat 
respect as some of his fellow-settlers farther west. Cash 
for grain was not to be had short of Detroit, and to that 
point he had to go when he wanted money for wheat. La- 
boring ibr otliers frequently, he could always get pay in 
grain and provisions but no money. Having accumulated 



494 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



at the De Witt mill as many as a hundred barrels of flour, 
he hauled the lot a hundred miles to the Detroit market, 
and got only three dollars a barrel for it after all, — not much 
more than it cost him to get it there. As an illustration 
of how she bore her share of pioneer burdens, Mrs. Wilsey 
relates that when, shortly after their coming to the town, 
Mr. Wilsey was taken down sick, she used to go twice a 
day for drinking-water a mile distant from her cabin, did 
her cooking at a stump out-of-doors, had nothing better 
than a blanket for a door and sheet for a window, and lay 
many a night trembling all night long at the doleful howls 
of wolves, who made the darkness hideous with their 
music. 

Linus Gillett, who was a settler in Olive in 1840, settled 
in the State in 1829. and claimed that his was the first 
family to occupy the present site of the city of Jackson. 
His settlement in Olive was made upon section 3, where 
now lives J. W. Outcalt, whose father occupied the place 
in 1854. Into the Merrihew neighborhood Edward Ennest 
was a comer in 1838, as were the Norris families in 1840. 
John Parks (who settled in the State in 1838), Addison 
Cook, William Van Dyke, M. D. Tabor, Thomas Reed (a 
comer to the State in 1834), and William Sperry, were 
among the moderately early settlers in Olive. William 
Dills, who entered the State in 1842, made a location in 
1852 upon the south town-line in Olive in section 32, 
the place being the one originally settled by George Kin- 
ney. West of Dills, on the town-line in Olive, were then 
Harvey Alexander, Alonzo Calder, and Thomas Reed ; but 
east of him there was nobody nearer than Wilsey 's, on sec- 
tion 35. Later came L. W. Sibley and H. G. Dills, on 
section 33, and Warren Ives in 1854 to a place on section 
36, where Amasa Bugbee had been an earlier settler. 

R. W. Holly made his home on section 26 in 1852, and 
made it, too, in the midst of a forest. His nearest neigh- 
bor was the widow Rathburn, forty rods south. William 
Van Looven was one and a half miles south and east, and 
in the southeast quarter of the town in 1852, Wilsey being 
in California, Van Looven and Holly were the only voters. 
In 1855, William Blizzard settled upon section 19, on the 
west town-line, and at that time section 19 had but two 
other settlers, — B. F. Ware and Samuel Knapp. Oliver 
and Thomas Knapp came to section 29 in 1854. North- 
ward Blizzard had no neighbors on the east side of the 
liAe. Southward were Samuel Knapp, George Simmons, 
Jonathan Mosher, and Joseph Thomas. Off in the eastern 
portion of the town Eunice Carpenter came with her sons, 
George, Benjamin, and Jackson, in 1856 to section 24. 
The surrounding country was a forest, and to get to their 
place they had to cut out a road. Even then they could not 
get through because of the swamps, and had to go back to 
R. W. Holly's, where they stopped until, after some con- 
siderable delay, a roadway was constructed to their new 
abode. In the Carpenter neighborhood William Rheubot- 
tam settled upon section 23 in 1859, when the best public 
highway in the vicinity was an underbrushed road through 
the woods. John Jones and Abram Middleton were in 
the vicinity, as were M. Black and L. D. Chadwick. F. 
F. FraucLsco and Alonzo Hamilton came later. On .section 
1, Marshall Hand was a settler in 1854 ; west of him came 



A. G. Foote at a later date ; still farther west Ira Gage 
made a location on section 4 in 1854, — his residence in 
Michigan dating from 1826 ; and west of him still, Wil- 
liam Sperry and M. Picktril located about the same time. 



RESIDENT TAX-PATERS OP OLIVE IN 1841. 

Acres. 

Hiram Burgess, section 1 110 

Linus Gillette, section .H 120 

Peter Ennest, section 10 SO 

John M. Merrihew, sections 9,10 160 

Peter Merrihew, sections 4, 5 270 

George A. Merrihew, section S 120 

E. S. Merrihew, section 8 ;.. 120 

Benjamin Merrihew, section 7 SO 

Isaac L. Austin, section 5 50 * 

Ransom Rees, section 7 232 

Orange Ferguson, sections 7, 8, 18 2:58 

Daniel Ferguson, sections 18, 17 120 

H. S. Green, sections 5, 17,8 2fi0 

James Ennest, section 17 60 

Harvey- Alexander, section HI 160 

Nathaniel Moon, section 32 80 

George Kinney, section .32 80 

Nathan Smith", section 20 120 

Alexander Calder, sections 31, 32 120- 

Henry Leuts, section 20 40 

. Hopliins Leuts, section 2t) 50 

David G. Wilsey, section 26 120 

Peter Leuts, section 20 30 



THE TREASURER'S REPORT FOR 1841. 

March 22, 1842, the town treasurer presented his annual 
report for 1841, in which he set forth that he had received 
from the county treasurer S252.80 ; that he had paid out 
for highway work 8202.09 ; and that there were in the 
treasury $50.71. Further, that he had received from the 
town collector §79.89 for town expenses, and that of that 
amount §22.49 still remained in the treasury. 

VOTERS IN THE TOWNSHIP IN 1844. 
The oldest recorded list of voters in Olive bears date 
1844. Tliose who voted at the election held that year 
numbered forty, and were named Adam Merrihew, Boyce 
Penden, Peter Merrihew, Philip Coon, Peter Ennest, 
Orange Eddy, Perry Armstrong, David Groom, James En- 
nest, Benjamin Merrihew, Daniel Ferguson, M. W. Pike, 
Alonzo Groom, Richard Ferguson, Isaac Parks, John 
Groom, Jr., Arvin Groom, Edward Ennest, Harvey Alex- 
ander, George Henry, Horace S. Green, Addison W. Cook, 
John W. Merrihew, Alexander Calder, N. S. Merrihew, 
D. G. Wilsey, Nathan Smith, Linus Gillett, Daniel Fergu- 
son, Jr., Orange Ferguson, Guy N. Wilcox, Smith Penden, 
Ransom Reed, E. S. Merrihew, Sidney Leuts, William In- 
galls, Peter Nelson, Moses Tabor, George H. Cook, George 
Kinney. 

JURORS IN 1849. 

The jurors in 1849 included Harvey Alexander, Alexan- 
der Calder, Orange Ferguson, Linus Gillett, E. S. Merri- 
hew, and J. W. Merrihew as grand jurors, and H. S. Green, 
A. W. Cook, L. D. Rathburn, Adam Merrihew, 0. S. Stod- 
dard, and Perry Armstrong as petit jurors. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 

Town 6 north, range 2 west, was, by act of Legislature 
approved March 20, 1841, detached from De Witt, and 
organized as a separate township, under the name of Olive. 
The name was given it by the Merrihews at a meeting held 



OLIVE TOWNSHIP. 



495 



at Orange Ferguson's for the purpose of christening the 
proposed new organization. Orange Ferguson wanted to 
name it after his daughter, but the Merrihews inclined to 
the name of the place in New York whence they had 
come to Michigan, and being in the majority they carried 
the day, wherefore " Olive" was sent in to the Legislature 
along with the petition for organization. 

According to public notice the first town-meeting was 
held at the house of Hansom Reed, April 5, 1841. Daniel 
Ferguson, John W. Merrihew, Orange Ferguson, Hiram 
Burgess, and Harvey Alexander were inspectors of election. 
Eighteen votes were cast, and the following persons chosen 
to the various oflBces : Supervisor, Daniel Ferguson, Sr. ; 
Clerk, John W. Merrihew ; Treasurer, George A. Merri- 
hew; School Inspectors, John W. Merrihew, Hiram Bur- 
gess, Alexander Calder; Assessors, Hiram Burgess, Horace 
S. Green, Alexander Calder ; Justices of the Peace, Hiram 
Burgess, Orange Ferguson, Alexander Calder; Highway' 
Commissioners, John AV. Merrihew, David G. Wilsey ; 
Constables, Isaac L. Austin, Ephraim S. Merrihew, Na- 
thaniel Moore ; Overseers of Highways, Peter Ennest, 
Ephraim Merrihew, Ransom Reed, Henry Leuts, George 
Kinney. 

CIVIL LIST OF OLIVE. 

Herewitl^is presented a list of persons chosen to the 
chief township offices annually from 1842 to 1880 : 



SUPERVISORS. 



1842-46. D. Ferguson, Jr. 
1847^9. J. W. Merrihew. 
1850. H. Alexander. 
1851-52. J. W. Merrihew. 
1853-55. A. Calder. 
1856. R. S. Cdshun. 
1857-61. B. F. Ware. 

1862. R. S. Coshun. 

1863. S. M.Alexander. 

1842. F. R. Reed. 

1843. J. W. Merrihew. 

1844. G. N. Wilcox. 
1845-46. J. W. Merrihew. 
1847-53. 0. Ferguson. 
1854-55. R. S. Coshun. 

1856. Ira Gage. 

1857. 0. Ferguson. 
1858-59. G. B. Wixon. 



1864. B. F. Ware. 
1865-66. S. M. Alexander. 
1867. R. Reed. 
1869. R. Young. 
1S6S-71. A. Story. 
1872. R. Young. 
187.3-79. M. Hand. 
ISSII. T. W. B.aldwin. 

CLERKS. 

186(1-62. P. Howe. 
1S63. E. D. Clark. 
1864-65. W. 11. H. Kiiapp. 
1866-72. M. Hand. 
1873-76. W. h. Brown. 
1877-78. T. W. Baldwin. 

1879. B. Looher. 

1880. G. R. Simmons. 



1842. J. W. Merrihew. 

1843. J. G. Cagwin. 

1844. P. Armstrong. 
1845-50. E. S. Merrihew, 
1851-53. R. Reed. 
1854-56. William Dills. 
1857-64. R. Reed. 



TREASURERS. 

1865. G. A. Merrihew. 

1866. R. Young. 

1867. A. C. Preston. 
1868-70. M. L. Alexander. 
1871-78. G. R. Simmons. 
1879-80. A. L. McWethcy. 



1842. 


F. 


R. Reed. 


1843. 


0. 


Ferguson. 


1844. 


R 


Reed. 


1845. 


D. 


Ferguson, Jr. 


1846. 


A. 


Calder. 


1847. 


J. 


Sumner. 


1818. 


F. 


R. Reed. 


1849. 


M 


Huston. 


1850. 


A 


Calder. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

1851. N. Baker. 

1852. F. Preston. 

1853. U. R. Owen. 

1854. A. Calder. 

1855. R. W. Holly. 

1856. P. Howe. 

1857. A. Gillot. 

1858. Ira Gage. 

1859. R. W. Holly. 



1860. P. Howe. 

1861. A. Calder. 

1862. L. Howe. 

1863. P. Preston. 

1864. William Dills. 

1865. N. Leinm. 

1866. James Tubbs. 

1867. F. Preston. 

1868. U. Rowen. 

1869. E. Brink. 

1870. J. M. De Witt. 



1871. E. Case. 

1872. P. Howe. 

1873. Lewis Isbell. 

1874. P. Kyes. 

1875. P. Howe. 

1876. A. Gillot. 

1877. P. Howe. 

1878. L. S. Rue. 

1879. W. C. Lankton. 

1880. Z. Sexton. 



HIGHWAYS. 

The first road laid in town 6 (now Olive) was recorded 
March 23, 1838, in the highway records of the town of 
De Witt as having been laid by O. Ferguson and William 
A. Hewitt, commissioners of highways. The road com- 
menced at the northeast corner of section 18 and extended 
thence east on section-line to the northwest corner of sec- 
tion 16, and thence south and east to the quarter post on 
the east line of section 24. 

Road No. 2, recorded June 28, 1839, was laid by John 
Gould and Harvey Alexander. It commenced at the south- 
west corner of section 32 and ran north to the northwest 
corner of section 29. No. 3, recorded Feb. 19, 1839, ex- 
tended from the northeast corner of section 9 westward to 
the north line of section 7. No. 4, recorded the same date, 
commenced ten chains north of the southwest corner of 
section 8 and extended north to the northwest corner of 
said section. No. 5 commenced twenty chains west of the 
southeast corner of section 34 and ran north twenty chains. 
No. 6 commenced at the northeast corner of section 31 and 
extended thence south one mile to the southeast corner of 
said section. No. 7 began at the quarter post on the south 
line of section 4 and passed thence north two and one-half 
degrees west to the quarter post on the north line of said 
section. No. 8 extended from the northwest corner of sec- 
tion 34 to the southwest corner of said section. No. 9 was 
laid by the commissioners of De Witt and Bingham, and 
commenced at the southwest corner of section 32, town 7, 
extending thence eastward to the east line of the town. 
The roads above mentioned were laid while town was 
attached to De Witt. 

The town was divided into road districts in 1842 as fol- 
lows : No. 1 to comprise sections 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12. No. 
3 to contain the south halves of sections 7, 8, 9, the whole 
of sections 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, the west half and 
the northeast quarter of section 23, and the whole of 24. 
No. 2 had sections 4, 5, 6 and the north halves of 7, 8, 9. 
No. 4 had sections 20, 21, 28, 29 and the northeast quar- 
ter and east half of the northwest quarter of 32. No. 5 
had sections 19, 30, 31, the .south and west halves of the 
northwest quarter of 32, and the southwe-st and the north- 
west quarters of 33. No. 6 had sections 25, 26, 27, the 
east lialf of section 33, the southeast quarter of section 23, 
and the whole of sections 34, 35, and 36. 

Appended is a list of the persons subject to work on the 
highways in 1842 : 

District No. 1. — Linus Gillet, Peter Ennest, William D. 
Davis, Hiram Burgess. 

No. 2. — J. W. Merrihew, Peter Merrihew, N. S. Merri- 
hew, E. S. Merrihew, James Ennest, I. L. Austin, G. A. 
Merrihew. 



496 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



No. 3. — Ransom Reed, Orange Ferguson, Daniel Fer- 
guson, Jr., Daniel Ferguson, Sr., Richard Ferguson, Hor- 
ace S. Green. 

No. 4. — Peter Lutes, Henry Lutes, Hopkins Lutes, Sid- 
ney Lutes, Nathan Smith. 

No. 5. — Alexander Calder, Harvey Alexander, Nathaniel 
Moore, George Kinney, Richard Kinney, M. W. Pike. 

No. 6.— David G. Wilsey, F. R. Read. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school taught in Olive was doubtless the one 
of which Harvey Alexander'.? daughter was the teacher. 
The sciiool-house was put up in the Merrihew settlement, 
about one mile west of John Merrihew's. Nathan Smith's 
daughter, Mary, taught in 18-10 a subscription-school, just 
north of the Ferguson settlement, in a log cabin built by 
Ransom Reed for a dwelling-house. Miss Smith's school 
lasted three months, and gave instruction to fifteen scholars. 
It is held by some that hers was the pioneer school. If 
not the first, it was surely the second. 

The township board of school inspectors organized May 
15, 1841, by choosing Hiram Burgess chairman. Their 
first business was to organize with the inspectors of Bing- 
ham, Ossowa, and Ovid fractional district No. 2 of Ovid, 
which comprised sections 1, 2, and 12 in Olive and por- 
tions of the other towns named. 

At a meeting, October 12, 1841, district No. 2, in Olive, 
was formed, to include sections 3, 4, 5, and 6, the north 
halves of 7, 8, 9, and 10. On the same date the south 
halves of sections T, 8, 9, and 10, and the whole of sec- 
tions 19, 20, 21, IG, 17, and 18, were set apart as district 
No. 3. The annual report of the director of fractional dis- 
trict No. 1 of Ovid to the inspectors of Olive, rendered 
Oct. 15, 1842, set forth that in that fractional district Olive 
had four school children. The annual report of district 
No. 2, in Olive, for 1842, gave the number of children at 
twenty-four, the average attendance eighteen, and thirteen 
dollars as paid to teacher for five montiis' service. 

The town school records fail to note the appointment of 
any teachers prior to 1850. Subsequent to that date and 
to 1860 the appointments included the following : 

April 13, 1850. — Alice Marvin. 

June 14, 1851. — Seraphina Alexander. 

Dec. 3, 1851. — Emeline Moss. 

Dec. 20, 1851.— Mary A. Moore. 

Jan. 5, 1852.— Achsah Blood. 

May 1, 1852.— Minah Moore. 

May 8, 1852.— Sarah Ann Avery. 

May 22, 1852.— Miss Irish. 

Dec. 1, 1852.— N. M. Gunsaily. 

April 7, 1853. — Stella Ferguson. 

April 11, 1853. — Sarah Chapin. 

April 8, 1854.— Laura Bates, Sarah A. Mavssh. 

May 1, 1854. — Laura Stowell. 

June 2(), 1854. — Lovina Young. 

Dec. 30, 1854. — Samuel B. Owen, Emily Southworth. 

Nov. 7, 1857.— Harvey Bartram, Joseph Coryell. 

April 10, 1858. — Esther A. Lemm. 

May 5, 1858.— Maria Wood, Rachel Dunham. 



March 6, 1858.— Rebecca Buck. 

Nov. 5, 1858. — James Du Bois, Ira Wightman. 

March 12, 1859.— Martha Van Dyke. 

May 25, 1859.— Sarah Smith, Miss Delano. 

The annual report for 1879 touching the condition ot 
the public schools of Olive presents the following details : 

Number of districts (> 

" children of school age 400 

Average attendance 353 

Value of school property $2775 

Teachers' wages S1003 

The school directors for 1879 wore Andrew Scott, A. 
G. Foote, George Smith, William C. Lankton, A. T. 
Sturges, and Alonzo Hamilton. 

RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 

The pioneer preaching in Olive was heard in the year 
1840 at Daniel Fergu.son's house, on which occasion ser- 
vices were conducted by a Methodist Episcopal missionary 
named Lapham, who organized at Ferguson's house in 1840 
a Methodist Episcopal cla.ss, of which the constituent mem- 
bers were Daniel Ferguson, Orange Ferguson, and Horace 
S. Green, and their wives; Ephraim Merrihew's wife, 
Adam Merrihew and wife, and J. W. 31errihew and wife. 

After the organization preaching was held in the Fer- 
guson school-house once a month by Revs. Jackson, Mount, 
and others. Presently, as the class membership increased, 
services were held once each fortnight. From the first, 
services have been regularly held, although the place of 
worship has been changed more than once. To 1SG4 
school-houses were used. In that year the Olive church 
was built, and since that time the organization has been 
known as the Olive Centre Class. The first board of church 
trustees was composed of Alonzo Wood, Charles Rockwell, 
John Le Baron, William Hickox, and J. W. Merriman. 
The present trustees are J. W. Merriman, Henry Mc- 
Wethey, Charles Rockwell, and J. M. Merrihew. Earlier 
the class was attached to the De Witt Circuit. Now it is on 
the Victor Circuit, in charge of Rev. Mr. Gray. Although 
having at one time as many as seventy members, the class 
has now but about twenty, Anson L. McWethey being the 
leader. He is also the superintendent of the Sunday- 
school, which has an average attendance of fifty scholars. 

The United Brethren Class, of which L. D. Chadwick 
is leader, has been having periodical worship at the Rheu- 
bottam school-house for the past ten or fifteen years, and 
now has public services once each fortnight. 

OLIVE GRANGE, No. 358, P. OF H. 

This grange was organized by Deputy Richard Moore, 
of St. Johns, Clinton Co., on the 27th of March, 1874. 
The meeting for the purpose of organization was held at 
the Muskrat school-house, near the bank of the Muskrat 
Lake, and notwithstanding the roads were very bad the 
attendance was good, and the efibrts of Mr. Moore resulted 
in the organization of Olive Grange, with a charter mem- 
bership of thirty-nine members, twenty-one of whom were 
males and eighteen females, and were ofiicered as follows : 
Master, Isaac Vought ; Overseer, Thomas W. Baldwin ; 
Secretary, William H. H. Knapp. Great credit is due 



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RILEY TOWNSHIP. 



497 



Cornelius Walters for his labor and time spent in bringing 
about the organization, and also credit is due William A. 
Merchant, John Blass, and others for their liberality in 
opening their houses for meetings of the grange until a 
hall was built for their accommodation. In the year 1875 
the members of the order succeeded in building a hall 
twenty-two by forty feet and two stories high, the upper 
room calculated for the grange meeting, the lower part for 
a dining-hall, sitting-room, and a small grocery, which has 
been in successful operation since that time up to the pres- 
ent, and is now carried on by Cornelius Walters. In the 
spring of 1878 an addition of twenty-two feet was built 
on the south end to accommodate the increase in numbers. 
The site was donated to the society by Charles Ferguson, 
being sufficient ground for the hall and sheds to accommo- 
date the teams of the patrons. The institution has been a 
success, and has exerted a lasting influence on the surround- 
ing country. Cases of dispute and misunderstandings have 
been adjusted satisfactorily by arbitration in the grange, 
which otherwise would have led to litigation and cost in the 
courts. The office of Master was held by Isaac Vought 
one year, George Smith one year, and three years by 
Thomas W. Baldwin, who is the present incumbent. The 
membership has reached the number of one hundred and 
twenty, and the present membership is one hundred and 
fourteen. The society has the confidence of its members 
and the respect of those outside, and can no doubt be counted 
on as a permanent institution of the township. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



AUGUSTUS GILLETT. 

Linus and Roxy (Cody) Gillett were natives of Con- 
necticut and New York respectively. Linus made his 
home with relatives in New York during his younger days, 
where he became acquainted with Miss Cody, whom he 
subsequently married. They removed to Upper Canada 
soon afterwards, and settled near Loudon, where Augustus, 
the subject of our sketch, and Plicbo Jane were born, 
Augustus in 1826. In 1829 the family removed to Ann 
Arbor, Mich., and in 1830 to Jackson County, where 
another daughter, Lucy Ann, wa.s born. Mrs. Gillett was 
the first white woman to reside where the city of Jackson 
now is. 

In 18-10 the family again changed their abiding-place, 
effecting a permanent settlement in Olive, where they now 
live. 

In 184G, Augustus married Miss Louisa Ann Arm- 
strong, and to them were born Francis M., Laura J., 11. 
K., Isadora, and Ezra A., all of whom are living with the 
exception of the last named, who died when about a year 
old. 

Mrs. Gillett died in August, 18C3, and in 18G4 Mr. 
Gillett was united in marriage with Loretta L. Foote, 
daughter of Zelona and Betsy Elizabeth Foote, residents 
of Be Witt. 
63 



Mr. Gillett began his career a poor man, and his life 
lias been an earnest effort for and crowned with success ; 
and in his advancing years he is enjoying the fruits of his 
labor. He has been officially identified with Olive town- 
ship in different capacities, is honored and respected by 
those who know him, and a worthy representative of the 
pioneers of Clinton County. 



JOHN W. OUTCALT. 

William Outcalt was a native of Portage Co., Ohio, 
where he was born April 10, 1815, and continued to re- 
side until Jan. 3, 1839, when he married Mary Ann 
Richards, of Stark County, same State, and immediately 
removed to La Grange Co., Ind., where they resided until 
1854. Here John W., Melissa, and Nancy were born. 
Then Mrs. Outcalt returned to Stark County, where she 
died Nov. 25, 1851. 

In 1854, John W. and his father removed to Olive 
township. Here he remained until 1866, when he was 
united in marriage to Miss Betsey M. Gage, and removed 
to Shiawassee County, where they remained three years — 
then returned to their old home in Olive, where they still 
live, and where his father died May 18, 1869. 

Politically, Mr. Outcalt is a Republican, aiming to sus- 
tain with his ballot what he fought with his musket to 
preserve, having been a member of Company I, Twenty- 
seventh Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and wounded and 
disabled on Welden Road, near Petersburg, Va. He has 
occupied several official positions in his township, and is, 
though young in years, much respected and pos.sessed of a 
competency acquired by industry and economy. 

We present upon another page a view of his residence, 
together with portraits of himself and estimable wife. 



CHAPTER LXIIL 
RILEY TOWNSHIP.* 

Topography — Original Land-Kntrics— Settlement of the Township — 
The First Highways — Organization and Iii.st of OfBecrs — Religious 
History — Schools — I'ost-Ofliecs — Patrons of Husbandry— Statistics 
of Agriculture and Population. 

This township was set off from Watertown and organ- 
ized as Riley in March, 1841. It is not definitely known 
how the name originated. Its northeast corner is at the 
centre of Clinton County. It is designated on the govern- 
ment survey of the State sis township 6 north, of range 3 
west. A survey of the township was made in 1826 by 
Lucius Lyon ; the subdivision lines were made by Ilervey 
Parke, and certified Feb. 12, 1827. It has the following 
surroundings: Bengal on the north, Olive on the east, 
Watertown on the south, and Westphalia on the west. The 
township contains within its limits twenty-two thousand 
eight hundred and cighty-seveu and eighty-one one hun- 



»By Charles A. Chnpin. 



498 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



dredths acres of land. The soil of the entire township is 
remarkably fertile, being a rich clay loam intermixed with 
sand and sandy loam, and is well adapted for the successful 
cultivation of the cereals, corn, fruit, etc. Its water-courses 
are unimportant. Bad Creek, rising in section 34, runs 
west into 33, thence northeasterly into 34 again, and taking 
a northeasterly course it drains sections 34, 27, 22, 15, 14, 
and 11, and runs into 2, passing through 2 in a northerly 
and westerly direction, through the northeast corner of sec- 
tion 3 into Bengal, and thence into Stony Creek. A branch 
of Bad Creek rises in section 35, and flows into it on sec- 
tion 27. Muskrat Creek rises on the west line of section 
19, runs northeasterly through 19 and 18 into 17, where it 
receives a branch, thence through sections 8 and 6 into 
Bengal, where it empties into Stony Creek. 

ORIGINAL LAND-ENTRIES. 

The following names will show who made entries for land 
in this township, with residence, date of entry, and descrip- 
tion. Very few were actual settlers; they were mostly 
non-residents and speculators. 

SECTION 1. 

Sherman Page, Feb. 19, 1S3«, north half of northeast quarter. 
James J. Godfrey, Monroe Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, south half of 

northeast quarter. 
Mortimer Buell, Ontario Co., N. Y., April 3, 1837, southwest quarter. 

SECTION 2. 
Allen A. Rahineau, Monroe Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1S36, south half. 

SECTION 3. 

James K. Guernsey, Monroe Co., N. Y., Dec. 10, 1836, north frac- 
tional llalf. 
Jeremiah Jacobs, Onondaga Co., N. Y., April 17, 1837, south half. 

SECTION 4. 

Robert Armitage, Wayne Co., Mich., Dec. 10, 1836, northwest frac- 
tional quarter. 

B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Dec. 10, 1836, northeast fractional 
quarter. 

Seba Murphy, Monroe Co., Mich., Dec. 13, 1836, southwest qu.arter. 

SECTION 5. 

Thomas W. Merrill, Kalamazoo Co., Mich., Sept. 23, 1836, north half. 
Abby Mapcs, Livingston Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, south half. 

SECTION 6. 

Thomas Osborn, May 12, 1836, southwest quarter and west half of 

southeast quarter. 
Richard P. Hart, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Sept. 23, 1836, north half and 

east half of southeast quarter. 

SECTION 7. 
Phebe Boughton, Wayne Co., Mich., Nov. 2, 1836, northeast quarter. 
Ira A. Reynolds, Ionia Co., Mieh., Nov. 3, 1S36, northwest fractional 

quarter. 
B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, southeast quarter; 

Deo. 10, 1836, southwest fractional quarter. 

SECTION 8. 

Philip P. Peek,* Lenawee Co., Mich., Sept. 22, 1836, northwest quar- 
ter. 

B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Dec. 10, 1836, southeast quarter. 

Seba Murjihy, Monroe Co., Mich., Dec. 13, 1836, cast half of northeast 
quarter. 



*" Actual settlers. 



William T. Gibson, Seneca Co., N. Y., Dec. 1.3, 1836, west half of 
northeast quarter. 

SECTION 9. 
Uzziel Kanouso, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, east half. 

SECTION 10. 
David G. Mouat, Washtenaw Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, west half. 

SECTION 11. 

Franklin D. Markham, Wayne Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, southeast 

quarter. 
Richard Van Lew, Seneca Co., N. Y., Nov. 4, 1836, northeast quarter. 
John C. Blanchard, Ionia, Mich., July 1, 1837, northwest quarter of 

northwest quarter. 

SECTION 12. 

Franklin D. Markhiiin, Nov. 4, 1836, southwest quarter. 
Samuel B. Dewey, Monroe Co., N. Y., April 3, 1837, northwest quar- 
ter. 

SECTION 13. 

John Crysler, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Nov. 4, 1836, west half of north- 
west quarter. 

John Dennis, Seneca Co., N. Y., Nov. 4, 1836, southwest quarter and 
west half of southeast quarter. 

Peter Fralick, Plymouth, Mich., April 22, 1837, east half of northeast 
quarter. 

SECTION 14. 

John Crysler, Nov. 4, 1836, east half of northeast quarter. 

Phebe Rogers, Genesee Co., N. Y., Dec. 'J, 1836, east half of northwest 

quarter and west half of northeast quarter. 
Peter Fralick, April 22, 1837. 

SECTION 15. 
Warren Fay, Genesee Co., N. Y., Jan. 31, 1837', northeast quarter. 



School lauds. 



SECTION 16. 



SECTION 17. 



David S. Hodgman, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Sept. 27, 1836, east half of 
northeast quarter and northeast quarter of southeast quarter. 

Elisha Hodgman, Onondaga Co., N. Y., Sept. 27, 1836, west half of 
northeast quarter. 

James V. Ryan, Ionia Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, west half. 

SECTION 18. 

Peter Misner, Tompkins Co., N. Y., Nov. 4, 1836, northeast qu.arter. 
David Entrican, Oakland Co., Mich., April 2o, 1837, west half of 
southwest quarter. 

SECTION 19. 

William W. Arnold, M.ay 13, 1S51, east half of northeast quarter aud 

northwest quarter of northeast quarter. 
James Burns, Nov. 20, IS5I, east half of southeast quarter. 

SECTION 20. 

B. B. Kercheval, Detroit, Mich., Nov. 5, 1836, northeast quarter. 
William Thompson, Seneca Co., N, Y., Dec. 14, 1836, west half. 

SECTION 21. 

Alexander F. Bell, Ionia Co., Mieh., April 5, 1837, north half. 
Augustus L. Gould, Genesee Co., N. Y., June 28, 1838, cast half of 
southeast quarter. 

SECTION 22. 

Harry Boardman, Seneca Co., N. Y., Nov. 4, 1836, northeast quarter. 
Ralph C. Markham, Tompkins Co., N. Y., Nov. 4, 1836, southeast 

quarter. 
Joshua G. Knight, Genesee Co., N. Y., Nov. 7, 1836, west half. 



RILEY TOWNSHIP. 



499 



SECTION 23. 

John Paul, (ioneseo Co., N. Y., Nov. 7, 1S36, southwest quarter ami 

West half of southeast quarter, 
Luko Wood, Tecuuisch, Jlieh., Nov. 15, ISJl, northwest quarter. 

SECTION 24. 

Oliver Miller, Lenawee Co., IVIieh., Dec. 1.1, IS.Ifi, northwest quarter. 
Jeremiah Naft/.gar, AVayuo Co., Mich., Oct. 10, 18-18, south half of 
northeast quarter. 

SECTION 25. 

*Atwell Simmons, July 20, 1836, southeast quarter. 
Samuel D. McDowell, Washtenaw Co., Mich., west half of southwest 
quarter. 

SECTION 26. 

Philo Ilungerforil. July 19, 1836, southwest quarter. 
Herman V. Prentice, July 19, 1836, southeast quarter. 

SECTION 27. 

Samuel Ilungerford, July 19, 1836, southeast quarter. 

Luther Ingraham, .July 19, 1836, southwest quarter. 

Augustus L. Gould, Genesee Co., N. Y., June 28, 1838, west half of 

northwest quarter. 
*Jacob Miller, Jan. 16, 1854, southwest quarter of northeast quarter. 
Henry Jones, Oct. 19, 1854, southeast quarter of northwest quarter. 

SECTION 28. 

Luther Ingraham, -Tuly 19, 1836, east half of southeast quarter. 
Thomas R. Godley, July 19, 1836, west half of southeast quarter. 
Geo. W. Kn.aj)]), Oakland Co., Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, northeast quarter. 

SECTION 29. 

Seth M. Root, Lorain Co., Ohio, Oct. 7, 1851, west half of northwest 

quarter and west half of southwest quarter. 
William Drake, Rochester, N. Y., April 19, 1852, northeast quarter. 

SECTION 30. 
Edwin Lawrence, Ann Arbor, Mich., July 6, 1837, northeast quarter. 

SECTION 31. 

IJenoni Adams, Lorain Co., Ohio, Oct. 4, 1851, southwest quarter of 
southeast quarter. 

Amrod Moore, Brighton, Mich., June 27, 1853, cast half of north- 
east quarter. 

*Adam II. Kincaid, Oct. 31, 1854, northeast quarter of southeast 
quarter. 

SECTION 32. 

Soth M. Root, Pittsfield, Lorain Co., Ohio, Oct. 7, 1851, southwest 
quarter. 

William Deits, Deo. 12, 1853, southwest quarter of nortliwest quarter 
and southeast quarter of northwest quarter. 

*Adam il. Kincaid, Oct. 9, 1854, northwest fractional quarter of 
northwest fractional quarter. 

•John Shilling, Jr., Stark Co., Ohio, Oct. 21, 1854, east half of north- 
east quarter. 

SECTION 33. 

Theodorio T. Phillips, July 19, 1836, southeast quarter. 

*Thomas Ferris, Clinton County, Deo. 3, 1838, soutlieast quarter of 

northwest quarter. 
♦Francis Cisco, Clinton County, Jan. 26, 1839, southeast quarter of 

southwest quarter. 

SECTION 34. 

«Charles M. Thornton, July 19, 1836, southeast quarter. 
Leiand Green, July 19, 1836, northwest quarter. 
William Taft, July 19, 1836, west half of southwest quarter. 
*Lyman Ilungerford, July 19, 1836, northeast quarter. 
Nathan Case, Oakland County, Sept. 23, 1836, east half of southwest 
quarter. 

* Actual settlers. 



SECTION 35. 

William P. Shaw, July 19, 1836, northwest quarter. 
Sarah Thornton, July 19, 1836, southwest quarter. 
James Parks, Lenawee County, Sept. 22, 1836, east half of .southeast 
quarter. 

SECTION 36. 

David Scott, Clinton County, Sept. 22, 1836, northwest quarter of 

southwest quarter. 
Stephen P. Morehouse, Tompkins Co., N. Y., Sept. 22, 1836, southeast 

quarter. 
John Gould, Ann Arbor, Mich., Nov. 4, 1836, west half of northwest 

quarter. 
Sylvester Scott, Clinton County, Nov. 4, 1836, southwest quarter of 

southwest quarter. 

SETTLEMENT OP THE TOWNSHIP. 

Atwell Simmons, a native of Ontario Co., N. Y., with 
liis wife emigrated to Salem, Washtenaw Co., in 1832. In 
183G he sold his hind there and concluded to go farther 
into the wilderness. On July 7th of that year he was ex- 
ploring the country, and selected the land which he pur- 
chased, July 20th, at the Kalamazoo Land-Office. In No- 
vember, 183G, they started for their new home by wagon, 
drawn by oxen, and were six days making the journey ; the 
roads were iu a terrible condition and the oxen were often 
mired. They stopped with a family named Webb, living 
in De Witt township, until a log cabin could be built; this 
cabin was fourteen by sixteen feet, and stood in front of the 
present hou.se and near the maple-tree in the front yard. 

That winter he chopped and cleared about seven acres, 
and in the spring put in a crop of oats and rutabagas. ' In 
the fall of 1837 he sowed three and one-half acres with 
wheat, which was cut the next summer with a sickle and 
thrashed out with oxen ; the yield was thirty-six bushels 
per acre. The first orchard in the township was planted in 
1842, with trees brought from Plymouth, Wayne Co., and 
included all kinds of fruit. About six years after the 
erection of the cabin a block-house of logs was built. The 
logs were hewed on both sides, and put up so as to make a 
two-story house; this hou.so stood just back of the present 
frame house. Mrs. Simmons spun and wove the first flax. 
Their children are pleasantly settled on adjoining farms, — 
George II., living just over the line in Olive, and Mrs. Ani- 
ariah B. Cook, living about a half-mile west of lu^r father's. 
Mr. and Mrs. Simmons are still living. 

Some time during the month of November, 1836, Morris 
Bouglilon, of Elinira, N. Y., accompanied by his brother- 
in-law, Benjamin Welch, came into Clinton County. Mr. 
Welch settled in Dallas and Mr. Boughton settled on the 
northeast (juarter of section 7, town 6 north, range 3 west, 
afterwards called by its present name, lliley. That winter 
was spent in chopping on his farm ; he boarded at Mr. 
Cortland Hill's, who had moved into Bengal only a few 
months before. After putting up a log cabin on his land 
he kept bachelor's hall, and his only cooking utensil was a 
kettle, which served for baking, boiling, and frying. A 
large clean chip took the place of a plate. Two years after 
settling in Riley his sister, Mrs. William Hayes, and her 
liusband moved in and occupied his house, thus relieving 
the lonely hours of his hermit life. His log cabin stood on 
the southeast corner of his farm ; but choosing a more de- 
sirable site he erected a second cabin, thus leaving the first 



500 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



one to be occupied successively by tbe settlers moving into 
tbe town. He was frequently employed to look up and 
locate land for speculators. When not thus engaged he 
was at work clearing up and improving his farm ; as soon 
as a piece of land was cleared seed was sown, and the yield 
was abundant. More than once he drew his wheat to 
Detroit with an ox-team and sold it for fifty cents per 
bushel. The nearest grist-mill at first was at Ionia, twenty- 
two miles distant. Going to mill often took from three to 
six days. In chopping and clearing out the roads the early 
settlers expended a vast amount of labor. 

Mr. Boughton, having cleared the greater portion of his 
farm and erected comfortable buildings of all kiuds, set out 
for the State of New York, and on the 10th of December, 
1843, was united in marriage with Miss Lucretia Culver. 
They immediately departed for their home in Michigan. 
During his long residence of nearly forty years in Riley he 
was closely identified with the history, development, and 
growth of this section of Clinton County. lie possessed 
the confidence of his fellow-townsmen, and repeatedly filled 
the highest offices of the town. He died Feb. 16, 187G, 
at the age of sixty-four years, leaving a wife and eight 
children to mourn his loss.* 

In May, 1841, Philip P. Peck, his wife, and throe chil- 
dren, with Mrs. Peck's father, John Gunn, moved from 
Tecumseh (where they had lived four years) to Riley. 
After a tedious journey over bad roads, they found the 
road ended at Gordon Treat's clearing. After that the path 
or trail was by marked trees to Morris Boughton's clearing. 
When they came out on the clearing near where the school- 
house stands, Mr. Boughton was at work logging. When 
he saw the emigrants his joy was great, and ho invited 
them to his house and set before them the best it afi'ordcd. 
Having an unoccupied cabin standing near Jlr. Peck's land, 
he said, " There's a house for you, and there's your land." 
For the first year Mr. Peck worked some of Sir. Bough- 
ton's land on shares, and thus got along finely until he 
could clear some of his own land. That summer he put 
up a log house, size sixteen by twenty feet, covered with a 
shake roof, the floor of split timber hewed smooth, fireplace 
with clay back and clay hearth, the chimney built of sticks 
plastered with clay. This small house afforded a home 
and shelter to many emigrant families until such time as 
they could provide a cabin for themselves. The Indians 
shared their hospitality and became firm friends. This 
house stood a few feet west of their present residence. In 
the winter of 1844, Mr. Peck made ready to build a frame 
barn by drawing his lumber on sleighs from a saw-mill 
located at Muskrat Lake. The path was marked by blazed 
trees. A man named Chubb, from Lyons, was the master 
carpenter who framed and superintended it ; his pay was 
twelve pounds of maple-sugar for each day's work. In 
April all was ready for the raising. Assistance to raise 
the barn came from ten miles around. Everything was in 
good order, help was plenty, and the frame went up with- 
out any delay. Some seventy people, men and women, 
partook of the banquet which was served up after the 
raising ; all enjoyed the occasion and had a good time. This 

* Contributed by his son, Georgo E. Boughton. 



barn is still standing. The front part of their present resi- 
dence was built in February, 1800, the back part since that 
time. Of the three children who came with their father 
and mother, two are living. William lives on a farm about 
half a mile east ; Emma J. (Mrs. Henry Jones) died in 
1861 ; Amanda (Mrs. David P. BlLss) lives with her hus- 
band on the homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Peck are yet living, 
and have reached a ripe old age. 

Elkanah Peck, a brother of Philip P., with his family, 
moved from Tecumseh in October, 1841. They occupied 
the Boughton cabin until the next summer, wheri he built 
a log cabin on his land, which adjoined his brother on the 
east. Mr. Peck died in 1874, and his family moved to 
Kan.saa. 

Charles M. Thornton, wife, and family arrived in this 
town from Novi, Oakland Co., in 1838, and settled on sec- 
tion 34. His first house was a log cabin, but he proceeded 
to erect a frame house, which was the first in the town. 
After living here a few years he traded farms with his 
brotlrcr, then living in Novi, and removed there. 

Ezra Thornton moved in with his family about the year 
1844, stayed here a few years, and moved back to Oakland 
County. 

In 1839, Gordon Treat came to Riley and chopped five 
acres of land for Charles M. Thornton, and in the following 
year, in December, with his family, he moved in and took 
up their permanent residence on the farm — on section 28 — 
now owned by Mrs. Josiah E. Smith. Their first cabin was 
of logs ; the roof of logs hollowed out ; the roof was tight 
enough to keep out a wildcat, but admitted plenty of air, 
and was not snow-proof. This cabin stood near where the 
barn now stands. Its size was sixteen by eighteen feet. 
They lived in it six years, and then built a log house, size 
eighteen by twenty-four feet. It stood back of their present 
residence, which was built in 1863. Mr. Treat died in 
1859, leaving a wife and three children. Mrs. Owen, 
a daughter, died in 1877; L. H. Treat, now living in 
Gratiot County, was in the Twenty-third Regiment during 
the war ; Lucy 0. (Mrs. Gage) is living on the homestead 
with her mother, Mrs. Smith. 

Gabriel Cronkhite and wife, from Oakland County, settled 
on section 34 previous to 1841. Their sons, Watson, 
Jackson J., and Wa.shington, with their families, moved 
about the same time. Their married daughters, Mrs. C. 
M. Thornton, Mrs. Nathan Reed, and Mrs. Edwin Butt, 
lived near by. None of these families are in the township. 

Francis Franci.sco moved in from De Witt about 1841, 
and settled on section 34 ; afterwards moved to Olive, and 
died there. Robert McFall was here about 1841, stayed 
two or three years, and moved away. Elisou Campbell and 
family settled on section 35 about 1841 ; afterwards moved 
to Eagle in 1843. One son is living in Wacousta, and one 
in Eagle. Lloyd Worth, with his wife and four children, 
moved from Commerce, Oakland Co., about 1841, and 
bought land on sections 27 and 28. After staying six or 
seven years, moved back to their old home. 

Other settlers about the years 1840-41 were Charles 
Kellogg and family, from Ypsilanti, who settled on section 
14. Mr. Kellogg having to go back to Ypsilanti, left his 
family alone. The Indians became so lawless and trouble- 



RILEY TOWNSHIP. 



501 



some that Mrs. Kellogg took her children and went to the 
nearest neighbor for protection and safety. After living 
here a few years they moved to Berry County and settled 
on the Thornapple River. 

Parley and Robert B. Gardner became settlers on section 
3 about 1841. They stayed a short time, and moved away. 

John Reed and his sou Nathan (now in Lansing) were 
among the early settlers on section 30. John Reed built 
the first frame barn in the township. Nathan Case was a 
pioneer on section 34, and is still living, though very old 
and infirm. Benjamin F. Nichols, with his wife and child, 
from Farmington, Oakland Co., moved in and settled on 
section 6 about 1843. He bought one hundred and twenty 
acres, stayed a short time, and moved back to Oakland 
County. 

Constant Shaw and wife moved from Novi, Oakland Co., 
in 1843. He settled on the northwest quarter of section 
35. His first work was to chop and clear about ten acres 
of his land. He erected a log house which stood till 1879, 
when it was taken down to make room for the main part 
of a new frame dwelling. Mr. Shaw died in 1855, Mrs. 
Shaw in 1879. The homestead is now occupied by their 
daughter, Mrs. Jerome Cardinal. 

The following names show who were resident tax-payers 
in 1841, giving the sections iu their order and the number 
of acres owned by each person : 

Acres. 

P.arley Gardner, section 3 80 

Robert U. Ganliier, section 3 40 

Morris Houghton, section 7 160 

Cliurles Kelioj^g, section 14 IGO 

Alwel! Simmons, sections 25-30 140 

Henry Williiuns, section 27 100 

I-loyd Worth, sections 27, 28 240 

Gordon Trent, section 28 80 

Francis Francisco, sections 33, 34 60 

Gabriel Cronkhite, section 34 40 

.1. J. Cronkhite, section 34 40 

Nathan Case, section 34 60 

S. W. Cronkhite, section 34 80 

Charles M. Thornton, sections 34, 35 240 

Itobcrt McFall, section 35 70 

Elison CampbcM, section 35 10 

Nathan lleeJ, section 30 160 

The assessment-roll for 1844 will show the changes in 
the township in three years : 

Acres. 

William Davis, section 3 80 

Benjamin F. Nichols, section 6 120 

Archibald Uiley, section 6 80 

Morris Bou;;hton, section 7 160 

I'hilif. P. I'eck, section S 120 

Flkanah Peck, Jr., section 8 80 

Elkanah Peck, section 8 40 

James II. Chant, section 14 80 

Joseph Cook, section 25 80 

George Cook, section 25 , 50 

Atwell Simmons, sections 25, 30 178 

Thomas Ferris, section 27 80 

James J. Foreiiian, section 27 80 

Daniel C. Smith, sections 27, 28 240 

Gordon Treat, section 28 80 

Kphraiin II. Phillips, section 33 8il 

Francis Francisco, sections 33, 34 60 

Nathan H. Case, section 34 60 

Nathan E. Jones, section 34 160 

Ezra Thornton, sections 34, 35 190 

William Burrett. sections 34, 35 280 

Lyraan Ilungcrford, section 34 160 

Elison Campbell, section 35 10 

CoDstiint Shaw, section 35 IfiO 

John Reed, section 36 160 

John M. Apthoq) 80 

Charles Reed — 

\y Joseph Cook, born in Vermont in 1790, emigrated to 
/nAvoii Springs, N. Y., and from that place to Riley in the 



fall of 1842, accompanied by his wife and seven children ; 
one son, George H., was married. They all settled on sec- 
tion 25, on one hundred and thirty acres. Mr. Cook was 
on land now owned by P. R. Freeman ; George H., on land 
now owned by his brother, A. B. Cook. George H. moved 
back to the State of New York after living here three or 
four years. Mr. Cook and his son George were the first 
shoemakers in the town. Joseph W., a son, died unmar- 
ried ; he held the office of justice for several years. Char- 
lotte (Mrs. Newman) is not living. Abigail (Mrs. P. R. 
Freeman) is living on a part of the homestead. Amariah 

B. married Amina Simmons. Sally died young. William 
H. H. was in Third Michigan Cavalry, and died at New 
Madrid, Mo. A. B. Cook's children are Eraeline S. (Mrs. 
Dills), living at home ; Viola (Mrs. Pike), living on section 
30 ; Ida 0., living at home. 

Lyman Hungerford,a native of Oneida Co., N. Y., with 
his wife and daughter emigrated to Riley in September, 
1843, and settled on section 34, having bought the north- 
east quarter in July, 1836. He built a log house in the 
usual backwoods style. Mrs. Huiigerford died in 1863. 
Of three children one is living, a son, William W. ; lives 
on section 27, acro.ss the road from the old homestead (now 
owned by Augustus Robinson). He married Miss Ann 
Tracy, and they have two sons and one daughter. Mr. 
Lyman Hungerford has been honored by his fellow-towns- 
men by having been elected supervisor thirteen times, and 
has also held other offices in the town. 

Nathan E. Jones and family, from Novi, Oakland Co., 
arrived at the site of their future home, on section 34, in 
the year 1843. He bought his land of Leland Green, who 
took it from government in July, 1836. The children who 
came in with their parents are Henry J., living at Dimon- 
dale, Eaton Co. ; Nathan E., Jr., lives on a portion of the 
homestead ; Nancy (Mrs. Peck), lives near Boughton 
school-house; Andrew J., lives in Watertown; AVilliam J., 
lives in Watertown ; Albert, lives in the centre of this 
town ; Frank, lives in Watertown. 

Henry Jones and wife moved from Novi to Danby, Ionia 
Co., where they lived nearly three years, and then moved 
to Riley in .January, 1848, having bought land of Daniel 

C. Smith, who had made a small clearing and erected a log 
house ; they lived in this till he built the present frame resi- 
dence in 1862. The children are Adojphus, married and 
lives on the homestead, and is the present postmaster of 
South Riley; Ella (Mrs. William Burritt), lives about a 
mile southwest ; Catharine M. (Mrs. Fields), died in 1874. 

Ephraim H. I'liiliips was an early settler on section 33. 
He came from Plymouth, Wayne Co., a single man, cleared 
some of his land, built a log house, and went back and 
married. He died on his place. His widow married Wil- 
liam Burritt. A son, Alonzo Burritt, lives on the farm. 

William Burritt was an early settler on sections 34 and 
35, owning two hundred and eighty acres. 

Among the later settlers were Jacob Miller, wife, and 
family, from Wayne Co., Ohio, iu 1852. He bought his 
land of Jacob Carli.sle and Samuel Hungerford, paying for 
the southeast (juarter of section 27, bought of Hungerford, 
six hundred dollars. The log house was built by Carlisle, 



502 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



who was the first carpenter to locate in the town. In 1862, 
Mr. Miller erected his present substantial dwelling. Ben- 
jamin P., a son, lives on the rise of ground just east of his 
father, in a neat and tasty farm-house. William, another 
son, lives in Watertown ; Septimus M. lives on a farm ad- 
joining on the north ; James lives in Matherton, Ionia Co. ; 
Luciuda (Mrs. Cardinal) lives about half a mile north. 

David P. Wilcox came to Michigan from Haddam, Mid- 
dlesex Co., Conn., and located a farm in Homer, Calhoun 
Co. ; then went back for his family and brought them out 
to reside in their new home. Here they lived till March, 
1854, when poor health obliged him to sell his farm and 
seek another location. Thinking that the climate of Kan- 
sas might benefit him, he went there. It did not suit ; then 
Iowa was tried. While there he purchased five hundred 
acres of land. Becoming convinced that there is no better 
State than Michigan, he came back with the intention of 
locating in the Grand River country. In June, 1854, he 
was exploring the lands in Riley, and finding the school sec- 
tion to his mind, purchased one hundred and sixty acres, 
for which he paid four dollars per acre. In July he moved 
in with his fiuuily, and had to chop out and underbrush 
the road from the corner near the cheese-factory south to 
the place where he built his log house, which stood on the 
farm where his daughter Aurelia (Mrs. Chapman) lives. 
Another daughter (Mrs. Robinson) lives on section 34, on 
a farm bought of L. Hungerford, on which is built the 
first and only brick dwelling-house in the town.ship. In 
18G4, Mr. Wilcox removed to St. Johns and engaged in 
the hardware business. Afler remaining there eight years 
he went back to form-life, having built a handsome resi- 
dence on section 17. He built this spring (1880) one of 
the finest barns in the town. He has been engaged about 
twenty years in raising the sliort-horn breed of cattle, and 
has one of the best herds in the county. 

The question of whose was the first marriage in the town- 
ship being difierontly answered by many of the old pioneers 
now residing in the township, it was referred to Mrs. Jo- 
siuh E. Smith, who gave the following reply : " My first 
recollection of a wedding in Riley township is that of Char- 
lotte Cook and Moses Newman, also of Nancy Reed and 
Willard Brooks, and the ceremony was performed by my 
first husband, Gordon Treat, then a justice of the peace." 

The first birth in the township was that of Stephen 
Thornton, son of Charles M. and Harriet Thornton. 

The first death was that of a child of Lloyd Worth. 
The first burial-ground in South Riley was that on section 
35, on land given by William Yerkes and deeded to four 
trustees about 1845. The first burial was that of a man 
named Ingalls. 

The North Riley cemetery was taken in hand by an as- 
sociation organized Feb. 28, 18G7, and reorganized April 2, 
1879, with the following ofiicers: President, Cortland Hill ; 
Clerk, S. N. Hildreth ; Treasurer, C. N. Plowman ; Sexton, 
F. W. Benjamin. 

The first person buried in this cemetery was Mrs. Han- 
nah Peck, whose remains were brought here in 1847. 
They were first buried in a farm-lot. 



Riley was originally covered with a dense forest, consist- 
ing mainly of ash, ba.sswood, beech, elm, cherry, oak, 
maple, and walnut. The woods are leveled now, and thin 
screens of trees but veil the fields beyond. To-day, aside 
from speedy transit and neighbors near, the work of chop- 
ping and clearing is continued, and the northern portion of 
this State has territory in its natural condition. The work 
of clearing lands was plain, hard work. The choicest oak, 
walnut, and cherry were cut in logging lengths and burned 
on the ground. Ox-teams were everywhere used. It was 
common for a farmer who had no yoke of cattle of his own 
to go and help his neighbors get the log-heaps in place for 
burning, and when ready, they would come and give him 
a log-rolling. Often the settler, having spent the day at a 
logging-bee, has passed the night in kindling up and keep- 
ing his log-heaps burning. In those spring days the woods 
were often dark with smoke, and lurid fires by night gave 
to the scene a weird aspect. If the season, far advanced, 
did not admit full clearing, the various crops of corn, 
pumpkins, turnips, and potatoes were planted irregularly 
amidst the blackened logs. There was no hoeing needed, 
but it was necessary to go through and pull up or cut 
down the fire-weed, which sprang up. numerous and rank 
on newly-cleared ground. It was soon exterminated with 
a few successive crops. By some, wheat and rye were 
sown after corn, but generally a special piece was cleared, 
sowed, and harrowed in. Farming was in a crude state, 
and hoes and drags were the ircplemcnts for putting in the 
crop. The drag was made by the settler himself 

The first consideration of the pioneer was a shelter for 
himself and family. The house was built somewhat in this 
wise. Its walls were of logs notched together at the corners, 
and the openings between chinked and plastered with clay 
or mud ; its floors of puncheons or split logs, with the flat 
side up ; roof made of bark, hollow logs, or shakes ; the 
partitions were formed by blankets hung up ; the door was 
hung on wooden hinges, and fastened with a wooden latch 
opened from the outside with a cord or string, and the 
" latch-string was always out ;" its windows were often of 
white paper to let in light, and well greased to shod the 
rain and make it nearer transparent. The fireplace reached 
nearly across one end ; its back, sides, and hearth were, in 
the absence of stones, made of clay or mud plastered about 
one foot thick, and baked hard by the fire ; two sticks of 
the proper crook rested one on either end of the wall and 
against a beam overhead, forming the jambs, and upon 
these rested the chimney, made of sticks and clay mortar, 
very wide at the bottom and tapering to the top, serving 
the purpose of both chimney and smoke house. When a 
fire was to be built in winter a log six or eight feet long 
and two or three feet in diameter was brought in and rolled 
on the fireplace, this was called the back-log ; next came a 
smaller log, which was placed on the top and called the back- 
stick ; then came two round sticks six or eight inches in 
diameter and three feet long, the greenest that could be 
found ; these were placed endwise against the back-log, 
and served for andirons ; upou them was placed the fore- 
stick, and between this and the back-log were piled dry 
limbs and wood, and the fire applied. The fire thus built 
would last, with a little attention, a whole day. In the 



KILEY TOWNSHIP. 



503 



fireplace were hooks and trammel, the bakc-pan and the 
kettle ; at the side of the room and about it stood a plain 
walnut or cherry table and splint-bottom chairs, and tiie 
easy high-backed rocker ; upon the shelf were spoons of 
pewter, blue-edged plates, cups and saucers, and the earthen 
tea-pot. In one corner stood the old-fashioned high-post, 
corded bedstead, covered with quilts, a curiosity of patch- 
work and laborious sewing each one, the ever-present 
spinning-wheel, and not unfrequently a loom. In the ex- 
pressive language of another it can truly be said, " When 
it is seen what difficulties the pioneers had to encounter, — 
at the dense forest tliat covered the soil, — at the cost of 
marketing their products, — we can only marvel at the im- 
provements that have been made. Year by year, under 
the sturdy blows of the axe, the forests have receded and 
the fruitful fields taken the place of the mighty wilderness. 
Hard work was their lot, — their only guarantee of success." 
From a pioneer address we quote : " Brave, strong, earn- 
est, honest men were these pioneers. Those named do not 
deserve mention more than many others, only they hap- 
pened to be among the first. As fathers of the township 
they merit the warmest words of commendation, — grateful 
remembrances. They laid, broad and firm, the foundations 
of present prosperity, which is rich with the promise of 
future progress. Their monuments are in the fields made 
fertile by their labor, in the golden harvests and the waving 
corn, and in the orchards that they planted." 

THE FIRST HIGHWAYS. 

The Dexter trail (so called) was cut through in May, 
1833. Mr. B. 0. Williams, in a paper read before the State 
Pioneer Society, Feb. 6, 1878, says: "In the early part of 
May, Judge Dexter, with a colony of eight or ten families, 
arrived in wagons with horses, oxen, and cows at the Kech- 
e-won-dau-gon-ing reservation, en route for the present site 
of Ionia, on the Grand River. Having tried in vain to 
get a guide, Mr. Dexter and others came to us for help. I 
left our planting, taking my blankets and small tent, and 
in six days landed them at Ionia, looking out the route 
and directing where the road was to be. This was the first 
real colonizing party we had ever seen, myself having never 
been farther than De Witt (the Indian village). I then 
procured Mack-e-ta-pe-na-ee (Blackbird) to pilot me past 
Muskrat Lake and Creek, and from there proceeded with 
the party." 

This trail entered the town of Riley at the southeast 
corner of section 35, and went in a northwesterly direction 
through 35 and 26 to its northwest corner ; thence diago- 
nally through sections 22 and 16 into section 8 at its south- 
east corner ; thence through section 8 into the southwest 
corner of section 5, and into and throiigh the northeast 
corner of section 6, wlicre it joins the State road that now 
runs through section 31 in Bengal. As the country be- 
came settled and fenced this trail was discontinued, and the 
State road, which ran in nearly the same direction, was 
worked and became the highway. This road after leaving 
the section-line road began on section 28 ; running north 
forty rods, it bore off in a northwesterly course through sec- 
tion 28 across the northeast corner of section 21) ; thence 
across section 20 and across the northeast corner of section 



19 into section 18 to the half section-line; thence on that 
line about forty rods ; thence in a northeasterly direction 
about forty rods it enters the present (juartcr section-line 
road; thence north on that road till it enters the town of 
Bengal. This road, where it ran in a northwesterly course 
through sections 28, 29, 20, 19, and 18, was taken up 
about ten years since. 

ORGANIZATION AND LIST OF OFFICERS. 

The act organizing the township of Riley was approved 
March 15, 1841. It provides that " All that part of the 
county of Clinton designated in the United States survey 
as township No. (5 north, of range 3 west, be and the same 
is hereby set off and organized into a separate township by 
the name of Riley, and the first township-meeting therein 
shall be held at the house of Charles M. Thornton, in said 
township." In conformity with this act, the first township- 
meeting was held at the house of Charles M. Thornton, in 
April, 1841, and the township ofiicers were elected. The 
records of that first election having been destroyed by fire,* 
it is impossible to give the names of the ofiicers then elected. 

The second township-meeting was held at the house of 
Charles M. Thornton, April 7, 1842. The whole number 
of votes cast was twenty-four. The following persons were 
elected to fill the various ofiices of the town : Supervisor, 
Atwell Simmons ; Town Clerk, Nathan Case ; Treasurer, 
Charles M. Thornton ; School Inspectors, Morris Boughton, 
Atwell Simmons, Daniel C. Smith ; Commissioners of 
Highways, Morris Boughton, Nathan Reed, Samuel W. 
Cronkhite ; Directors of the Poor, Atwell Simmons, Charles 
M. Thornton ; Justices of the Peace, Morris Boughton, J. 
J. Cronkhite (vacancy) ; Constables, Philip P. Peck, Nathan 
Reed. 

The township officers of Riley elected annually from 

1843 to 1880, inclusive, have been the following-named, 

viz. : 

1843. — Supervisor, Morris Boughton ; Clerk, Ephraim H. 
Phillips ; Treasurer, Daniel C. Smith ; School 
Inspectors, Joseph W. Cook, Atwell Simmons ; 
Justices, Joseph Cook, Gordon Treat, P. P. Peck. 

1844. — Supervisor, Morris Boughton ; Clerk, Ephraim H. 
I'hillips; Treasurer, Daniel C. Smith; School 
Inspector, Lyman Ilungcrford ; Justice, Lyman 
Ilungerford. 

1845. — Supervisor, Lyman Ilungerford ; Clerk, William 
B. Burritt ; Treasurer, Constant Shaw ; School 
Inspector, Richard I. Burt; Justice, Constant 
Shaw. 

1846. — Supervisor, Lyman Ilungerford ; Clerk, Joseph W. 
Cook ; Treasurer, Constant Shaw ; School In- 
spectors, L. Ilungerford, M. Boughton; Justice, 
Philip P. Peck. 

1847. — Supervisor, Philip Burritt; Clerk, Jacob Carlisle; 
Treasurer, Constant Shaw ; School Inspector, 
Philip Burritt ; Justice, Joseph W. Cook. 

1848. — Supervisor, Lyman Ilungerford; Clerk, Henry 
Jones; Treasurer, Constant Shaw; School In- 

* The township records wcro kept at the house of J. J. Cronkhite, 
deputy clerk, nud were burned with the house, July I, 1S41. 



504 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



spector, Benjamin F. Nichols ; Justice, P. Bur- 
ritt. 

1849. — Supervisor, L. Hungerford ; Clerk, Henry Jones; 
Treasurer, P. Eurritt ; School Inspector, P. 
Burritt ; Justices, Philip P. Peck, Henry Jones. 

1850. — Supervisor, L. Hungerford ; Clerk, Henry Jones ; 
Treasurer, Henry F. Jones ; School Inspector, 
L. Hungerford ; Justice, Philip Burritt. 

1851. — Supervisor, L. Hungerford; Clerk, Henry Jones ; 
Treasurer, Morris Boughton ; School Inspector, 
P. Burritt; Justices, Joseph Cook, William 
Hildreth. 

1 852. — Supervisor, L. Hungerford ; Clerk, Henry Jones ; 
Treasurer, Henry F. Jones ; School Inspector, 
L. Hungerford ; Justice, William B. Hildreth. 

1853.— Supervisor, Philip Burritt ; Clerk, Philip P. Peck ; 
Treasurer, Constant Shaw ; School Inspector, 
Philip Burritt ; Justice, Henry Jones. 

1854. — Supervisor, P. Burritt; Clerk, P. P. Peck; Treas- 
urer, Henry Jones ; School Inspector, Constant 
Shaw ; Justices, Ansel Chapman, Ray G. An- 
drews. 

1855. — Supervisor, Henry Jones; Clerk, P. P. Peck; 
Treasurer, Henry F. Jones ; School Inspector, 
Philip Burritt ; Justices, P. P. Peck, Atwell 
Simmons. 

1856. — Supervisor, Henry Jones; Clerk, P. P. Peck; 
Treasurer, Henry F. Jones; School Inspectors, 
Edwin H. Pratt ; Shubael Vincent. 

1857. — Supervisor, David P. Wilcox ; Clerk, Henry Jones ; 
Treasurer, Henry F. Jones ; School Inspectors, 
An::el Chapman, Harvey Nutting ; Justice, 
Henry Jones. 

1858. — Supervisor, Henry Jones; Clerk, P. P. Peck; 
Treasurer, Henry F. Jones ; School Inspector, 
L. Hungerford ; Justice, Homer Chase. 

1859. — Supervisor, L. Hungerford; Clerk, P. Burritt; 
Treasurer, Morris Boughton ; School Inspectors, 
William B. Owen, Ezra L. Tracy ; Justices, 
Cyrus B. Pratt, John S. Hildreth. 

18G0. — Supervisor, Homer Chase; Clerk, P. Burritt; 
Treasurer, Morris Boughton ; School Inspector, 
Smith N. Hildreth ; Justices, Joseph Cook, 
Homer Chase. 

18G1. — Supervisor, L. Hungerford; Clerk, Ransom M. 
Brooks; Treasurer, M. Boughton; School In- 
spector, Harvey C. Nutting ; Justice, H. C. 
Nutting. 

1862. — Supervisor, Lyman Hungerford; Clerk, P. Bur- 
ritt ; Treasurer, M. Boughton ; School Inspec- 
tor, L. Hungerford ; Justice, Ansel Chapman. 

1863.— Supervisor, L. Hungerford; Clerk, P. Burrritt; 
Treasurer, M. Boughton ; School Inspector, 
Smith N. Hildreth ; Justices, Cyrus B. Pratt, 
Isaac M. Molineaux, Phineas II. Freeman. 

1864. — Supervisor, Morris Boughton ; Clerk, William B. 
Owen ; Treasurer, James Hodges ; School In- 
spector, Horace Wixon ; Justice, Phineas R. 
Freeman. 

1865. — Supervisor, Horace Wixon ; Clerk, Amuii R. 



1866.—; 



1867.- 



1868.- 



1869.—; 



1870.— I 



1871. 



1872.— I 



1873.- 



1874.- 1 



1875.—; 



1876.- 1 



1877.—; 



1878.- 



1879.- 



Boss ; Treasurer, Henry F Jones ; School In- 
spector, S. N. Hildreth ; Justices, P. 11. Free- 
man, Rufus B. Pratt. 

Supervisor, M. Boughton ; Clerk, William H. 
Chaddock ; Treasurer, C. B. Pratt ; School In- 
.spector, P. Burritt ; Justices, Horace Wixon, 
James Hodges, Matthew Williams. 

Supervisor, Henry Jones ; Clerk, William H. 
Chaddock; Treasurer, C. B. Pratt; School 
Inspector, Charles W. Hildreth ; Justices, R. 
M. Brooks, Josiah D. Wickham, William L. 
Davis. 

Supervisor, Henry Jones; Clerk, A. R. Boss; 
Treasurer, H. F. Jones ; School Inspector, P. 
P. Peck ; Justices, P. P. Peck, Ephraim Case. 

Supervisor, M. Boughton ; Clerk, Calvin Ingram ; 
Treasurer, S. N. Hildreth ; School Inspector, 
Stephen S. Gage ; Justices, James Hodges, An- 
drew J. Halsted. 

Supervisor, L. Hungerford ; Clerk, Calvin Ingram ; 
Treasurer, Byron S. Pratt ; School Inspector, A. 
C. Robinson ; Justices, A. Halsted, Adam Kin- 
caid. 

Supervisor, Henry Jones ; Clerk, A. R. Boss ; 
Treasurer, Amariah B. Cook ; School Inspector, 
John R. Kimball ; Justices, Holland Sias, C. 
W. Hildreth, William Frost. 

Supervisor, A. R. Boss; Clerk, Lafayette Fenton ; 
Treasurer, Amariah B. Cook ; Justices, John 
P. Bladden, P. P. Peck, John Q. Benedict. 

Supervisor, L. Hungerford ; Clerk, L. Fenton ; 
Treasurer, Charles N. Plowman ; School In- 
spector, Charles W. Hildreth ; Justice, Elam 
Cutter. 

Supervisor, William H. H. Knapp ; Clerk, L. 
Fenton ; Treasurer, Amariah B. Cook ; School 
Inspector, J. B. Knapp ; Justice, Richard 
Baylis. 

Supervisor, William H. H. Knapp ; Clerk, L. 
Fenton ; Treasurer, A. B. Cook ; School Inspec- 
tor, M. Boughton ; Superintendent of Schools, 
George E. Boughton ; Justice, Jacob Miller. 

Supervisor, William H. H. Knapp ; Clerk, Thomas 
H. Jones ; Treasurer, A. B. Cook ; School In- 
spector, John Pingel ; School Superintendent, 

A. R. Boss ; Justice, John P. Madden. 
Supervisor, William H. H. Knapp ; Clerk, T. H. 

Jones ; Treasurer, A. B. Cook ; School Inspec- 
tor, John Pingel ; School Superintendent, George 
E. Boughton. 

Supervisor, W^illiam H. H. Knapp; Clerk, L. 
Fenton ; Treasurer, Charles N. Plowman ; School 
Inspector, John II. Boss ; School Superintend- 
ent, John W. Keeny ; Justices, Roderick I. 
Foot, John Wandel. 

Supervisor, William H. H. Knapp ; Clerk, Robert 

B. Peabody; Treasurer, Charles N. Plowman; 
School Inspector, H. L. Pratt ; School Superin- 
tendent, John W. Keeny ; Justices, Walter M. 
Cronkhite, S. N. Hildreth, John H. Boss. 



RILEY TOWNSHIP. 



505 



1880.— Supervisor, William H. H. Knapp; Clerk, Charles 
Dane; Treasurer, Henry W. Bliss; School In- 
spector, Albert Whitaker ; School Superintend- 
ent, George E. Burnes ; Justices, Henry Jones, 
John Wandel, Albert Whitaker. 

RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 

Wherever the smoke of the settler's cabin rose, there 
soon came the circuit preacher bound on his mission of 
good. 

Traversing trail and forest-path, he found cordial wel- 
come everywhere. The first of these pioneer preachers was 
a man named Jackson, and his first meeting in the township 
was at the house of Charles M. Thornton. 

The North Riley class, Methodist Episcopal Church, was 
organized about 1842, at the house of Philip P. Peck, by 
a preacher from Lyons. The members were very few. 
The class was reorganized in 1863-64, by Revs. L. M. 
Garlick and C. Chick. The members were P. P. Peck and 
wife, M. Boughton and wife, J. H. Patterson and wife, 
John Jay and wife, William Owen and wife, S. N. Hildreth 
and wife, Lydia Hildreth, John Hildreth, Elizabeth Ben- 
jamin, and Mrs. Temple; their meetings were held in the 
Boughton school-house. That winter. 1863-64, there was 
a revival, which added some forty to the class. The fol- 
lowing fulfilled their mi.ssion here from 1864 to the present 
time, 1880 ; William Jenkins, James Roberts, Joseph Wil- 
kinson, F. I. Bell, William McKnight, J. S. Harder, H. B. 
Nichols, S. Snyder, and the present pastor, Rev. L. M. 
Garlick. The present membership is twenty-one. 

The Baptist Church of Riley and Bengal was formed 
June 8, 1878, by Loren Benton, Alvin Winogar, John S. 
Sturgis, Charles W. Benton, and Jonathan Walker. They 
met at the school-house in Bengal (fractional No. 1), and 
chose E. M. Ney chairman, Loren Benton secretary, and 
James M. Chapman, L. Benton, and A. Winegar trustees. 

SCHOOLS. 

The first school in the township was taught by Mary 
Smith in a log house which had been occupied by Wash- 
ington Cronkhite. The second school was taught by Mary 
Ann Shears in the log dwelling which J. J. Cronkhite 
erected after his first house was burned, July 1, 1841. 
There was a school just over the line in Watertown, 
taught by Mrs. Bet.sey Maconiber, in 1842; it was located 
in the Thornton and Ferris neighborhood. There have 
been so many changes in districts that it is difiicult to fol- 
low or designate their boundaries with any certainty. 

District No. 1 (Boughton school) has a frame school- 
house situated on the noitheast quarter of section 7. The 
report for 1878-79 gives 41 children of school age, 34 in 
attendance ; frame school-house, value §400, will seat 50 
pupils ; 1 male teacher (winter term), pay §112 ; 1 female 
teacher (for summer term), pay $64 ; resources for year, 
«:512.4G. 

District No. 2 (Jason school) has quite a handsome 
frame school-house, built in 1872 (finished with a bell, 
cupola, and blinds to the windows), situated on the .south- 
east quarter of section 10. The report for 1878-79 is as 
follows: 45 children, 38 attending school ; frame school- 
64 



house, seating 60 pupils, value $1300 ; 1 male teacher 
(winter term), pay $120; female teacher (summer term), 
pay $36 ; resources, $267.79. 

District No. 4 (Jones school) has the only brick school- 
house in the town. It was built in 1878, and is valued 
at $1000 ; seating capacity, 60 .scholars ; children in dis- 
drict, 57 ; attending school, 35 ; pay of male teacher for 
winter term, $100 ; female teacher, summer term, received 
$44 ; resources for the year 1878-79, $492.61 ; school- 
hou.se situated on section 34. 

District No. 5 (Kincaid school) has a small frame house 
situated on the northeast corner of section 32 ; seating ca- 
pacity, 40 pupils ; in attendance, 50 ; value of school-house, 
$500; 1 male teacher employed; pay, $213; resources for 
1878-79, $376.15. 

District No. 6 (Wilcox school) has a handsome frame 
school-house (similar in finish and appearance to the Jason 
school), erected in 1878 and situated on section 17. The 
report for 1878-79 gives the following: children, 78 ; at- 
tending school, 65 ; 1 frame school-house ; value, $1000 ; 
will seat 60 scholars ; 1 female teacher employed ; pay, 
$136 ; resources, $546.31. 

Fractional district No. 1 (Riley and Olive) has a small 
old frame school-house situated a short distance west of 
Atwell Simmons' residence. The report for 1878-79 gives 
69 children ; 30 attending school ; value of house, $100 ; 
seats 50; 1 male teacher; pay, $140 ; 1 female teacher; 
pay, $64 ; resources, $254.50. 

District (fractional) No. 2 (Riley and Olive) has a neat 
frame school-house situated on the southeast corner of sec- 
tion 13. School report for 1878-79 shows 52 children; 
46 attending school ; frame school-house, value, $600 ; 
seats 60 ; 1 male teacher ; pay, $84 ; 1 female teacher ; 
pay, $42 ; resources, $266.27. 

The following names appear on the records as teachers in 
this township to 1860 : Martha Lowell, Hannah J. Young, 
Dorr K. Stowell, Addis E. Lloyd, Indiana Walton, Mary 
Ann Shear, Betsey Macomber, Charlotte Ferguson, Miss 
T. Alexander, Eleanor S. Macomber, Ann Cain, Mr. Mon- 
tague, Mary Daniels, Frances E. Lloyd, Cyrus Pratt, Cor- 
nelia N. Daniels, Elizabeth Tucker, Joseph Berry, Smith 
Hildreth, Mary J. Partridge, Rebecca Burk, Mary Moore, 
Mary Weber, William E. Barber, William H. H. Knapp, 
Harvey C. Nutting, Helen Humphrey, Lucy M. Whitaker, 
Jjmma D. Badger, Mary Austin, Emeline Heacox, Miss 
Kincaid, Arminda Bartow, Mary Ann Hayes, Catharine 
H. Stevens, Martha Howard, Rhoda B. Wilber, Byron H. 
Pratt, Augusta Fink, Leonard Travis, Clinton J. Hill, 
Mary Reynolds, Martha Cokeland, Angeline Reynolds. 

POST-OFFICES. 

The Riley post-office was established about 1855. Jon- 
athan Owen was the first postmaster. His successors have 
been Philip P. Peck, John N. Hildreth, and the present 
incumbent, S. N. Hildreth. 

The South lliley po.st-office was established about 1857, 
with Nathan E. Jones, Sr., postmaster, succeeded by Au- 
gustus Robin.son, Nathan E. Jones, Jr., and the present 
postmaster, Adolphus E. Jones. 



506 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



SAW-MILL. 
The first stationary saw-mill in lliley was built on section 
25 about 1875 by Henry Harlow & Co. The partner was 
killed by being accidentally thrown upon the saw. The 
machinery was removed to Woodhull, Shiawassee Co., and 
set up in a mill built on the Chicago and Lake Huron 
Railroad. 

PATKONS OF HUSBANDRY. 

KORTU RILEY GRANGE, No. 342, 

was organized March 19, 1874, Col. Richard Baylis being 
the first Master ; Morris Boughton, Overseer ; Cyrus B. 
Pratt, Lecturer ; George H. Peck, Steward ; S. N. Hil- 
dreth. Chaplain ; Cory Owen, Treasurer ; H. L. Pratt, Sec- 
retary ; John Pingel, Gate-keeper; Mrs. Eunice E. Baylis, 
Ceres ; Miss Lucretia Temple, Pomona ; Miss Hattie 
Boughton, Flora ; Mrs. Adelia ^^'alters, Lady Assistant 
Steward. 

SOUTH RILEY GRANGE, No. 456, 

was organized under dispensation, June 11, 1874. They 
have a grange hall adjoining the brick school-house on the 
east side. 

FOREST HILL CHEESE-FACTORY, 

owned and operated by a stock company, was organized in 
the spring of 1874, and the factory erected. The building 
is in size thirty by eighty, and cost, with machinery, twenty- 
four hundred dollars. It stands on the northeast corner of 
section 17. 

The stockholders are D. P. Wilcox, Horatio S. Bliss, 
Henry L. BlLss, Sidney J. Bliss, David P. Bliss, Stebbins 
C. Bliss, Bliss Temple, J. M. Dane, Henry Jones, Chris- 
tian Jacobs, Andrew J. Chapman, Frederick Oding, 
John Pingel, Charles Walters, and A. R. Boss ; President 
of the company, D. P. Wilcox ; A. R. Boss, Secretary. 



AGRICULTURE AND POPULATION. 

The United States census of 1860 gives the following 
exhibit. There were owned in the town 94 horses, 248 
milch cows, 110 work-oxen, 617 sheep, and 485 swine. 
j The yield of grain, etc., was 3653 bushels of wheat, 7536 
bushels of corn, 4367 bushels of oats, 2758 bushels of po- 
tatoes, 2469 pounds of wool, 26,900 pounds of butter, 
2430 pounds of cheese, 876 tons of hay, 41,486 pounds 
of maple-sugar. 

The United States census of 1870 shows the increase of 
the products of the township over the census of 1860. Of 
horses there were 222 ; cows, 302 ; oxen, GO ; sheep, 1830 ; 
swine, 355 ; pounds of wool, 8935 ; pounds of butter, 
41,345 ; bushels of wheat, 17,382 ; bushels of corn, 9985 ; 
bushels of potatoes, 7340 ; bushels of oats, 16,245 ; tons 
of hay, 1410 ; pounds of maple-sugar, 9505. 

The State census of 1874 exhibits the gain over the 
census of 1870. Wheat on ground, 2249 acres; wheat 
cut in 1873, 1741 acres, which yielded 29,239 bushels ; 
corn; 20,073 bushels ; potatoes, 3634 bushels ; tons of hay, 
1651 ; pounds of wool, 7793; pounds of butter, 53,373 ; 
pounds of cheese, 6500 ; pounds of maple-sugar, 19,247 ; 
horses, 375 ; oxen, 152 ; cows, 636 ; swine, 604 ; sheep, 
2149. The census of cereals for 1877 shows 2452 acres 
of wheat cut, which produced 61,747 bushels. The wheat 
on the ground in 1878 was 3306 acres, which would give 
(as estimated) an average yield of 83,245 bushels. 

In 1847, Riley had a population of 134, which had in- 
creased in 1854 to 400. In 1860 the enumeration gave 
607 souls in 122 families. There were 142 dwelling-houses 
and 106 farms occupied. The State census in 1864 showed 
641, showing a gain of only 34 in four years. The census 
of 1870 gave 1139, an increase in six years of 498. The 
next four years only 24 were added to the population, mak- 
ing for 1874, 1163. The United States census for 1880, 
just completed, gives the number of inhabitants at 1469, 
a gain in six years of 306. 



RILEY TOWNSHIP. 



507 



BIOGEAPHIOAL SKETCHES. 




LYMAN HUNGERFORD. 



Lyman Hungcrford was born in the town of Paris, 
Oneida Co., N. Y., Aug. 1, 1812. His tatlicr, Orin 
Hungcrford, was a native of tlie Green jNIountain State, 
and was born in (he town of Puwna!, Bennington Co., 
in 1790. He was a blaeivsmith by trade, and removed to 
Oneida County about 1808, where he resided until 1816, 
when he removed to Jefferson County and purchased a farm 
in the town of Henderson, where lie resided until his 
death, which occurred in 1868. He married Jliss Abigail 
Morgan in 1811. She was born in the town of Pownal, 
in 1789. They reared a family of nine children, — si.x boys 
and three girls, — Lyman being the eldest of the family. 
The elder Hungcrford was an energetic and successful 
farmer of liberal and progressive ideas, and in all re.'ipects 
a valuable citizen. His wife was one of tlio.sc thrifty 
hou.sewives of the olden time. She spun and wove the 
cloth from which the family clothing was made, and reared 
her children to habits of industry and thrift. Lyman 
acquired what was at that time considered a good educa- 
tion. His life up to the age of twenty-one was spent upon 
his father's farm. On attaining his majority he started for 
him.self, working as a farm hand during the summer, and 
teaching during the winter. In 1836 lie purchased from 
the government the northeast fjuarter of section 34. 

In 1838 he was married to Miss Sarah Nutting, of 
Henderson. She was born in 1815. In 1843, Mr. Hun- 



gerford came West with his (iimily, and settled upon the 
farm which he had previously purcha.sed. Riley was at 
this time an almost unbnjken wilderness; his purchase was 
heavily timbered, and the con.struetion of a farm was an 
undertaking involving years of hard labor and privation. 
The life of Mr. Hungcrford has been a success in all that 
the word implies. He has secured a well-won competency, 
and has attained an enviable position among his fellow- 
citizens, by whom he is fully appreciated for his integrity 
and ability. He has been placed in various positions of 
trust, notably among the number that of supervisor and 
magistrate. The oflBce of supervisor he filled acceptably 
for over eleven years. In all matters of county legislation 
he took broad and liberal positions, and among his brother 
supervisors he was esteemed, not only for his gentlemanly 
deportment, but for sterling common sense and sound judg- 
ment. As a magistrate his decisions were always imjiartial, 
and evidenced much legal acumen. Mr. Hungcrford reared 
a family of three children, only one of whom is now living, 
William W., wlio was born in the town of Riley, in 1844, 
and is living on a place which was presented to him by his 
father. 

Accompanying this biography may be seen the portrait 
of Mr. Ihingcrfoid, which is indicative of generosity and 
hospitality, and is evidence of a positive character and a 
well-balanced mind. 



508 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 




PHILIP P. PECK. 



If the future generations are asked the question, " Who 
has done the most for America, the pioneer or the inventor 
of tlie telegraph, the locomotive, the steamboat, or the 
many great inventors of the present or any other age?" we 
believe the answer will be, '• The Pioneer." Without him 
there would have been no need of locomotives or steam- 
boats, no cities to connect with the telegraph-wire, and no 
use for the labor-saving machinery we see on every hand. 
Of the pioneers of Clinton County there are none deserving 
of more credit than Philip P. Peck, of whom this is a 
brief history. He was one of a fomily of six children, 
and was born in Danbury, Conn., Nov. 23, 1802. When 
he was fourteen years old his father, who was a shoemaker, 
moved to Seneca Co., N. Y^., where the family resided 
fourteen years, and where young Philip learned his father's 
trade. Arrived at his majority he started out in life for 
himself, locating first at I^odi, in Seneca County. But 
having no means with which to start, he found a hard road 
to travel. He then became an itinerant shoemaker, going 
from farm to farm and making up the yearly supply of 
.shoes for the families where he stopped, as was the custom. 
After several years spent in wandering he married, and 
then emigrated to Huron Co., Ohio, where he bought fifty 
acres of unimproved land, on which he did but little 
clearing, as his trade engrossed the most of his time. 
Soon after his arrival iii Ohio, his brother joined him and 
opened a cooper-shop. Philip's health becoming impaired 
by too close application to the bench he (juit his trade, and 
then for four years worked at the cooper's trade. Becoming 
dissatisfied with the progress he was making he sold his fifty 
acres, and with two os-teams started for Michigan, locating in 
Tecumseh, Lenawee Co., where he bought forty acres of land. 



but did not work it, as his recovered health made it possible 
for him to again work at his trade, which he followed four 
years; then sold out and again wended his way westward, 
this time locating in Ililey township, Clinton Co. There were 
then but few families, and Mr. Peck's arrival was hailed 
with great pleasure by Mr. Boughton, who was living a 
bachelor on his farm, which was near Mr. Peck's. He had 
previously built a small house near Mr. Peck's farm, into 
which he at once invited Mr. Peck and his family, and 
where they resided many years. The house, though small, 
was always the home of any new-comer, and families of 
eight and ten were often entertained for weeks until their 
own houses could be built. The Indians, too, always found 
a welcome beneath his roof and at his table, and were 
always warm friends of the family. Years have passed, 
and the wild land he then bought is now a well-improved 
farm, which is surrounded by the homes of the many 
thrifty farmers of Riley, all of which Mr. Peck has lived 
to see, and towards which he has contributed more than 
his share. And now in the seventy-eighth year of his age 
he is enjoying the comforts his life of toil has brought 
him. He has always stood high in the estimation of his 
fellow-citizens, and has nearly always held some ofiBce in 
his town, having been justice of the peace thirty years in 
succession, and town clerk five years ; also county superin- 
tendent of the poor two years. He was in early life converted 
to the Methodist faith, and is now a member of that church. 
There have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Peck the following 
children: William B., born Oct. 14, 1825; Emma J., 
March 12, 1827; and Amanda M., June 23, 1833, who 
married David P. Bliss, July 30, 1853; their children 
are Eva, born July 0, 1854, and Huron S., April 22, 1801. 





.JONATHAN OWEN. 



Among tlie patriot.s of tlie Revolution was ("ol. 
Jesse Owen, father of tlie subject of this memoir. 
He was a brave soldier and an intrepid commander. 
He served with distinction throughout tiiat .sanguin- 
ary struggle, and at the close of the war settled in 
Orange Co., N. Y., where Jonathan was born, April 
1, 1805. He lived with his father, who was a farmer, 
until he was twenty-two years of age, when he mar- 
ried Mi.ss Ijydia Bennet, who was born in New Jer- 
sey in 1804. In 1805 the family removed to Tomp- 
kins Co., N. Y., where the mother died. 

In 1845, Mr. Owen emigrated with his family to 
Michigan, and settled in the town of Riley, where 
he purcliased one hundred and twenty acres of new 
land on .section 18. The pioneer life of Mr. Owen 
was one of peculiar privation and hardship; he was 
poor and was obliged to work for three shillings per 
day to support his family, but being a man of in- 
domitable [)erscverance and energy he overcame the 
obstacles that beset his way, and not only accumulated 
a competency, but established a valuable record as a 
citizen. 

In his religious belief he was a Baptist, and 
carried his religion into iiis everyday life, and its 
precepts were his guide in all transactions. Politi- 
cally, he was a Republican. 



MKS. .JONATHAN OWEN. 

JONATHAN OWEN. 

He died April 10, 18(i6, at his home in Riley, in 
the sixty-first year of his age. He had been closely 
identified with the best intei-ests of the town for over 
twenty-one yeai-s. He owned at the time of his 
death a fine farm of four hundred acres, over two 
hundred of which were iinpi-oved. He had erected 
commodious building.s, and pos.sessed all the appoint- 
ments of a well-conducted farm. He was the father of 
a family of nine childi-en, viz.: Betsey, born Sept. 
1, 1827; William B., born June 22, 1829; Mary, 
born July 27, 1831; Jane, born Aug. 24, 1833; 
Joseph B., born Sept. 17, 1835; John, born May 6, 
1837; Je.s.se C, born Aug. 18, 1839; Rebecca A., 
born March 19, 1844; Caroline C, born Nov. 21, 
1847. Of the above all are living, with the excep- 
tion of Betsey, Mary, and John. The latter enlisted 
in Co. A, Twenty-third Michigan Volunteer In- 
fantry, and died in hospital at Bowling Green, Ky., 
Dec. 1, 1862. Jesse C. was a member of Co. G, 
.same regiment. 

Accompanying this brief biography may be seen 
the porti-aits of Mr. and Mrs. Owen, placed in this 
volume by tiieir children as a monument for the per- 
petuation of their memory, and as a .slight acknowl- 
etlgment of what they diil in the development of 
the town. 



VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 



509 



CHAPTER LXIV. 
VICTOR TOWNSHIP.* 

General Description — The Pioneers of the Township and its Settle- 
ment — The Indian Chief Chippewa — Lists of Early Tax- Payers 
and Voters — Township Organization — List of Township Officers — 
Post-Offices — Ilighways — Religious History — Schools. 

Town 6 north, in range 1 west, named Victor, i.s one of 
the eastern border towns of Clinton County. North it has 
Ovid, soutli is Batli, cast Shiawassee County, and west the 
township of Olive. 

Originally the town consisted of oak-openings, with some 
marsh-lands on the west, and a generally even surface except 
on the east, where the country is inclined to be hilly. The 
soil is exceedingly productive, and, illustrative of the esteem 
in which it is held, the language of one of Victor's most 
prosperous farmers testifies that the soil of the town " will 
produce just what you put the crop in for." Much of the 
acreage is given over to the cultivation of wheat, of which 
the average yield in the best portions reaches twenty-five 
bushels to the acre, while in some instances forty bushels 
have been yielded. Victor is moreover an excellent sheep- 
raising town. In 1879 the sheep sheared numbered four 
thousand three hundred and eighty-six, and the wool-clip 
twenty-five thousand eight hundred and ibrty-seven pounds. 
The number of sheep reported in 1880 aggregated four 
tliousand nine liundred and sixty-six. 

The Looking-Glass River, an exceedingly crooked .stream, 
passes through the southern part of the town from east 
to west, but affords no power that can be utilized to 
profitable advantage. Round Lake, a handsome sheet of 
water, covering about one hundred and fifty acres upon sec- 
tions 28 and 29, was at one time a very popular resort for 
anglers, picnic-parties, and pleasure-seekers in general, but 
latterly its attractive features have faded by neglect, although 
there is still much thereabout that invites the attention of 
the rambler. 

The town has no village, nor has it yet any business 
interests save those of agriculture. The line of the Jack- 
son, Lansing and Saginaw Railroad crosses the southeast 
corner of Victor, but has no station therein. 

THE PIONEERS OF THE TOWNSHIP AND ITS 
SETTLEMENT. 

Until the summer of 1836 the township now called 
Victor contained no white settlers. At tiiat time one 
Welcome J. Purtelo effected on the southwest quarter of 
section 31 the pioneer clearing. Although he did not 
discover his error until some years afterwards, ho settled 
upon land belonging to other parties, but adjoining his 
own. Unconscious of his mistake he worked and im- 
proved that place, set out an orchard, and very materially 
enhanced its value, when there came to him the knowledge 
one day that he had been improving another man's land 
while his own had all that time been suffered to lie ne- 
glected. Partelo was of course chagrined and much dis- 
gusted when the revelation fell upon him, but as he was 
fortunately permitted to purchase the property at the price 



» By David Schwartz. 



of unimproved land, he escaped from the dilemma with 
considerable satisfaction, and continued to make his home 
where he had begun. Mr. Partelo was chosen the first 
supervisor of the township of De Witt in 1836, and occu- 
pied for some time a prominent place as a county official. 

Victor's second settler was Robert G. McKce, now and 
since 1860 a resident of Laingsburg, in Sciota. Mr. McKee 
located land in 1836 upon sections 25, 35, and 3G, and in 
the spring of 1837 began to make an improvement thereon. 
He was then a bachelor, and devoted him.solf chiefly to the 
business of surveying, but engaging a family to live on his 
place and clear it up, he " made a commencement" just as 
if he had himself taken literally hold of the pioneer busi- 
ness. Indeed, he did do considerable work in that direc- 
tion, although, as before remarked, he was dashing through 
the country much of his time with his surveying-party. 
Jlr. McKee's mode of lii'e brought him naturally into familiar 
contact with the roving Indians of that section, and he 
became in time their well-known and esteemed patron. 

The most important of the early settlements in tlie town- 
sl)ip were made, however, in June, 1837, when there came 
to Victor a company of three families, who.se respective 
heads were William Swarthout, John Parker, and Jesse 
Jamison, of whom the last named, still living in the town, 
is the only surviving member. William Swarthout. who 
was a man of means, had instructed his brother-in-law, 
Van Vleet, of Ann Arbor, to locate for him six eighty- 
acre lots in Victor, his purpose being to start a large farm, 
so that he might eventually apportion it to his sons, of 
whom he had six. Instead of locating the lots together, 
Van Vleet scattered them east, west, and north, much to 
Swarthout's aggravation, but the mischief being done he 
made the best uf it. The land location was made in 1836 
and the settlement in 1837, Swarthout's selection being 
made in section 23. 

The three families journeyed together from Seneca Co., 
N. Y., to Detroit, and there leaving the women and chil- 
dren, William Swarthout, Jesse Jamison, John Parker, and 
Swarthout's two .sons, Isaac V. and Layton, pushed ou 
westward ibr Swarthout's land in Victor. In short order 
they put up a shanty, and then William Swartliout returning 
to Detroit for their families, brought them out without much 
delay, and into the completed shanty all hands bunked until a 
house was built Ibr Parker on section 14. Then Jamison 
was provided with a habitation on section 22, and so all had 
in due season roofs over their separate heads. Jamison, 
the oldest living .settler now in the town, abides still on the 
spot where he put up his rude cabin. Parker's widow 
lives on the old Parker place. Swarthout tarried in Victor 
only two years, when lie removed to Ovid and there died. 

Jami-son, a blacksmith by trade, set up a smitiiy in 
pretty quick order, and although he was not equipped to 
do much skillful work, his presence and business becoming 
straightway known for miles around, he was abundantly 
besieged by settlers needing his services, and in many cases 
these needy ones came many miles to him for plow-points 
or such work as he could furnish. Soon afterwards Moses 
Smith settling upon section 2, opened a smithy there, and 
not long afterwards John Runciman started a similar shop 
near Round Lake, on the Grand River road, but to Jami- 



510 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



son belongs the distinction of " pioneer blacksmith of 
Victor." 

Returning to mention of Welcome J. Partelo, it is of 
interest to mention that lie raised the pioneer crop of wheat 
in the town and set out the first orchard, and that De Witt 
C. Partelo, his son, born in 1837, was the first born in 
Victor. William Swarthout, supposed generally to have 
been the first, was the second, the date of his birth being 
August, 1838. 

The first death in the town was that of the mother of 
John Parker. She died in the summer of 1839, and was 
buried upon John Parker's farm. D. S. Cotes dug the 
grave, and D. H. Blood delivered a prayer as the only 
funeral service, a minister being not readily obtainable. 

Nothing was done towards procuring a public burial- 
ground until the town-meeting of April 1, 1844, when the 
town board was authorized to purchase three suitable sites 
for burying-grounds ; and to pay for the land and breaking 
and fencing it fifty dollars were appropriated, eight dollars 
being also voted to build a pound on ground bought of 
Joseph Ilollister. From the town records it appears that 
William Brunson and Joseph Ilollister each received five 
dollars for half an acre of land to be used as a cemetery. 
Of these the one now on section 13 was laid out first. 

In February, 1839, D. II. Blood, a New Yorker, entered 
the town with his family — having already located land on 
section 13 — and took possession temporarily of a log house 
body put up in the fall of 1838 on section 10 by William 
W. and James Upton, who, at the time mentioned, had 
broken four acres on the place, put it into wheat, and re- 
turned to the East. Later on William W. came back to 
Victor, and resided in the township many years. He became 
subsequently an occupant of the supreme bench of Oregon, 
and now holds an important place in the treasury depart- 
ment at Washington. 

When Blood made his settlement there were already in 
the town W. J. Partelo, Jesse Jamison, R. G. McKee, 
Joseph Simpson, John Parker, Hugh Haggerty, William 
Swarthout, and Thomas Cross. When Bluod came in 
there was no grist-mill available short of Sliiawassectown, 
and during the first year of his stay he had to go to Capt. 
Scott's, of De Witt, to buy a grist, consuming a day to do 
it in, and after that using two days more to get his grist to 
mill and his flour home. 

Joseph Simp.sou, alluded to above, came with his family 
to Victor in 1838, to work some land on section 14 be- 
longing to his brother-in-law, D. S. Cotes, who came also 
with him, but returned eastward after lending Simpson a 
hand in clearing about three acres. Cotes came back in 
1841 for a permanent stay, and remained a resident of Victor 
until 1866, when he removed to his present home in Ovid 
township, to land first settled by one Zewick. Cotes i'ound 
in 1841 that Victor had quite a bevy of settlers, including 
Thomas Cross, Hugh Haggerty, John Parker, Jesse Jami- 
son, Ainsworth Reed, W. J. Partelo, R. G. McKoe, John 
Collister, Joseph Ilollister, James and Wentworth Calkins, 
Joseph Simpson, Daniel Blood, and Cyrus Robinson, who 
was on section 6, where Ephraim Trumbull had previously 
made a settlement. Samuel Treat boarded with Cotes a 
year, and then occupied a place on the southwest. 



About that time John Runciman, already spoken of, 
pitched his tent in section 28, near Round Lake, on the 
Grand River road, and opened business as a blacksmith. 
A brief experience in that field satisfied him that the busi- 
ness was neither profitable, pleasant, nor suited to his taste, 
and in disgust he gave up the venture and returned to 
New York. There he sold the Victor place to John Miller, 
who came out in 1844 expecting to find a clearing of fifteen 
acres on his new purchase, but found instead that some one 
had turned simply a couple of furrows, and as to clearing 
there was not sufficient to speak of. When Miller reached 
the spot with his family the old log house body built by 
Runciman was uninhabitable, and pending its restoration 
Miller moved into the house of Walter Laing, then owning 
a place one mile east, but just at that time working a farm 
in Bath for the widow Cushman. Walter Laing was a son 
of Dr. Peter Laing, of Laingsburg, and kept on the Grand 
River road in section 27 a house of public entertainment, 
where he dispensed whisky as the chief stock in trade. 
A house of public entertainment was also kept by Oliver B. 
Westcott in 1845. Previous to that time he kept tavern 
at Laingsburg. Miller's nearest neighbors were Jesse 
Jamison, two and a half miles northeast, and R. G. McKee, 
three miles east. There were at that time no lucifer 
matches, and on two or three occasions Miller had made 
trips to Jami.son's and McKee's in search of firebrands to 
restore his own expired fire. The business of walking five 
or sI.K miles every time his fire went out, and made the job 
necessary, set young John contemplating the possibility of 
obtaining fire by an easier method. Contemplation merged 
into determination soon afterwards when one Sunday morn- 
ing the family fire was out and a trip to McKee's stared 
him in the face. Ransacking the cabin he stumbled upon 
a piece of flint, and lo ! in a trice he had a fire, nor was he 
afterward called to repeat his former tiresome experiences. 
Robert McKee was the only man in the neighborhood who 
had a horse-team, and to him the people frequently turned 
for a lift when they wanted milling done. It was nothing 
uncommon for a settler to use four days in going to Shia- 
wassee to mill with ox-teams, and when the ground was 
frozen hard their oxen were of course valueless as motive- 
power. On such occasions McKee and his horse-team came 
in the guise of timely blessings. 

Mr. Miller recalls a bear-hunting incident in which he, 
McKee, and an Indian took part. They treed the bear, 
cut the tree down, and then, as his bearship was about to 
make off', Miller mounted him. Bruin struggled and en- 
deavored to lunch on his captor, who was, however, deter- 
mined to stick to him until assisted by his companions, but 
McKee, enjoying the fun too much to stop, yelled, " Hang 
to him. Miller, or he'll kill you !" Miller fretted and 
fumed and struggled with the bear until his apparent ex- 
haustion warned McKee to render assistance. With the 
aid of the others McKee got the bear down and tied, and 
took him up on his horse, the intention all along having 
been to convey the beast home alive. McKee had not gone 
far with his prize before the prize managed to offer a show 
of fight, and that time it was the gallant McKee who was 
fiightencd. The more frightened ho got and the more he 
called to Miller and the Indian to help him the nioic Mil- 



lb 

>1 



Co 








./■ 



/ 





I- 
i V> 




VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 



511 



ler cried out, " Stick to liim, Mac, or he'll kill you !" 
Presently the situation began to look serious, and then, to 
Mac's great relief, his comrades mastered the bear and got 
the alarmed McKee out of his trouble. 

When the Millers landed in the town they were very 
poor in provisions, and what few they did have were soon 
consumed. New Year's Day was at hand, and although 
they were bound to have a feast they hadn't a thing save a 
little corn upon which to found it. Foraging about the 
country, John managed to borrow a peck of potatoes, 
■which, although not much by way of a dinner, furnished at 
least a start towards one. There was no bread in the house, 
and a thirty -mile journey to mill wasn't to be thought of. 
The corn was, however, at hand, and that accordingly 
pounded was soon resolved into johnny-cake. Johnny-cake 
and potatoes comprised, however, the sum total of the com- 
ponent parts of the proposed New Year banquet, and as 
philosophy was just then one of the cardinal virtues and 
high in favor, they sat down gladly to a feast of potatoes 
and johnny-cake, and thanked heaven, no doubt, that their 
condition was no worse. Apropos of a scarcity of pro- 
visions, the year 1843, following upon what is still keenly 
remembered as " the hard winter," was an especially hard 
year for many pioneers. Many too poor to buy adequate 
supplies of food subsisted for days at a time upon berries 
and milk, while those who were considered exceedingly for- 
tunate struggled along on a diet of potatoes and salt. D. 
8. Cotes says he recollects a time when, there being a relig- 
ious gathering at his house and no flour in the larder, he 
set off on a cruise among the neighbors in search of a loan, 
and that he walked seven miles before he found a house- 
hold supplied with sufficient flour to spare enough for a 
baking. 

During the period between 183(5 and 183!), Ainsworth 
Heed traveled through Clinton, Shiawassee, and otiier 
Michigan counties selling goods, and made not only the 
acquaintance of about every pioneer on his beat, but pur- 
sued a proBtable industry. In 1839 he concluded he had 
had enough of wandering, and he therefore bought some 
land on section 13 in Victor, upon which he at once set- 
tled. In 1858 he bought on sections 21 and 22 a tract of 
land measuring one mile square, and to its improvement he 
addressed himself so earnestly that although he paid but 
three thousand three hundred and sixty dollars for the land 
in 1858, he was ofiered thirteen thousand dollars for it in 
1870. Upon that tract he cultivated two acres of cran- 
berries, and from the yield in twelve years he realized up- 
wards of five thousand dollars. There was not a stick cut 
upon his mile square in 1858, and when he built his house 
that year he had to go to Flint to get seasoned lumber 
for it. 

Among other of the earliest settlers in Victor not heretofore 
mentioned were William Kennedy and John Collister, who 
came in 1838, and Joseph Ilollister, who became a settler 
in 1841. Thomas Jami.son, brother to Jesse, made his 
home in Victor in 1843, and died in 1801. His widow 
lives now in Laingsburg. Dr. Isaac T. Hollister, brother 
of Joseph, visited Victor in 1847, and there being then no 
physician in the town, he determined to settle there and 



engage in the practice of medicine. For seventeen years 
he pursued his professional duties in Victor and the adjacent 
country, taking in a large circuit of territory and bending 
his efforts in an energetic way to the flood of demands 
which beset him from far and near. Doctors were rather 
rare in Michigan when he entered the field in Victor, and 
as ho was the first physician to locate in the town, he was a 
privilege and a luxury to the community, as well as almost 
constantly in demand. He was in almost constant practice 
to 1864, when he removed to Laingsburg, where he now 
lives in retirement. Dr. Aaron McKee came to Victor 
about 1860, and practiced in the town until his death. 
Victor's doctors have been, as noted, but the two named, — 
Hollister and McKee. As to the settlers who came to Vic- 
tor after the town began to be pretty well populated, a gen- 
eral allusion embraces the names of J. Y. Perkins, C. K. 
McKee, Warren Ives, Loyal Starr, Erastus Sprague, R. C. 
Grotliy, John Hibbard, John Beach, R. C. Arthur, J. D. 
Sleight, W. F. Potter, II. Cuddcback, and W. Montague. 

THE INDIAN CHIEF CHIPrEWA. 

Upon the farm of Hugh Swarthout in Victor the cu- 
riously inclined may observe the grave of an Indian chief, 
known as Cliippewa, who was at his death at the head of 
the roving .savages who infested the townships of Sciota 
and Victor much of the time during the pioneer era. 
Chippewa died of the smallpox, which in 1838 raged 
among the Indians thereabout as an epidemic. It is said 
that Chippewa, maintaining that he had discovered a new 
cure for the disorder, proceeded while severely ill to put 
his remedial measure into efiect by leaping into a cask of 
cold water. Unfortunately for his theory, his remedy simply 
hastened his death, for almost directly after applying it he 
expired. His burial-place is regarded with considerable re- 
spect, and there has latterly been talk of inclosing it within 
a paling, so that the spot maybe not only preserved from in- 
trusion but more conspicuously marked as an object of in- 
terest. Chip])ewa's son, Jackson, died also of the smallpox 
during the epidemic of 1838, and was buried on Daniel H. 
Blood's farm, where his bones still repose. 

LISTS OF EARLY TAX-PAYERS AND VOTERS. 

The resident tax-payers of town G north, in range 1 
west (now Victor), in 1839 were the following-named 
persons : 

Acres. 

Tliomiis M. Cross, section 2 147 

lluf^h Ilaggcrty, section II 160 

R. J. McKee, sections 25, 2f., .35,36 775 

.John Collistei*, sections 35, 36 16U 

C. Davis, 8((ction 27 80 

R. Finch, section 3B 160 

.Jesse Jiiniison, section 22 80 

Jolin Piirlior, section 1-1 80 

W.J. Partelo, section 31 215 

Joseph Simpson, sectiona 13, 14 100 

The jurors of 1846 were as follows: 

Grand. — William Brunson, Henry Post, Hugh Hag- 
gerty, D. II. Blood, Ainsworth Reed, John Parker. 

Pett't. — Samuel Millard, D. S. Cotes, Thomas M. Cross, 
John Collister, Thomas Jamison, Henry Buell. 

At the elections of 1844 and 1846 the voters were as 
below named : 



512 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Thomas M. Cross. 
W. Calkins. 
Hugli Haggerty. 
Moses Smith. 
Henry Buell. 
Jesse Jamison. 
Ransley Sutliff. 
William Letts. 
Samuel Millard. 
Jos. Hollister. 
David Groom. 
How Covert. 
P. B. Aldrich. 
Alonzo Groom. 
Phineas Partelo. 
John Miller. 
William BrunsoD. 
James Calkins. 
Reuben Rogers. 
J. H. Adams. 



1844. 

David B. Cranson. 
Isaac Parks. 
S. A. Mitchell. 
Joseph Simpson. 
David S. Cotes. 
Ainsworth Reed. 
Samuel Treat. 
Philo Finch. 
Joseph Hildreth. 
Henry Post. 
R. G. McKee. 
John Parker. 
John Collister. 
John Groom. 
W. J. Partelo. 
W. W. Upton. 
D. H. Blood. 
W. Laing. 
Thomas Jamison. 



1846. 



Henry Bnell. 

Henry Post. 
R. G. McKee. 
Willard Richards. 
John Parker. 
Thomas Jamison. 
Reuben Rogers. 
Jesse Jamison. 
Jacob Miller. 
Martin Heathiugton. 
S. A. Mitchell. 
Joseph Hollister. 
Christopher Heathington. 



John Groom. 
Ainsworth Reed. 
Samuel Millard. 
P. B. Aldrich. 
Samuel Calkins. 
Wentworth Calkins. 
D. H. Blood. 
Hugh Haggerty. 
Samuel Treat. 
John Collister. 
W. J. Partelo. 
David S. Cotes. 
Stephen Duzenberry. 



TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. 

Towns 5 and 6 north, in range 1 west, now known as 
Victor and Bath, were until March 9, 1843, joined under 
the township name of Ossowa. Legislative act, approved 
on the date mentioned, organized town 6 as Victor town- 
ship, and provided that the first town-meeting should be 
held at '' the school-house near Daniel Blood's." The town 
name was bestowed in accordance with a suggestion from 
William W. Upton and D. H. Blood, who came to Mich- 
igan from Victpr in New York State. 

The first election for township ofiBcials was held April 
15, 1843, Jesse Jamison, D. H. Blood, and William 
W. Upton being inspectors of election. The voters were 
twenty-six in number, as follows : William Letts, Isaac 
Parks, Aaron Groom, P. P. Peck, Robert Finch, John 
Groom, Jr., Thomas M. Cross, Joseph Simpson, Reuben 
Rogers, W. Calkins, James Calkins, John Groom, W. J. 
Partelo, David B. Cranson, Samuel Millard, How Covert, 
David S. Cotes, John Parker, Daniel H. Blood, David 
Groom, Ainsworth Reed, Henry Buell, John Collister, W. 
P. Partelo, Jesse Jamison, Hugh Haggerty. 

A caucus was held at "J. M. Blood's old place," and 
the candidates then selected were subsequently elected with- 



out opposition, since there was but one ticket in the field. 
The officers elected were : Supervisor, Samuel Treat ; Clerk, 
Henry Buell ; Treasurer, Ainsworth Reed ; Justices of 
the Peace, John Collister, Hugh Haggerty, W. J. Par- 
telo, John Groom ; Highway Commissioners, William Letts, 
Thomas M. Cross, John Parker; Constables, David Cran- 
son, P. P. Peck, Aaron Groom, W. P. Partelo; Poor- 
masters, Hugh Haggerty, William W. Upton ; School 
Inspectors, John Groom, Hugh Haggerty, William W. 
Upton ; Pathmasters, How Covert in district No. 8, David 
Cranson in No. 13, James Calkins in No. 7, David S. Cotes 
in No. 12, Jesse Jamison in No. 5, W. J. Partelo in No. 
4, John Collister in No. 6. 

Seventy-five dollars was voted for a town library; one 
dollar each on scholars between the ages of four and eight- 
een was ordered to be raised, and two hundred dollars were 
voted for contingent expenses. 

LIST OF TOWNSHIP OFFICERS. 

Beginning with 1844 and closing with 1880, the annual 
town elections in Victor have designated as supervisors, 
clerks, treasurers, and justices of the peace the following 
persons : 

SUPERVISORS. 



1844. S. Treat. 
18-)5-48. R. G. McKee. 
1849-50. T. Jamison. 
1851. R. G. McKee. 
1852-56. T. J.imison. 
1857. William Branson. 
1858-63. I. V. Swarlhout. 
1864-65. J. W. Becliwith. 
1866-68. I. V. Swaithout. 



1869. C. E. Hollister. 

1870. R.H. Hollister. 

1871. A. Reed. 

1872. R. H. Hollister. 
1873-75. S. E. Jones. 
1876-77. J. C. Branson. 

1878. R. Richmon.]. 

1879. J. C. Branson. 

1880. I. V. .Swartbout. 





CLERKS. 


1844. Vf. W. Upton. 


1864. C. E. Hollister. 


1845. J. H. Adams. 


1865. I. V. Swarthout. 


1846. S. Treat. 


1.866-67. A. Reed. 


1847. T. Jamison. 


1868. H. F. Alderton. 


1S4S. J. M. Blood. 


1869. A. Reed. 


1849. I. T. Hollister. 


1870. C. E. Hollister. 


1850. A. Reed. 


1871-72. F. W. Upton. 


1851. D. H. Blood. 


1873. L. Reed. 


1852. H. Hiiggerty. 


1874. H.Sprague. 


185.'!-54. I. T. Hollister. 


1875. L. Reed. 


1855-61. T. L. Swarlhout. 


1876-77. R. Richmond. 


1862. A. Reed. 


1878-79. C. B. Giffols. 


1863. J. Berry. 


1880. H. P. Barker. 




TREASURERS. 


1844-46. A. Reed. 


1868. J. Y. Perkins. 


1847-48. N. Bixby. 


1869-70. S. B. Upton. 


1849. P. B. Aldrich. 


1871-72. P. Taylor. 


1850. J. Jamison. 


1873. L.Starr. 


1851-61. A. Reed. 


1874. A. Reed. 


1862-63. T. L. Swarthout. 


1875. J. D. Sleight. 


1864-65. J. Upton. 


1876-77. W. F. Sleight. 


1866. J. Gibbard. 


1878-79. William S. Parker 


1867. J. Upton. 


1880. James Upton. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 

1844. H. Haggerty. 1851. William Brunsou. 

1845. J. Collister. 1852. A. Post. 

1846. T.Jamison. 1853. A. McKee. 

1847. William Branson. 1854. I. T. Hollister. 

1848. H. Haggerty. 1855. H. Haggerty. 

1849. J. Collister. 1856. S. Moon. 

1850. P. B. Aldrich. 1857. C. R. McKec. 












*"*> 






4 






"iy, 



r^P' 



It 



I* 
it . 



■ - ■' f -"• ■ 




VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 



513 



1858. 


I. T. Hollister. 


. 1870. 


I. T. Hollister. 


1859. 


J. C. Brunson. 


1871. 


J. W. Bockwith. 


1860. 


W. Ballentine. 


1872. 


D. J. Hill. 


1861. 


C. R. iMcKee. 


1873. 


J. C. Brunson. 


1862. 


I. T. Hollister. 


1874. 


I. T. Hollister. 


ISB.'i. 


D. P. Miner. 


1875. 


J. W. Beokwith. 


1864. 


I. V. Swarthout. 


1876. 


J. H. Oreen. 


1865. 


6. C. Fox. 


1877. 


J. C. Brunson. 


1866. 


E. Parker. 


1878. 


I. T. Hollister. 


1867. 


I. T. Hollister. 


1879. 


J. W. Beokwith. 


1868. 


R. Van Velsor. 


1880. 


G. A. Keller. 


1869. 


J. C. Brunson. 







POST OFFICES. 

In the winter of 1846, Henry Post prepared and circu- 
lated a petition asking the general government to establish 
a mail-route between Owosso and louia via the State road, 
and the creation of a post-oflBce on that road in Victor, 
the people of the town having beer) compelled previously 
to go to Laingsburg for their mail. July 1, 1847, the mail- 
route was opened and Victor post-office established, with 
Hugh Haggerty as postmaster. At a public meeting pre- 
vious to that it was decided to urge Henry Buell for post^ 
master, but his politics did not suit at Washington and the 
public request was ignored. 

The mail-service gave Victor a weekly mail which was 
never great enough to worry the brain of the postmaster, 
although small enough to put to rout any attempt at system 
in the internal arrangement of the office. Apropos of that 
declaration, Henry Post says that going one day to the 
office for a letter that Mr. Haggerty had informed him was 
awaiting his demand, he found only Mrs. Haggerty at 
home. Responding to his request, she began to hunt over 
the log cabin for the desired letter, and failing to find it 
either on the floor, behind the stove, or on the cupboard, 
impatiently exclaimed, " I should think Haggerty would 
keep the mail where it could be found !" Post emphatically 
agreed with her, and then joining her in a renewal of the 
search, finally unearthed the letter and bore it away in 
triumph. 

After Henry BucU the office passed in regular succession 
to Henry Post, J. C. Brunson, Ira Richards, Henry Post 
(second term), Thomas Beach, Jesse Woodhams, and J. C. 
Brunson (second term). Mr. Brunson, the present incum- 
bent, has held the office continuously since 1861. Mail is 
received twice a week over the route from Shepardsvillc to 
Geary. 

GEARY POST-OFFICE 
was established in 1857, through the efforts of John Miller, 
who was appointed postmaster. At a town discu.ssion as 
to a name for the office, an admirer of Governor Geary, of 
Kansas, suggested Geary, and Geary it was called. Jesse 
Jamison succeeded Miller, and in 1861 Ainsworth Reed 
receiving the appointment has held it ever since. 

HIGHWAYS. 

The Grand River road between Pontiac and Grand Rap- 
ids was the fir.st highway that Victor had, and existed for 
several years before the town was organized. It was a 
thoroughfare of considerable travel as early as 1837, and 
maintains now in the town about its original course, — almost 
a direct line between east and west through sections 25, 
26, 27, 28, 29, and 30. 
65 



Upon and near the State road traversing the northern 
portion of the town between east and west there were in 
1844 a considerable number of settlers. Indeed, upon that 
thoroughfare some of the earliest comers into the town 
made their homes. 

When Henry Post made his commencement upon that 
highway in section 10 in 1844, — having come to Michigan 
as early as 1831, — he found living thereon William W. 
Upton, Hugh Haggerty, Henry Adams, David and John 
Groom, Reuben Rogers, Henry Buell, Samuel Millard, and 
Jesse and Thomas Woodham. William Brunson was on 
section 9, and the next season R. SutliiF and J. C. Brun- 
son settled, — the latter upon the place earlier occupied by 
Henry Buell. In 1856, Elias Upton, with his .sons James, 
Josiah, and H. L , settled upon the old William Upton 
place, and about then came J. W. Beckwith and Jacob 
Gibbard,— the latter to a place on section 3 occupied in 
1866 by Henry Mulder. 

While town 6 was yet a portion of Owosso roads were 
laid out therein as follows : 

Nov. 6, 1839. — " Beginning at the quarter post on 
the we.st side of section 25, and running north on the 
section-line seven chains ; thence north forty degrees west 
six chains on said west line of section 25 ; thence north 
on the section-line to the northwest corner of section 25 ; 
thence north on the west line of section 24 for twenty- 
five chains; thence north on section-lines to the north 
line of the town." 

Nov. 20, 1839. — Beginning at the corners of sections 35 
and 36 on the south town line ; thence north sixty-seven 
chains, seventy links ; thence north to a stake on the section- 
line between sections 25 and 26 ; thence north to the 
quarter post between the last numbered sections. Begin- 
ning at the quarter post on the west line of section 11 ; 
thence east forty chains ; thence south and east to the 
section-line. 

Dec. 28, 1839. — Beginning at the northeast corner of 
section 6 in Ossowa and the southeast corner of section 36 
in Bingham, and running thence to the northwest corner 
of said section 6. 

Jan. 8, 1840. — -Beginning at the northwest corner of 
section 2, and running thence on the section line "to a 
point on the State road where said road is intersected by 
a road leading from William Swarthout's." 

Nov. 21, 1840. — Beginning at the northwest corner of 
town 6, and running south on the town-line to the south- 
west corner of section 6. Beginning at the quarter post 
between sections 23 and 24, and running thence west and 
south " to a .stake in the Round Lake road." Beginning 
at a point in the State road four and a half chains .south 
of the corners of sections 4, 5, 8, and 9, and running 
thence north on the section-line to the corners of sections 
5 and 6. 

March 3, 1841. — Beginning at the southeast corner of 
section 35, and running thence to a stake on the section- 
line between sections 25 and 26. 

March 24, 1842. — " Beginning eighteen and a half 
chains west of the twenty-seventh mile post in the State 
road leading from the village of Byron to the village of 
Lyons ; thence west forty-six and seventy-five hundredths 



514 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



chains ; thence north to an angle-post in said State road." 
Beginning at a stake three and sixty-one hundredths chains 
north of the quarter post on the west side of section 36, 
and thence north fourteen and a half chains ; thence north 
and east to a bridge over the Looking-Glass River. Be- 
ginning at a point sixty-one and thirty-two hundredths 
chains north of the southeast corner of section 31 ; thence 
north and east to the principal meridian. 

Dec. 27, 1844. — Beginning at the centre of the State 
road at the northeast corner of section 9, and thence run- 
ning south and west to the Grand River road. 

RELIGIOUS HISTOEY. 

In the fall of 1837 the disciples of Methodism sought 
the infant settlement in Victor near William Swarthout's, 
and at that period, in Mr. Swarthout's house, Bennett and 
Jackson, Methodist Episcopal missionaries, preached the 
first sermon heard in the town. They came to the town 
about once a month after that, and held public services 
wherever an available place could be found. In 1839 they 
were succeeded in the work by Rev. Mr. Blowers, who in 
that year organized the Blood Methodist Episcopal class at 
Mr. D. H. Blood's then residence, a log cabin owned by 
W. W. Upton. The organizing members numbered four : 
D. H. Blood, Susan Blood, Lydia A. Blood, and Ada Hag- 
gerty, D. H. Blood being class-leader. When Mr. Blood 
moved to the present " Blood neighborhood," the location 
of the class was also changed, and in his house services 
were held about once in two weeks until the completion of 
the school-house. The latter place served as a house of 
worship until the erection of the Blood church in 1863 on 
section 14. 

Since 1839 the Blood class has had a continuous exist- 
ence and has enjoyed public worship constantly. D. H. 
Blood and John Parker have been the cla.ss-leaders during 
nearly the entire period, D. H. Blood being now the leader. 
The first board of trustees chosen in 1863 was composed of 
D. H. Blood, T. L. Swarthout, Ralph Swarthout, and 
George Hibbard. The trustees serving in 1880 were Isaac 
V. Swarthout, Charles W. Blood, T. L. Swarthout, Ralph 
Swarthout, and George Hibbard. The class, which has a 
membership of forty-two, is on the Victor Circuit, in charge 
of Rev. Mr. Gray, who preaches at Blood's once in two 
weeks. 

FIKST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 

The first entry in the records of this church reads as 
follows : " I, Noah Cressy, of Portland, Me., minister of 
the gospel and missionary of the American Home Mission- 
ary Society, hereby certify that on Saturday, May 24, 1845, 
at the house of Henry Post, by the aid and advice of Rev. 
0. Parker, of Flint, Mich., I organized a Congregational 
church consisting of the following persons, who adopted 
the covenant and confession of faith : Henry Post, William 
Brunson, Eliza D. Post, Hoyt G. Post, Thomas Jenison, 
Mary Ann Brunson, and Porter B. Pierce." Henry Post 
was appointed moderator, Henry Post and Thomas Jenison 
deacons, and William Brunson stated clerk. 

Noah Cressy, although nearly eighty years old, was an 
earnest and energetic missionary worker, and after organi- 



zing the church served it as pastor two years, preaching for 
it once a month. During his ministerial labors in Michi- 
gan he was employed in a wide range of territory, over 
which he invariably journeyed afoot, in pursuance of a 
resolution taken in the East, where, happening to trade for 
a horse on a Sunday and the horse dying on his hands, he 
looked upon the circumstance as a divine rebuke. To do 
penance he determined to ride no more. Besides Victor, 
Mr. Cressy preached also in Duplain, Essex, and De Witt 
from 1845 to 1847. 

His successor was Rev. Sanford R. Bissell, who remained 
until 1848, in which year the church joined the Genesee 
Conference of Churches. Following Mr. Bissell the pas- 
tors were Revs. John Scotford, 0. M. Goodell, Fox, 

and William Mulder. Mr. Mulder, who is the present 
pastor, has been such since 1871. The place of worship 
has been at Brunson's Corners, in the district school-house, 
from the outset, and there meetings have been held since 
1845 with continuous regularity. The membership is 
forty-two. The deacons are J. W. Beckwith and Henry 
Mulder, and the clerk, Edward D. Post. 

VICTOR UNITED BRETHREN CLASS. 

This class was organized at the Reed School-House by 
Rev. Mr. Lee in 1865 with eight members, J. Y. Perkins 
being chosen leader. The Reed school-house was used for 
worship until 1877, when a neat church edifice was built 
just west of Reed's Corners. Since 1865 the class has met 
for public worship once every two weeks, and is now at- 
tached to Ovid Circuit, in charge of M. H. Sly. There 
are twenty members, of whom J. Y. Perkins is the leader. 

VICTOR CENTRE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 

Elder Wood, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held 
a revival at the Grove school-house in 1859, and after his 
departure Mr. Shiffer, a local preacher, organized at that 
place the Victor Centre Metliodist Episcopal Class, with 
eight members. Preaching has been held at that point 
fortnightly by the preachers on the Ovid Circuit, now in 
charge of Rev. Mr. Gray. The members number now 
thirty-eight. The leader is Truman Shattuck ; the stew- 
ards, Jacob Gibbard and William Briggs. The union 
Sunday-school, supported by the Methodists and Congrega- 
tionalists, is in charge of J. W. Beckwith, and has an 
average attendance of sixty scholars and eight teachers. 

SIXTH-DAY ADVENTISTS. 

A Sixth-Day Advent Church was organized by Elder 
Fox in 1876 at the Reed school-house, with a membership 
of about forty. Conjointly with the United Brethren the 
Adventists built a church west of Reed"s Corners in 1877, 
but for some reason they have latterly been denied the 
privilege of using it. Their place of worship is the Reed 
school-house, but they are at present without a preacher. 

SCHOOLS. 

The earliest school privileges ofiered to the children of 
Victor's pioneers were obtained in a basswood-log school- 
house, built on William Swarthout's farm in Ovid in 1839. 



VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 



515 



The first school-house in Victor was built on section 13 in 
1840, in which Phccbe Laing was the first teacher. At 
the first town-meeting in Victor, April 15, 1843, it was 
voted to raise one dollar for each scholar between the ages 
of four and eighteen, "to bo applied toward the payment of 
teachers." 

March 25, 1845, school district No. 1 was organized 
from sections 3, 4, 9, and 10. Fractional district No. 2, 
organized May 24, 1845, included the north halves of sec- 
tions 5 and 6 of Victor, and portions of the towns of Ovid 
Olive, and Bingham. No. 3 was formed in 1846, and May 
2, 1848, No. 4 was organized, " to commence at the quarter 
stake in the north line of section 22, running east to the 
northeast corner of section 23 ; thence north eighty rods ; 
thence east one hundred and sixty rods ; thence south 
eighty rods ; thence east to the northeast corner of section 
24 ; thence south to the southeast corner of section 25 ; 
thence west to the quarter stake on the south side of sec- 
tion 27 ; thence north to the place of beginning. A frac- 
tional district, taking in portions of Bath and Victor, was 
formed May 13, 1848. The apportionment of the primary- 
school fund, June 20, 1845, gave Victor $11.48. At that 
time the number of children in district 3 was given as 33. 
Apportionments in 1849, 1850, and '54 were made as fol- 
lows: 

1S4U. 

District. Scholars. Money. 

No. 1 18 $5.94 

" 2 18 5.94 

" 3 48 15.84 

" 4 25 8.25 

" 5 24 7.92 

" 6 4 1.32 

Totals 137 $45.21 

1850. 

No. 1 21 $7.14 

" 2 37 12.58 

" 3 50 17.00 

" 5 20 6.80 

Totals 128 $43.52 

1854. 

No. 1 $7.46 

" 3 12.59 

" 5 6.53 

" 6 2.10 

Total $28.68 

To the year 18G0, teachers' certificates were issued to the 
following : 

May 3, 1845. — Joseph H. Adams, who was also ap- 
pointed librarian. 

July 28, 1845.— Mary Smith. 

Nov. 1, 1845.— W. H. Blood. 

June 12, 1846.— Diantha F. Chaffin. 

Nov. 6, 1846.— J. C. Bronson. 

Dec. 8, 1846.— A. Frarey. 

June 29, 1847.— Mary S. HoUister. 

Dec. 11, 1847. — Margaret P. Johnson. 

Jan. 15, 1848.— Diantha Chaffin. 

Feb. 5, 1848.— R. G. McKee. 

April 29, 1848.— Polly Ann Woodhams. 

May 5, 1848.— Martha Gooch. 

July 8, 1848. — Emily Haggerty, Agnes Graham. 



Nov. 28, 1848.— I. V. Swarthout. 

Dec. 8, 1848.— Miss Ingersoll. 

April 14, 1849.— Mary E. Gooch. 

April 14, 1849.— Eliza HoUister. 

June 15, 1849.— Mi.ss Webb. 

May 9, 1849.— Miss E. Woodhull. 

Nov. 3, 1849.— Charles McKee. 

Dec. 13, 1849.— Hiram Van Vliet. 

May 8, 1850.— Helen E. Stephens. 

June 7, 1850. — Sarah Cross. 

Dec. 9, 1850.— R. G. McKee. 

Dec. 14, 1850.— Agnes Graham. 

April 21, 1851. — Maria Johnson. 

May 3, 1851.— Maria Moore. 

May 8, 1851.— Eliza HoUister. 

Nov. 1, 1851.— T. L. Swarthout. 

Dec. 9, 1851.— J. M. Fitch. 

May 10, 1852.— Miss Esler, Mary Parker. 

Dec. 6, 1852. — Frances E. Sherman, Phoebe A. Parker. 

May 6, 1853. — Miss E. L. HoUister, Margaret Jamison. 

Dec. 5, 1853.— Alanson Calkins. 

Jan. 12, 1854.— Ann Aldrich, Milinda Aldrich. 

April 8, 1854. — Achsah Blood, Emma Sprague. 

Nov. 4, 1854.-0. C. HoUister. 

Dec. 2, 1854. — Henry Carnahan, Mr. Du Bois. 

May 2, 1855. — Margaret Jamison, Helen White. 

Nov. 24, 1855.— Charles Tyler. 

May 3, 1856. — Armenia L. McClintock, Sarah E. Cross, 
Eleanor Hills. 

June 10, 1856. — Miss Loomis. 

Nov. 1, 1856. — Mr. Buggies. 

Nov. 15, 1856.— E. Beard. 

Dec. 19, 1856.— Charles Cross. 

Nov. 10, 1857.— E. Haggerty, A. HoUister, P. Taylor. 

Dec. 9, 1857. — William Brunson. 

Apnl 10, 1858. — Agnes Ballentine, Agnes Graham, 
Sarah Blood. 

May 3, 1858.— Sarah Cross. 

Nov. 6, 1858.— A. Collins, T. L. Swarthout. 

Nov. 15, 1858.— H. GaskiU. 

Nov. 20, 1858.— Henry Scott, Mr. Whipple. 

April 30, 1859. — Elizabeth Freeman. 

The annual school report for 1879 presented the sub- 
joined details : 

Number of districts (whole, 6; fractional, 2) 8 

" scholars of school age 346 

A'alue of school property $4235 

Teachers' wages $939 

• The school directors for 1879 were T. W. Curtis, C. E 
HoUister, John Buehlcr, T. Warren, W. S. Barker, Charle 
Gittles, M. Hand, and J. Ballentine. 



516 



HISTOEY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 





MRS. JOUN C. BRUNSOr*. 



JOHN C. BRUNSON. 



JOHN C. BRUNSON. 



Among the few Michigan pioneers who are so fortunate 
as to trace their ancestry back to the events of the good 
•ship " Mayflower" is Mr. Brunson. His progenitors on both 
sides are Revolutionary soldiers, his paternal grandfather, 
Amos Brunson, and his maternal grandparent, Benjamin 
Goss, having both been patriots in that early struggle for 
liberty. His father, Flavius J. Brunson, was bora April 
10, 1786, in Massachusetts, while the birth of his mother 
occurred in 1799, in East Bloomfield, N. Y. John C. 
recalls East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., N. Y., as the place of 
his birth, where he was born July 20, 1822, and passed 
through the usual monotonous experiences of the farmers' 
sons, — the summer being one of labor, while the winter 
was devoted to study. At the age of eighteen he repaired 
to the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, at Lima, N. Y., for 
two winters, and later to the East Bloomfield Academy. 
In the year 1845 he came to Michigan and purchased one 
hundred acres in the township of Victor, to which he sab-, 
sequently added fifty-four additional acres. The first five 
winters that he spent in Michigan he taught school in 
order to pay his way. On Nov. 21, 1849, he was married 
to Miss Mary S. Hollister, of Victor, the adopted daughter 
of Dr. T. T. Hollister, and the daughter of Newman Skiff. 
Mrs. Brunson was born Oct. 26, 1829, and afHicted at an 
early age by the loss of her parents, but found a welcome 
to the cheerful home of Dr. and Mrs. Hollister, residing in 
Victor, Ontario Co., N. Y., until seventeen years of age, 
and then came to Victor township, Mich., and taught 
school a number of terms. Mr. and Mrs. Brunson have 



had uo children, but have adopted two sons, both of whom 
are married and residing near the home of their adopted 
father. 

On his arrival in Michigan, Mr. Brunson's sole capital was 
three hundred dollars, which by industry and tact has been 
increased to a degree that places him in the rank of the 
wealthy and successful farmers of the county. Mr. Brun- 
son has a great taste for farming and horticulture, is a 
practical operator in these pursuits, and believes in using 
his surplus money in the erection of buildings and beauti- 
fying his grounds instead of putting it at interest. Mr. 
Brunson has ever been prominent in the politics of the 
county, and a leading and influential member, first of 
the Whig and latterly of the Republican party. He has 
always been an outspoken temperance man, advocating total 
abstinence, and has never used liquor or tobacco. ' His 
political record embraces the positions of supervisor for four 
terms, justice of the peace for twenty years, postmaster for 
twenty-two years, school inspector, highway commissioner, 
director and secretary of the Clinton County Agricultural 
Society since its organization in 1855, and president of the 
Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company. He was represen- 
tative in the State Legislature for 1873, has been presi- 
dent of Clinton County Pioneer Society, and was a member 
of the committee on education, a subject in which he has 
taken a deep interest. In politics he is an ardent Repub- 
lican, and in his religious views inclines towards the 
Congregational Church, of which Mrs. Brunson is an ex- 
emplary member. 



VICTOR TOWNSHIP. 



517 





WILLIAM S. I'AlllvKR. 



WHS. WILLIAM S. TARKER. 



WILLIAM S. PAllKEll. 

The parents of Mr. Parker, John and Sarah Parker, 
were natives of New York State, and were among the 
earliest pioneers of 1837 to the township of Victor, where 
their son was born on the home-farm in the year 1841. 
The country was at this time undeveloped, the scanty live- 
lihood of the settler was earned by the sweat of his brow, 
and the early years of William S. Parker were those of 
toil and exertion. These were varied by the usual advan- 
tages of a district school in winter until he attained his 
majority, when he entered the army and became a member 
of Company Gof the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. During his 
period of service, involving nearly three years, he was 
present at forty-nine engagements, and was wounded on 
four different occasions. On his discharge from the army 
and return to his home he was united in marriage to Miss 
Amanda, daughter of Daniel Blood, of the township of 
Victor. They have three children, — Isaac, Edna, and 
Frank. Mr. Parker after his marriage removed to his 
present home of one hundred and sixty acres, which at 
that date was unimproved and valued at ten dollars per 
acre. The labor and excellent judgment of its owner have 
developed a degree of productiveness which has increased 
the land in value to sixty dollars per acre. Mr. Parker is 
in politics a Kepublican, and although firm in his political 
convictions, is not aggressive in his views. 



MRS. SARAH PARKER. 

Mr. Elihu and Mrs. Esther Disbrow Cronk were the 
parents of thirteen children, of whom their daughter 
Sarah, the subject of this biography, born in Orange Co., 
N. Y., March 19, 1815, was the eldest. Her early years 
until the age of fifteen were devoted to school duties, at 
the expiration of which time she was employed to assist in 



household occupations on a neighboring farm ; and three 
years later was married to John Parker, of Romulus, 
Seneca Co., N. Y., who was born Nov. 27, 1804, in New 
Jersey, and became a resident of New York State at the 
age of five years. 

In 1837, Mr. and Mrs. Parker removed to Michigan and 
settled upon the Parker homestead, illustrated upon an 
adjoining page. They had eighty acres of land, for which 
one hundred and ten dollars were paid, the township having 
at that early period been wholly undeveloped. There were 
no j-oads, and an Indian trail guided them to their destina- 
tion. Mr. Parker died in 1863, leaving his wife a farm of 
two hundred and sixty acres, and a cash balance of four 
hundred dollars. The land, Mrs. Parker, with the assist- 
ance of her sons, who may be spoken of as men " temper- 
ate in all things," and especially opposed to liquor and 
tobacco, has brought to a high degfee of productive- 
ness, and made correspondingly valuable. Her children 
are located as follows: Mrs. Phoebe Hill at Ovid; Mrs. 
Mary Swarthout at Victor ; Epson and William at Victor ; 
and the remaining five, P]dwin, Charles, Harriet, Martha, 
and Newell, at the homestead with their mother. Each 
member of the family is industrious and frugal, and exem- 
plifies in the character developed the judicious and careful 
training of the parents. 



EPSON PARKER. 



The subject of this biographical sketch is the son of 
John and Sarah (Cronk) Parker, and was born in Seneca 
Co., N. Y., in 1836. His parents were cheered by the 
presence of thirteen children, of whom Epson was the 
third in order of birth. The farm was the scene of the 
labors of his early years, where he remained until the age of 
twenty-three years, attending the neighboring school during 



518 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



A 



intervals of respite from labor, and thus securing a ftiir 
education. 

In 1837, together with two additional families, his 
parents became pioneers to Victor township, which at that 
early date alForded few evidences of civilization. In the 
year 1859, Epson having found a congenial companion in 
Miss Julia Coats, of the same township, was married. 
Mrs. Parker's birth occurred in St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., 
and her advent to Michigan when but a mere infant, her 
parents, David J. and LyJia Coats, having been influenced 
by the advantages Michigan offered to pioneers at an early 
day. Mr. and Mrs. Parker have had seven children, — A. 
W., Jessie F., Emory L., P]mily L., Nellie A., J. D., and 
R. D., the latter of whom is deceased. 

Mr. Parker is in politics a Republican, though not an active 
partisan. He is a man of temperate habits, and exemplifies 
in his life the principle of " moderation in all things." Both 
he and his wife have been for many years active members 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are now connected 
with the Society of the United Brethren. He has also 
been for several years superintendent of the Sabbath- 
school. 



C. R. McKEE. 

Mr. McKee was of Scotch parentage, and was born in 
Arlington, Vt., June 12, 1825. His father, Aaron 




C. R. McKEB. 

McKee, was a physician, and died at the age of eighty 
years, and his mother at seventy-four. The early days of 
the subject of this biography were passed under the paternal 
roof, in pursuing his early studies, teaching, and filling 
the position of clerk. At the age of twenty-four his father 
gave him a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Victor, to which he removed, and began the work of the 
early pioneer, — that of transforming the wilderness into 
productive fields. After the preliminary labor of clearing 



had been accomplished he returned, and was marrried to 
Miss Mary A. Valentine, who was the daughter of Daniel 
and Nancy Valentine, and was born in Washington County 
in 1831. They had four children, — Mrs. Mattie Osborn, 
of Owosso, Mary, Edward, and James, Edward having en- 
tered the Agricultural College at Lansing, from which he 
graduates in 1881. Mr. McKee was a Republican in poli- 
tics, and was for a period of twelve years elected justice of 
the peace of his township, which oSice he filled with signal 
ability. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. McKee were members of the Baptist 
Church, and exemplified in their lives the teachings of the 
gospel they professed. Their attractive home was the abode 
of refinement and intelligence not less than of industry and 
frugality. 

AINSWORTH REED. 

Mr. Reed is one of many descendants of Revolutionary 
stock resident in the township of Victor. His father, 
Nathan Reed, a Revolutionary hero, was born in Rutland, 
Mass., while his mother, whose maiden name was Miss 
Lydia Smith, was also a native of Massachusetts. Ains- 
worth resided upon the paternal estate until fourteen years 
of age, when he became ambitious for an active business 
career and engaged as a clerk. This embraced a period of 
eight years of his life, after which he established himself 
as a peddler of dry goods and notions, the goods he sold 
having come principally from the Canadas. During this 
period he traversed the entire State of Michigan, became 
familiar with its territory, and having been impressed with 
the superior quality of the land of Victor township, pur- 
chased a farm on its eastern border. He was soon after 
married to Miss Mariette George, daughter of Eziba George, 
of New York State. The land was little else than a forest 
at this time. The market for wheat was found at Poutiac, 
involving a journey of sixty-seven miles, and prices were 
scarcely commensurate with the distance traveled. Mr. 
Reed later sold and removed to a point known as Geary 
Post-Office, nearer the centre of the township and more 
accessible. Here he purchased a large tract of land and 
erected a new and substantial house. 

Mr. and Mrs. Reed have seven children, named as fol- 
lows : Leroy, Louisa, Ernest, Ellen, Julia, Watson, and 
Estella. Mr. Reed has held the commission as postmaster 
for a period of twenty years, has been township treasurer 
for eighteen years, township clerk for seven years, and 
filled many minor township offices. He is one of the three 
oldest settlers in the township, and regarded as one of its 
foremost citizens. 



JAMES UPTON. 



The family of Uptons are of New England extraction, 
and intimately associated with the war of independence. 
Elias Upton repaired to Boston during the war of 1812 
to defend the city against the British. This gentleman 
was born in Charlemont, Mass., March 22, 1793, and 
followed agricultural pursuits during his lifetime. His 
wife, formerly Miss Tryphina Hathaway, was a native of 



C) 

o 



! 







WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



519 



Buckland, Mass., and born Sept. 21, 1795. The birth of 
their son, who is the subject of this sketch, occurred in 
Heath town.ship, Mass., on the 27th of February, 1821, 
having been the fourth in a family of ten children. 

His early education was not an exception to that of most 
sons of farmers, the labor of the fields having been varied 
by the scenes of the district school in winter. At the age 
of eighteen he learned the trade of a carriage-maker, serv- 
ing an apprenticeship of three years in Charlemont, after 
which it afforded him an occupation for six years, and also 
engaged his attention for two years in New Hampshire. 
He married, at the age of twenty-three, Miss Julia H. 
Woodbury, daughter of Jonathan and Harriet Woodbury, 
who was born March 28, 1824. 

He engaged again in manufacturing pursuits, and after a 
brief residence in Ontario Co., N. Y., the family moved to 
Victor, Mich., and located upon their present site, which 
from a wilderness has by industry been converted into a 
productive and valuable estate. Mr. Upton is an unyield- 
ing Republican in his political convictions. Both he and 
Mrs. Upton are active members of the Congregational 
Church. 



CHARLES EDWARD HOLLISTER. 

The paternal grandfather of the gentleman who is the 
subject of this biography, Joseph Hollister, was one of the 
patriots of the Revolution, and was a direct descendant of 
the Puritan Governor of Connecticut, Isaac Treat. His 
father, Isaac T. Hollister, was born in Connecticut in 1801, 
and having chosen the practice of medicine as a profession 
attained some distinction as a practitioner. In the year 
1827 he married Ellen Chapin, also a native of Connecticut, 
who was born in 1805, daughter of Hcman Chapin, a pioneer 
of East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., N. Y. To them were born 
four children, viz., Oliver Chapin, Charles Edward, Ralph 
Heman, and Caroline Amelia. They also adopted a girl, 
Alary Skiff, who afterwards married John C. Brunson, of 
Victor. Charles E., whose birth occurred in Victor, On- 
tario Co., N. Y., in 1839, was but seven years of age when 
his parents moved to Michigan, and in 1846 entered from 
government the land .still occupied by them. The country 
was in a primitive condition, and the wide practice of Dr. 
Hollister called him through many portions of the county 
still undisturbed by the axe of the pioneer. In 1856 he 
was chosen to the Senate of the State, and served two years 
in that capacity, Charles meanwhile remaining upon the 
farm, and engaging in labor incident to farming pursuits, 
the winter affording opportunities for education. He en- 
tered the agricultural college at Lansing, May 17, 1857, at 
the opening of the college, and after a thorough course, in- 
volving four years of study, graduated in the first ela.ss. 
.The sous proved worthy of their patriot sires by enlisting 
in the armies gathered by the nation when assailed by 
armed rebellion, tlie eldest, Oliver, enlisting in the Fiftli 

Michigan Cavalry, Company , and dying in hospital of 

disease contracted in McClellan's Virginia campaign, leaving 
a widow and three children. Charles E., in an independent 
company of engineers, raised by Maj.-Geu. J. C. Fremont 
for his Missouri campaign, which company was discharged 



after about five months' service. The younger brother, 
Ralph H., enlisted in the Eleventh Michigan Cavalry, and 
was honorably discharged at the close of the war. He en- 
tered the army as engineer, and after a brief experience re- 
turned home and followed agricultural pursuits. He was 
soon after united in marriage to Miss Minne Olverson, of 
Ingham Co., Mich., a pioneer from her fourth year. Two 
children have brightened their home circle, — May Eliza 
and Oliver Cary. I. T. Hollister, as soon as he had plowed 
some land in 1847, proceeded to set out fruit-trees and vines, 
probably setting out the first pear-trees and grape-vines in 
the town of Victor, and teaching people that fruit was 
necessary for the preservation of their health as well as a 
cheap luxury, and practicing what he preached by giving 
away to whomsoever came for them trees, vines, and straw- 
berry-plants. 

Mr. Hollister was, in 1878, elected county surveyor, and 
has been honored with numerous local offices, including 
those of school inspector for a long series of years and 
superintendent of schools. In 1872 he received from the 
United States engineer officer in charge (1st Lieut. E. A. 
Woodruff) an appointment as a superintendent in the re- 
moval of the celebrated Red River Raft in the northwestern 
part of Louisiana, a position which he held for about 
eighteen months and until the channel was cleared. Mr. 
Hollister affiliates with the Republican party in politics, 
and in his church attachments is a Congregationalist. 



CHAPTER LXV. 
WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP.* 

Location, Surface, Streams, and Soil — Land-Entries — First and other 
Early Settlements — Early Highways — Organization of the Town- 
ship — Watertown Civil List — Early School Statistics — Wacousta — 
Grand River City — Church History. 

The township of Watertown embraces territory that 
bore indications of the presence of the pioneer long before 
adjacent portions of the county had been purchased. Its 
lands were principally entered between the years 1834 and 
1836, and at the expiration of the latter year the south 
and west portions were the centres of a considerable amount 
of clearing. The township is known as number 5 north, 
of range 3 west, and may be described as one of the south 
tier of townships, bounded on the north by Riley, south by 
Eaton County, east by De Witt, and west by the township 
of Eagle. 

Its principal water-course is the Looking-Glass River, 
which enters the township at section 13, and flowing west 
pursues a more devious course through section 15, flowing 
northward to section 8, and again to the south, where it 
makcsitsexit at section 18. Several smaller streams tributary 
to this more important current flow from the south. The 
Looking-Glass River has a volume of water sufficiently 
large to be utilized for manufacturing purposes, and at va- 
rious points mills have been erected upon its banks. 



* By E. 0. Wagner. 



620 



HISTOKY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



The Detroit, Lansing and Northern Railroad passes along 
the south border of the township, and has a station at 
Delta, adjacent to the southern line of the township, in the 
adjoining county, and another at Ingersoll's, in Watertown. 
The surface of Watertown is varied in character. Much 
level land is found, though a sufficient undulation appears 
to relieve the monotony. Its rolling aspect greatly en- 
hances the attractiveness of the landscape, and many 
striking views are enjoyed along the river-banks and else- 
where in the township. 

Tho soil of Watertown compares favorably with that of 
other portions of the county. In quality it may be de- 
scribed as a sandy loan with clay subsoil. In localities 
there is, however, some slight variation from this rule. 
Wheat and corn are the staple products, and the average 
crop of each is a flattering testimonial to the strength and 
productiveness of the soil. The census of 1873 gives the 
number of acres of the former harvested as two hundred 
and thirty-five, which produced thirty-nine thousand two 
hundred and eleven bushels ; and nine hundred and four 
acres of corn yielded twenty-five thousand seven hundred 
and filty-eight bushels. Of other grains more than thirty 
thousand bushels were harvested, while farm products of 
various kinds made an ample return for the labor of their 
cultivation. 

The prevailing woods are ash, maple, oak,, basswood, and 
walnut. Comparatively little tamarack is found, and no 
pine. The various fruits peculiar to the climate are suc- 
cessfully raised in the township. 

LAND-ENTRIES. 
The lands composing the township of Watertown were 
purchased from the United States government by the fol- 
lowing-named persons : 

SECTION 1. 

Acres. 

D. L. Smith, 1S36 80 

Richard P. Hiirl, 18.36 240 

C. Bucliley, lS:Sfi 160.14 

Munson Wheeler, 1836 83. U6 

Henry Whipple, 1836 SO 

SECTION 2. 

A. M. Roberts, 1836 40 

R. P. Hart, 1836 280 

Selah Farris, 1836 84.02 

Sarah E. Turner, 1836 ■ go 

Henry Whipple, 1830 164.34 

SECTION 3. 

Olney and Wolcott, 1836 320 

William Mosher, 1836 163.18 

Charles Goodwin, 1836 163.66 

SECTION 4. 

Richard P.Hart, 1836 320 

Leander Ferguson, 1836 104.62 

Henry Whipple, 1836 80 

J. Wordman, 1838 84.38 

SECTION 5. 

L. D. Owen, 1836 40 

R. P. Hart, 1836 280 

Seth M. Root, 1851 IHO 

James J. Foreman, 1864 84.63 

Thomas Wilson, 1854 86.19 

SECTION 6. 

L. Hunt, 1836 80 

R. P. Hart, 1836 80 



Acres. 

William Reynolds, 1836 150.68 

S. P. Potter, 1851 43 44 

M. Culon. 1851 40 

Samuel Hitchcock, 1851 43.44 

C. P. Cole, 1851 137.77 

David Eddy, 1851 40 

SECTION 7. 

Elias Daniells 80 

Clark Beardsley 80 

Abram Sloan 160 

J.R.Morris, 1836 148.92 

Richard Lcavis, 1838 40 

C. R. and J. II. Spicer, 1838 69.92 

J. H. Bissoll, 18JS 40 

SECTION 8. 

Thomas Emerson 85.57 

Park and Hunt 124.46 

Elias Daniells 91.11 

T. Osborne 160 

Elias Daniells 160 

Nelson Sage 80 

SECTION 9. 

Benjamin Gooch .' 160 

William Thompson 320 

Thomas Osborne 16u 

SECTION 10. 

William Thompson 160 

Almey and Wolcott 320 

Thomas O.-bornc 160 

SECTION 11. 

Henry Weston, 1836 80 

Samuel Forman, 183(1 320 

Alraey and Wolcott, 1836 SO 

E. P." Hart, 1836 160 

SECTION 12. 

Calvin Marvin, 1835 320 

R. B. Hart, 1836 160 

D. M. Aspenwall, 1836 80 

Ed. Butterfield, 1836 80 

SECTION 1.3. 

Joseph Yerkes, 1835 72.82 

Horace Butler, 1S36 143.61 

Calvin Ball, 1836 87.29 

William Thompson, 1836 82.38 

Elias Daniells, 1836 48.90 

Thomas Woodward, 1836 83.80 

Alanson Sumner, 1836 106..34 

SECTION 14. 

Isaac Hovett, 1835 80 

Elias Daniells, 1836 43.52 

Horace Butler, 1836 99.50 

William Thompson, 1836 79.96 

Clark Beardsley, 1836 130.45 

William Packard, 1836 106.55 

S. M. Pearsall, 1836 T SO 

SECTION 15. 

William H. Townsend, 1835 307.24 

Benjamin Gooch, 1835 149.80 

Stephen Hill, 1836 160 

SECTION 16. 
School lands. 

SECTION 17. 

R. S. Parks 36.42 

Emnior Ilawley 2.34 

Elias Daniells 80 

P. A. Selover 315.70 

L. H. Trask 113.48 

Richard Leavis, 1839 40 

GroftoD Webber, 1839 40 



WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



521 



SECTION IS. 

Acres. 

AVilliun Diets, 18.36 128. .'iO 

E. Nilcs. IS.itJ 7S.:i8 

Geoi-ge Gouihiian, ISiili 11111.85 

I.. II. Tn.sk, lS:i(i 72.0B 

Klia,» DnnifMs, 18;i(i 126.72 

George I'lirks, 183C 80 

SECTION 19. 

Charles Armstronff. 18;jij an'l "SCt ;j2l) 

Horace Hutlcr, l.S:i(; lOH 

1). li. Niles, 18.30 132.fiS 

SECTION 20. 

Jiphn llo.scborne, I83G 160 

llcnrv AnuiiUiin, 1830 1(10 

Williiiui I'ackarl, 1830 160 

A. A. Wclji.er, 1841 40 

Andrew ShadJuck, 1848 120 

SECTION 21. 

E. Frary, 1836 ."iOO 

Elias Daiiiells, 1836 80 

SECTION 22. 

Beniiimin Wel-sh, 1836 200 

E. i'rary, 1830.. 440 

SECTION 23. 

Horace Budcr, 1836 80 

William Packard, 1836 240 

Anson lloland, 1836 240 

Elilm 1'. lugorsull, 1837 80 

SECTION 24. 

William Packard, 1836 80 

KHS.«ell Ciishnian, 1836 160 

An^on lluland, 1836 80 

Elihu 1'. Ingersoll, 1837 320 

SECTION 25. 

I!. 11. Kcrolieval, 1S36 160 

E. Daniells, 1836 240 

Samuel ('ha<Iwick 160 

C. J. Eo.-c and 0. C. Fall, 1855 

SECTION 20. 

Nathan Danielle, 1836 320 

Thomas il. Perkins, 1S30 320 

SECTION 27. 

John Fowler, 1836 80 

A. P. Selover, 1836 100 

S. li. Noyes, 1830 80 

William Packard, I83C 240 

S. G. Sears, 1836 80 

SECTION 28. 

William Thompson, 1836 100 

Harvey Arnold, 1836 80 

S. G. Sears, 1836 400 

SECTION 29. 

E. Frary, 1S30 100 

James Ilutchins, 1836 80 

Harvey Arnold, 1836 160 

Alfred Williams, 1836 240 

SECTION 30. 

Hiram Bivrton, 1836 320 

D. It. Niles, 1836 226.16 

S. G. Sears, 1836 66.48 

SECTION 31. 

T. H. Perkins, 1836 146.64 

Amos Hall, 1836 80 

A. and H. J. WoodruB', 1836 80 

Josiah Lowell, Jr., 1861 80 

A. Burrcll, 1861 80 

Fletcher Jamison. 1861 40 

Henry Garlock, 1861 40 

William C. Gordon, 1S53 67.28 

6(> 



SECTION 32. 

Acf», 

James Ilutchins, 1836 240 

Nathan Daniells, IS3I) 80 

T. H. Perkins, 1830 320 

SECTION .33. 

H. H. Comstoek, 1836 80 

William Thom|ison, 1836 160 

Nathan Danielle, 1830 100 

T. H. Perkins, 1836 240 

SECTION .34. 

H. II. Comstoek, 1836 SO 

Phiiieas Davis, 1S30 320 

William Thompson, 1836 160 

Elihu P. Ingersoll, 1836 80 

SECTION 35. 

H. II. Comstoek, 1836 80 

Phincas Davis, 1836 80 

Lehmd Greene, 1830 160 

Nathan Daniells, 1830 Kit) 

T. H. Perkins, 1836 80 

Erastus Ingersoll, 1836 80 

SECTION 36. 

Nathan I. Daniells, 1836 480 

Erastus Ingersoll, 1837 80 



FIRST AND OTHER EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 

The earliest settler who broke ground within the limits 
of the present township of Watertown was unquestionably 
Calvin Marvin, more familiarly known to the townspeople 
as Deacon Marvin. He entered, in the year 1835, three 
hundred and twenty acres of laud on section 12, and the 
same year removed with his family from Oakland County, 
and became a settler upon his possessions. With Deacon 
Marvin came three sons, all of whom are provided with 
farms immediately near the paternal home. As no settlers 
had taken land in the immediate vicinity, these early pio- 
neers to Watertown were obliged to provide a shelter of 
such material as was at hand, and constructed a rude camp, 
which afforded them a covering until a cabin was built. 
Mr. Marvin and his sons at once began the work of chop- 
ping, and had during the first year made extensive inroads 
upon the forests. Settlers gradually surrounded them, and 
the wilderness of 1835 was at a later day the most produc- 
tive of the broad acres of Clinton County. Deacon Mar- 
vin was the earliest supervisor of the township, and a man 
of marked personal influence in the community, not less for 
the mental energy displayed by him than for his many 
genial qualities of heart. 

Dr. Seth P. Marvin settled early in Watertown, on land 
given him by his father, upon which he erected a house, 
and began the practice of medicine, being the first physician 
in the township. He later removed to De Witt, and was 
the second representative of his profession in that township. 
Ascl R., another son, also removed to De Witt, and after- 
wards from the county. A third son, Eleazor, while at the 
East for the purpose of removing a family to Clinton County, 
was attacked by a severe illness that terminated fatally. At 
his house occurred the earliest death in the township, — that 
of his child. 

Samuel Foreman was the second arrival in Watertown. 
He emigrated from Wayne County in the fall of 183(5, and 
entered three hundred and twenty acres on section 11 in 



522 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



the same year. He became a settler and began the process 
of iniprovemeut, but afterwards exchanged his residence 
and became a citizen of De Witt. Stephen Hill, another 
Wayne County pioneer, located upon the northeast quarter 
of section 15. In 1837 he removed with Samuel Foreman 
to land on section 11 while building, or rather completing, 
a cabin which had been begun the year previous by him. 
He accomplished but a small clearing the first year, but 
devoted much of the spring to the making of maple-sugar, 
of which the maple-trees in the vicinity yielded a bountiful 
supply. Mr. Foreman and Deacon Marvin were the only 
settlers. Flour and other supplies had been brought fiom 
Wayne County, which enabled the fiimily to subsist for a 
long period without replenishing their larder. Mr. Hill 
still resides upon the laud he entered, where he has a well- 
cultivated farm and a spacious and elegant residence. 

Edward Butterfield entered in 183G eighty acres on 
section 12, and came to the township soon after to reside, 
but did not settle upon his purchase until 1838, having 
found employment in various portions of the township. 
He first built a log house, and later secured a wife and 
removed to his land. The farm was unin)proved, but rap- 
idly changed and made productive by his industry. Mr. 
Butterfield resided upon the place until his death, when it 
passed into the hands of its present occupant, George 
Ward. 

Selah Ferris, formerly of Tioga Co., N. Y., purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres on sections 2 and 3 in 1837, 
upon which he settled the following year. The land was 
entered at the land-office in Ionia, Mr. Ferris having fol- 
lowed the path known as the Dexter trail, and spent the 
night in the woods after having traveled all day to reach 
his destination. The demand for land was so great as to 
render a stop of four days at Ionia necessary before the 
business of the occasion was accomplished. 

William Mosher had arrived in 1837, and entered one 
hundred and sixty-three acres on the same section, which 
was being rapidly cleared. With him Mr. Ferris found a 
welcome while erecting a cabin, to which he at once re- 
moved, and the first year had accomplished a clearing of 
eight acres. Indians occasionally paid the settlers visits, 
and were ever eager lor an exchange of supplies or a 
" swap," as they termed it. Bears and wolves were also 
numerous, and so terrified the family as to elfectually insure 
their presence within doors after darkness approached. 
There were no roads other than those cut by the settlers 
that were in condition to be made useful for purposes of 
travel, though many were surveyed during the year 1837 
and awaiting improvement. In 1852, Mr. Ferris purchased 
the Mosher farm, upon which he at present resides, and on 
which a comfortable residence has been built. The earliest 
marriage recollected by Mr. Ferris occurred at the house of 
William Mosher, his daughter, Miss Lucy, having been 
united to Mr. Jackson Cronkhite. Early religious services 
were held at the houses of the settlers in 1839, and later 
the few families in the township were accustomed to repair 
to De Wilt with ox-teams for worship. 

Harvey Hunter and Benjamin Silsby were both from 
Steuben Co., N. Y., and came to the township early. The 
latter, who came in 1838, devoted his time to moving set- 



tlers from Detroit and adjacent points to their purchases 
in the county. He hiter found a congenial pursuit in the 
occupation of a peddler, having kept horses and wagons for 
the purpose. While making his customary rounds he en- 
countered Harvey Hunter, with whom ho formed a copart- 
nership in business, and together they opened a store in 
Wacousta in 1840. The labors were divided — one having 
the store in charge, while the other followed an itinerant 
business. They exchanged goods for hides, wool, wheat, 
and other commodities, which were subsequently sold in 
Detroit. Mr. Silsby purchased a farm near Wacousta, and 
later removed to the township of Eagle, while Hunter se- 
cured in 1850, of Stephen T. Gooch, one hundred and 
sixty acres on section 9. It was partially improved on his 
removal to the place, upon which he remained until his 
death in 1880. His widow still occupies the homestead. 

William Diets, a former resident of Plymouth, Wayne 
Co., located in 1836 upon the northwest fractional quarter 
of -section 18, embracing one hundred and twenty-three 
acres, which he reached by floating down the Looking- 
Glass River in a canoe. Mr. Diets built a cabin, after 
which he began the work of chopping. The farm ulti- 
mately, under the influence of the industry he evinced, be- 
came very productive and valuable. He lived upon the 
land during his lifetime, and built at different periods two 
frame houses upon it. His death occurred in 1880 at the 
age of eighty-four years, and the two hundred and eight 
acres of land owned by him were distributed among vari- 
ous heirs. 

Ebenczer Smith came from Cayuga Co., N. Y., in 1823, 
having settled early in Oakland County. In 1834 he en- 
tered land in the township of Watertown, and in 1837 
made a permanent settlement on section 18, having the 
winter previous erected a cabin and removed a portion of 
his goods on an ox-sled. Pontiac was at this time the 
nearest milling-point, to which the settlers carried their 
grists. The Waterloo Joint Stock Company had begun, 
their improvements, and William Chiedaman was the man- 
ager of the boarding-house erected for the convenience of 
the laborers employed. J. K. Morris also lived at Wa- 
cousta, and was completing his contract for the construc- 
tion of a dam on the river. James Sowle was at work upon 
the mill, and was the builder of the first frame house, 
while Mr. Smith boasted the earliest frame barn in the 
township. Mr. Smith resided upon the farm until his 
death in 1863. A portion of the land is occupied by Ran- 
som Brooks, and the reuiainder by his son, A. J. Smith, 
at present one of the township justices of the peace. 

The earliest prayer-meeting in the township was con- 
vened at the house of Mr. Smith, and was no doubt the 
nucleus from which grew at a later period the various re- 
ligious organizations of Watertown. 

Parker Webber, a former resident of Cazenovia, N. Y., 
came to the township in 1839, in the capacity of miller 
for the company at Wacousta, and ground the first grist, 
which consisted of a bushel of corn. He was the miller for 
many years, and ultimately purcha.sed a mill at De Witt, 
where he died. John Andrews, brother-iu-law of Mr. 
Webber, settled in 1839 upon eighty acres on section 7. 
This land was uncleared until improved by him and made 



WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



523 



productive. He remained upou it and continued to labor 
until his death in 1860. 

Sidney J. Loomis moved to Watertown from Orleans 
Co., N. Y., in 1839, and selected a farm of forty acres upon 
section 21. Ho found a wide field for improvement open 
to him, and devoted himself with earnestness to the work. 
Mr. Loomis has not rekuKod his energy, but still devotes 
his time to the cultivation of his early purchase. Joseph 
Sanborn came at the same time, and buuglit land also on 
section 21. He afterwards moved to the township of E.igle 
and secured a home in that township. 

George West did not follow agricultural pursuits, for 
many years after his arrival in the township. The Water- 
loo Joint Stock Company were engaged, in 1837, in per- 
fecting arrangements for the various mercantile enterprises 
then projected, and Mr. West sought employment with 
them. He remained in Wacou.sta until 1857, when a farm 
was purchased by him embracing forty acres on section 16, 
formerly owned by Curtis Hart, upon which a small im- 
provement had been made and a frame house erected. Mr. 
West is one of the oldest residents in Watertown, and still 
actively employed in the cultivation of his land. 

Elder William Wood left the exciting life he had for- 
merly enjoyed in New York City for a home in the wilder- 
ness of Michigan, and purchased forty acres on section 17. 
He was a Baptist preacher, and combined with his sacred 
office the calling of an agriculturist. Elder Wood was 
withal a very popular man, and one who commanded the 
respect of his neighbors, both for his intelligence and his 
sincerity. He led a consistent life, professed what he 
preached, and was never known to engage in a horse-trade 
during the intervals between service, as were many others 
of his clerical brethren. He is still a resident of the town- 
ship, and one of its few venerable pioneers who survive the 
lapse of years. 

Francis Hart, another Oakland County settler of 1840, 
purchased fort}' acres on section 16, which he found unim- 
proved. Mr. Hart erected a house upon this land and at 
once began clearing. A decided change in its condition 
was efiected ere many years had elapsed, and ultimately it 
attained a high state of cultivation. Mr. Hart died at the 
house of his son, who occupied the farm, in 1851). Har- 
vey Weston preceded Mr. Hart by two years, and settled 
on section 11. The first winter of his residence was spent 
with the family of Stephen Hill, during which time he 
erected a cabin and then returned to the East for a wife. 
He remained for several years a resident of the township, 
but ultimately removed. 

The following list embraces the tax-list of township 5 
north, of 3 west, for 1841, giving the names of onl}' those 
tax-payers who were then residing in the township, viz. : 

Acrt'B. 

Calvin Mjirvin, section 12 40 

Soth P. Marvin, sccticin 12 120 

R. Marvin, section 12 120 

E. Butterfield, Jr., i-oution 12 80 

Warren, section 14 80 

Weston, section 11 80 

Stephen Hill, section l.i 160 

Samuel Foreman, section 11 320 

Roberts, section 2 40 

— — - Goodwin, section .'1 160 

William Mosier, section 3 160 

Sclah Ferris, section 2 84 



AcreH. 

Peter rSriggs, section 22 200 

Elihu Lewis, section 3.> 20 

Billings anil llaydon, section 35 GO 

A. Adams, section 2.^ 40 

Charles Prouton, .'section 31 8U 

J.Smith, section 29 inil 

J. Lowell, section 21 40 

J. S. Loomis, section 21 SO 

J. Sanborn 

E. Smith, sections 7-14 218 

J. II. Spicer, section 7 70 

G. II. .'Vndrewa, section 7 69 

J. K. Morris, section 7 80 

William Diets, section 18 284 

Parker Webber, section 18 65 

E. F. Tlioiupson 

Israel Carpenter 

William J. King 

<i. AV. Brooks 

D. C. Moore, section 17 36 

AV. Hubbell, sections 7-8,17-18 301 

E. F. Thompson, section 21 80 

E. P. Daniells, section 17 40 

R. C. Sisson, section 17 10 

H. AV. AVest, section 17 30 

AVilliam Lewis, section 17 20 

King, section 17 20 

F. Hart, section 19 80 

Joseph Lowell came from New York State in 1843, and 
located upon forty acres of land purchased by him of E. 
Frary on section 21. In the midst of the wilderness which 
enveloped it he cleared a tract sufficiently large upon which 
to erect a log house, dwelling meanwhile in a cabin built 
for temporary occupation. At the raising of the house set- 
tlers assisted who came a distance of many miles, each 
anxious to welcome the presence of another pioneer to their 
little band. Mr. Lowell improved this land, and resided 
upon it until his death. Four sons — Cassin, Gr. W., John 
H., and Othman W. — are all residents of the township, as 
are also five daughters. The homestead is occupied by Ben- 
jamin F. King. 

Daniel Sherman came as early as 1832 from Massachu- 
setts to the township of Farmington, Oakland Co., where 
he remained until 1 843, after which one hundred and sixty 
acres was purchased on section 27. Not a tree had yet 
been felled on this land, and the only settlers near Avcre 
Lowell, Sanborn, and Loomis. Twenty voters gathered at 
the polls the year of his arrival. No party lines existed at 
this time. A candidate was nominated, all voting for or 
against him, and the day was ended with frequent draughts 
of very bad whisky. A number of roads had been sur- 
veyed, but were as yet little traveled. Indians were 
numerous, and did much in the way of traflie Avith the 
whites. Mr. Sherman in 1863 disposed of his farm to 
Joseph Timmernian, and has since that time resided in 
^Vacousta, having been for years proprietor of the hotel at 
that place. 

N. Badger came from Ohio in 1848 and lowited upou 
an uncleared farm on section 13. He experienced all the 
hardships of the pioneer, and remained upon this laud 
until his death. 

Kay G. Titi't, another emigrant from the Buckeye State, 
came to the county in 1846, and in 1850 purchased eighty 
acres on section 11. A log house had been erected upon it 
and a small tract cleared by a settler named Weston. Mr. 
TiflFt made rapid progress in the improvement of this farm 
and afterwards erected a substantial residence, which was 
occupied by him at the time of iiis death in 1877. His 
widow and sons arc the present owners of the estate. 



524 



HISTORY OP CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



George W. Kinney, from Oakland County, located in 
1847 upon section 8, when a small chopping had been 
made and a log cabin erected upon one hundred and 
sixty acres he purchased. This cabin Mr. Kinney shared 
with a family until a log house of more spacious propor- 
tions was erected. He cleared the first year ten acres, and 
continued to improve the land until 1852, when his present 
home on section 3 was purchased. In 1870 his re::^idenco 
was burned, and six years later the present house was 
erected. 

Ira Ide, formerly of Livingston County, came to the 
township in 1855 and located upon eighty acres on section 
11. While building a house on this uncleared land he 
remained with Edson Smith, and had soon accomplished a 
considerable clearing. He still resides upon the farm. 

Nelson Hunt came from Oakland County in 1856 and 
located upon eighty acres on section 15. He had originally 
two hundred and twenty acres, a portion of which was 
given to his sons. The land was purchased of a speculator 
named Townsend, Sir. Hunt having come soon after and 
erected a house upon it. The following spring he became 
a settler. He found all the experiences of a pioneer await- 
ing him, but labor and perseverance conquered every obsta- 
cle, and ultimately enabled him to become the owner of a 
well-improved farm of one hundred and forty acres, upon 
which in 1870 he erected a comfortable residence. 

Kobert G. Mason came from Detroit in 1856 and located 
upon seventy acres on section 17. This was uncleared, but 
Mr. Mason inaugurated a system of improvement.s, and soon 
after sold to C. N. Derbyshire and removed to De Witt. 
On his return from the army in 1864 he purchased again 
on section 11, and erected a sub.stantial residence upon the 
land, which he still occupies. The farm is cleared and 
highly cultivated. 

Among other early settlers in Watertown who contrib- 
uted to its development were A. Adams, on section 25 ; 
Elihu Lewis, on section 35 ; Charles Prouton, who pur- 
chased eighty acres on section 31 ; J. H. Spicer, who set- 
tled upon seventy acres on section 7 ; Parker Webber, who 
owned sixty-five acres on section 18 ; D. C. Moore, on sec- 
tion 16; E. F. Thompson, on section 21; and Peter 
Briggs, who owned two hundred acres on section 22. 

EARLY HIGUWAYS. 

The earliest road through the township is that known as 
the Grand River turnpike, which was authorized by act of 
Congress of 1832. It was projected from Detroit to Grand 
Haven as a military road. The survey and subsequent 
construction of the road was begun at Detroit, though its 
progress was not rapid. The date of its completion to 
Watertown, where it entered the town.ship at section 36 
and made its exit at section 31, is not a matter of record. 

" At a meeting of the highway commissioners of the 
township of Watertown, on the Tuesday preceding the an- 
nual township-meeting, it was ordered that the said town- 
ship be divided into the following-described districts, viz. : 

" District number 1 to be composed of sections number 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and the north half of sections number 7, 
8, 9, 10, 11, and the northwest quarter of section 12, in 
township number 5 north, of range 3 west. 



" District number 2 to be composed of the south half of 
sections number 10, 11, 12 and the northeast quarter of 
section 12 ; also sections number 13, 14, 15, 22, 23, 24 in 
said township. 

" District number 3 to be composed of sections number 
25, 26, 27, 34, 35, 36 ; and 

" District number 4 to be composed of the south half of 
sections number 7, 8, 9 and all of sections number 16, 17, 

18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, all in township 
number 5 north, of range 3 west. 

" Given under our hands at Watertown, this 27tli day of 

March, 1838. 

" William Diets, 

" Joseph Eddy, 

" Samuel Foreman, 

" Higliway Commissioners." 

The above commissioners as early as May, 1837, laid 
out the following road : Commencing at the corners of sec- 
tions 10, 11, 14, and 15, in town 5 north, of range 3 west; 
thence north on the section-line to the corners of sections 

14, 15, 22, 23, in township 6 north, of range 3 west. 
Also in July of the same year a highway commencing 

at the quarter stake on the west line of section 18, township 
5 north, of range 3 west ; thence north four degrees west 
three chains ; thence west sixty-six degrees north forty-four 
chains ; thence west ten degrees north twenty chains ; thence 
west eighteen degrees south sixty chains ; thence north 
twenty-four degrees west thirty chains ; thence north 
twenty-two degrees west twenty chains ; thence west four 
degrees north sixty chains ; thence west four degrees north 
ninety chains ; thence four degrees west fifty-three chains 
eighty-seven links. 

Also another beginning at the corners of sections 14, 15, 
22, and 23 ; thence north four degrees west one hundred 
and sixty chains. 

Also a road beginning at the corners of sections 13, 18, 

19, and 24; thence east on the section-line four degrees 
north to the east line of township 5 north, of range 3 west. 

ORGANIZATION OP THE TOWNSHIP. 

An act of the State Legi-slature approved March 20, 1837, 
provided and declared, " That the townships in ranges 3 and 
4 west, in the county of Clinton, be a township by the name 
of Watertown, and the people therein shall be entitled to 
all the privileges incident to inhabitants of organized town- 
ships, and the first township-meeting therein shall be held 
at the house of Anthony Niles, in said township of Water- 
town." This territory then embraced all the west half of 
the county of Clinton. 

Townships Nos. 7 and 8 north, of ranges 3 and 4 west, 
embracing the present townships of Lebanon, Dallas, Essex, 
and Bengal, was set oft' by act of Legislature dated March 
6, 1838, and known as the township of Wandaugon (now 
Lebanon). Township 6 north, of range 4 west, was erected 
March 21, 1839, as the township of Westphalia. Town- 
ship 6 north, of range 3 west, was by act of March 15, 
1841, made Riley; and an act of the Legislature of March 

15, 1841, created township No. 5 north, of range 4 west, 
as the township of Eagle, reducing Watertown to its present 
limits. 



WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



525 



AVATERTOWN CIVIL LIST. 
The record of the first township election has not been 
preserved, and it is therefore not possible to give a list of 
the officers for that year. It is, however, probable that 
Calvin Marvin was chosen as the first supervisor. The offi- 
cers elected in succeeding years have been as follows : 



18.38. Calvin Marvin. 

1839. Pliilo Beers. 

1840. Jared Higby. 

1841. Calvin Marvin. 
1842-43. Harvey Hunter. 
1844-45. Calvin Marvin. 
1S4B-48. Harvey Hunter, 
1849. E. P. Ingcrsoll. 
1860. Harvey Hunter. 

1851. N. I. Daniells. 

1852. Harvey Hunter. 

1853. Horatio Hunter. 

1854. D. I. Daniells. 

1855. C. M. Derbyshire. 

1856. Harvey Hunter. 

1857. D. I. Daniells. 



SUPERVISORS. 

1853-59. EzekieJ Miles. 

1860. Samuel B. Dayton. 

1861. Ezekiel Niles. 

1862. Henry Gibbs. 

1863. D. A. Davis. 

1864. Charles E. Eastman. 

1865. F. L. Smith. 

1866. Daniel L. Wilson. 
1867-68. F. L. Smith. 
1869. George Smith. 
1870-71. George W. Kinney. 

1872. S. U. Alexander. 

1873. George W. Kinney. 

1874. S. U. Alexander. 
1875-79. G. W.Kinney. 
1880. James limmerman. 



TOWNSHIP CLERKS. 



1838. Charles R. Spicer. I860. 

1839-40. J. K. Morris. 1S61- 

1841. Grafton Webber. 1863. 

1842-43. Walter Hubbell. 1864. 

1844-45. J. K. Morris. 1865. 

1846. Thomas J. Allen. 1866- 

1847. Stephen Hill. 1868. 

1848. Egbert Ingcrsoll. 1869. 

1849. Nelson Daniells. 1870. 

1850. Stephen Hill. 1871. 

1851. Henry Snow. 1872. 
1852-53. Sidney Frary. 1873. 
1854. S. E. Hazard. 1874. 
1855-56. J. C. Backus. 1875. 

1857. Ezckicl Niles. 1876- 

1858. R. W. Holbrook. 1878- 

1859. D. A. Davis. 1880. 



Stephen Hill. 

62. Lewis Timmerman. 

D. F. Betts. 

Cassin Lowell. 

George E. King. 
67. A. A. Hunt. 

Lewis Timmerman. 

A. A. Hunt. 

George W. West. 

Luther F. Conrad. 

George W. Lowell. 

George E. King. 

George W. West, 

George E. King. 
■77. 0. A. Lockwood. 
-79. George W. Burt. 

G. C. Higbee. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



1837. 


Henry Rowland. 




Morris S. Allen. 




Charles K. Spicer. 




Stephen Hill. 


1838. 


Anthony Niles. 




D. A. Simmons. 


1S39. 


Steiihcn Hill. 


1S40. 


Jared Higbee. 


1841. 


Grafton Webber. 




Seth P. Marvin. 




Josejih Sanborn. 


1842. 


Walter Hubbell. 


184.3. 


Stephen Hill. 


1844. 


Morris S. Allen. 


1845. 


Joseph Sanborn. 


1846. 


Daniel K. Carpenter 




Josiah Lowell. 




E. F. Thompson. 


1847. 


Stephen Hill. 




D. S. Ingcrsoll. 


1848. 


D. S. Ingersoll. 


1849. 


Henry Houghtaling. 


1850. 


Josiah Lowell. 


1851. 


D. S. Ingersoll. 


1852. 


Stephen Hill. 




Joseph Woodruff. 




N. I. Daniells. 


1853 


William Wood. 



1854. 


Samuel Foreman. 


1855. 


B. G. Niles. 




R. W. Buck. 


1856. 


Harvey (jiibbs. 


1857. 


N. I. Daniells. 




Philip Burt. 


1858. 


George C. Jarvis. 




Aaron Reed. 


1859. 


Charles E. Eastman 


1860. 


A. J. Reed. 




AVilliain AVood. 


1861. 


Henry F. Brown. 


1862. 


George C. Jarvis. 


1863. 


N. I. Daniells. 


1864. 


George W. Kinney. 


1865. 


Nelson Hunt. 


1866. 


Lewis Timmerman. 


1867. 


N. I. Daniells. 


1868. 


G. W. Kinney. 


1869. 


Eliott Shadduck. 


1870. 


Lewis Timmerman. 




F. L. Smith. 


1871. 


G. C. Jarvis. 


1872. 


William Boylan. 


1873. 


F. L. Smith. 


1874. 


Lewis Timmerman. 


1875. 


George W. Lowell. 


1876. 


A. J. Smith. 



1877. John B. Howe. 

1878. William Boylan. 

1879. Lewis Timmcnuan. 



1880. A. J. Smith. 

George C. Jarvis. 



TREASURERS. 

1841. George W. West. 1861. Ira Idc. 

1842-43. P.arker Webber. 1862. Samuel Clark. 

1844-45. Parker Webber. 1863-64. Edwin Reed. 

1846-48. George W. West. 1865-66. S. W. Cronkite. 

1849-50. G. W. West. 1867-68. Samuel Clark. 

1851. Edward Butterfield. 1869-70. John Cupid. 

1852. George W. West. ' 1871. D. L. Wilson. . 
1853-54. E. P. Daniells. 1872. Harvey Hunter. 

1855. Jason Nichols. 1873. Mark Jenney. 

1856. Samuel Foreman. 1874. Robert G. Mason. 

1857. A. M. Roberts. 1875-76. Joseph Walford. 

1858. Henry Gibbs. 1877-79. John G. Schlee. 

1859. Daniel Sherman. 1880. William A. Lee. 
1860> D. S. Ingersoll. 



HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS. 



1838. 

1S39. 

1840. 

1841. 

1842. 

1843. 

1844. 

1845. 

1846. 

1847. 

1848. 

1849. 
1S50. 



Morris Bougliton. 
Ileman Thomas. 
Samuel Foreman. 
Henry Gibbs. 
Stephen Hill. 
David Clark. 
Jared Higbee. 
Henry Gibbs. 
Stephen Hill. 
E. P. Daniells. 
E. Billings. 
Samuel Foreman. 
Ezra P. Daniells. 
Joseph S. Loomis. 
A. R. Marvin. 
Jonas Smith. 
E. P. Daniells. 
Grofton Webber. 
Harry Weston. 
Thomas J. Allen. 
E. P. Daniells. 
Ezra Billings. 
Josiah Lowell. 
A. R. Marvin. 
William Diets. 
Eliot Ingersoll. 
Jason Nichols. 
Jonas Smith. 
Jason Nichols. 
A. R. Marvin. 
6. W. Kinney. 
J. H. Andrews. 
1). R. Cutter. 
A. R. Marvin. 
.Jason Nichols. 
Jason Nichols. 



1850. 
1851. 



1852. 
1853. 



1854. 

1855. 
1856. 
1857. 

1858. 

1859. 
1860. 
1861. 

1862. 
1863. 
1864. 
1865. 
1866. 
1867. 
1868. 
1S69. 
1870. 
1871. 
1872. 
1873. 
1874. 
1875. 
1876- 
1878. 
1879- 



Eliot Ingersoll. 
A. R. Marvin. 
Jonas Smith. 

A. J. Reed. 

B. F. Hammill. 
E. Ingersoll. 
Joseph S. Loomis. 
William Lee. 

E. Ingersoll. 

A. J. Reed. 

C. N. Derbyshire. 
C. E. Eastman. 
Egbert Ingcrsoll. 
G. W. Kinney. 

F. L. Smith. 
Egbert Ingersoll. 
Willard King. 
Daniel Sherman. 
Edward Root. 
George Smith. 
Charles E. Eastman. 

B. S. Derbyshire. 
S. M. Cook. 

A. J. Smith. 

Robert G. Mason. 

Egbert Ingersoll. 

John II. Lowell. 

Lockwood Clark. 

0. W. Lowell. 

lieorgc Oliver. 

Alartin Maier. 

A. J. Jones. 

R. G. Mason. 
•77. Scth M. Cook. 

George Reeves. 
SO. John G. Schlee. 



SCHOOL INSPECTORS. 



1838. 


Scth P. Marvin. 


1842. 


E. F. Thompson. 




E. F. Thompson. 


1843. 


Charles Goodwin 




S. B. Groger. 




Stephen Hill. 


1839. 


S. P.Marvin. 




Harvey Hunter. 




Philo Beers. 


1844. 


Thom.is Allen. 




E. F. Thompson. 




H. Hunter. 


1840. 


Soth P. Marvin. 




M. P. Burch. 




Philo Beers. 


1845. 


No record. 




Charles R. Spicer. 


1846. 


Egbert Ingcrsoll. 


1841. 


Walter Hubbell. 


1847. 


William Woorl. 




Selh P. Marvin. 


1848. 


0. B. Ingcrsoll. 




E. F. Thompson. 


1849. 


E. P. Ingersoll. 


1842. 


Stephen Hill. 


1850. 


G. W. Lowell. 




Charles Gooilwin. 


1851. 


N. I. Daniells. 



526 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



1852. 


No record. 


1866. 


D. A. Davis. 


1S53. 


Henry Snow. 


1867. 


H. P. Clark. 


1854. 


Sidney Frary. 


1868. 


Lyman Townsend. 


1855. 


J. W. Timmerman. 


1809. 


H. P. Clark. 


1856. 


F. L. Smith. 


1870. 


L. F. Conrad. 


1857. 


Seth M. Cooli. 


1871. 


Warren Smith. 


1858. 


K. F. Morse. 


1872. 


A. A. Hunt. 


1859. 


N. I. Daniells. 


1873. 


S. M. Cook. 


1860. 


Ilix Ilorton. 


1874. 


Peter Oliver. 


1861. 


R. W. Holbrook. 


1875. 


S. M. Cook. 


1862. 


F. L. Smith. 


1876. 


Egbert Ingcrsoll. 


1863. 


R. W. Holbrook. 


1877- 


78. John Q. Benedict 


1864. 


S. M. Cook. 


1879. 


George C. Higbee. 


1S65. 


D. F. Belts. 


1880. 


R. M. Brooks. 



DRAIN COMMISSIONERS. 



1873. Harvey Hunter. 

1874. 0. W. Lowell. 
1875-76. Thomas Reed. 
1877. George C. Jarvis. 



187S. William S. Miller. 

1879. 0. A. Lockwuod. 

1880. Albert D. Wood. 



SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS. 



1875-76. L. F. Conrad. 
1877-78. Lyman Townsend. 



1879. R. M. Brooks. 

1880. Miss Emma L. Wickham. 



EARLY SCHOOL STATISTICS. 

"At a meeting of the board of school inspectors held at 
the ofBee of the township clerk on the 7th day of April, 
1838, Seth P. Marvin was chosen chairman, and the board 
proceeded to the transaction of business, making the di- 
vision of school districts as follows, viz. : 

"The west half of town number five north of range 
number three west, with sections 22, 27, 34, except the 
north half of sections 4, 5, 6, shall comprise district num- 
ber one. 

" District number two shall embrace the southeast quarter 
of said township five north of range three west. 

" District number three shall embrace the northwest 
quarter of section 1, the north half of section 2, all of 
section 3, and the north half of sections 4, 5, 6, in town-^ 
ship five north of range three west, and all that part of 
township six north of range three west, lying south of the 
quarter-line through sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. 

" District number four shall embrace the north half of 
township five north of range four west, except the east 
half of sections 1, 12, 13, north of the Looking-Glass 
River. 

" District number five shall be conipo.sed of the south 
half of said township. 

" Stephen B. Groger. 

" Setu p. Marvin. 

" Epukaim p. Thompson. 

" C. R. Spicer, 

" Township Clerk. 

'* Watkutown, April 7, 1838." 

The earliest school in Watertown was opened at Wa- 
cousta, then embraced in fractional school district No. 1, 
and now a portion of district No. G. It was held in the 
upper story of a store occupied by Daniel Hubbell, there 
having been at that time no school building erected, and 
was taught by Mrs. Daniel Moore. In 1844, or possibly 
earlier, a contract was awarded to Henry Gibbs for the 
erection of a school building in this district, who was as- 



sisted in its construction by Royal Benson. Miss Sarah 
Beers and Miss Rhoda Brooks were also early teachers, 
and probably exercised a wholesome discipline upon the 
youth of Wacousta before a school-house was constructed 
in the township. The second school building was erected 
on section 34, then embraced in district No. 2, but the 
earliest instructor is not remembered. 

The present school territory of Watertown is divided 
into one fractional and six whole districts, over whom pre- 
side the following board of directors, — William M. Jones, 
George W. West, J. T. Backus, 0. W. Lowell, R G. Mason, 
0. H. Smith, Christopher Summers. Three hundred and 
sixty-one scholars received instruction during the past year, 
of whom eleven were non-residents. They were under the 
supervision of a corps of eight male and eleven female 
teachers, who received in salaries an aggregate sum of 
seventeen hundred and twenty-four dollars and fifty cents. 
The school property of the township, embracing one brick 
and six frame buildings, is valued at five thousand seven 
hundred dollar.s. 

WACOUSTA. 

In July, 1837, an association was formed with the 
avowed purpose of organizing a company, to be known 
as the " Waterloo Joint-Stock Company." The mem- 
bers of the company, or more properly the stockholders, 
were Alexander Goodell, Charles Hubbell, Orson E. Hall, 
Reubeu R. Gibson, Thomas 0. Hill, and Charles A. Trow- 
bridge. They purchased a tract of land in Watertown de- 
scribed as " lying upon the Looking-Glass River, and being 
the southeast fraction of the northwest quarter of section 
17, township 5 west, of range 3 west; also the east half of 
the southeast quarter of section 7, in the same township ; 
also the east fraction of the northeast quarter of section 18 ; 
also the northwest fraction of the southwest quarter of sec- 
tion 8 ; also the west fraction of the northwest quarter of 
section 17 in the same township." The object of this pur- 
chase, as stated in the articles of agreement, was the im- 
provement of the real estate and the laying out of a town 
therein, and the disposing of lots for building purposes. 

The company appointed Chai-les R. Spicer as their resi- 
dent agent, and at once began a system of improvements in- 
volving an expenditure of twelve thousand dollars. 

A saw-mill was first erected, and immediately after, a 
grist-mill, a- dwelling having meanwhile been constructed 
for the accommodation of the men employed on the works, 
and superintended by William Chridawan. A store was 
also opened by the company. 

It needed, however, but little time to develop the fact 
that the scheme was not destined to financial success. At 
a meeting of the stockholders a lease of the property, in- 
cluding four hundred and thirty acres of land, and the mills 
and dwelling, was secured by Charles R. Spicer for the 
sum of eight hundred dollars, to bo paid annually. Spicer 
then took possession of the property, but failed to make any 
payments on the lease, and finally departed for New 
York. The property was ultimately sold at auction in the 
city of Detroit, and was purchased by Cornelius O'Flynn 
and William K. Coyle, both of Detroit, who obtained a 
title and reorganized the company. 



WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



527 



In 1848 the latter gentleman disposed of his interest to 
N. I. Daniells, and Cornelius O'Flynn conveyed his share to 
Elias Daniells. With this later transfer ended the decaying 
fortunes of the Waterloo Joint-Stock Company. 

The mill property was subsequently owned by Messrs. 
Hunter & Silsbee, who arrived in 1840, and established a 
general store at this point, having purchased the business of 
Walter Hubbell, though the mill property not having been 
managed by them to profit, had been allowed to go to decay. 
The above-named firm were formerly peddlers, and after 
having by fair dealing obtained an extended patronage in 
adjacent parts of the country, ultimately located at Wa- 
cousta, where a very lucrative system of barter and trade 
was maintained with the settlers. 

N. I. and Nelson Daniells arrived in 1848 (having been 
former residents of Cayuga Co., N. Y.), and at once repaired 
the mill property. The grist-mill, which was in a condi- 
tion unfit for service, was at once remodeled, and the saw- 
mill also thoroughly rebuilt. A store was opened by them, 
and in 1855 the old grist-mill was replaced by a new one, 
which is now owned by Nelson Daniells. This mill has 
three run of stones, and is devoted to both custom- and 
merchant-work. It is located upon the Looking-Glass 
Kiver, from whence its power is derived, and has a capacity 
of four hundred bushels per day. Much patronage is en- 
joyed from the adjacent country, though Lansing and the 
East furnish a market for its merchant work. 

The saw-mill, which is also owned by Mr. Daniells, em- 
braces planing machinery, and has a capacity of two thou- 
sand feet per day. It does custom-work exclusively. 

There are at Wacousta six stores, owned as follows : 

Carey R. Daniells has a general store. 

Carmer Brothers, of Lansing, have also a general store, 
managed by O. A. Smith. 

H. D. Weaver has a market and also a grocery-store. 

G. W. Burt combines drugs and medicines with a stock 
of groceries. 

Frank E. Davis deals in boots and .shoes, and groceries. 

Two blacksmith-shops are conducted by P. H. Blass & 
Son, and Alonzo Waldron. 

Mrs. Cook has a millinery establishment. 

William Hosner is the landlord, while Frank E. Davis 
is postmaster, and Henry J. Patterson and Joseph A. 
Myers are the lawyers of the village. Drs. A. S. Hyatt 
and S. A. JIauzer are the physicians. 

The projectors of the village had determined upon 
" Waterloo" as a euphonious, and at the time a popular cog- 
nomen for the rising village, but subsequent investigation 
proved that a post-office of similar name already existed in 
the State. Some early settler, with an inten.se admiration 
for the character of the historic Wacousta,* suggested the 
name as a substitute, and it was at once adopted. 

GRAND RIVER CITY. 
In the summer of 1834, Erastus Ingersoll purchased a 
tract of land in the town.ship.of Delta, on the northern 

* In the conspiracy of Pontine, in 1763, Major Glaflwin, the com- 
mandant nt Detroit, was appri^^cd by the Indian maiden Wnconstu 
of the intention of the Indians to surprise and massacre the garrison 
at tlie fort, and thus the plot was defeated. At least this is one of 
tlie traditions of tiiat conspiracy. 



boundary-line of the county of Eaton, and in 1836 added 
to this purchase eighty acres on section 35 in the township 
of Watertown, and a year later an additional eighty on sec- 
tion 36. Elihu P. Ingersoll also bought eighty acres at the 
same date on section 34.- This portion of the State was at 
that early date little else than a vast forest, diversified by 
occasional oak-openings, and surprise was manifested on 
the part of friends of the gentleman that he should have 
chosen so isolated a spot. The prospective removal of the 
State capital had, however, influenced him to ehoo.se what 
he deemed a central location, trusting to circumstances to 
enhance the value of this land. 

In the year 1 836 he erected a log house, and having se- 
cured an individual named Avery to .superintend operations, 
brought a squad of men for the purpose of building a dam 
and erecting mills. Soon after the services of John Thayer, 
a surveyor, resident in Farmington, Oakland Co., were se- 
cured, and a village was marked out extending from the 
Grand River to the Grand River turnpike, and this pros- 
pective village was immediately christened Grand River 
City. On the completion of the saw-mill the men were 
employed in clearing and chopping preparatory to the rais- 
ing of crops. 

Early during the winter of 1837 E. S. Ingersoll with his 
family arrived, and became residents of the place, and in 
June of the same year a party of gentlemen including Dr. 
Isaac Jennings, Rev. E. P. Ingersoll, Charles W. Gurney, 
and others, all of Massachusetts, arrived, having as their ob- 
ject the establishment of an extensive educational enterprise 
at Grand River City. The State Legislature passed and 
approved an act incorporating the school April 11, 1839, 
indicating it as the Grand River Theological Semitiary, with 
Isaac Jennings, Thomas Blossom, John J. Sheppard, Josiah 
Tole, Erastus Ingersoll, Charles W. Gurney, Samuel Chad- 
wick, and E. P. Ingersoll as a board of trustees. It fur- 
ther invested the said trustees with power to erect " in the 
village of Orion, in Eaton and Clinton Counties [the 
county-line running through the village], such buildings 
as they may judge the interests of the institution shall at 
any time demand." The school was to have been con- 
ducted on a plan similar to that adopted by many Eastern 
institutions, involving a system of manual labor as an ac- 
companiment of instruction. 

A site was chosen for the building, the lumber was par- 
tially prepared, and Rev. E. P. Ingersoll was delegated to 
solicit aid for the enterprise. The subscriptions on paper 
were so numerous as to warrant the most sanguine predictions 
of success, when the wildcat banking system of Michigan 
collapsed, and in the general financial wreck which ensued 
were engulfed all the brilliant hopes for the future of Grand 
River City. Mr. Erastus Ingersoll resided in Farmington, 
Oakland Co., where he died in 1851. He divided his 
estate in Watertown among liis sons, Elial, Orville B., Eg- 
bert, and Truman, all of whom as early as the year 1842 
became residents of this township. 

ClIUKCH HISTORY. 
CONUREGATIONAL CHUUCII. 
An ecclesiastical council convened at Wacousta, Mich., 
on the 8tli day of July, 1802, pursuant to an invitation of 



528 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



certain individuals who desired to be organized as a Con- 
gregational Church. The council having been convened by 
the choice of Rev. H. A. Read, of Marshall, as moderator, 
and Rev. W. B. Williams, of Charlotte, as clerk, prayer 
was offered and the letter read which designated the pur- 
pose of the meeting. The following persons publicly 
assented to the confession of faith, and solemnly entered 
into covenant to walk together in Christian fellowship : J. 
D. Millard, Jane L. Millard, John A. Hamilton, Maria 
Hamilton, Mrs. Cornelia N. Hazard, Mrs. Mary Bissell, 
Mrs. Sarah M. Davidson, Miss Fercis Root. 

At the first regular meeting John A. Hamilton was 
elected Deacon ; Persis Root, Treasurer ; and Cornelia N. 
Hazard, Church Clerk. In the following year David I. 
Daniells, N. L. Daniells, and Rev. William P. Esler were 
elected a financial committee, and to Rev. J. D. Millard was 
extended an invitation to serve as pastor the following year. 
Rev. Mr. Millard accepted, and remained as pastor in charge 
until 1SG6, when he was succeeded by Rev. J. M. Ashley. 
The church next extended a call to Rev. N. D. Glidden, 
who filled the ministerial office until 1872, when Rev. 
William II. Skentelbury, of the Chicago Theological Sem- 
inary, was invited to the charge, and at a later period ac- 
cepted. An effort was made to erect a house of worship 
soon after, and a lot was purchased. Subscriptions having 
been offered with much zeal, the congregation felt encour- 
aged to begin the work. The edifice was completed at a 
cost of eighteen hundred dollar.*, and the dedicatory ser- 
vices were held on the i3th of January, 1875. 

A flourishing Sabbath-school is connected with the so- 
ciety, of which L. J. Gibson is superintendent. During 
the summer months one hundred and twenty members are 
enrolled. The present church officers are Munsen Austin, 
Oscar Hart, George H. Niles, Deacons ; R. E. Hamilton, 
Treasurer ; G. W. Burt, Clerk. Rev. W. H. Skentelbury 
is still the pastor, and resides in the village of Wacousta. 
The church-roll numbers seventy-five members. 

BAPTIST CHURCU. 

A Baptist society was organized in Wacousta during the 
year 1854, and a legal organization was effected as early as 
July 4th of that year, with the following as a board of 
trustees: Harvey Hunter, John C. Backus, George W. 
Perigo, Charles M. Derbyshire, and David P. Daniells. 
The society flourished for a time, but with the presence of 
later organizations much of tiie support of the church-going 
portion of the township was diverted into other channels, 
and the Baptist Church has now no existence other than in 
the memory of its former adherents. 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF WACOUSTA. 

The organization and first preachers of this society have 
not been ascertained. The church in which they worship 
was erected in 18G7, aud dedicated in April, 18G8. The 
dedication sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Mead, 
the Rev. John Bragins being in charge at that time. He 
was succeeded by Revs. Tiiomas Clark, H. D. Jordan, S. 

P. Hewitt, Cadwell, B. S. Pratt, and the Rev. W. 

R. McEwen, who is the present pastor. The trustees of 
the church are H. Farloch, T. Bateman, J. Q. Benedict, 



D. Niles, and William Warbais. The church numbers at 
present thirty-three. A Sunday-school is in connection 
with the church containing fifty pupils. William Miller is 
superintendent. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. 



GEORGE GALL. 

George Gall was born in Newton, Cambridgeshire, Eng- 
land, Oct. 11, 1824. His father, Edward Gall, was born 
in Leverton, England, where he grew to manhood, working 
as soon as large enough at common labor. He married 
Susan Andrus. They had eight children, George being 
the second. He, too, was a common laborer until he was 
eighteen years old, when he was apprenticed for three years 
to J-anies Hardmeat, of Wisbech, to learn the butcher's 
trade. After learning his trade he went to Ely, where he 
worked in a meat-market for seven shillings per week. In 
May, 1849, Mr. Gall took passage in a sailing-- vessel for 
New York. He had saved the money to buy his ticket by 
putting a few shillings at a time in the savings-bank. He 
had learned that in the mother-country only a life of toil 
and poverty awaited him, and he determined to see what 
labor and economy would do for him in the new world be- 
yond the sea. He landed in New York after a month's 
voyage, and with but ten cents in his pocket. This would 
not buy a meal for himself and comrade, John Nourse, so 
he bought them each a glass of American beer. Their ticket 
was to Buffalo, but they went only to Lockport, where they 
both hired out for ten dollars per month. Here Mr. Gall 
remained during the summer. During the next two years 
he worked by the month at farm labor, his highest wages 
being thirteen dollars per month. Eighteen months after 
his arrival he sent two hundred dollars to his fiither with 
which to bring the family to this country. His employer 
advanced one season's earnings to enable him to send that 
amount. When his parents and four sisters arrived they 
found a home awaiting them which had been rented by 
George, who never forgot to "honor his father and mother." 
In 1851 he bought forty acres of new land in ^V^atertown, 
and then after working one year more by the month, he, 
with his father's family, came to Michigan and settled on 
his land. Their family was large and they had no means, 
and for a time George found supplying the wants of so 
many no easy task. But he was not easily discouraged, 
and with untiring energy he went to work. In the winter 
he thrashed grain with a flail, doing an amount of work 
that to the young men of to-day would seem incredible. 
In the summer months he worked on his farm when not 
compelled to work for others to supply the family wants. 
His sisters married from his home, while the father and 
mother lassed with him tiie remainder of their days, the 
mother living to see her son the owner of a fine farm, and 
a man honored and esteemed by his neighbors for his in- 
dustry and sterling integrity. Oct. 19, 1863, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Cclia Rudgers, daughter of Thomas and Lil- 
lias J. (Bush) Rudgers, born in La Grange, Wyoming Co., 



WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



529 



N. Y., Nov. 22, 1840. Her people were early settlers in 
Orange township, Ionia Co., Mich., where her father cleared 
a new farm. He is still living in Dallas, Clinton Co. The 
death of her mother when she was nine years old made it 
necessary for her to work out by the week, which she did 
for years. Mr. Gall now owns one hundred and twenty 



acres of fine land under good improvement, with good 
house and out-buildings, the result of hard labor and good 
management. Their children were Hannah L., born Oct. 
12, 1864, died March 28, 1865 ; Ida M., April 4, 1866 ; 
Elizabeth J., Sept. 4, 1868; Thomas E., July 2, 1871; 
George H., Nov. 13, 1873 ; and Liuna C, April 6, 1877. 





MRS. ELIEL INGEllSdLL. 



ELIEL INGERSOLL. 



ELIEL INGERSOLL. 



In the latter part of the sixteenth century three brothers, 
of whom one was William Ingersoll, emigrated from Eng- 
land and settled in the town of Lee, in what afterwards 
became the celebrated county of Berkshire, Mass. At the 
first election held in the town he was elected town clerk, 
magistrate, and selectman. When the Congregational 
Church of the town of Lee was organized his name 
headed the list. He had five sons — Aaron, Jared, Scth, 
David, and William — and two daughters, names unknown. 
David Ingersoll, of whose family we shall write, married 
a Miss Sally Parsons. She was a granddaughter of the 
celebrated Jonathan Edwards. They had thirteen chil- 
dren, all of whom grew to maturity, and all of whom 
became members of the Congregational branch of the 
Christian Church. David was for forty-five years a dea- 
con in the Congregational Church in Lee. He died there, 
as did also his wife. Erastus, the oldest of the family, 
lived in Lee until early manhood, when he emigrated 
to the town of Victor, Ontario Co., N. Y. In March, 
1806, he was married to Miss Sally Smith, daughter of 
Nicholas Smith, who emigrated from Stockbridge, Mass., 
to the Genesee country about the year 1789. Erastus 
remained in Victor until 1825, when, having lost his prop- 
67 



erty in building the locks on the P]rie Canal at Rochester, 
he with his family came to Oakland Co., Mich., and settled 
in the town of Farmington, where there were but a few 
families then settled. They came from Bufliilo to Detroit 
by schooner, and were nine days on the lake. In Detroit, 
Mr. Ingersoll bought a yoke of oxen and drove by way of 
Birmingham to the new home in the wilderness. There 
were no roads, and for three miles from his home no houses. 
His nearest neighbor was a Mr. Powers, who was then 
building a mill where the village of Farmington now stands. 
He bought of the government one hundred and sixty acres, 
which he cleared and improved. In 1834 he came to Clin- 
ton County, where he bought five lots of wild land, and four 
lots in Eaton County. He located in the town of Delta, 
where he built mills. The first school taught in his town 
was in his mill, and by his brother, the Rev. E. P. Inger- 
soll. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and a pioneer 
of whom any new country may be proud. He died in 
Farmington, January, 1850. 

Eliel, the fifth child of Erastus, was born in Victor, 
Ontario Co., N. Y., April 10, 1816. He was married, 
Jan. 30, 1839, to Miss Diantha M. McRobert, daughter 
of James and Rachel (Covill) McRobert. She was born 



530 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



in Greenfield, Saratoga Co., N. Y., May 30, 1817. Her 
father was born in the lowlands of Scotland, from whence 
his mother emigrated to America when he was four years 
old. In 1840, Eliel, with his wife and one child, moved 
from Oakland County to Watertown, going with a team 
and by the way of Howell, and then following a road his 
father had cut through to his lands in Clinton and Eaton 
Counties. He reached his father's place in midwinter, but 
a house of tamarack logs was soon built, and they at once 
moved in. Their house and furniture were of the most 
primitive kind. Their table was plain boards, their bed- 
stead made of poles driven into the logs, and their stairs a 
log with notches cut in it for steps. Yet it was home, and 
their settlement the foundation for a fine farm. Prior to 
this he had bought one hundred and twenty acres of gov- 
ernment land in Delta, eighty acres of which he traded for 
a team, and the balance was sold to improve his farm in 
Watertown. There was nothing cleared on their farm and 
no roads. Wild game of every kind was abundant, as was 
also nearly every species of snake, from the deadly rattle- 
snake to the harmless streaked snake, all of which were a 
terror to Mrs. Ingersoll, who often found them uninvited 
guests in her home. After locating on his farm they went 
to Delta to help rebuild the dams, which had been washed 
away, and to help erect new mills. This kept them from 
their farm five years, when they returned, and the work of 
clearing and improving went on. The result is a well-im- 
proved farm of over one hundred acres, the result of years 
of toil and economy. Mr. Ingersoll also owns a fine resi- 
dence in North Lansing. In politics he is a Republican ; 
though he has never sought or wanted oflSce, still he has 
held some of the minor oflBces in his township. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ingersoll have been for many years members of the 
Congregational Church, and are strong sympathizers in the 
cause of temperance. Their union has been blessed with 
the following children: Lucy E., born Nov. 18, 1839; 
John N., Jan. 15, 1844; Elihu B., Nov. 1, 1849; Eliel 
B., Nov. 1, 1852; Augusta L., Nov. 20, 1854; Dwight 
C, March 3, 1856 ; and Carter W., Nov. 19, 1862. 



WILLIAM F. DUTTON. 

William F. Dutton was born in Chenango Co., N. Y., 
June 23, 1812, and is a true specimen of the American 
pioneer. A man of iron constitution, with nerves and 
sinews of steel, he never knew the meaning of the words 
" fatigue" and " fail." With him to will was to do. Before 
his never-tiring arm the forests disappeared from farm after 
farm, until but few men can say they have cleared as much 
land as he. His father and mother, Robert and Sarah 
(Fowler) Dutton, were early settlers in Chenango County, 
having settled on their farm when it was entirely new. 
When William was fifteen years old he engaged with the 
Merchant line as a driver on the Erie Canal. Until he 
was twenty-two we find him each summer on the canal in 
the difierent roles of driver, deck-hand, steersman, and 
captain, while in the winter he worked in the lumber-woods 
of Steuben County getting out ship-timber. 



On the 18th day of August, 1836, he was joined in 
marriage to Miss Mary Young, daughter of Joseph and 
Ellen (Pray) Young, who was born Sept. 5, 1819. Her 
parents were Massachusetts people and emigrated to Cayuga 
Co., N. Y., when that county was new, and where for years 
her father was a drover. He died in Brutus township, same 
county. In August, 1836, Mr. and Mrs. Dutton started 
for Michigan, going to Buffalo, where they shipped them- 
selves and team for Toledo, from whence they drove to 
Cass County, following the Chicago road. For a time he 
worked land on shares on Prairie Ronde. Prior to this 
Mr. Dutton had been to Michigan and had made a pedes- 
trian trip over a good deal of the southern part of the 
State. He walked from Detroit to White Pigeon in three 
days ; thence to Kalamazoo, where he worked on the first 
bridge across the Kalamazoo River ; thence by Indian trail 
and wagon-road to Grand Rapids, making sixty-five miles 
in one day. Near the Rapids he entered one hundred 
and twenty acres of land, which he sold without going on 
to it. 

After working land in Cass County three years he came 
to Westphalia and bought one hundred and sixty acres of 
wild land, to which there was no road of any description, 
and on which he in ten days built a log house, into which 
they moved when there were no doors or windows, and 
but a portion being floored. Their fire was built against 
the logs in one corner of the room, the smoke escaping 
through a hole in the roof This was their first home, and 
they have never enjoyed life better than in those days. On 
this farm they remained six years, clearing forty acres, setting 
out an orchard, and putting up a frame barn. They then 
traded for one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in 
Ca.ss County. They reached the new farm with but five 
dollars in money, and a house to build and winter before 
them. But nothing ever daunted Mr. Dutton, and we 
soon find him with a comfortable log house, a frame barn, 
young orchard, and forty acres cleared. After four years 
spent on the Cass County farm, sufiering repeated attacks 
of the ague, he again sold out, and in the township of Riley, 
Clinton Co., he bought one hundred and sixty acres of 
wild land, which under his labor and management became 
one of the fine farms of Clinton County, with fine build- 
ings, orchards, and highly cultivated fields. 

In 1874 he again sold out and then came to Watertown, 
and bought one hundred and fifty-five acres of land, mostly 
cleared, and on which he has built fine buildings (a view 
of which appears on another page of this history), and 
where he intends to spend the remainder of his days, be- 
lieving that he has done his share as a pioneer. 

In politics Mr. Dutton is an ardent Republican ; was one 
term supervisor in Westphalia, and has held other minor 
offices. 

Their children are as follows : Ella N., born Jan. 8, 
1837; deceased. Harriet, born Dec. 31, 1838; married 
to George Green, and now living near Detroit. Ann 
Eliza, born Oct. 23, 1842. William Abner, born June 
22, 1845 ; enlisted in Company B, Eighth Michigan In- 
fantry, and killed June 2, 1864, at Cold Harbor, falling 
thus early in life a sacrifice upon the altar of his country's 
liberty. Jane, born May 2, 1849 ; died Aug. 18, 1852. 






5 



C3 

SI 
3 



i 




WATERTOWN TOWNSHIP. 



631 




GEORGE W. KINNEY. 



Among the leading self-made men of Watertown we find 
the name of George W. Kinney, who was born in the town 
of Franklin, New London Co., Conn., Nov. 28, 1828. He 
is of Scotch descent, his ancestors having emigrated from 
Scotland to America prior to the Revolution and settled in 
Connecticut. When George was nine years old his parents 
moved into Monroe Co , N. Y., where they remained until 
1835, when they emigrated to Livingston Co., Mich., and 
settled on a new farm in the town of Hartland. On this 
farm they remained five years, clearing and improving part 
of it. George then sold out and came to Clinton County, 
where he had previously bought the northeast quarter of 
section 8, in Watertown. The farm was partly improved, 
and under his management and industry became a well im- 
proved farm. In the spring of 1852, becoming impregnated 
with the gold fever, Mr. Kinney joined a train which was 
organizing at De Witt, and with it made the overland jour- 
ney to California. The trip, which was made in six months, 
was attended by the interests, hardships, and dangers of an 
overland trip to California at that time. Arrived in the 
El Dorado of the West, he at once went into the mines, 
and most of the time for two years and nine months fol- 
lowed mining, meeting with fair success. He then returned 
to the States, coming back by water. Soon after bis return 
Mr. Kinney sold his farm on section 8 and bought the 
east three quarters of section 3 in the same town. It was 



all new at that time, but is now mostly improved, and the 
work of his own hands, while on it he has erected a fine 
house, surrounded by large and commodious out-buildings. 
For his first wife Mr. Kinney married Hannah J. Gue in 
the spring of 1845. To them was born one child, Ade- 
laide, born March 2, 1846; died in September, 1850. 
Mrs. Kinney died in June, 1846. In September, 1848, 
he was again married, his bride being Mrs. Emily H. 
Phillips, who died in February, 1871. For his third wife 
Mr. Kinney married Miss Achsah Reed, who was born in 
Jackson, Mich., Dec. 31, 1836. She is daughter of Alson 
H. and Dolly (Jackson) Reed. Their union has been blessed 
with two children, viz. : A. Carl, born Aug. 6, 1872 (died 
Feb. 3, 1877), and Emily F., born Aug. 20, 1875. Mr. 
Kinney is and has been for years a member of the Repub- 
lican party, believing it to be the exponent of advanced ideas 
and the champion of the rights of ail men under the law. 
He ha.s been the .'-tandard-bearer of his party in his town- 
ship for years, having been for nine years supervisor, and 
two years chairman of the board, making, as testified to by 
his nei"hbors and fellow-townsmeu, an efficient officer. He 
has also been highway commissioner six years, justice of 
the peace eight years, and h.is held other minor offices. He 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and one 
of its trustees, while he stands high as a man of integrity 
and business qualifications. 



532 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 




STEPHEN HILL. 



The oldest settler now living in the town of Watertown 
is Stephen Hill, who bought of the government the north- 
east quarter of section 15, in 1836. There were then but 
few settlers in the town, all of whom have either moved 
away, or have gone to that " bourne from whence no trav- 
eler returns." 

Mr. Hill is of English origin, his ancestors having emi- 
grated from the mother-country in the infancy of the 
colony. His father, Enoch Hill, was born in New Bruns- 
wick, where his parents resided a few years, and from 
whence they again returned to Maine, while Enoch was 
still a boy, and .settled on a piece of wild land in the town 
of Whiting, Washington Co. On this farm Enoch grew 
to manhood. He married Miss Hepzibeth Gardner, and 
still remained on the old homestead, which he owned after 
his father's death, and on which Stephen was born Jan. 21, 
1809. He too grew to manhood on the old farm, receiving 
a good common-school education, better than the majority 
of his associates obtained. Becoming desirous of getting a 
home of his own and having no means, he, in 1834, came 
to Michigan, where land of the best quality was awaiting 
the axe of the pioneer, and could be had at a mere nominal 
sum. He first stopped in Plymouth, in Wayne County, 
where for two years he worked his father-in-law's farm on 
shares. He then, as above set forth, bought land in Water- 
town, on which he made a permanent settlement in 1837. 
On his farm, to which there were no roads or even a trail, 
he built a log shanty, its floor of split logs, with but one 
window and two doors ; it was still home, and within it 
hunger and want were never felt, though its occupants saw 



many hardships and privations, as they were then very poor. 
With energy and perseverance he at once commenced to 
clear and improve his land, which was covered with heavy 
timber. But not all of the time could he work on his own 
land. He had no surplus means, and had to work for 
others to earn means with which to keep the wolf from the 
door. He has cleared fifty acres on his own farm and a 
good deal on the farms of others. In those early days deer 
and other game were plenty, while the wolves had their nest- 
ing-places near his home, often making the forest ring with 
their howling. But Mr. Hill was not much of a Nimrod, 
as he never shot either wolf, deer, or turkey. Years have 
passed, and the then forests are now well-improved farms, 
homes of intelligent and industrious people, ail of which 
Mr. Hill has lived to see, and now in the seventy-first year 
of his age, surrounded by the comforts his life of toil has 
brought him, respected and esteemed by those who know 
him best, he is passing away the even- time of life. In 
politics he was in early life a Whig, then a Republican, of 
which party he is a stalwart member. He has been town 
clerk, highway commissioner, and for years a justice of the 
peace. He has also taken a lively interest in schools, and 
has been more or less a member of the school-board. Mr. 
Hill was married May 7, 1835, to Miss Olive Gooch, 
daughter of Benjamin and Lucy (Boynton) Gooch. She 
was born in Machias township, Washington Co., Me., Feb. 
19, 181G. To them have been born Lucy H., Feb. 2, 1836 ; 
Warren H., Nov. 24, 1840 ; Bartlett B., Jan. 22, 1843,— 
he enlisted in Co. G, Twenty-third Regiment Michigan 
Infantry, and died in hospital at or near Strawberry Plain ; 



WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP. 



533 



Ellery B., Oct. 17, 1845 ; Chrissie, March 17, 1848 ; Amos 
B., June 8, 1850; Frank, Jan. 18, 1854, died Sept. 30, 
1858 ; and Jessie F., Oct. 14, 1856, died Oct. 6, 1858. 
Amos B., who is now owner of part of the home-farm, and 
with whom Mr. and Mrs. Hill now reside, was married 
March 2, 1873, to Miss Lucy Webster, who was born 
March 2, 1856. Their children are May, born May 12, 
1874, and Pearl, born June 11, 1878. 



CHAPTER LXVL 
WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP.* 

General Description — Settlement of the Township — Early Township 
Roads — Township Org,aniz.ition and Civil List — Schools — -Village 
of Westphalia — Keligious History. 

Westphalia is the sixth town north of the base-line in 
range 4 west of the meridian, and has for its boundaries, 
Dallas on the north. Eagle on the south, Riley on the east, 
and the Ionia County line on the west. The township, 
originally settled by Germans, is populated now almost ex- 
clusively by representatives of that race ; indeed, it would 
be difficult to find more than a dozen families in the town 
other than those of Germans. Among these latter, Catholi- 
cism is the universal religion, and at the village of West- 
phalia the people of that faith gather weekly in great 
numbers for worship in one of the costliest as well as one 
of the most commodious religious temples in the State of 
Michigan. In keeping with the characteristics of their 
countrymen, the Germans of Westphalia are a thrifty peo- 
ple, and, as a class, are exceedingly prosperous and com- 
fortably circumstanced. The spirit of Democracy prevails 
as the ruling political mainspring, and from the beginning 
of the town's existence Democracy has held undisputed 
sway. Although Westphalia has no railway conveniences 
within its borders, easy access is found to Portland, in Ionia 
County, and Fowler, in Dallas township, — both railway 
stations, and both desirable markets. The Westphalia, 
Hubbardston and Northern Railroad was projected through 
the town in 1869, and Jan. 20, 1870, the inhabitants voted 
by one hundred and ninety-nine ayes to seventy-three nays 
to donate eighteen thousand dollars in aid of the enterprise, 
but the act incorporating the railway company was declared 
unconstitutional, and there was no railway. 

Westphalia, having now a population of seventeen hun- 
dred and thirty-eight (last United States census), shows an 
increase since 1874 of two hundred and forty. There is 
still opportunity for advancement in that direction, for 
there is in the southern portion of the town a good deal of 
lowland now unoccupied, which must be in the nature of 
things reclaimed for the purposes of agriculture, and thus 
will add accordingly in a material way to the development 
of the town's resources and wealth. 

SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWNSHIP. 
Eminently a German settlement, the township of West- 
phalia has been so from the hour it received its pioneer 

• By David Sohwarti. 



settlers. Germans first penetrated its forest recesses, first 
peopled it, and first turned its soil to receive the seed of the 
sower. Its inhabitants compo.se what may be aptly termed 
a colony, for they are bound by the common sympathy of a 
spirit which has its origin in a common reverence for the 
Fatherland, and professing one common religious belief; 
while they meet each Sabbath in one common temple of 
worship, they are banded together by a fraternal bond that 
makes them more like members of one family than of a 
community. They find a cause for much pride in this 
fraternal feeling, and they are proud, moreover, of the 
hardy and heroic band whose feeble numbers led the way 
to the wilderness forty-four years ago, and set up the cor- 
ner-stone of what is now a massive and substantial social 
fabric. 

The sturdy ones who thus advanced to the work when 
pioneering meant their lonely isolation in the forest-wilds 
from those of their kind were three in number, John 
Hauses, Anthony Cordes, and Joseph Platte, of whom 
but John Hauses still lives. He abides yet upon the place 
which in 1836 he chose as his future home, and which he 
has seen seen blossom from a dreary stretch of dense wood 
into a smiling and fruitful landscape. 

In the autumn of 1836, John Hauses, Joseph Platte, 
Anthony .Cordes, William Theilman, and a Mr. Salter, na- 
tives of Westphalia, and recently arrived from Germany in 
search of landed homes in America's Far West, met in 
Detroit and took counsel together as to where they would 
be best suited with a location. They talked with a Catho- 
lic priest in Detroit, and he advising them to seek a loca- 
cation in the Grand River country, they lost no time in 
setting out. They traveled on foot and reached Lyons by 
way of the Dexter road. At Lyons they learned that the 
major part of the desirable land tracts in that region had 
been taken up by speculators, and that they could be best 
accommodated with government land in the town 6 north, 
in range 4 west, now called Westphalia. As they were es- 
pecially in search of government lands, since they felt they 
could not afford to pay speculators' prices, they decided to 
go over into town 6, and accordingly engaged a Mr. Hunt, 
of Lyons, to guide them thither. The lands in that town 
were not deemed by speculators as worthy their attention, 
inasmuch as there was much undesirable swamp country, 
and to that fact is due the circumstance that Hauses and 
his friends found there cheap government lands to suit 
them. Indeed, F. J. Snider, now a resident in the town, 
recalls that he visited the place in 1842, and found it so 
much of a " mud-hole" that he determined to get out 
of it as fast as he could, and to stay out of it, for to his 
way of thinking it was a poor kind of a place for a man 
to live in. 

After looking about, the party of Germans decided to 
locate on section 5, where they made their first appearance 
Sept. 8, 1836, and where they entered seven lots of eighty 
acres each, or the entire section save one lot. Hauses, 
Cordes, Platte, and Theilman remained on the ground and 
entered at once upon the work of clearing the land, while 
Setter, declining to become a practical pioneer just then, 
returned to Detroit, soon afterwards sold his land, and 
ended his connection with Westphalia. Theilman remained 



534 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



about two months, absented himself for about six months, 
i\nd then returning for a permanent stay, settled on sec- 
lion 7. 

John Hauses was the only one of the pioneer company 
unmarried, but he put up a cabin on his place and kept 
buchelor's hall alone, after his companions brought their 
limilies out from Detroit towards the beginning of Feb- 
ruary, 1837. Early in 1837 the settlers were joined by 
Anthony Kopp, a Catholic priest, who, as will be presently 
shown, was a man of much energy and force of character, 
and who was an important factor during his brief stay in 
the conduct of religious and secular affairs in the little 
community. Hauses, who spent the first eighteen months 
of his sojourn between clearing his place and working at 
Lyons for others, was upon his return to his bachelor's hall 
lor a permanent stay stricken down with fever and ague, 
and lay thus helpless for the space of six months. He was 
tiien taken in hand by the family of Nicholas Martin, his 
neighbor, and set upon his feet. His marriage to Martin's 
daughter, Elizabeth, Feb. 1, 1840, was the pioneer wedding. 
It took place at Martin's house, Anthony Kopp, the priest, 
jierforming the ceremony. There was an bumble wedding 
feast, and then the bride and groom took for their wedding 
tour a walk from Father Martin's house to the groom's 
cabin. Bride and groom still live in the enjoyment of a 
hearty old age, after journeying in company more than forty 
years. 

These first settlers were very poor, and after paying for 
their lands had but little left. Such luxuries as doors or 
windows for their homes they did not aspire to, but were 
rlad to depend upon blankets and sheets, albeit it did cause 
tlie hearts of the women folks to quake with terror when 
at night they heard the howls of wolves and expected to 
see the beasts dash at any time through the ill-protected 
cabin openings and wage a war of slaughter. Poor as they 
were they had to pay dearly for what they needed, and 
niany's the story that's told about the struggles and priva- 
tions they were called upon to endure by reason of their 
poverty and inability to supply themselves with the common 
necessaries of life while waiting for the earth to yield 
them of its fruits. As an instance, it cost Anthony Cordes 
lifty dollars, about all the money he had in the world, for 
bringing a load of household goods from Detroit to his 
Westphalia clearing. In the summer of 1837 flour was 
held at twenty-one dollars a barrel at Lyons, and even at 
that was hard to get. Mr. Hauses says the timber about 
them was so thick that when they wanted to see the sky 
they had to chop down a tree. 

Following the first comers to Westphalia in 1837 and 
1838, Everhard Platte, Michael Thoma, Peter Platte, 
Anton Platte, Bernard Rademacher, Michael Thomen, 
Lorenz Nasman, and Nicholas Martin joined the settlement. 
They came from the same neighborhood in Germany that 
had owned the members of the pioneer advance guard, were 
in many cases friends of long standing, and had naturally 
turned their faces towards new Western homes where they 
would meet their old companions. 

When Anthony Kopp became one of the settlers, he set 
liimself at once to the business of providing a church and 



school for the settlement. He held religious services in his 
log cabin, after the form of the Roman Catholic Church 
(for be it remembered that the early as well as the later 
settlers in Westphalia were attached to that faith), and 
began also to teach school therein. Church and school 
were to these Germans adjuncts of great value, and the 
establishment thereof they regarded as among the most 
serious and important duties of the time. The church and 
school thus set up in the wilderness by priest Kopp 
gathered strength as time passed on, widening and strength- 
ening their influence among the people, and supplying that 
bond of social union which, as strangers in a strange land, 
sheltered them within the folds of fraternal friendship, and 
which has since that time steadily held them to the same 
purpose, while they have seen the infant church and school 
mount steadily upwards in the scale of expanded useful- 
ness, until to-day thousands worship in a common temple, 
and nearly half a thousand school children gather within 
the Walls of a common institution of learning. Later on 
will be found a detailed history of church and school from 
priest Kopp's time to the present. 

Anthony Kopp was a man of mark in the community, 
and besides the task of religious and secular teacher, took 
also upon himself the role of adviser to his neighbors in all 
aflairs where his superior intelligence would naturally guide 
them. He was much respected, and to his advice the 
greatest deference was paid. To his natural energy of 
character the settlement owes much of its advancement in 
temporal matters, for he took upon himself their direction 
at a time when the people, utterly strange to the necessities 
and forms of local government, needed some teacher and 
adviser. He was the leading spirit in the matter of town 
organization, although when it came to the intricate details 
and forms of holding the first town-meeting, a cry went up 
for an American to assist them, and so Henry Bartow, of 
Lyons, came over and set them a model by which they were 
easily able to fashion their subsequent records of town 
business. 

In 1839 there came fresh accessions, for the planting of 
this little German colony in the wilds of Michigan became 
in some quarters a matter of common fame, while its mem- 
bers, communicating with friends in the " faderland," pointed 
the way for such as chose to join the earlier and more daring 
land-seekers. Among those who came in 1839 were Franz 
Rademacher, Conrad Martin, Gottfried Adieman, Mathias 
Ott, Anthony Huhn, Peter Arens, and Philip H. Martz. 
James J. McRoberts, now living in Dallas, settled that year 
on section 12, in Westphalia, and M. McVeigh on section 2. 

Following is a list of resident tax-payers of Westphalia 
iu 1839, which shows nearly what settlers had come to the 
township prior to that time : 

Acres. 

Franz R.atleinacher, section 3 80 

Conrad Martin, section 4 SO 

Michael Thoraen, section 4 40 

Gottfried Adelman, section 4 38 

Anthony Cordes, section 5 112 

Matthias Ott, section 4 38 

.John Hauses, section 5 135 

Bernhard R.ademachcr, section 5 24 

Anthony Kopj), section 5 80 

Nicholas Martin, section 5 65 

Joseph Piatt, section 5 40 

Michael Thoma, section 9 80 

A. Uuhn, section 10 40 



WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP. 



5:^5 



Acres. 

Peter A rens, section 9 40 

Jauies J. MeRoberts, section 12 80 

Philip H. Martz, section i 40 

The early settlers went over to Lyons or Portland when 
milling was to be done, and as cattle were scarce the usual 
custom was to pack a two bushel bag of wheat upon the 
back, carry it on foot through the woods, and bring back the 
flour after the same fashion. John Hauses says he doesn't 
remember carrying barrels of flour from Portland on his 
back, but that he does recollect how he used to drag barrels 
of flour from there on a hand-sled, and halt every few min- 
utes to lift the flour over fallen trees which impeded the 
progress of his vehicle. Indeed, the scarcity of ox-teams 
was a seriously felt want, and in such work as carrying 
fence-rails and doing other similar tugging labor, the back 
of the pioneer became sorely weary and sighed for the time 
when beasts of burden would become common. Michael 
Thome brought the first pair of oxen to the settlement, and 
while he was looked upon as a man favored in an extraor- 
dinary way by fortune, his oxen were in constant demand, 
and so put to the extent of their endeavors as must have 
convinced them that to be the only team of cattle in a new 
settlement was far from a consoling reflection. 

Earlier mention was made that flour was hard to obtain 
at Portland or Lyons at even twenty-one dollars a barrel. 
Additional mention may be made that other supplies wore 
proportionately dear, as, for example, meat twenty-five cents 
a pound, potatoes two dollars a bushel, and beans six dol- 
lars a bushel. Of course the settlers had to buy all needed 
supplies while awaiting the growth of their first crops, and 
poor as they were in money, it was not always that they 
could bless themselves with sufiicient provisions to gratify 
their wants, and that hunger intruded its grim front full 
many a time and oft, may be well understood. Apropos 
of the poverty of some, it may be noted that Michael 
Thomen was so poor when he sowed his first crop of wheat 
he could not afibrd a drag, and actually dragged his wheat- 
field with bundles of thorn bushes. 

The pioneer marriage has already been noted. The first 
birth was that of Elizabeth, daughter of Conrad Martin, 
born in 1840, and now the wife of Peter Petsch, of Jack- 
son. The first death was a daughter of Everhard Platte, 
and the first male person to die a son of Anthony Cordes. 
Both died in 1839. In 1842, Lorenz Huhu's two infant 
children were burned to death in the house of their parents. 
The latter, who lived on section 10, went one day into the 
" bush," leaving the little ones alone in the house. Not 
long after the departure of the parents the hou.se took fire, 
and by the time the circumstance was discovered by those 
able to help, the dwelling had fallen a prey to the devour- 
ing element, and along with it the children. The supposi- 
tion was of course that they played with fire in some form 
and thus destroyed themselves, but just how it all occurred 
no one could tell. 

In 1840 there came to the settlement from the llhine 
country in Germany, John Fox, Nicholas Paul, and John 
Lehman, with their families, and from the favorable reports 
dispatched by them to their friends in Germany, arose the 



following year an emigration from the same neighborhood 
to Westphalia of fifteen or twenty families, among whom 
were those of Lewis Weber, Anton Martin, John Dunne- 
backer, Joseph Bohr, John Smith, Jacob Newman, Nicho- 
las Knipps, Peter Simons, Peter Servalius, Mathias Bohi, 
Maurice Fedcwa, and Anthony Fox. Later comers to the 
settlement may be named in John and Theodore SchaScr, 
Jacob Abfiilter, Querin and John Smith, J. P. Smith, Petor 
Wirth, Mathias Schafer, Jacob Spitzley, Michael Sinitli, 
John Pung, John Fox, Adam Fedewa, Theodore Drostc, 
Anthony Martin, and Mathias Simons. 

Lorenz Nasman was the first shoemaker the settlement 
had, and Peter Servatius, who came in 1841, the second. 
Joseph Platte started a small store at Lyons directly after 
his arrival in Westphalia, and when the settlers in the lat- 
ter place began to make a respectable show of numbers he 
opened a similar place on section 5, upon the road now 
passing east and west through the village. That was the 
first regularly-constructed highway in the settlement, and 
on it Jacob Newman and Joseph Platte kept regularly 
licensed taverns about the year 1842. Indians were 
among their best customers for whi.sky, and to the red- 
skins they dealt out copious cjuantities of fire-water in e.K- 
change for furs, hides, sugar, and anything merchantabl! 
that the savages could offer. On the same road, in section 
4, Joseph Weaver opened the first blacksmith's shop, near 
where the church now stands. 

English-speaking settlers came to Westphalia at an early 
day, but the influx of that class was at no time numerous. 
Among the earliest, and the earliest in the northern portion 
of the town, were James J. Mclloberts and Simeon JlcCoy, 
both of whom located on section 12 as early as 1839, or 
perhaps shortly before. In the south, where but few 
Germans penetrated until a comparatively late date, the 
pioneer settler was David Wells, who settled in section 3(), 
in 1839, and who still lives on the place. He came from 
Oakland County with his family, whom he lodged a week 
at Hovey Spicer's, in Watertown, while he prepared a cabin 
on his own place. He had eleven people to assist at the 
raising of his cabin, of whom Anthony and Ezekiel Nile,-:-, 
Philo Beers, a blacksmith, David Burgess, Mr. Whitmoro, 
and the Higbees, were from Eagle, and Hovey Spicer, 
Ebenezer Smith, and John Andrus, from Watertown. 

Wells went through the woods to Portland to mill, and 
as he had usually to clear his road or cut it out, it took 
him two days to make the trip. His children he sent to 
Wacousta to school. Getting medical attendance was 
somewhat troublesome, but he, like many other settlers in 
the vicinity, got so after awhile that he could do consider- 
able doctoring himself, and in cases of simple sickness 
managed very well. Trading was done at Jackson, al- 
though it took a good ten days to make the journey thence 
and back with an ox-team. Black salts, coon furs, and deer- 
skins were the earliest articles which he could muster as 
the basis of a dicker at the market, and for these he would 
bring back flour and other much-needed comforts. Cash 
was scarce, and such a thing as selling anything near lionu. 
for money was not to be thought of, for no merchant would 
give anything but " trade." Meat was plentiful, for game 



536 



HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



was to be had almost for the asking, and settlers had no 
reason, therefore, to go hungry unless so disposed. 

Wells was the only settler in that portion of West- 
phalia for a year or two. Then the Haners, Hazens, and 
Nettletons came in, and others soon followed. Among 
these latter was John Kelly, who entered two lots on sec- 
tion 25 in 1851. He himself settled on one of the lots, 
and sold the other to his brother Chester, who occupied it 
the same year, and still lives on it. It was making a home 
in the heart of the woods, although the town had received 
a good many settlers. On section 36 were Conrad and 
John Haner, who had cut out a road on the west line of 
the section. Northwest of Ciiester Kelly his nearest 
neighbors were William Nettloton and his brother, both of 
whom had clearings in section 23 upon a laid-out angling 
road. Abram Bennett located on section 36 in 1S53, and 
in that year Joseph Kelly occupied on section 35 the place 
upon which his son Charles now lives. David Goss located 
in March, 1855, on an eighty-acre lot in section 35, which 
he had entered some years before ; and in 1857 Christopher 
Tallraan made his home in section 35, upon a place occu- 
pied at a later date by Alfred Williams. Edward Dilling- 
ham came to section 36 in 1855, and in that year A. D. 
Parkhurst settled on a tract of new land in the same sec- 
tion. Edward Rose lived on the old Haner place in 1854, 
now occupied by Henry Sanford. Rose also lived in 1860 
upon the place where Charles Brown succeeded him two 
years after and still occupies. In 1856, Cook Delamater 
entered the farm on .section 36 known as the Weatherwax 
place, and on section 26 Michael Hayes settled in 1854, 
where his widow still lives. In 1854, also, S. C. Hazen 
moved to the farm on sections 34 and 35 settled by his 
brother Eber in 1841. Hazen had the only horse-team in 
that corner of the town, and he used to haul a good many 
supplies between Detroit and northern points before railway 
facilities were extended to that country. Even in his time 
a journey to mill by ox-team occupied two days, each man 
taking turns in going for the entire neighborhood. Coon- 
skins and deer-skins brought the cash in Detroit, and as a 
consequence hunting for coons and deer was lively business 
among the settlers. A little money was realized that way, 
and at other times working on the road contracts, road- 
bees being the favorite method, for the tax of non-residents, 
brought in the welcome cash. 

The first school taught in the southeast corner of the 
town was one over which Harriet De Witt presided as 
teacher in 1853, on section 36. 

S. L. Jenkins settled in 1855 on section 31, after a thir- 
teen years' residence in Michigan. A Mr. Mitchell was the 
original settler upon the place in about 1850. Jenkins 
found his neighbors to include Robinson, a blacksmith, just 
south of him, and John Wingate, just south of Robinson's. 
North was Mr. Terrill, and still further north J. Colby, 
who had been in since 1842. Eastward the land was 
swampy, and there but few settlements were made until a 
late period. Arnold Dinsmore's son William and son-in- 
law, Franklin Naveman, came in a few years afterwards and 
began to clear some land on the elder Dinsmore's place, 
lying to the eastward, about the first clearing effected in 
that locality. 



EARLY TOWNSHIP ROADS. 

In 1839 the township was divided into three road dis- 
tricts. The first comprised all that portion of land situated 
on the east section-line between sections 2 and 3, running 
from north to south through the town ; the .second, all that 
land lying between the above-mentioned line and a line 
running between sections 4 and 5 ; the third, all the re- 
maining land in .said township. 

May 27, 1839, a road was laid commencing on the north 
line of said town, and at the northeast corner of section 6 ; 
thence running south on section-lines to the southeast corner 
of section 6. A second road was laid from the northeast 
corner of section 2 to the southeast corner of the same sec- 
tion. A third road commenced at the northeast corner of 
section 5 and terminated at the southeast corner of the 
same section. A fourth road began at the southeast corner 
of section 1 and passed to the southwest corner of section 
6. July 15, 1839, a road was laid commencing at the 
south-east corner of section 12, and extending west on sec- 
tions 11 and 14 to the southwest corner of section 11. 
Sept. 1, 1840, a road was laid commencing at the southeast 
corner of section 11, and running north on section-line one 
mile. Sept. 29, 1840, a road was laid commencing at the 
northwest corner of section 2, and running to the southwest 
corner of the same section. Same date a road was laid from 
the northwest corner of section 8 to the southwest corner 
of section 32, running south on section-lines. Nov. 20, 
1840, a road was laid from the northwest corner of section 
9 to the southwest corner of said section. Oct. 5, 1840, a 
road was laid from the southwest corner of section 9 to the 
southeast corner of the same section. Oct. 3, 1841, a road 
was laid from the northwest corner of section 3 to the 
southwest corner of said section. Dec. 25, 1841, a road 
was laid from the southwest corner of section 1 to the 
northwest corner of the same section. 

Nov. 6, 1842, a road was laid from the southeast corner 
of section 10 to the southwest corner of the same section. 

At a meeting of the commissioners of highways of the 
township of Westphalia, on the 24th day of March, a.d. 
1846, they divided the road districts in the following 
manner: 

District No. 1 to contain sections 1, 2, and the north half 
of section 11, and the north half of section 12, and to take 
all roads in said district, as well as the south half of the 
road between sections 2 and 3, and the south half of the 
north half of the road between sections 10 and 11. 

District No. 2 to contain sections 3 and 4, and to take 
all roads in said district, as well as the north half of the road 
between sections 2 and 3, the north half of the road between 
sections 4 and 5, and the road between sections 3 and 1 0. 

District No. 3 to contain sections 5 and 6, and take all 
roads in said district, as well as the south half of the road 
between sections 4 and 5 and the road between sections 6 
and 7. 

District No. 4 to contain sections 7 and 8, and to take 
all roads in said district, the road between sections 5 and 
8, the north half of the road between sections 8 and 9, and 
the road between sections 7 and 18. 

District No. 5 to contain sections 9 aud 10, and to take 
all roads in said district, the south half of the road between 



WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP. 



537 



sections S and 9, the road between sections 9 and 16, and 
the road between sections 4 and 9. 

District No. 6 to contain the south half of section 11, 
and south half of sections 12, "13, 1-1, 15, IG, 17, and 18, 
and to take all roads in said district, the south half of tlie 
road between sections 10 and 11, the road between sections 
8 and 17, tlie road between sections 10 and 1.5, the road 
between sections 13 and 24, the road between sections 15 
and 22, and the road between sections 17 and 20. 

District No. 7 to contain sections 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 
27, 28, 29, and 30, and to take all roads in said district, 
the road between sections 14 and 23, the road between sec- 
tions 16 and 21, and the road between sections 18 and 19. 

District No. 8 to contain sections 25, 26, 31, 32, 33, 34, 
35, and 36, and to take all roads in said district, and the 
road running east from the northwest corner of section 31, 
terminating at the east side of said town. 

TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION AND CIVIL LIST. 

Town 6 north, in range 4 west, was detached from the 
township of Watertown by act of Legislature approved 
March 21, 1839, and named Westphalia, suggested ori- 
ginally as a name for the town by Rev. Anthony Kopp, in 
recognition of the fact that the earliest settlers in the town- 
ship came from the province of Westphalia in Germany. 

The first township-meeting was held at the house of 
Anthony Cordes, April 29, 1839. Anthony Cordes was 
appointed moderator, Joseph Cordes clerk, and Philip 
Henry JIartz, James S. McRoberts, Peter Arens, and An- 
thony Kopp inspectors of election. The officials chosen 
on that occasion were : Supervisor, Anthony Kopp ; Clerk, 
Philip Henry Martz ; Treasurer, Nicholas Martin ; Jus- 
tices of the Peace, Gottfried Adleman (four years), An- 
thony Cordes (three years), Peter Arens ; Assessors, An- 
thony Platte, Philip Henry Martz, James S. McRoberts ; 
Highway Commissioners, Conrad Martin, Nicholas Martin, 
John Hauses ; School Inspectors, Peter Arens, Jlichael 
Thoma ; Collector, Mathias Ott ; Constable, Malhias Ott ; 
Directors of the Poor, Bernhard Rademacher and Anthony 
Cordes ; Overseei-s of Highways, Francis Rademacher, dis- 
trict No. 1, Anthony Kopp iu district No. 2. 

Appended is given a list of the persons cliosen annually 
from 1840 to 1880 to serve as supervisor, clerk, treasurer, 
and justice of the peace : 



1840.* J. DuDnebacker. 

1841. Joseph Plalto. 

1842. A. Kopp. 

1843. M. McVeigh. 

1844. M. Btvrtow. 

1845. William F. Dutton. 
184G-51. M. Bartow, Jr. 
1852-53. W. T. Plowman. 
1854-59. M. Bartow, Jr. 
1860-61. Joseph Bohr. 



1840. A. Kopp. 
1841-42. S. Boughton. 



SUPERVISORS. 

1862-63. M. Bartow. 
1804. J. Bohr. 

1865. M. Bartow. 

1866. No record. 
1867-68. M. Bartow. 
1869-72. J. P. Yunoker. 
1873-74. J. II. Fcdowa. 
IS75-76. M. Bartow. 
1877-78. J. U. Fcdowa. 
1879-80. William Smith. 

CLERKS. 

1843. W. T. Plowman. 

1844. S. Boughton. 



* Twenty -six votes cast. 



1845. F. AV. Crnin. 

1846. M. McVeigh. 
1847-48. F. Martin. 

1849. M. McVeigh. 

1850. W. Ncttleton. 
1851-53. J. A. McVeigh. 
1854. Joseph Bohr. 



1855-63. Joseph Platte, Jr. 
1864-65. J. Rademacher. 
1866. No record. 
1867-69. William Smith. 
1870-72. T. Platte. 
1873-78. Joseph Arena. 
1879-80. A. A. Fo.v. 



TREASURERS. 



1840. h. Wicber. 
18)1. M. Paul. 

1842. C. Martin. 

1843. J. Duiinebackcr. 

1844. C. Martin. 
1845-46. r. Martin. 
1847-48. .Joseph Platte. 

1849. D. Kopfert. 

1850. G. Adleman. 

1851. F. Martin. 

1852. Joseph Platto. 

1853. J. Rademacher. 

1854. P. J. Voosen. 

1855. N. Knei.<s. 

1856. C. Martin. 

1857. L. Keusch. 



1858-59. B. Rademacher (2d). 

1860. M. Pctsch. 

1861. M. Pung. 

1862. A. Fo.v. 

1863. P. Smith. 
1861. T. Rademacher. 
1865. J. Buchal. 
1865. No record. 

1867. A. Arens. 

1868. F. Platto. 
1869-70. A. Arens. 
1871-73. J. Snitgcn. 
1874-75. J. Bakor. 
1876-78. J. P. Bertram. 
1879-80. J. Martin. 



JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 



1840. 


S. Boughton. 


1861. 


M. Bartow. 


1841. 


No record. 


1862. 


J. Railemachor. 


1842. 


Joseph Cordes. 


1863. 


L. Keusch. 


1843. 


G. Adelman. 


1884. 


J. M. Benjamin 


1844. 


S. Boughton. 


1865. 


M. Bartow. 


1845. 


C. Martin. 


1866. 


No record. 


1846. 


W. T. Plowman. 


1867. 


L. Kcu.sch. 


1847. 


M. Snider. 


1868. 


J. Rademacher. 


1848. 


M. Bartow, Jr. 


1869. 


F. Noeker. 


1849. 


C. Haner. 


1870. 


P. Petsch. 


1850. 


W. T. Plowman. 


1871. 


L. Kousch. 


1851. 


S. Barnes. 


1872. 


F. Noeker. 


1852. 


D. Dutton. 


1873. 


M. Bartow. 


1853. 


M. Bartow, Jr. 


1874. 


P. Petsch. 


1854. 


J. T. Wingate. 


1875. 


E. Fitzgerald. 


1855. 


W. T. Plowman. 


1876. 


F. Noeker. 


1856. 


D. Goss, Jr. 


1877. 


M. Bartow. 


1857. 


M. Bartow, Jr. 


1S78. 


P. Petsch. 


1858- 


59. L. Keusch. 


1879. 


A. F. Williams. 


1860. 


J. Bohr. 


1880. 


F. Noeker. 



THE TREASURER'S REPORT IN 1840. 

At a meeting of the township board, held March 24, 
1840, for the purpose of settling with the town treasurer, 
it appeared that tliere had been received by the treasurer 
from residents twenty-six dollars and forty cents and from 
non-residents twenty dollars and seventy cents, or a total of 
forty-seven dollars and ten cents ; that the collector's fees 
were two dollars and fifty-one cents ; that there had been 
paid in town orders twenty-six dollars and twenty-five and 
a half cents, and that there remained due to the town 
twenty-one dollars and thirty-six and a half cents. 

JURORS FOR 1841. 
Grand. — Joseph Platte, Conrad Martin, Mathias Ott, 
Samuel Bougliton. 

relil. — Dominick Hopfert, Francis Martin, Marliu Paul, 
Gottfried Adleman. 

JURORS FOR 1844. 
Grand. — John Dunuebacker, William T. Plowman, 
Samuel M Cr.iin. John Haner. 



68 



538 



IllSTOllY OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



Petit Moses Bartow, Jr., Samuel Boughtoii, William 

F. Dutton, Gottfried Adlenian. 

At a meeting of the township board, March 30, 1847, 
it appeared that the tax raised in 1846 was four hundred 
and twent^'-seven dollars and twenty-two cents, and that 
the amount of non-resident tax returned was two hundred 
and fifty-five dollars and fifty-two cents. 

JURORS FOR ISoO. 

Grand. — ^William T. Plowman, William Nettleton, Sam- 
uel Barnes, Milton McVeigh, Moses Bartow, Jr. 

Petit. — James A. McVeigh, Francis W. Crain, Conrad 
Ilaner, John Haner, Samuel M. Crain. 

June 20, 185:!, the township voted five for and seventy 
against the adoption of an act prohibiting the manufacture 
of, and traffic in, intoxicating beverages. 

COUNTY OFFICIALS FKOM WESTPHALIA. 

Westphalia has furnished the county prosecuting attor- 
neys for ten years, — Anthony Cook, six years, and J. II. 
Fcdewa, four years; Circuit Court eommist.ioners, four 
years, — Anthony Cook and Moses Bartow ; William T. 
Plowman as sheriff; Moses T. Bartow as representative, 
four years ; and David Goss coroner, four years. 

SCHOOLS. 

In regard to schools, the first settlers and organizers of 
the township being emigrants directly from Germany, a 
great jircjudice existed against English schools, first, and 
mainly, because of the national pride in favor of the Ger- 
man language, and secondly, because a feeling prevailed 
that a change of language would interfere with their church 
interest, which was mainly Roman Catholic, and conse- 
quently the progress of English schools was slow until the 
Legislature enacted a law that all public records and busi- 
ness should be in the English language; and since that 
time, and since the passing away of the original Germans, 
a steady growing interest has been manifested in favor of 
English schools. Several causes have conspired to this end. 
The first was the enactment of the law that no public 
money should be appropriated for any but English schools ; 
second, the national pride giving way to the idea that we 
are a universal Yankee nation, and that it is better for all 
business to be done by one universal language ; and thirdly, 
on account of the quiet but persistent efforts of some of 
the English or American settlors in the township, first and 
foremost being Moses Bartow, the first American teacher 
among the Germans, who taught in a portion of their old 
log church in 1S4G, while in another portion of the same 
church a German school was taught, both schools drawing 
from the primary-school fund for their support ; but soon 
after that, and upon the adoption of the constitution of 
1850, requiring at least three months of free schools each 
year, and that the public schools should be conducted in 
the English langu.ige, a steady-growing interest has arisen 
in favor of our State or English schools, until now there 
are many good English scholars among the Germans there, 
and the business of the township is ably conducted wholly 
by the Germans. Moses Bartow, who was originally from 



Niagara Co., N. Y., and who lived in the township from 
1841 to 1879, was largely conducive and conspicuous among 
the American settlers to this end. He was elected super- 
visor for twenty years, from 1846 to 1879, for that town- 
ship, and upwards of thirty four years a justice of the 
peace, and many years school inspector and superintendent 
of schools. The township may now be said to be pretty 
thoroughly Americanized in regard to schools, and IMichi- 
ganizcd in education. 

Oct. 2, 1845, school-money was apportioned as follows: 
to district No. 1 the sum of eight dollars and forty-one 
cents ; to No. 2 the sum of twenty-six dollars and fifty- 
nine cents. 

In 1843 the sum of thirty dollars was raised for the 
support of schools. 

May 1, 1846, school district No. 3 was organized to con- 
tain sections 26, 27, 27, 28, 33, 34, 35, 36. The dates of 
the organizations of districts Nos. 1 and 2 are not fixed by 
the records. In 1846 district No. 1 was apportioned nine 
dollars and eleven cents, and to district No. 2 the sum of 
thirty-one dollars and eighty-uine cents. 

District No. 4 was formed April 2, 1853, and commenced 
at the northwest corner of section 18, extended south four 
miles, thence east two miles, thence north one mile, thence 
east one mile, thence north two miles, thence west two 
miles, thence north one mile, thence west one mile to the 
place of beginning. It contained sections 18, 19, 20, 21, 
28, 29, 30, 31, and 32. Directly afterwards sections 29, 
30, 31, and 32 were detached from district No. 4 and 
organized as district No. 5. 

District No. 6 was formed March 11, 1854, to comprise 
sections 1, 2, the north half of section 11, and the whole 
of section 12 except the southwest quarter. 

April 14, 1855, district No. 7 was formed to include sec- 
tions 3, 4, 9, and 10, except the southeast (juarter of the 
section last named. 

April 23, 1856, the mill-tax of 1855 was apportioned as 
follows : 

District No. 1 $18.05 

" 2 2-.;i2 

" 3 lU.il4 

" 6 5.18 

" 1 20.57 

" 8 17.37 

Total $100.33 

District No. 9 was organized April 8, 1863, and included 
sections 33, 34, 27, southeast quarter of section 28, north 
half of the southwest quarter and the south half of the 
northwest quarter of section 26, the southwest quarter of 
section 22, southeast quarter of section 21, the northeast 
quarter and southwest quarter of section 28, — the district 
being formed from portions of districts Nos. 1, 3, and 4. 

Appended is given a list of the teachers appointed between 
1845 and 1865: 

June 23, 1845. — Martha Jones. 

Nov. 1, 1845. — Moses Bartow, Jr. 

Dec. 5, 1846.— George Godez, Moses Bartow (2d). 

April 13, 1850. — Anthony Fox. 

June 8, 1854.— Harriet De Witt, Lucy M. Jenkson. 

July 6, 1854.— Ursula Vance. 



WESTPHALIA TOWNSEIIP. 



539 



Feb. 21, 1855.— Anthony Fox. 

Nov. 25, 1854. — Benjamin .ind Ann McOmbcr. 

Nov. 3, I860.— B. C. McOmbor, K L. Tracy, J. II. 
Burgess, Peter Wirtb. 

Nov. 24, 18G0.— Jolin T. Cornue. 

May 30, 18G1. — Miss Lodiina L. Brown. 

Nov. 2, 1861.-0. J. Hill, John H. Goss, Henry D. 
Hall, Emma T. Boss, IMary E. l^lnwrnan. 

Nov. 25, 18G1.— Henry N. MeVeigb. 

May 21, 1861.— Sarah Ann Tiiuiua, Abbie Thoma. 

June 1, 1864.— Peter Manar. 

Nov. 5, 1864. — Nettie Leonard. 

Nov. IS, 18G4.— Mi.ss Wood. 

Nov. 19, 1864.— Miss LooLs. 

Nov. 29, 1864.— Julia A. Plowman. 

Dec. 17, 1864.— Addio L. Packard. 

April 8, 1865.— Caroline Bissell. 

April 29, 1865.— Sarah M. Backus. 

The annual school report for 1879 gives tlie following 
details : 

Number of Pchool di.striets (whole, 6 ; fractional, 1),.. 7 

Number of scholars of school a|cc....: 020 

Average attendance 17.S 

Value of school property $H8oO 

Teachers' wages S82-i 

The school director.s for 1879 were Peter Petsch, S. C. 
Haysen, J. P. Scoo, William H. Hubbard, Peter Fedewa, 
Mathew Thelen, and L. Kcnsch. 

THE VILLAGE OF WESTPHALIA. 

Apart from the church building, the first improvement 
made upon the present site of the village of Westphalia 
was a house put up in 1849 by Anton Dunnebacker, a 
shoemaker. That house is now included in the building 
known as the village tavern. Dunnebacker sold his place 
to Joseph Platte, who transferred his store from section 5, 
and became the pioneer trader of the embryo village. Platte 
owned considerable land thereabout, and his object in re- 
moving his store was to found a village. His lead was fol- 
lowed by otliers, and in due time the town took on shape 
and population. Platte opened his store in 1852, and in 
1854 John A. Fedewa opened a second store just west of 
where John Haf'ircr now has a wagon-shop. In 1856 a 
very important impetus was given to tlie growth of the vil- 
lage in the erection of a saw-mill by Joseph Platle, John 
Smitli, and Joseph Bohr, and iu 1858, in the addition by 
the .same parties of a grist-mill. In 1854, Joseph Platte 
sold his store business to his son Joseph, Jr., and Caspar 
Rademacher, who materially enlarged the premises. In 
1862, Platte & Rademacher erected on tlic corner opposite 
their place the .store now owned by Thoma & Co. Their 
old store was sold to Bernard Rademacher (who had pre- 
viously kept a house of entertainment on section 3), who 
converted it into a tavern, to which use it has since been 
devoted. Platte & Rademacher kept the only store in the 
village for a time. In 1868 they dissolved, when Rade- 
macher retired and built the brick store now occupied by 
Jo.seph Arens k Co. Each continued in business on his 
own account, and each ultimately failing, the business of 
both pa.s.sed to the cotitrol of Thoma, Arens & Co. 

Cliristoplier Thiel started a small brewery iu the village 



in 1861, and carried it on until 1866, when Peter Thoma 
and Peter Arens built the Clinton Brewery, just north of 
thevillage, and straightway monopolized the business. In 
1S(>6, Joseph Bohr and John Smith built the pastoral resi- 
dence at the village; the new church was already underway, 
and the village was well along as a thriving place. In 1865, 
•Snitgen & Rademacher opened a hardware-store, Joseph 
Snitgen Iiaving for several years previous been carrying on 
business as a blacksmith at Westphalia. In 1868 tlie 
boiler of the grist-mill exploded, and besides destroying the 
mill, killed John Smith, one of the proprietors. His son 
William was buried beneath llie ruins, and other persons iu 
and about the premises were roughly handled, but except 
the death of Mr. Smith no .serious accident to life or limb 
was occasioned. The saw-mill was at once rebuilt by Wil- 
liam Smith, but the grist-mill was not replaced until 1872, 
when Frank Nocker, the present proprietor, put up the 
present structure, containing three ruu of stones. Mr. 
Nocker does considerable custom and merchant work, and 
manufactures for shipment to Detroit about two hundred 
barrels of flour per month. 

Vn^bAGE I'llY.SrCIANS. 
In the early days of Westphalia's settlement medical at- 
tendance was obtaiued from Ionia, Ijyons, and Portland. 
In 1848 one Dr. Seinholt settled in Westphalia as a resi- 
dent physician, and remained until 1857. He is now liv- 
ing in Howard City. His successors in the settlement liave 
been Drs. Fisher, Stokes, Sauer, Shattuck, Dellenbaugh, 
and Herres. Dr. Simon Herres is now the only resident 
physician in Westphalia. 

POST-OFFICE. 
The Westphalia post-office was probably established iu 
1850 or before. Rev. George Goditz was the first post- 
master. As he could write the English, and as a large 
majority of the townspeople could not, he was ordinarily 
kept pretty bu.sy superscribing letters for his German fellow- 
citizens and patrons of the office. Mail came once a week 
over the route from De Witt northward. Joseph Platte, Jr., 
was the second postmaster, serving from 1854 to 1873, and 
after him Joseph Snitgen, the present incumbent, took 
possession. A daily mail has been received at Westphalia 
since 1863. 

POPULATION AND BUSINESS. 
Within the mile square inclosing the village the popu- 
lation numbered in July, 1880, just three hundred and 
ninety-two. The business interests were represented by 
the general stores of Fox & Snitgen, Arens & Co., and 
Thoma & Co., the drug-store of J. 1'. Bertram, William 
Smith's tavern, the wagon-shops of John Hafncr, Peter 
Bauer, and Peter Doll, Frank Noeker's grist-mill, AVilliam 
Smith's saw-mill, four boot- and shoe-mauulacturers, har- 
ness-maker, photographer, etc. 

ItELIGIOUS llIriTOKV. 
ST. MAUY'.S (UOMAN CATHOLIC) CIIURCU. 
It has already been related that as soon as Anthony Kojip, 
the priest, joined the settlers in Westphalia he founded a 



540 



IIISTORr OF CLINTON COUNTY, MICHIGAN. 



church and school. Kopp had served in the priesthood in 
Germany, and in the new field opened before him in a new 
world he engaged at once with much enthusiastic vigor 
upon the work he was called to perform. After Kopp es- 
tablished his log cabin as a eliurch and school he continued 
the exercises in both with unfailing rogularit}', and when, 
amid the growth of his duties as teacher and participator. 
in affairs that concerned the civil government, he found his 
duties becoming laborious beyond his capacity, he engaged 
a young German of Detroit, by name Cronus, to come out 
and teach the school. Presently the priest's log cabin be- 
coming too small for the increasing church congregration, 
a second and larger log church was built upon the site now 
occupied by the pastoral residence. After a time the sec- 
ond house of worsliip, like its predecessor, was found in- 
adequate to supply places for all who came, and so a third 
(framed) church was built just west of the other. The 
new building was capable of holding three or four hundred 
people, and the general opinion seemed that that church at 
least would be large enough and remain large enough, but 
these calculations, as will be seen, were greatly at fault. In 
18G7 it became evident that enlarged church capacity must 
be provided, for the congregation had risen in numbers to 
something like a thousand, and so, upon consultation, it 
was decided to build not only a massive and commodious, 
but likewise a magnificent temple, which should be alike 
a source of architectural pride and a place where all who 
came, although they might number two thousand, might 
find shelter and places. The result was the noble struc- 
ture which now at the village of Westphalia touches the 
clouds with its lofty spire, and remains an object of unfail- 
ing satisfaction to those who worship beneath its roof. 

Anthony Kopp labored among the people sis years, and 
saw that his labors were fruitful in establishing church and 
school upon an enduring foundation. Newer and more 
needy fields then inviting him he passed on, and although 
he came no more to Westphalia, he cherished his work 
there in fond remembrance, watched its progress with 
anxious solicitude, and to the day of his death was in 
kindly and friendly communication with the people, who 
remember him and speak of him reverently and gratefully. 

His successor, Rev. George Godez, began his labors in 
1843, and continued them uninterruptedly with the con- 
gregation of St. Mary's Church for the space of thirty years, 
or until tiie year 1873, when the infirmities of age warned 
him that he was unable to longer perform the duties at- 
tendant upon his laborious service, and so, at his own re- 
quest, he was transferred to a narrower sphere of action. 
A service of thirty years had endeared him to his people, 
and the severance of the bonds which had so long bound 
them was a painful incident to both pastor and congrega- 
tion. During Father Godez' time the church made re- 
markable advancement, and provided not only the present 
church edifice, but the fine school building and pastoral 
residence as well. Father Godez is still, at the age of sev- 
enty-five, preaching at Greenfield, Mich. 

His successors at Westphalia have been Revs. Trotten- 
bcrg, Lightner, Reifurth, and Ilerwig. The first two were 
in charge of the work but a brief space, while Rev. Mr. 
Reil'urtli's term of service extended over a jieriod of live 



years. Rev. William Ilerwig, the present pastor, was 
called to the charge from Stony Creek (near Monroe) in 
the autumn of 1879. 

The church edifice, which Was begun in 18157, was com- 
pleted in 1809, and although the people contributed con- 
siderable free labor such as hauling lumber, brick, and other 
materials, besides rendering minor other services, the total 
cost of the structure is stated to have been upwards of 
$70,000. Seven hundred and fifty thousand brick were 
used in the construction, and these brick, as well as those 
used in building the pastoral residence and the school, 
were of course burned upon the ground. The two latter 
buildings, located near the church, are handsoiue edifices, 
and cost about $10,000 each, the pastoral residence 
having been built in 1868 and the school in 1873. The 
aggregate wealth represented in the church, school, parson- 
age, and surroundings reaches therefore the sum of fully 
$100,000. 

The church contains a seating capacity for fifteen hun- 
dred people, while an additional five hundred or more may 
be accommodated in an emergency. The exterior, of mas- 
sive and imposing appearance, has a front of sixty feet and 
a depth of one hundred and thirty-three feet. In the inte- 
rior an arched roof is supported by massive pillars. The 
distance from floor to ceiling measures thirty-three feet. 
The spire that surmounts the majestic pile points its glist- 
ening cross towards the heavens at a distance of one hun- 
dred and sixty feet from mother earth. The central altar- 
piece, magnificent in artistic design and decoration, is thirty 
feet in height by twenty feet in width and in keeping with 
its character ; the interior of the edifice is lavishly embel- 
lished upon ceiling and walls with paintings and frescoes. 
A large pipe-organ, purchased in Milwaukee at a cost of 
three thou.sand dollars, occupies space in a gallery fiicing 
the altar. The organist, Mr. Henry Horstniau, is employed 
exclusively in that capacity. 

Few such churches may be seen anywhere aside from 
large business centres, and that Westphalia, the abode of a 
rural population, can boast it testifies in an eloquent way 
to the religious devotion and liberality of the people. It 
is no uncommon tiling to see two thousand jtersons in at- 
tendance at worship of a Sunday, and in this temple — 
striking in its artistic embellishments, impressive in its 
roomy architecture, and crowded with the faithful — the 
spectacle offered is one that weighs with no slight effect 
upon the human mind. 

To this church come worshipers from five townships, — ■ 
Lyons, Portland, Westphalia, Dallas, and Riley, — and .so 
steadily do their numbers increase that even now there is 
talk of affording increased church accommodations. The 
temporal affairs of church and school, and all property 
incidental thereto, are managed and held in trust by a board 
of trustees five in number. The members of the board 
for 1880 are Joseph Martin, Franz Wolfart, Joseph Dunne- 
backer, I?eriihard Ilauses, and Joseph Telan. 

ST. MARY'S (ROMAN CATHOLIC) SCHOOL. 

Upon the establishment of St. Mary's Church a parish 
school was at once instituted and [ilaced under the diiect 
cliaigc ul' the priest. Kullier Kujip lauglil liie tothool liiui- 




o 

.0 



c^ 



i 

J2 



■5^ 



WESTPHALIA TOWNSHIP. 



641 



self until increased duties led him to provide another 
teacher in the person of one Cronus, of Detroit. Cronus 
remained only a short time, and after returning to Detroit 
lost his life by accidental drowning. Anton Fuchs was his 
succes.sor, and from that time until 18(58 various teachers, 
aided and directed by the pastor, guided school affairs. In 
1SG8 the institution was given, over to the charge of the 
Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and under their 
charge it remained until 1874. Meanwhile — the school 
having occupied quarters in the church buildings — a hand- 
some brick school was erected for the parish by William 
Smith, in 1873, at a cost of about ten thousand dollars. 
In 1874 the school was transferred to the charge of the 
Sisters of Charity, who have since then continued in con- 
trol. These are five in number (three Germans and two 
Americans), and with three other sisters reside in a com- 
mon home provided for them near the school. The names 
of these eight sisters are Boniface, Bonaventure, Eulalia, 
Ildephonso, Pulcharia, Olga, Justina, and Pebronia. The 
school is supported by the church, is absolutely free to all 
members of the church congregation, and contains four 
departments, aggregating an attendance of four hundred 
scholars, who are taught in both the German and English 
languages. Many of these children come to school from a 
distance of three, four, and even six miles, and although 
many of these latter board in the village during the week, 
a few traverse the distance morning and evening. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



FRANK NOEKER. 

Westphalia township aifords many fine examples of suc- 
cessful business enterprise as the result of industry and 



close application, though perhaps the most signal instance is 
discovered in the career of Mr. Nockcr. He is the son of 
Frank Noeker, who was born in Westphalia, Prussia, in 
1801, as was also his son, Frank, whose birth occurred in 
December, 1834. AVhcn eleven years of age the parents 
were induced, at the earnest solicitation of their son, to 
emigrate to America, and after a weary passage and an ad- 
ditionally tedious voyage on the"Erie Canal, they landed in 
Detroit. Mr. Noeker purchased an unimproved farm three 
miles from the city, where he resided until his death in 
187G. The son, having previously been educated in the 
rudiments in his native land, devoted himself to farminsc 
pursuits, and at the age of twenty-five married Miss Mary 
Damitio, of Detroit, who was a native of the township of 
Hamtrawick, where her parents were among the early Ger- 
man pioneers. Mr. Noeker, during the nine years that 
followed, was occupied with his farming duties varied by 
the exciting life of a local politician. Land in the immediate 
vicinity having increased rapidly in value, lie decided to 
sell his possessions and remove to Westphalia, which he 
did in 1867. He became the popular host of the township, 
and four years later erected an extensive flouriug-mill, which 
so absorbed his time as to induce him to sell the hotel 
property. 

He has since the first year of his arrival filled the o£Bce 
of justice of the peace, and has also served as school di- 
rector and drain commissioner. The political campaign of 
1879 found him the successful candidate of the Democratic 
party as representative of his district in the State Legisla- 
ture, where he for two years with ability and dignity filled 
this responsible position. Mr. Noeker, by his force of 
character and manliness, has attained a considerable influ- 
ence among the people of his own nationality, while his 
genial character has rendered him deservedly popular with 
hem. 



